The case has shaken the world of sports betting for a week. The president of the PronoClub site was indicted and imprisoned on Friday. Presented to an examining magistrate from the economic and financial pole of Nanterre (Hauts-de-Seine), he was indicted on the counts of “fraud committed by an organized gang, aggravated money laundering, deceptive commercial practices and haphazard sales. de neige ”and then remanded in custody.
The sole partner and president of this company, Thomas Boursin, aged 24 and living in Brittany, had been arrested two days earlier in Rennes and placed in police custody. “Large sums were seized from his bank accounts and searches led to the finding of nearly 12,000 euros in cash”, specifies the prosecution in a press release.
At least 200 complaints
PronoClub, a social network for connecting punters and sports forecasters, headquartered in Boulogne-Billancourt (Hauts-de-Seine), is suspected of having defrauded several hundred users.
Dozens of complaints, dating back to November 2020, have been entrusted to the Departmental Directorate for the Protection of the Populations (DDPP) and to the central service for races and games. As a result of these complaints, an investigation was opened for “snowball sales”, a sponsorship sales system relating to an infringement of the consumer code.
“Since the end of August, the Nanterre public prosecutor’s office has received around 200 complaints from individuals concerning these facts and continues to receive them almost daily”, specified the public prosecutor. One of them comes from the National Gaming Authority (ANJ), which also filed a complaint for “fraud” on June 11 before the prosecution.
The crime of snowballing “Consists in offering victims to collect memberships or to be part of a list by demanding from them a counterpart and by making them hope for a financial gain which would result from the increase in the number of members”, explained the prosecution of Nanterre.
According to Me Olivier Géral, lawyer specializing in sports law, contacted by several users, the majority of complaints target a specific service of the platform, which offered users to invest their money so that it is played for them. But this service was “Closed in the spring”, according to the Parisian and refunds are “Almost impossible” following the modification of the general conditions of sale, confirms the lawyer.
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