“Hit them in the wallet.” How Commissioner Anne-Sophie Coulbois prosecutes financial criminals, fraudsters and money launderers

“Are you looking for someone?” , says the friendly investigator. Yes, his boss. He is waiting for us in his office, which is a few meters away. It is there, in Nanterre, near Paris, at the headquarters of the National Directorate of the Judicial Police, that we meet Department Commissioner Anne-Sophie Coulbois, head of the Central Office for the Fight against Serious Financial Crime (OCRGDF). “To be brief, we do mostly financial crimes related to traditional organized crime,” says the 44-year-old policeman, dressed soberly in jeans and a blazer, by way of introduction. Established more than thirty years ago, the OCRGDF attacks money laundering and terrorist financing networks, the heads of quasi-industrial organizations controlled from Israel or South Africa, and high-ranking foreign officials who came to France to launder their dirty money in castles, luxury cars or in works of art.

Anne-Sophie Coulbois coordinates around seventy police, gendarmerie and public finance agents, travels regularly to improve cooperation with specific countries and helps coordinate public services to improve the fight against financial crime. It inherits the most complex files, withstands the most powerful networks. And faces an exponentially growing world of crime. Economic and financial offenses increased by 24% between 2012 and 2016, according to the Court of Auditors. In 2023 alone, according to the Home Office and Overseas Territories, 495,000 fraud complaints were made, a 31% increase in three years.

“I’ve always hated betrayal”

The numbers are probably underestimated. The actual number of fraud victims in 2022 is estimated to be… two million. “Criminal networks, and therefore our investigations, are proving to be very complex,” confirms the OCRGDF chief. We have to redouble our ingenuity and aggression, but that is the same intellectual challenge as confronting other forms of organized crime.” Except here it’s coupled with the necessary expertise in accounting, company law or taxation…which puts off many investigators. “If you think it involves carrying out accountant-like missions, think again,” Anne-Sophie Coulbois wrote on her LinkedIn profile to attract an investigator.

Is the office short on resources? “We could always be more, but the most important thing is the motivation of the teams,” he says. His superior, Magali Kailat, the deputy director for combating financial crimes, however, admits in the press that efforts must continue to attract new recruits. “The implementation crisis is affecting the entire investigative sector of the forensic police,” explains Jan Bastier, national investigative delegate of the Unité-SGP union, “and some criminal areas are less dreamy. Like the financial one, very concrete and time-consuming.”

Subcontractors of crime

Anne-Sophie Coulbois herself fell into it by accident. “I have always been guided by the idea of ​​justice and hated deception. I entered the commissioner’s school to investigate, to find out the mysteries, says this daughter of a doctor and a pharmacist, now a mother of two. I discovered financial crimes during my internship in Strasbourg. Then a world opened up for me.” A universe with vast branches made up of countless intermediaries and small hands, shell companies and accounts opened by nominees, luxury cars, portfolios of cryptoassets… Mountains of gold, fruits of fraud or drug trafficking, works of art or even waste. . “At a certain level, traffickers can no longer manage their own money laundering.” They then entrust their cash to specialized networks, subcontractors of real crime. Money in their hands disappears, transforms, reappears elsewhere. And finances, by the way, other forms of transgression.

“Construction contractors, for example, buy cash from traffickers to pay undeclared workers, and in the process create a pittance for corrupt purposes. everything is connected.” After a series of secret transfers, the money eventually returned to the heads of networks in countries that are not so careful about the origin of funds, such as Morocco or Dubai. “This is why our work, apart from the complexity of the investigation, is fascinating. hitting the wallet, returning their money to victims of fraud and confiscating criminal funds to fill the state budget is to contribute to our height, live better together.”

Big scandals

This idea comes up again and again throughout Anne-Sophie Coulbois’ answers, imbued with a form of modesty. Attentive, he watches for inaccuracies, clarifies and corrects, does not want to talk about himself and prefers to say “we”. “He is a thoughtful and efficient man who knows how to change authority and persuasion, and who has a strong sense of public service. The interests of the office and the investigation always come before self-interest,” confirms Christine Dufau, head of investigative technology. He knows well Anne-Sophie Coulboa, his deputy when she headed the Central Office for the Fight against Corruption and Financial and Fiscal Offenses (OCLCIFF), the white-collar arm of the OCRGDF. Anne-Sophie Coulboa spent seven years there working on major scandals; The Cahuzac case, the Leon Bertrand case, this minister of Jacques Chirac was convicted of passive corruption, favoritism and misappropriation of corporate assets, the financial aspect of the intermediary… “OCRGDF files. are less publicized than at OCLCIFF, but no less dense,” he immediately begins.

“Illegal acquisitions” group

Among the ongoing investigations? A nebula suspected of laundering €100 million, or two large files resulting from a police infiltration of Sky ECC, an encrypted messaging service popular among criminals. “The courts have also just handed down a verdict in the case of Chinese castles, where 35.5 million euros were confiscated.” The value of nearly twenty estates of businessman Naji Qui Bordeaux investigated by the Office’s ill-gotten gains team. Arguably the most profitable of the PJ, it has brought in at least half a billion euros to the state since its inception in 2011. This number is provided for confirmation. Anne-Sophie Coulboa nods, a sudden look of pride on her face and a slightly wider smile. It seems that other people’s achievements are more important than his own.