"Fraud, breach of trust, forgery and use of forgery, illicit processing of personal data"... UFC-Que Choisir, the consumer protection association, launched a new legal action this Tuesday, May 6, against the Indexia group (formerly SFAM for Société française d’assurances multirisques) and its partners, it announced in a press release.
The latter, accused of deceptive commercial practices linked to insurance contracts for telephones and multimedia devices, allegedly continued to unduly charge hundreds of customers, according to the association, including "during and on the sidelines of the trial" of last December.
"Only part of the illicit practices" judged last December
The Paris Criminal Court sentenced these companies and Sadri Fegaier, the man at the head of Indexia, to a fine of 300,000 euros, and two years in prison, 16 months of which were suspended – the former affinity insurance broker has appealed. But this decision covered "only part of the illicit practices long denounced by our association", notes UFC Que Choisir in its press release – namely, failures to terminate insurance contracts and late reimbursements.
This Tuesday, the organization therefore filed a criminal complaint against these companies (liquidated since April and May 2024), this time accused of having set up a system of large-scale abusive levies. In this case, nearly 561 consumers "victims of over-debits, persistent debits despite cancellation, or even illicit transfers of banking data" have been the subject of new reports.
"A complete investigation" and "a right to compensation" requested by UFC-Que Choisir
These elements "lead us to broaden the proceedings," the organization describes. The latter is seeking compensation for "this time offenses of increased gravity, such as: fraud, breach of trust, forgery and use of forged documents, illicit processing of personal data, and criminal conspiracy." It could be the prerequisite for a possible class action.
"UFC-Que Choisir is calling for a full investigation so that consumer victims can finally assert their right to compensation, in the context of this extraordinary scandal," it insists in its press release, denouncing "massive, organized and systemic practices, committed, according to UFC-Que Choisir, by the companies of the SFAM/INDEXIA group and their directors (among others: SFAM, FORIOU, HUBSIDE, CYRANA, SERENA (A.M.P), INFO PRESSE, HUBSIDE.STORE (and its 110 local entities), their holding companies and SFK Group)."
The Banque de France served with formal notice
As a reminder, the group offered insurance contracts when purchasing a smartphone or computer at Darty or Fnac affinity, against breakage and theft. For years, he allegedly made abusive withdrawals, some reaching tens of thousands of euros, according to hundreds of thousands of victims. The withdrawals continued for months, despite their attempts to terminate their contracts and requests for reimbursement. The total damage is estimated at 22 million euros.
In addition to this complaint, UFC-Que Choisir also formally served notice on the Banque de France this Tuesday, May 6: the ACPR, its supervisory body, is accused of failings. "Despite the public scale of the Indexia scandals since 2019, the ACPR only acted in 2023, allowing the fraudulent practices to continue," the association laments in its press release.
0 Comments