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The trial of an influencer suspected of having defrauded the business aid fund created at the time of the Covid-19 crisis opened on Monday June 13. He had claimed, on behalf of 695 independent or autoentrepreneurs, nearly 34 million euros, and would have received 7 million euros.
It was his videos that betrayed him. In 2020, Paul Antony’s new life as a millionaire spreads out on social networks. Luxury cars, yacht rentals, suites in palaces, pharaonic parties in nightclubs in Dubai (United Arab Emirates)… However, officially, this 22-year-old young man is a delivery driver and lives with his mother in the Paris suburbs. . These images will put investigators on the trail of massive fraud at the Covid solidarity fund.
The scam works like this: for example, a delivery man, a profession not eligible for Covid aid, could send his complete file to the alleged scammer, who then changed the sector of activity. The delivery man then became an artist. The file went to the Ministry of Finance, which released the funds. The reality of professional activities was not systematically checked.
Since Monday June 13, Paul Antony, the alleged mastermind of the scam, has appeared, detained, with five other defendants. He recognizes the facts. “It was child’s play, if I may say so. The State can also blame itself for having put this system in place without providing safeguards when the sums involved were substantial and astronomical”, explains Maître Mourad Batthik, lawyer for a defendant. Paul Antony and his “Covid team” would have pocketed more than 7 million euros in commissions.