France opens trial for $30M diamond and crypto investment scam case

The city of Nancy has officially opened the trial of the ‘Red Card’ scam case, which saw over a thousand victims, including some of France’s top football clubs, lose €28 million ($30 million) through fake cryptocurrency and diamond investment schemes,

Twenty-two defendants appeared in the city’s convention center on Monday to hear opening statements. The venue was chosen because a courtroom couldn’t accommodate the 850 victims represented at trial — one of whom lost €400,000 ($433,000) to what they believed was a “diamond savings plan.”

Some even received fake diamonds, worth pennies compared to their investments.

The defendants, aged between 28 and 73, are accused of opening 199 bank accounts across 19 countries in order to fund diamond and crypto fraud schemes between 2016 and 2018.

The Red Card case — ‘Carton Rouge’ in French — was dubbed for swindling €60,000 ($65,000) from football clubs Sochaux, Angers, and Toulouse.

Six more were targeted but didn’t take the bait: Marseille, Nantes, Lorient, Dijon, Brest, and Rennes. The football clubs’ sponsors were also targeted.

Read more: Crypto casino 1xBet accused of rigging matches, streaming children’s games

The scam worked something like this: Around 30 websites were created to lure victims into believing that their investments into diamonds and cryptocurrency would come with a guaranteed return of 6-to-8%. Collected funds would be transferred to the near-200 bank accounts the scammers controlled across the globe, and were then laundered to remove all trace.

However, authorities managed to seize €2.8 million ($3 million) which could be used to compensate victims.

Six additional defendants have already plead guilty. Meanwhile, three more are still on the run. International warrants have been issued for their arrest.

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