[Testimony] How Adolphe \”Frank\” Bertier scammed me

I decided to write this testimony, unrelated to the theme of the blog, years after the fact, because I learned that the swindler Frank Bertier continues his misdeeds between two stays in prison. As I fear that he will never stop, I hope that this page will be referenced in Google and allow a few people to avoid being fooled.

Feel free to share your testimonials in commenting this article by specifying the date and place. This may help the work of the police. Your email address will not appear publicly but I will give it to the police if I am ever asked for it.

On October 23, 2012, around 7:00 pm, I am on Avenue de Breteuil in the 17th district, a few decameters from my home. I’m coming back from work and while leaving the metro I did some shopping for dinner

I am then approached by a couple.

We exchange a few banalities and get to the heart of the matter. This nice couple explains to me that they come from Toulouse by TGV, that they lost their wallet and that without their credit card, the hotel they had booked did not agree to give them their room. They don’t know what to do and are afraid to sleep in the street.

He spits a bit on banks whose branches close at 4pm and who never answer when you need them. Four years after the financial crisis of 2008, they don’t eat bread and there is little chance of being contradicted.

I don’t know how it comes up in conversation but he explains to me that he is a karate teacher. It is completely credible because he has an impressive size. It happens a bit like a hair on the soup but I think it’s an integral part of the manipulation because it implicitly involves some kind of physical pressure

During the entire exchange, the woman accompanying her does not pick up a word, so much so that I would be unable to accurately describe her physically to the police investigator. I would later learn that her name was Janik Passalacqua. Even though I don’t talk to her, she is also an important part of the scam: it’s silly but we are more likely to trust a couple than a single man.

After about ten minutes of conversation, the request falls: Frank Bertier asks me if I can help them out with 80 € to pay for a night in a hotel. They will reimburse me the next day after they have been able to get the money back as soon as the bank branches open. The amount requested is perfect: it’s the price of a cheap hotel in Paris. It’s below the symbolic 100 € and it’s an amount that remains relatively low so that victims don’t bother to engage in long procedures.

Frankly, at this point, internally I feel that there is a good chance that it is a scam. I can see the springs of manipulation. On the other hand, it’s hard to say no to a couple in trouble with whom you’ve just spent 10 minutes. And I identify myself: their story is credible, it could happen to me, and if they are telling the truth, I would feel bad about letting them sleep outside.

Looking back: there would still be solutions. A relative could make a Western Union transfer that they could retrieve a few minutes later by presenting their passport (or a secret code that only the relative could communicate to them). Or they could book and pay for a night in a hotel online.

As a good time, Frank Bertier (the name under which he introduced himself and which he uses most often) shows me his passport which I photograph. I do not pay attention to the moment but his real name is Adolphe Bertier. In the 21st century, it isn’t necessarily a very easy name to wear, it isn’t shocking that he uses another one ^^

He offers to write an IOU, I refuse and… I agree to help them!

Not having the amount on me, I remember, too good too stupid, taking out my credit card, withdraw 80 € at the ATM a few steps away (they had chosen a strategic location!) and give them the tickets. That’s where the scam is magnificent: the victims are willing, it’s not really a robbery but a loan that will not be repaid, there are no weapons, no violence. All of this guarantees a weak condemnation on the day they will have to answer for their actions.

Janik Passalacqua opens his mouth for the first time to thank me warmly and organize the exchange of phone numbers. I take care to check that the number is correct and we agree to call each other the next day. Once the sum is secured, Frank Bertier tries to scratch a little more by asking me if I have a meal ticket so that they don’t go to bed hungry tonight. I politely refuse

A few moments later, I’m at the apartment and I announce to Anh: “There’s a one in two chance that I’ve been scammed out of 80 €“. I explain to him what has just happened and put myself in front of the computer. I google Franck Bertier and it only takes a few moments to come across the testimony of someone who experienced the same thing as me (here).

Below the article, I discover astonished… hundreds of comments with each time the same testimony. Only the amounts and places differ

I’m even stunned to discover that on the same day, there are already four other testimonies of people who were tricked in the same neighborhood as me. That gives an idea of the effectiveness of his scheme and the amounts he can collect on a daily basis.

I in turn leave a small comment with the intention of filing a complaint the following Saturday.

I unroll the numerous testimonies and some are quite funny.

One person, panicked, explains that he discovers the scam… While Frank and Janik are sleeping on the floor of his home! Not having any money to lend them, he offered to put them up!

One person even dug up an article from 2009 from the Huffington Post that seems to evoke Frank Bertier even though his name isn’t mentioned. The article tells of a swindler who in the Gironde, from 2006 to 2009, pretended to be a deaf and dumb boxing or karate champion, to solicit business and ask for sponsorship.

In what looks like a little Stockholm syndrome, I can’t help but have a share of admiration. Hats off to the artist, you’ve earned your €80!

As a matter of conscience, I try to call the next day. Of course, it rings in the void. In the end, I don’t complain the following Saturday, telling myself that it won’t do much good.

I’m moving on, but out of curiosity I go back to the blog from time to time to follow the scams of our two accomplices who continue. Until June 2013, they are scamming someone who will be a little more pissed off than all the others and decides not to give up. They manage to get a police officer to centralize all the complaints , which was not the case before. Complaints were scattered in many police stations in many cities, which worked in Adolphe “Frank” Bertier’s favor.

I therefore decide to file a complaint in my turn, which I did on June 6, 2013. As in a police series, the policeman presents me with a plate composed of 12 photographs of different individuals. I formally recognize Adolphe Bertier. I wouldn’t be able to recognize Janik Passalacqua.

I pass on to you the details I don’t remember but Adolphe and Janik had already been arrested, convicted but released a few months earlier because there were not enough complainants.

Finally, on November 8, 2013, in Toulouse, France, a man is once again fooled. He discovers the extent of the scam and decides to track Adolphe and Janik. He follows them to their hotel and calls the LAC. They are then caught in flagrante delicto and placed in pretrial detention.

A few days later, I was urgently contacted by the Tribunal de Grande Instance of Toulouse. Adolphe and Janik are summoned for their trial and I am asked if I wish to become a civil party. I accept, I can even ask for damages.

It’s time to pay, Adolphe “Frank” Bertier and Janik Passalacqua are sentenced to one year in prison with a committal order.

My prejudice and damages are recognized, I am entitled to recover 160 €. The simplest way to do this is to make a file with the SARVI, the guarantee fund for victims. This fund advances the funds to compensate the victims and takes care of the steps to make the guilty parties pay. The file looks quite complicated so I’ll drop it.

So I would be 80 € from my pocket but a nice story to tell.

Unfortunately, our two friends have resumed service since similar testimonies start again in October 2019.

According to an article in La Provence, they were arrested in Aix en Provence on December 27, 2019. The trial was set for January 29, 2020. However, someone seems to have seen them in Paris in May 2020, so there is a good chance that their misdeeds will continue?