In July 2020 Marine Bonne, then aged 21, was convicted by the Senlis court for a series of scams, committed by putting items for sale on an advertisement site that she did not actually own. One of the victims, who according to her did not file a complaint, found her on social networks and began threatening her to tell her family everything if she did not reimburse her.
Without housing and practically without income, Marine Bonne does not see how to find the money necessary to stop what she considers to be harassment. Except by starting to post ads again. Especially since “the couple was kicked out by the grandmother (with whom they were staying), under pressure from an uncle whose son was about to arrive“. It was also necessary to find money to “pay» rent, without taking out a cent.
The system is growing
“While reading advertisements, the idea came to me to do the same», She said to the president of the Beauvais court during the immediate appearance hearing this Friday, January 10. She then placed advertisements for cameras, game consoles, fishing equipment, tents, books, vacation rentals, etc. She opened a second telephone line which she managed by subscribing. to a specialized application and when customers get impatient, it invents stupid reasons to delay reimbursement.
On the stand, she cries about her fate: “I’m a hairdresser, because my mother is, but that’s not what I wanted to do… I never had any luck, my father abandoned us when I was only six years old… We was thrown out with our two little dogs when I needed to be helped because of an uncle whom I heard say: You get them out, my son will arrive… I didn’t know what to do anymore» ! What the president sums up with: “You are a victim of your family, you had no other solutions to get out of it“.
200 potential victims
A police investigation is open. It makes it possible to count around 200 potential victims, 56 complaints are filed throughout France and two people, Marine Bonne and her husband, are implicated. “He didn’t do anything, the wife whines, at the bar”, but he says he is ready to repay.
Only one victim is present at the hearing. The man says “the professional, elaborate, thoughtful aspect of the advertisement which boasts a house to rent for the holidays, in Argelès-sur-mer“. To avoid a scam, he asks questions and receives a copy of the false exchanges with a previous tenant. Definitely convinced, he pays but will never receive the rental contract. He files a complaint and conducts his own investigation which allows him to discover that the scammer is operating under three different identities.
He even inquired with the land registry and found the contact details of the real owners of the house. He blocked the scammer’s Paypal account and almost recovered all of what he paid. He is seeking payment of damages for the time he spent on his investigation, for his sleepless nights and the disappointment of his children for their wasted vacation.
She must pay nearly €6,000 to her victims
The prosecutor recalls that the defendant is being prosecuted for 56 scams, the total amount of which is around 10,000 euros. She highlights the opening of seven accounts between June and September 2024: “She lies regularly: he’s a professional scammer“. It requires a sentence of two years in prison, including one year in prison and with a committal warrant.
The intervention of his lawyer, Maxence Sarlin, saved him from immediate incarceration. She was sentenced to two years in prison, without a committal warrant, which will allow her to convince the sentencing judge to move this year of prison to home detention under an electronic bracelet. She is also ordered to pay nearly 6,000 euros to her victims.
