Complaints pour in by the dozen. They date back to November 2020 and concern the PronoClub site. This social network connecting bettors and sports prognosticators, directed by Thomas Boursin and headquartered in Boulogne-Billancourt (Hauts-de-Seine) is suspected of having defrauded hundreds of users.
Following these complaints, which were entrusted to the Departmental Directorate for the Protection of the Populations (DDPP) and to the central service for races and games, specifies the Nanterre public prosecutor’s office on Monday, an investigation was opened for “Snowball sale”. Understand: a system of sales by sponsorship, falling under an infringement of the Consumer Code.
At the beginning of September, 43 new complaints were registered, this time for “fraud”, and joined to the first procedure. “In total, we reached nearly a hundred complaints, which will perhaps continue to arrive”, according to the prosecution.
“A monumental dossier”
The National Gaming Authority (ANJ) also lodged a complaint for “fraud” on June 11 before the prosecution. Me Olivier Géral, lawyer specializing in sports law, was contacted by several users: “They would be in 300 and 400 cheated Internet users, it is a monumental file, we will also file complaints within a few days”.
According to the lawyer, the majority of complaints are aimed at a specific service of the platform, which offered users to invest their money to be 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 specializing in sports law. The latter assures him: “We study all actions whether criminal, before the commercial court or other types of proceedings.”
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