French court jails two over bedbug scam
A French court on Wednesday jailed two brothers over selling elderly people expensive treatments they did not need to get rid of bedbugs.
The court sentenced Alexis and Domenico S., 27 and 34, to two years behind bars, of which one was suspended on condition they work.
Preying on widespread fears of bedbugs that gripped France last autumn, they gained access to the homes of their targets, aged between 77 and 93, by passing themselves off as health officials in Strasbourg, eastern France.
They then pretended to inoculate the space against bedbugs with an aerosol. They also provided an ointment they said would keep the bugs away from human skin, which was in fact a simple eucalyptus-scented cream.
They sold the services for as low as €5. But when time came to pay, they only accepted credit cards, charging hundreds of euros per visit.
In total they stole €13,200 from nine plaintiffs, but dozens more are believed to have been scammed.
The court ordered them to pay a €5,000 fine each, and the couple apologised at the end of the hearing.
Police identified the suspects after the nine complaints, put them on surveillance and arrested them in December as they were leaving the home of their latest victim.
In October, France shut several schools over what was thought to be an infestation of bedbugs as the government held a series of emergency meetings.
The blood-sucking insects were reportedly spotted in the Paris metro, high-speed trains and at Paris's Charles De Gaulle Airport.
But the individual cases were not confirmed by the authorities.
This did not stop London's mayor, Sadiq Khan, from calling the alleged French bedbug invasion a "real source of concern", amid fears that the insects could spread to Britain.
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The court sentenced Alexis and Domenico S., 27 and 34, to two years behind bars, of which one was suspended on condition they work.
Preying on widespread fears of bedbugs that gripped France last autumn, they gained access to the homes of their targets, aged between 77 and 93, by passing themselves off as health officials in Strasbourg, eastern France.
They then pretended to inoculate the space against bedbugs with an aerosol. They also provided an ointment they said would keep the bugs away from human skin, which was in fact a simple eucalyptus-scented cream.
They sold the services for as low as €5. But when time came to pay, they only accepted credit cards, charging hundreds of euros per visit.
In total they stole €13,200 from nine plaintiffs, but dozens more are believed to have been scammed.
The court ordered them to pay a €5,000 fine each, and the couple apologised at the end of the hearing.
Police identified the suspects after the nine complaints, put them on surveillance and arrested them in December as they were leaving the home of their latest victim.
In October, France shut several schools over what was thought to be an infestation of bedbugs as the government held a series of emergency meetings.
The blood-sucking insects were reportedly spotted in the Paris metro, high-speed trains and at Paris's Charles De Gaulle Airport.
But the individual cases were not confirmed by the authorities.
This did not stop London's mayor, Sadiq Khan, from calling the alleged French bedbug invasion a "real source of concern", amid fears that the insects could spread to Britain.
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