French Family in Morocco Loses Over 800,000 Euros in Bitcoin Investment Scam

The Bitcoin scam began in 2020. The alleged scammer is Yassine*, a 22-year-old young man from a prominent family who had rubbed shoulders with the daughter of Michel*, a Frenchman who has been living in Morocco for 12 years, at the American school in Marrakech. They were both part of a "very close-knit group of friends, the parents know each other and see each other often." Years later, he "presented himself as a specialist in profitable and safe financial investment." He initially managed to convince his old friends to invest a few modest sums. Then it was the parents’ turn to double down.

Michel, his granddaughter, his eldest daughter, her fiancé, and his mother-in-law invested all their savings. Another French family, whose father is a wealthy industrialist, as well as three other Moroccan families, invested huge sums of money in bitcoin. "When we invested around 200,000 DH, he would tell us shortly afterwards that we had earned around 50,000 DH. The bait was therefore extraordinary. This lasted all summer. By autumn, he started asking us for a lot more money with much larger investments," explains Michel to H24info.

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To perfect his plan, Yassine had them receive contracts as of November. He made them believe that they would earn 12% of their interest each month. The transfers were made over the next few months. Unexpectedly, Michel receives a phone call from another client. "We have a big problem," she says. "We returned to Morocco at the end of February. I was waiting for my interest that didn’t come. I sent several messages, but no response. We tried to call Yassine* directly, but obviously no answer," says Michel.

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Yassine’s father contacts him. Michel accompanied by his wife meets him in a restaurant in the heart of Jamea El Fna. "We lost everything," the father of the alleged scammer tells him. He promises to compensate him up to 30%. An arrangement that is not very satisfactory for the Frenchman, since "his son kept telling us that our capital was guaranteed." At the end of June, he filed a complaint for fraud. Michel and his relatives were relieved of 884,400 euros.

*Pseudonyms