“The Bonnie and Clyde of fraud”, specialized in the occupation of luxury homes, arrested and soon to be judged

The couple, who are not new to fraud, were arrested while occupying a castle in Yvelines.

A couple of scammers formed by a 47-year-old man and a 41-year-old woman, described as “Bonnie and Clyde’s Swindle” by the gendarmes, was arrested Tuesday January 23 and placed in pre-trial detention, franceinfo learned Saturday from the gendarmerie, confirming information from 78actu. They were to be tried in immediate appearance on Thursday, but they wanted to prepare their defense. Their trial at the Versailles criminal court will finally take place on February 29.

It all started in August 2023 when the owner of a castle in Emance, in Yvelines, filed a complaint after a couple moved in and damaged most of the rooms. The owner realizes that the two people destroyed tiles, ripped out old woodwork and drapes, and even knocked down an outbuilding with the help of a local contractor. The investigation showed that these damages were intended to make people believe in renovation work with a view to their definitive installation.

Except that in the meantime, they sold the Louis XV furniture left behind by the owner to several antique dealers. They had convinced them that the furniture came from an inheritance. And this for a value of at least 500,000 euros.

To get there, the couple first presented themselves in May 2023 claiming to be interested in acquiring this property put up for sale at 11 million euros, including buildings, furniture and animals, former home of a illegitimate daughters of Louis XIV. Making people believe they were financially well off and hiding their real identity, the couple had taken the owner into their confidence.

Other scam facts

During their investigation, investigators from the Versailles research section and the autonomous territorial brigade of Rambouillet realized that the couple was not at their first attempt: between November 2022 and April 2023, they also occupied a manor in Monfort-l’Amaury, also in Yvelines, by defrauding the owner in the same way, by a false promise of acquisition. The latter finally discovered the deception, reinvested the premises and had the locks changed.

Here again, investigators found valuable furniture following searches of antique dealers likely to have been contacted by the crooks. They identified the couple, already known to the courts for scams, and found their trace on the island of Oléron in Charente-Maritime. The forty-year-olds then moved into a property worth 1.6 million euros, once again thanks to a false promise of acquisition.

And already convictions

During the course of the investigations, the investigators realized that they were dealing with a couple who were, to say the least, experienced in scams. In the past, they were indeed condemned for having posed as relatives of singer Robbie Williams in 2006, and had defrauded for 140,000 euros, by promising that the star would come to sing at the Bollaert stadium at the Racing Club de Lens. Then, in 2008, the couple tried to defraud the Valenciennes Football Club by ensuring Stromae came to the Hainaut stadium. Facts for which they were convicted.

“It’s quite rare, it’s quite an exceptional affair. These are people who are masters in the art of persuasion. They manage to convince the owners without any signature, with nothing but their good faith”, comments to franceinfo Colonel Denis Hebinger, head of the research section of the Versailles gendarmerie. He adds that the fact that they commit their offenses as a couple is “unusual”scammers often operate alone.

While in police custody, the couple took a victim’s posture, asserting for example that they were negotiating the purchase of the Monfort-l’Amaury residence and that suddenly the locks had been changed. A profile of “chameleons” despite their appearance “normal people”, according to investigators. At the time of their arrest, they were trying to defraud communities by trying to receive subsidies. Subsidies which were to help the couple buy football clubs in the west of France. Presented to the Versailles criminal court on Thursday, the couple asked to prepare their defense. The hearing is scheduled for February 29.