Suspicions of extortion. Mark Hornek was on trial in Paris with nine defendants

Paris organized crime suspect Marc Hornek appeared on Monday (November 14) with nine co-defendants in Paris for the first day of a 2016 extortion trial against two businessmen.

Mark Horneck, a member of the Sulfur Brothers, is suspected of being involved in trying to collect hundreds of thousands of euros in debts from these executives. He and his partner are also being prosecuted on charges of tax evasion and non-justification of resources.

“Absolutely innocent of the facts”

Until November 23, the 56-year-old defendant, who is at liberty in the criminal court, “completely innocent of the factsfor which he is charged, one of his lawyers, Me Sébastien Sebag, told AFP.

The investigation, which is part of the Intelligence and Intervention Brigade (BRI), specifically focused on a May 2016 lunch in Paris, in which one of the victims, according to the prosecution, was involved in “false pretenceThe prospect of commissions for Renoir sales.

In fact, three men came to this meeting to threaten this SME manager and tell him to refund the 550,000 euros invested by investors in his cosmetic company. “Better to pay than to end up in a chest“, he would threaten.

According to the prosecution, Mark Hornek would have attended this meeting even if the business manager confirmed at the bar on Monday that he would not see him. “When I was shown his photo, I thought he looked like Gerard Depardieu. I would remember if he was present– he argued. According to the prosecution, Mark Horneck nevertheless participated in “extortion attempt” and to “Conspiracyalong with his three co-defendants, exposing creditors who want to recover their debts illegally.

Nicknamed “Showman”.

A judicial investigation opened in October 2016 targeting Mark Hornek cleared him of initial suspicions of VAT fraud or falsification and forgery, but it revealed a lifestyle allegedly disconnected from his official income; cars.

Mark Hornek, aka “the showman“In connection with his declared profession, in 2008 he was especially convicted of concealing theft and two cases of serious money laundering and extortion. His older brothers, Mario and Jean-Claude Horneck, were sentenced on appeal in 2010 to six and seven years in prison for serving as middlemen in cocaine trafficking between Colombia and Europe.