2023-11-15 18:29:25
Third day of the trial which brings the forty-year-old couple at the head of the Limougeaude company and fourteen of their employees to appear for organized gang fraud, deceptive and, even more serious, aggressive commercial practices. For UFC-Que Choisir, it is rare to see such commercial aggressiveness.
After the hearing of Pascal Barage (officially commercial director of SAS BTPA renovation, but in reality also de facto manager of this company despite a ban on exercising this function), that of his partner, Angéline Ducly, ( president and manager of the said company), it is, since Tuesday, the turn of the fourteen other defendants employed by the company to take the stand. They are agency directors, facilitators or salespeople, all referred to the criminal court for organized gang fraud, aggressive and misleading commercial maneuvers.
They must explain the company’s shameful and cynical business practices. Proof, the videos that employees shot themselves with their cell phones when they met their clientsbut of course without their knowledge.
Disgust is felt when these videos are projected in the room. During one of these interviews, still on a hidden camera, an elderly man is seated at his dining room table, chatting in confidence with the salesperson, who has engaged in a friendly, even intimate conversation with the customer: ” VAre you a grandfather? Yes ? Ah, that’s good, you were married then… Not divorced? Oh and you weren’t looking for someone?”
And the last answer barely obtained, the one filming slips the contract and a pencil under the poor man’s hand “Allez, a little signature for you here Sir, it’s for the work we did, we will come back to treat the capillary rise, that way you will have a healthy house”. This will be followed by the check book and the writing of a check for more than €5,000.
There are more than a hundred clients to date who have filed civil suits, others are still coming forward, we will know the exact number at the end of the week.
During the investigation, nearly 230 of these people declared themselves victims by letter of complaint, when all customers were contacted by investigators. Most of these people have not been heard personally. A notable difference even though, upstream, many have not even declared themselves victims, according to the lawyer for the UFC-Que Choisir federation.
This case is atypical in terms of the number and profile of victims, many have not even come forward. Some people have unfortunately died since then, others feel ashamed of having allowed themselves to be taken advantage of or have lost confidence, even in Justice.
Magali Buttard – Cabinet Macchetto, lawyer at the Paris bar
The UFC-Que Choisir Federation is itself a civil party, notably “harm to the collective interest of consumers” and claims a sum of €250,000 in damages.
The lawyer of the Périgord couple running the BDPA renovation company recalls, for his part, the satisfaction of customers too.
1,390 customers were identified in the purchase orders during the operation of the company, between its creation in 2018 and its liquidation declared in January 2023. We must therefore not forget that many were satisfied by the work carried out by this society.
Antony Zborala, lawyer at the Limoges bar.
At the helm, the employees prosecuted for organized gang fraud and deceptive and aggressive practices follow one another.
A team leader, mother of four children, answers incisive questions from the president of the criminal court. She takes the case of a couple who signed no less than eight purchase orders, for astronomical sums, namely:
More than 17,000€ of work on 03.14.2022 More than 15,000€ of work on 04.19.2022 More than 20,000€ of work on 04.20.2022 (insulation) More than 11,000€ of work on 06.21.2022 (drying of terrace) More than 14,000€ of work on 09/12/2022 More than 08,000€ of work on 09/15/2022 More than 15,000€ of work on 06/22/2022 (thermite traps) More than 24,000€ of work on 09/13/2022
The president, through her questions, seeks to describe the well-established theatrical staging among the clients. She questions the employee: “and you don’t feel like you were abusing these people?” Answer: “II met them several times, I didn’t have the impression that they seemed in a state of weakness, now yes of course, I’m not proud, but I was under such influence from Pascal Barage.“
The Prosecutor intervenes: “Vou say you are afraid of Pascal Barage and at the same time, you entrust your children to them following school?” The employee’s voice tightens: “because I had good relations with Angéline Ducly, our daughters are six months apart, it was when I stayed late at work… But it was at the beginning, when I started, because quickly, I didn’t ‘mightn’t take it anymore, I wanted to leave’. “So why didn’t you leave?” questions the Prosecutor who recalls that the constraint, to be retained, must be irresistible and not come from the person’s choice: ““because my husband was on sick leave, we mightn’t have done it on just one salary, so I told myself I was going to grit my teeth until my husband returned to work.” It was therefore your choice, concludes the Prosecutor.
His other colleague, agency director, a portly fifty-year-old, admits: “II regret everything we did, I don’t understand how I did that, I’m sorry, it’s not my nature, but Pascal Barage threatened to close the agency and throw everyone out if I didn’t take the position of director, and then I’m an electrician, so for my wife and my daughters, it was a promotion with a good salary, I showed them that I was capable… But He called me all the names, even wanted to punch my face, you can’t imagine, we can’t not do what he asks of us!”
The president continues:Do you find it normal to accompany a person in a wheelchair to the bank?” The man confides: “no, of course, but those were Mr. Barage’s techniques.” “Why do you continue if you believe this is a vulnerable and isolated person?” “Pbecause it was the company’s policy, it had become a game, it’s shameful, I’m not saying the opposite.”
The Prosecutor insists and argues that only remuneration mattered for these employees. Another salesperson recalls that the pressure was there. Paid by a fixed minimum wage, he might only hope for a commission if a figure of €20,000 was reached. They all talk regarding constant reprimands and insults.
This Thursday, the couple managing the company BDPA Rénovation will be heard once more following everyone’s statements. The first pleadings of the civil parties will begin in the followingnoon. The indictment is expected on Monday.
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