ILLEGAL ALIEN FRAUD -- FRANCE
FOR EDUCATION PURPOSES -- "Fair use" is cited.
December 13, 2014
yahoo.fr
LeParisien.fr are the sources for this article
I tried not to show my whole computer screen, so that I won't get that "third party content" fussing. I discuss some aspects of being an immigrant in France from my perspective and experience, and translate from French to English the basic contents of a recent article about a serious fraud case here.
This story is unfortunate on so many different levels. For people who are seriously ill with things such as AIDS, this kind of fraud really "muddies the waters." They may be denied help because of schemers.
A "carte de séjour" could be considered a residency permit here in France. In this article, they are the one-year type, but I eventually got the ten-year type. (Then, I applied for full citizenship, which took a long time.) Just because I've found expatriating, being an immigrant and "doing everything legally" a long, slow, costly and unpleasant process doesn't give me the right to do the "sour grapes" thing at others who may have an easier time than I did, but really, this fraud story is outrageous and my shock is genuine.
Dating back to 2008, a man from the Ivory Coast in Africa who is in his fifties and does have AIDS came to France for care. He set up an elaborate scheme with health professionals here to charge money to get hundreds of other people here on false pretenses -- saying that they, too, have AIDS.
The man is, for now, behind bars and a doctor who is involved is on "garde à vue." The cost to France is and will be huge. Tracking down and prosecuting everyone will take a long time.
This type of sad situation is, the article says, a first in France -- the first they've discovered, that is. Very sad.
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