2024

One of the intruders from 2004 (of Mrs Fristedt’s apartment) was in 2009 sentenced for 18 months imprisonment for BREACH OF TRUST and SWINDLING against her employer in Monaco.

The Criminal Court writes: IN ABSENCE OF ANY PRIOR CONVICTIONS, THE SENTENCE IS SUSPENDED and the fraudster is placed on probation for a period of three years.

One thing is certain: if she had been prosecuted for the theft – among other crimes – of Mrs Fristedt’s belongings in 2004, the sentence would NOT have been suspended!

She is now on Facebook under the false name of CHAHZADA.


Update of 19 September 2011 due to new events:

Comments:

August is for sure the most quiet month in Monaco, regarding jurisdictional activities, since most law firms and the consulates are closed during the judicial holidays.

This is a constant fact, not a new one, and it is clear that many another take advantage of it.

For example, the swindler and sleeping / silent partner of the present scandal managed to take over the real estate and goods of third party just when the holidays started, by the end of July, early August 2004.

The criminal trial – highly embarrassing for the police and the prosecution’s office – that was held against this very swindler in 2009 also took place in August, in order to keep interested people from learning about the disastrous ways with which Monaco has handled the various felonies committed by this individual since 2004, and who despite written warnings in time, received by the police in May 2004, was able to act freely – like with a “carte blanche” – with her accomplices and co-authors. An unheard of fiasco for the implicated authorities.

However, a witness was present in the court room on this 11th of August 2009:
Translation from the original French letter:

Report from today’s criminal trial, in Monaco.

In spite of certain difficulties due to the reticence of a guard in the lobby of the Palais de Justice (Courthouse). He told me they were closed for holidays!!!!
We were few people inside the court room. Only the persons concerned by today’s trials were present. We had to wait until 11:00 a.m. before the arrival of the Tribunal. The other people were the prosecutor and two defense lawyers. Shahzada was seated in the back of the court room during the first four trials. The trial against her began around 12:30-45 p.m.

Shahzada took the stand, followed by her companion, who was seated during the hearings. This man was her new employer, according to her defense lawyer’s speech for the defense.
The president went through a quantity of crimes committed by Shahzada:
Amendments in the accountancy, fake bills, credit card frauds, ticket manipulations, thefts of cash, direct receiving of payments in cash, and other felonies.
Total : 200.000 euros.

Shahzada spoke of « her clients » and the president reminded her that she was merely an employee, salaried for her work and that the clients were those of the travel agency.
Three witnesses were called : Mrs Danino + two gentlemen. These two were former clients who had lost money in this case.
[…]
Judgment on the 22 of September.
Drawn up the 11 of August 2009 in […]
[signed]


[Unclear stamp]
CRIMINAL COURT

[Stamp:] CERTIFIED PHOTOCOPY
2008/001551`
[Handwritten]
R.6523

DECISION OF 22 SEPTEMBER 2009

In the case of the PUBLIC PROSECUTOR’S OFFICE,

Versus:

Charlotte SHAHZADA, […], born on 21 May 1961 at HELLE (Iraq), to […], of French nationality, travel agent, residing at […] NICE (06200);

Accused of:

BREACH OF TRUST
SWINDLING

– present at the proceedings, assisted by Maître Nino PARRAVICINI, lawyer at the Nice bar and addressing the court through the aforementioned lawyer;

In the presence of:

the Monaco limited company [société anonyme] GROUPE PLATINIUM, carrying out its business under the name MONTE-CARLO TRAVEL, 1, avenue Princesse Grace, Monaco, plaintiff, represented by its President Mrs Elise DANINO,born on […] residing at […]MONACO, appearing in person;

Mr [name], born […] 1970 in NICE (06), of French nationality, chauffeur, residing at […]VILLEFRANCHE-SUR-MER, plaintiff, appearing in person;

Mr [name], born […] 1969 in NICE […]VALLAURIS , of French nationality, corporate manager, […] plaintiff, appearing in person;

