A 54-year old married woman in a picturesque French village is alleged to have tricked family, friends, neighbours and even her husband's work colleagues into parting with millions of euros.

"/> A 54-year old married woman in a picturesque French village is alleged to have tricked family, friends, neighbours and even her husband's work colleagues into parting with millions of euros.

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CRIME

French ‘Madoff’ held over fraud charges

A 54-year old married woman in a picturesque French village is alleged to have tricked family, friends, neighbours and even her husband's work colleagues into parting with millions of euros.

Published: 28 December 2011 10:24 CET

Sylviane Hamon, a former bank employee, lives in the small village of Benais in the Indre-et-Loire department. 

The area is known as Chinon, leading to the woman being dubbed the “Madoff du Chinonais” by French media. 

The nickname is a reference to Bernie Madoff who was jailed in the US for operating a ponzi scheme that turned into one of the largest financial frauds in the country’s history.

Local newspaper La Nouvelle République revealed the story, reporting that the woman operated a scheme where she promised investors returns of 10 percent a year.

She then allegedly paid the returns using funds from new investors, with the total amount invested rising to up to €3 million ($3.9 million).

Police caught up with her on Monday morning at her home in the village where she was a local councillor for seven years.

“My wife was supposed to give her €40,000,” the newspaper reported one man as saying. “She promised returns of 10 percent. She asked her not to talk to me about it but, fortunately, my wife didn’t follow that advice. I immediately thought it sounded like a pyramid scheme.”

Tens of victims who did part with their money were not as lucky with investments ranging from a few hundred to several hundred thousand euros. 

Hamon is being held by police for further questioning. 

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CRIME

Two girls wounded in knife attack outside French school

An assailant on Thursday wounded two girls aged 6 and 11 in a knife attack close to their school in the east of France and was later arrested, officials said.

Published: 18 April 2024 16:33 CEST
Two girls wounded in knife attack outside French school

The 11-year-old was stabbed outside the school in the town of Souffelweyersheim, on the outskirts of Strasbourg, while the six-year-old was attacked by the same man nearby.

Both received superficial wounds, police said, adding the attacker did not appear to have any known links to radicals and was not previously known to the security services.

Both received superficial wounds, police said, adding the attacker did not appear to have any known links to radicals and was not previously known to the security services.

Both girls are being treated in a paediatric hospital. Parents were later in the afternoon allowed to pick up their children, who had been confined to the school in the immediate aftermath of the attack.

The attacker, born in 1995, was arrested in the area where he attacked the second girl, the police said. He no longer had the knife in his hand and did not resist arrest, it added.

The attack came as Prime Minister Gabriel Attal announced a series of measures aimed at cracking down on violence committed by schoolchildren against their peers. There was no indication so far that the attacker had a link with the school.

“I’m really scared. We’ve been reassured that the children are safe inside, but we don’t know when we’ll be able to get them back,” Sarah, a mother of an eight-year-old pupil, told AFP before the green light was given to collect the children.

“A friend called me. She saw the commotion in front of the school as she passed by. Her reflex was to call me so that I could pick up my son.”

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