Thierry Tilly, Oxford-Based 'Guru,' Accused Of Torturing French Aristocrats

By John Lichfield, The Independent

To his followers in a large suburban Oxford house, Thierry Tilly is a "super-man" - a secret agent for a centuries-old, Da Vinci Code-style, secret society, sworn to protect the world from evil.

French investigators, though, take a different view. To them, he is a vulgar - and violent - con-artist, who has used brain-washing techniques and even torture to rob three generations of a wealthy French family.

Mr Tilly, 45, is now in custody in south-western France. He is accused of using "acts of torture and barbarism" to persuade 11 members of the aristocratic Védrines clan to hand over furniture, jewellery, paintings and property worth €3m (£2.7m) over the last eight years.

Read more at The Independent.

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Comments

[Bitsko]

06:04 PM on 11/10/2009

There oughta be a law.

[Bitsko]

05:01 PM on 11/10/2009

Oxford based? Time to call in Inspector Morse.

[escribacat]

08:10 PM on 11/10/2009

It does sound like an Inspector Morse episode actually.

[gray375]

04:44 PM on 11/10/2009

makem use soap

[Knowbetter]

03:43 PM on 11/10/2009

We don't have titled nobility in the states either, but wealthy families such as the Kennedys, Rockefellers, etc., have become a de facto "aristocracy."

Steeper nheritance taxes are one solution to this situation.

[deluk]

05:18 PM on 11/10/2009

I think the Kennedys have earned their aristocratic status.

[KIVPossum]

03:00 PM on 11/11/2009

The ones that earned the rights of aristocracy are gone. Current generation is only living off the name.

[Knowbetter]

09:26 AM on 11/12/2009

True.

[tailgateshirts]

02:00 PM on 11/10/2009

Sounds like the Scientologists

[deluk]

12:56 PM on 11/10/2009

This story is rubbish. France does not have aristocrats. Madame Guillotine removed their heads.

Liberte, egalite, fraternite.

[Jolimont]

05:42 PM on 11/10/2009

I beg to differ, we do have aristocrats in France. They're not in power any more, some of them have lost their fortunes, but there are counts and dukes and all that silly stuff still.

[deluk]

07:56 AM on 11/11/2009

OH. In that case I bow to your superior knowledge Conte de Joliment.