The Limoges criminal court will judge, from Monday, 17 people for a vast fraud involving insulation and renovation work estimated at two million euros, to the detriment of more than 200 people, often elderly, in seven departments.
Those accused suspected of having committed violence in Haute-Vienne, Dordogne, Allier, Lot, Gironde, Loir-et-Cher and Eure-et-Loir, appear until November 22 for organized gang fraud, abuse of weakness and deceptive and aggressive commercial practices. They allegedly forced the victims to sign contracts between October 2018 and January 2023. The investigation into the company BDPA Rénovation was opened in 2021 by the Limoges public prosecutor’s office.
Suspected of having reported “fictitious problems” or of having created new ones “through damage”
The alleged scammers showed their credentials with professional cards and ten-year guarantees, and presented the work as necessary due to “new standards” for housing, when they were not necessarily so. Canvassing via call centers previously made it possible to target elderly people and give them confidence.
Certain defendants are suspected of having reported “fictitious problems” or of having created new ones “through damage”, in order to invoice for additional work, as part of an “organized and systematized operating procedure”. according to the prosecution.
“Some of the work carried out was necessary and has never been the subject of criticism or complaints,” explains Me Anthony Zborala, lawyer for the two main defendants: a 41-year-old woman, legal representative of the company, and the commercial director of 43 years old, presented by the prosecution as the de facto manager, which he denies. Under a judicial ban from managing a company, he will be tried as a repeat offender.
The consumer association UFC-Que Choisir civil party
“The challenge of the trial is to determine the reality and extent of the damage,” adds the council. The amount of the work in question (two million euros) “did not go into the pockets of the defendants. There were around twenty employees to pay, the equipment for the site, the cars […] The money was mainly used for the functioning of the company. »
The company had departmental agencies which all allegedly followed aggressive canvassing instructions. “The principle was not to organize a scam. When they saw that they could make easy money, they let themselves be carried away,” assures Anthony Zborala. The consumer association UFC-Que Choisir has become a civil party in the case alongside the numerous victims.