Fall of “Madoff of Maine-et-Loire”, sentenced to two years in prison

The man nicknamed the “Madoff of Maine-et-Loire” was sentenced this Thursday, March 28.

The Paris court sentenced him to five years in prison, including two years.

The 41-year-old man was convicted in Hong Kong of defrauding dozens of Maine-et-Loire investors through a hedge fund.

Five years in jail including two years for someone who dreamed of becoming a financial genius. Guillen M., 41, was found guilty this Thursday, March 28, of fraud, illegal provision of investment services and laundering tax fraud. The Paris court sentenced him to five years in prison, including two years. Part of the farm will still be developed and so the man will not go to jail.

16 million euro fraud

This sentence marks the downfall of the man who left the court without a word. “This is a moment to digest the decision which also ends 10 years of proceedings, especially long and painful for MM, who has done the work of reflection”His lawyer, Pierre-Henri Baert, underlined as he left the trial room.

It all started in Hong Kong, where Gillen M. Created an opaque investment fund away from the oversight of financial authorities. Together with a childhood friend and associate, he managed to convince people around him, originally from Angers, to invest in this company, promising them incredible income and guaranteed capital. Word of mouth works. 57 people believed in him and he managed to collect 16 million euros.

But the system collapses. It was all based on a Ponzi scheme. To pay off the first investors, the scammer used money entrusted by other victims, who themselves were reimbursed by other victims, until both partners fled the new victim.

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Catherine, one of the victims, recalls her disillusionment at the start of the trial. Overnight, the 24,000 euros she entrusted to him was gone. “The next few months were very difficult. It’s a very bad memory. I had just built my house and I didn’t have a single euro.”, she recalls. However, the judges felt that the civil parties were not careful enough. Most investors would have committed “wrongful negligence”In essence, they may have signed investment contracts too lightly, so they should not have received full compensation.