When the traffic police in France’s Vaucluse region stopped a motorist for speeding in his bright red Ferrari Portofino at nearly 250 km/h (155mph), they didn’t expect them to be homeless, with no declared income to their name. But, during questioning, the otherwise well-dressed man casually told officers that he had no job, no assets, and no income.
It’s not every day that French police pull over a sports car with an estimated value of 200,000 euros ($250,000), but one driven by a homeless person? That never happens! And yet, that appeared to be the case, as a quick check revealed that the person behind the wheel of the Ferrari had been claiming welfare benefits for years.
Asked who the car belonged to, the motorist said that it was his mother’s, but records showed that it had been registered by a real-estate company managed by the suspect, his mother, and two siblings. A subsequent investigation revealed a complex scheme to syphon funds from the French state and evade taxes by not declaring any revenue
The driver and his family lived a lavish lifestyle, indulging in luxury shopping and traveling to upscale destinations, but on paper, they had declared themselves unemployed and insolvent, which meant they benefited from financial assistance from the CAF (French family allowance fund). Despite earning considerable amounts of money from their real-estate business and other activities, none of it had ever been declared and taxed.
In total, the fraudsters allegedly embezzled no less than €1.8 million ($2.1 million) in social benefits, in addition to more than €1.6 million ($1.9 million) in undeclared income. The family was arrested following a series of raids in multiple locations, and will soon be tried by the court in Draguignan for “undeclared work, aggravated money laundering, misuse of company assets and fraud”.
