Posing as a senior civil servant in Monaco, he pockets €220,000 in ‘wash wash’ scam
Already known to the police, the suspect was arrested on 30 June 2025 and taken into custody © Pixabay
A fraud case was recently revealed by Le Parisien, involving a 48-year-old male of Cameroonian nationality who posed as a senior civil servant living in Monaco. Using the black money or ‘wash wash’ technique, the suspect was able to steal 220,000 euros from a yoga teacher.
The scam took place between March and June 2025, mainly in Paris and Belgium. The victim, a 48-year-old woman working as a yoga teacher, met the accused, who was under a completely false identity. He claimed to be a senior Congolese government official, responsible for printing currency, and to be a Monaco resident.
In reality, the man lives in Suresnes in the greater Paris area. In a civil partnership with a beautician, he has three children to support. Police checks revealed that he was on the wanted list and had already committed a number of scams using the same method.
The ‘wash wash’ technique
The swindler convinced his victim that he was able to create multiple banknotes using a special chemical solution. He put on a sophisticated show to demonstrate his alleged abilities: placing a single 50 euro note between two blank sheets of paper, he dipped everything in boiling water with his ‘chemical solution’ and brought out three 50-euro notes.
Convinced by the demonstration, the yoga teacher handed over 100,000 euros in the hope of getting 300,000 euros back. When the operation allegedly failed, the man claimed there had been an issue with the chemical, requiring an expensive ‘clean-up’ process. The victim continued to pay him substantial amounts, €220,000 in total.
On 30 June, the woman filed a complaint with the ‘brigade de répression de la délinquance astucieuse’. Investigators quickly identified the suspect from a photograph. He was arrested the same evening in the 16th arrondissement of Paris. During a search of his home in Suresnes, the police seized €1,000 in cash, a number of administrative documents and an Austin Mini. Despite his criminal record and the fact that he was under judicial supervision and prohibited from leaving the country, the man was released under judicial supervision.
He is due to appear before the Paris Criminal Court on 11 September on fraud charges.
A recurring modus operandi
The ‘wash wash’ technique is a classic scam that continues to claim victims. The swindler makes counterfeit notes by blackening pieces of paper that are cut to the size of real notes. He then claims that the black pieces of paper are actually real banknotes that have been dyed black so they can cross borders undetected. To convince his victims, the swindler uses a ‘miracle product’ that can supposedly clean these notes and demonstrates it by cleaning a real note in front of them. Once the victim is convinced, the scammer will either offer to use the counterfeit notes to pay for a big purchase, or sell the bleaching product for thousands of euros. In fact, only the demonstration note is genuine, everything else is just worthless blackened paper. The authorities point out that this type of fraud often takes advantage of emotionally vulnerable victims, as was the case here as the swindler formed a romantic relationship with his victim.