The Saly Research Brigade (BR), under the Mbour gendarmerie company, has dismantled a fraudulent network operating under the Qnet banner. Six individuals, including two women, were apprehended in the act at Saly Carrefour before being brought before Prosecutor Augustin Yakhar Faye, head of the Mbour prosecutor's office.

It all started with two complaints filed by direct victims of the network. A. Diallo and Ms. A. Cissé were defrauded by officials from a Qnet office located in a private residence in Saly Carrefour. Diallo was swindled out of 1,600,000 FCFA and Cissé out of 600,000 FCFA, both duped under the pretext of enrolling in a commercial program that required the purchase of products supposedly leading to employment, according to Seneweb sources close to the prosecutor's office. These complaints specifically targeted two members of the network: J. Thiam, alias "Jeo," and Ms. M. Faye. Having taken up the case, the Saly Research Brigade immediately decided to launch an investigation.

Caught red-handed during a recruitment session

The police went to the home used as the headquarters for the network's activities, and the scene they discovered there was particularly revealing. Around sixty young people, including several foreign nationals from Mauritania, Gambia, and Mali, were gathered in the middle of a presentation of the project called "Qnet Infinity Millennials."

All had responded to job postings published by the network's organizers. Six people were immediately apprehended in the act at the scene. J. Thiam, known as "Jeo," 33, was arrested as one of the network's leaders. Alongside him, I. Ndao (25), M. Diop (27), and M. Guèye (30) were also taken into custody. Two women, K. Diack (30) and A. Barry (23), completed the list of those arrested. All were placed in police custody, while a significant amount of office equipment was seized from the premises.

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The investigation conducted by the gendarmerie uncovered a perfectly oiled fraudulent scheme. The organizers, whom they themselves refer to as "leaders," proceed methodically in two stages. They first subject candidates to training designed to build their confidence, then convince them to pay sums ranging from 400,000 to 1,000,000 FCFA for registration combined with the purchase of commercial products.

In exchange, they are promised employment and goods equivalent to the amount paid, as was the case for the plaintiffs. This is in reality a classic pyramid scheme, in which each new member is expected to recruit others to recoup their investment—a system doomed to collapse at the expense of the last entrants.

At the conclusion of the investigation, six of the accused were brought before the prosecutor in Mbour, Augustin Yakhar Faye. The charges against them are particularly serious and reflect the scale of the network's activities. They are being prosecuted for criminal conspiracy, fraud involving public savings, operating a public establishment without authorization, pyramid schemes, and migrant smuggling.

This last charge, directly linked to the presence of foreign nationals among the potential victims recruited during the session, considerably weighs down the case and confirms the transnational dimension of the network dismantled by the Mbour gendarmerie.