“Papa Lacoste”
It will be up to the court to determine Hocine Nouari’s exact role. “How could a man with such a miserable lifestyle find himself at the center of an organization that made millions? Charles Dufranc, the lawyer for the man who presents himself as a “simple trader,” asks me. Nevertheless, his phone, which he used to photograph the broadcasts and which he sent to various people suspected of covering up, will be of great help to the investigators from the Agen department of the Bordeaux research department. The judicial inquiry launched in Bergerac will result in the referral to criminal court in December of fifteen people suspected of belonging to an international network of crooks and high-flying receivers.
The case was initiated by a complaint from a winemaker from Sigoulès-et-Flaugeac (Dordogne). “Everything, absolutely everything seemed authentic,” testifies Pascal Thévard, the manager of Château Cluzeau. Like dozens of victims, the winery was the subject of a false order. On the phone, a man had pretended to be a wholesaler. After the delivery of the 3,000 bottles, the bill of 15,000 euros was never paid. “We winced when the same buyer came back to us the next day to place a new order,” the manager continues. A total of 82 other companies were abused.
A few days later, another château in Rimons was contacted by the gendarmes, who persuaded it to replace with water a delivery of wine ordered by a certain “Gérard Potet”. But the managing director could only praise his interlocutor: Kbis, VAT documents were presented perfectly. And when he called the company back, an operator told him that “Gérard Potet” was temporarily absent. As for the bank, it had nothing to say about the company to which its interlocutor was said to belong…
“Gérad Potet” was actually Ibrahim Sylla, known as “Papa Lacoste” (referring to a clothing tropism). He operated out of Marrakech, where he frequented the upmarket clubs and liked to wash down his lunch with champagne. “He does not deny what is attributed to him. But he is not the leader of this traffic. When he was brought before the examining magistrate, he had just come out of nine months’ imprisonment in Morocco. He had scabies and tooth decay. I don’t think he would have suffered such treatment if he had been credited with power,” his attorney says.
Another suspected crook, Armand Sikkabi, lived in Montignac in the Dordogne. Presented as a goldsmith of fraud, he had peers at posing as a business leader, sometimes operating from Côte d’Ivoire through an application that allowed him to pose as a number. In this country he had a rich real estate heritage and even offered training to spread his knowledge. He is suspected of having embezzled no less than 4 million euros in goods in the few months covered by the complaint. A total of 82 companies were allegedly abused by scammers belonging to the same network.
Vodka, cheese, sea bream…
The catalog of diverted shipments is varied: tons of biscuits, exterior plaster, air conditioners, vodka, cheese, sea bream, baby diapers, hydroalcoholic gel… Everything was transported by hauliers – even misused to warehouses in the Île-de-France before arriving at Paris grocery stores are shipped, but also to England or Belgium.
The contract amounts were usually just below the reimbursement limits practiced by the insurers without too much difficulty. As a result, most of the defrauded companies decided not to report it.
The fraudulent goods were included in an elaborate network of obfuscation and money laundering. At their head, investigators place one Tuncay Arslan, an Anglo-Turkish man who appears to be living a peaceful existence as a “restaurant chef” in London, where he was arrested. The man is suspected of having ruled a number of clandestine platforms scattered across Europe, from which he sold goods bought on credit from the crooks. Tuncay Arslan would have pocketed almost a million euros in commissions.
In Paris, another Anglo-Turk, Ekrem Pelen (known as “Uncle”) seemed to be in charge. For example, from his white kangoo, from which he observed the unloading, he lost nothing of the gendarmes’ search in Thiais, which he filmed with his mobile phone. He had had the sense to leave the warehouse after discovering the water in the bottles. Several companies, associated buffers, offices, warehouses, recruiting straw men, the man seemed to have the means to run his business. For the coroner, much of Ekrem Pelen and Tuncay Arslan’s work consisted of arranging the collection and laundering of funds. For this they had a complete tool kit: bounce accounts abroad, fake companies, mules with cash, Western Unions to Dubai, London or Turkey…