INFO THE DISPATCH. Pyramid scheme in Toulouse: real estate heavyweights in turmoil
On Tuesday, two real estate magnates from the south-west, an accountant and an administrator of a real estate agency were taken into custody by the financial section of the judicial police. They are believed to have been created or profited from a Ponzi scheme for their real estate investments. The damage would be between 15 and 20 million euros.
The police custody of real estate magnates caused a real earthquake in Toulouse. On Tuesday, four people were heard by the financial section of the judicial police. In addition to the manager of Cabinet l’Immeuble, Jean-Claude Vergnes, an accountant, one of the directors of Cabinet l’Immeuble and Thierry Oldak, one of the main property developers in the south-west, were interviewed. Since 1999, the Thierry Oldak group (GTO) has specialized in the acquisition and renovation of downtown buildings. GTO owns, among other things, the walls of the Bibent restaurant, place du Capitole, and the premises of Uniqlo, a shop located at 3 rue du Poids de l’Huile.
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INFO THE DEPECHE. Toulouse businessmen have created a pyramid scheme: 20 million euros in visible damage
Thierry Oldak had denounced Jean-Claude Vergnes
As revealed by the Dépêche du Midi, following an anonymous denunciation, the Toulouse public prosecutor’s office opened, in January 2020, a preliminary investigation for fraud and illegal exercise of the banking profession. A month later, in February 2020, Thierry Oldak in turn denounced the fraudulent maneuvers of the companies managed by Jean-Claude Vergnes.
Jean-Claude Vergnes is suspected of having set up a pyramid scheme, known as Ponzi, to finance real estate projects. He would have built up a treasury by taking money from more than 150 investors. The damage is caused between 15 and 20 million euros. With this financial manna, Jean-Claude Vergnes would also have proposed to certain promoters to replace the banks, which is however prohibited.
The GTO company financed thanks to the pyramid system?
It is on this specific point that Thierry Oldak was questioned. He is not involved in the scam but could have profited from it. The investigators, after having multiplied the checks, believe that his company GTO financed certain constructions or renovations without going through the banks. Thierry Oldak would have directly borrowed more than one million euros from the firm l’Immeuble and therefore from Jean-Claude Vergnes.
For Thierry Oldak’s lawyer, Me Simon Cohen, he did nothing illegal. “The firm l’Immeuble managed, as a real estate agency, the assets of my client. Like any real estate agency, the Immeuble took into account a percentage on the rents and reversed the remainder to the owner of the premises, Thierry Oldak. 2015, when the two parties ceased their collaboration, it turns out that my client had received too much rent. He had to return 1.5 million euros to the firm l’Immeuble. This has nothing to do with a bank loan This debt was paid off last July,” assures Me Simon Cohen.
Statements recorded during police custody must be checked by the investigation services of the financial section of the judicial police. Pending the requisitions of the Toulouse prosecutor’s office, other Toulouse personalities could have been victims of this Ponzi system.