Luxury Watch Collector in Morocco Loses $1 Million in Elaborate Scam

It all started with the desire of the wealthy French retiree living in Morocco, a collector of watches from major Swiss watchmaking brands, to sell eleven items from his precious collection. On July 28, 2024, he met a man posing as an expert, commissioned by a client interested in buying the watches, in a luxury hotel in the Mériadeck district of Bordeaux. The transaction price was around 1 million euros.

The fake expert used subterfuges to scam the seller. The latter agreed to the buyer’s request to place the watches in a sealed box to guarantee their integrity. Then, the buyer "steals the watches and replaces them with imitations in an identical box. Once the real fake appraisal is done, the criminal disappears with the loot," reports Sud Ouest. A scam known as a "rip deal."

An investigation for "organized fraud and attempted fraud, forgery and use of administrative forgery, organized money laundering, and participation in a criminal association" has been opened. The police from the Division of Organized and Specialized Crime managed to dismantle a gang of criminals specializing in fraud using the "rip deal" technique. The fake expert and eight other individuals, aged 25 to 51, were arrested, indicted, and imprisoned.