THE COURT, sitting as a criminal court, after proceedings in the hearing of 11 August 2009;

Given the procedure registered with the Public Prosecutor’s Office under number 2008/001551;

Given the registered writ of summons from Claire NOTARI, bailiff, dated 30 March 2009;

The defendant’s replies having been heard:

The applications and statements of Mrs Elise DANINO, representing the Monaco limited company GROUPE PLATINIUM, carrying out its business under the name MONTE-CARLO TRAVEL, plaintiff, having been heard;

The applications and statements of Mr [name], plaintiff, having been heard;

The applications and statements of – Mr [name], plaintiff, having been heard;

The requisitions of the Public Prosecutor’s Office having been heard;

Maître Nino PARRAVICINI, lawyer at the Nice bar and duly authorised by the Court to assist the defendant in putting forwards the grounds of defence, pleadings and conclusions filed at the hearing on 11 August 2009, having been heard;

And finally, the defendant’s grounds of defence having been heard;

Mrs Charlotte SHAHZADA is prosecuted for the crime of:

“ Having in MONACO in 2007, 2008, and in any event for a period not covered by the statute of limitations, misappropriated or squandered, to the detriment of the Monaco limited company GROUPE PLATINIUM, the rightful owner, sums that had only been handed to her as deposits, payments that were given to her in her position as an employee of the Monaco limited company GROUPE PLATINIUM by customers of that company, these totalling over Euro 10,000,

A CRIMINAL OFFENCE provided for and controlled by article 337 of the Criminal Code;Having in MONACO in 2007, 2008, and in any event for a period not covered by the statute of limitations,

received, by fraudulent means, in this case by dishonestly claiming extra fees in her position as an employee of the Monaco limited company GROUPE PLATINIUM from the customers of the latter, sums that she subsequently cashed for personal use after having forged the invoices, to the detriment of:

[name]
[name]
[name]

A CRIMINAL OFFENCE provided for and controlled by article 330 of the Criminal Code”.

At the hearing, the Monaco limited company GROUPE PLATINIUM, duly represented, filed a civil suit and requested that the Court order the defendant to pay it the sums of Euro 3,826.04 and Euro 12,000 in damages to compensate for the loss sustained.

Messrs [name] and [name] also filed civil suits and requested that the Court sentence the defendant to pay them the sums of Euro 150 and Euro 1,270 for the former and Euro 1,500 for the latter in damages to compensate for the loss sustained.

On the criminal proceedings,

Mrs Charlotte SHAHZADA admits to having wrongly misappropriated over Euro 10,000 from the MONTE CARLO TRAVEL agency, operated by the Monaco limited company GROUPE PLATINIUM, by whom she was employed from 11 February 2005 as a travel agent.

The enquiry has enabled it to be ascertained that the defendant largely kept payments in cash made by customers, subsequently replacing these by credit card payments carried out by improperly using a card number given to her in confidence by an important agency customer.

Police investigations also showed that Mrs Charlotte SHAHZADA did not hesitate to demand fictitious fees, asking for these in cash, sometimes at meetings held outside MONTE CARLO TRAVEL premises. For example, Mr [name] paid her Euro 1,500 in the Café Métropole, supposedly to enable a local intermediary to obtain a room change in India. Mr [name] was asked for Euro 300 for a change to his trip that he could have obtained at no charge. Lastly, Mr [name] spent Euro 150 in order to change the date of departure of his flight when his ticket was non-amendable.[…]

The manager of the agency nevertheless stated to the Court that after the sum of Euro 6,000 disappeared, which Mrs Charlotte SHAHZADA rapidly repaid after stating that she had lost it, she had kept the employee on out of compassion, her heart being touched by her tears and an account of her supposedly difficult situation, but that despite this, the misappropriations continued, to her detriment.

The third-party claim appears to be fully justified in the light of the abovementioned facts.

Taking into account the seriousness of the facts and in view of the substantial nature of the loss incurred, the number of victims, the length of the period over which these cunning operations were carried out and the abuse of the renewed trust that her employer placed in her despite the existence of a deplorable prior episode, a sentence of eighteen months’ imprisonment shall be imposed.

