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Swindler of French aristocrats gets 8 years
Source: Agencies |
November 14, 2012, Wednesday
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A MAN described as a modern-day Rasputin was convicted yesterday of brainwashing three generations of an aristocratic French family for nearly a decade, swindling them of their fortune and their manor.
Thierry Tilly, who was sentenced to eight years in prison by a court in Bordeaux, became a confidante of the landed Vedrines family in 2000 in a case that has both riveted and shocked the nation.
Over nine years, the man who local media dubbed "the guru" manipulated the family of 11 - aged from 16 to 89 - into believing there was a secret masonic plot against their lives, according to court testimony.
Family members were so convinced of his story that they locked themselves inside their chateau for several years, terrified they would be killed. They sold their possessions - including the family manor - and handed over 4.5 million euros (US$5.7 million).
French media reported the money was poured into a fake Canadian charity Tilly claimed was set up to pay the Vedrines' "protectors."
The French-born Tilly was convicted of arbitrary detention, using violence against vulnerable people and abusing people weakened by "psychological subjection."
History of lies
"Eight years is a small price to pay for what he did to our family and children," Christine de Vedrines, a family member who had alerted police to Thierry, told the Sipa news agency. "The trial is behind us and we will do everything to rebuild."
His accomplice, Jacques Gonzalez, was sentenced to four years in prison.
Tilly's lawyer had argued the family from the 13th-century village of Monflanquin had acted willingly.
"These 11 family members aren't ill, have their feet on the ground, a level of self-awareness. Eleven people manipulated by mysterious forces by a single man? The legal basis for case is weak," lawyer Alexandre Novion said.
Novion denounced testimony about the family's mental state, saying a man's freedom should not depend on "an old Freud tome found in a psychoanalyst's attic." He also said Gonzalez was the ringleader and absconded with all the money.
Although Tilly was deemed mentally stable during his trial, French media have reported he has a history of lies and exaggerations. Tilly claimed before the Bordeaux court he was a member of the Habsburg dynasty.
Thierry Tilly, who was sentenced to eight years in prison by a court in Bordeaux, became a confidante of the landed Vedrines family in 2000 in a case that has both riveted and shocked the nation.
Over nine years, the man who local media dubbed "the guru" manipulated the family of 11 - aged from 16 to 89 - into believing there was a secret masonic plot against their lives, according to court testimony.
Family members were so convinced of his story that they locked themselves inside their chateau for several years, terrified they would be killed. They sold their possessions - including the family manor - and handed over 4.5 million euros (US$5.7 million).
French media reported the money was poured into a fake Canadian charity Tilly claimed was set up to pay the Vedrines' "protectors."
The French-born Tilly was convicted of arbitrary detention, using violence against vulnerable people and abusing people weakened by "psychological subjection."
History of lies
"Eight years is a small price to pay for what he did to our family and children," Christine de Vedrines, a family member who had alerted police to Thierry, told the Sipa news agency. "The trial is behind us and we will do everything to rebuild."
His accomplice, Jacques Gonzalez, was sentenced to four years in prison.
Tilly's lawyer had argued the family from the 13th-century village of Monflanquin had acted willingly.
"These 11 family members aren't ill, have their feet on the ground, a level of self-awareness. Eleven people manipulated by mysterious forces by a single man? The legal basis for case is weak," lawyer Alexandre Novion said.
Novion denounced testimony about the family's mental state, saying a man's freedom should not depend on "an old Freud tome found in a psychoanalyst's attic." He also said Gonzalez was the ringleader and absconded with all the money.
Although Tilly was deemed mentally stable during his trial, French media have reported he has a history of lies and exaggerations. Tilly claimed before the Bordeaux court he was a member of the Habsburg dynasty.
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