Drôme: Bakers targeted by telephone extortion and death threats
Artisan bakers in the Drôme are being subjected to telephone blackmail. The perpetrators are demanding sums of money under threat of violence, including against the children of the traders.
Drôme: Bakers targeted by telephone extortion and death threats
Artisan bakers in the Drôme department have been suffering for several weeks from a wave of malicious calls aimed at extorting money from them. The criminals are making death threats, including against the victims' relatives and children, to force them to pay ransoms.
In Valence and in rural communes in the department, traders are receiving phone calls from people who know their identities and sometimes those of their children. A female baker, who wished to remain anonymous, told franceinfo that she was called whilst she was in her car with her daughter. Her caller was immediately aggressive, threatened to have her and her child's throats cut, and demanded €2,500 in exchange for their safety. Shocked, she has since equipped herself with surveillance cameras, an alarm, tear gas and a non-lethal weapon available for sale that she hides in her shop.
In Pierrelatte, baker Paul Gonnet was also contacted by the fraudsters. Warned by colleagues, he firmly reprimanded his caller before hanging up. "He was very surprised that I reacted that way," he said. He is calling on his colleagues not to be intimidated.
The numbers used are prepaid lines with no associated identity, which complicates the investigation. Marylène Leger, representative of the Drôme bakers' federation, is advising victims to file complaints and never give in to the demands. "If you don't comply, they won't call back," she says.
According to the prosecutor in Valence, a trader may have paid money, which the investigation will need to establish. Eleven complaints have been filed for attempted extortion and death threats. The authorities are calling on professionals to be extremely vigilant.
Source: France Info