Corsican mother and son bilk Net users

AJACCIO, France, Sept 19 2005 (AFP) – Authorities in Corsica have arrested a young man and his mother over a scam that netted more than a million euros from 700 Internet users in Europe and North America, police said Monday.

The state prosecutor’s office on the island, which lies off the south coast of France, said the pair enticed ‘clients’ from France, Germany, Belgium, Spain, Switzerland, the US and Canada to make large investments — sometimes running to tens of thousands of dollars — by offering very favourable returns.

Victims of the EUR 1.2 million fraud also paid a membership fee of EUR 580.

The young man, who was remanded in custody, set up a website in the US, according to the prosecutor. Police discovered that the company which ran the site, New Import Club, had a branch in France run by his mother.

The pair stand accused of illegally working in the banking sector, tax fraud and social security abuse.

Subject: French news