Nevertheless, in the absence of any prior convictions, Mrs Charlotte SHAHZADA’s sentence shall be suspended, but she shall be placed on conditional probation in order to make it easier for her to pay back her victims and avoid the repetition of similar offences in the future.

On the civil proceedings,

On the application of the Monaco limited company GROUPE PLATINIUM:

The offences undoubtedly cause substantial commercial loss to the Monaco limited company GROUPE PLATINIUM, which had to reimburse some customers, such as Mr [name], for the overcharging that they had suffered, or write off payments supposedly collected by the agency but misappropriated by the defendant.

The latter has, moreover, admitted to having appropriated commissions that should have been payable to her employer on sums paid in cash and retained by her.

Lastly, the Monaco limited company GROUPE PLATINIUM has lost the customer whose credit card number was wrongfully used and which alone generated turnover of over Euro 200,000 a year, which clearly involves a loss that is directly related to the offences committed.

In view of these facts, the Court finds itself able to set the amount to be paid in compensation at the sum of Euro 15,000.

On the application of Mr [name]:

In paying Mrs Charlotte SHAHZADA Euro 150 to defer the departure date on his plane ticket when this operation was in reality forbidden right from the moment the ticket was bought, Mr [name] suffered a loss equivalent to the loss of the chance to take the flight he initially paid for.

This loss, supplemented by the payment that was wrongly taken, justifies allocation of the sum of Euro 650 as damages.

On the application of Mr [name]:

Mr [name] was able to take the trip to India he had planned, while benefiting from the allocation of the sums wrongly paid to Mrs Charlotte SHAHZADA on the price of the trip he bought. His is essentially a non-pecuniary loss and shall be compensated by the award of damages of Euro 200.

ON THESE GROUNDS,

THE COURT, adjudicating after hearing both parties,

On the public prosecution,

Declares Mrs Charlotte SHAHZADA, […] guilty of the offences with which she has been charged;

In enforcement of the law, applying articles 330, 337, 396 and following of the Criminal Code,

Gives her A SUSPENDED SENTENCE OF EIGHTEEN MONTHS IN PRISON, the convicted person having received the warning laid down in article 404 of the Criminal Code;

Orders that she should be placed on probation for a period of three years with the requirement that she:

– makes good any damages resulting from the offence,

– does not visit gambling establishments;

On the civil prosecution,

Accepts the civil suit of the Monaco limited company GROUPE PLATINIUM, carrying out its business under the name MONTE CARLO TRAVEL, duly represented, and declaring its application well founded in part, sentences Mrs Charlotte SHAHZADA, […] to pay it the sum of Euro 15,000 in damages.

Accepts the civil suit of Mr [name], and declaring his application well founded in part, sentences Mrs Charlotte SHAHZADA, […] to pay him the sum of Euro 650 in damages.

Accepts the civil suit of Mr [name], and declaring his application well founded in part, sentences Mrs Charlotte SHAHZADA, […] to pay him the sum of Euro 200 in damages.

Also sentences her to pay costs;

Sets the period of her detention at the minimum level;

This decision was given at a public hearing of the District Court in the Monaco Law Courts, by Mr Marcel TASTEVIN, Vice-President (President), Mrs Muriel DORATO-CHICOURAS, Vice-President Chevalier de l’Ordre de Saint-Charles [Knight of the Order of Saint-Charles] (associate judge), Ms Magali GHENASSIA, Magistrate (associate judge), brought in to supplement the Court in accordance with article 16 of law 783 of 15 July 1965, and delivered on the twenty-second of September two thousand and nine, with the same members except for Ms Magali GHENASSIA, Magistrate, in application of article 390 paragraph 2 of the same code, in the presence of Mr Michaël BONNET, Assistant Public Prosecutor, assisted by Mrs Joël JEZ-ANDRIEU, Clerk of the Court.-

[Signed] [Signed] [Signed]

To be continued…