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.

Get HuffPost World On Facebook and Twitter!

Comments

[Bitsko]

There oughta be a law.

[Bitsko]

Oxford based? Time to call in Inspector Morse.

[escribacat]

It does sound like an Inspector Morse episode actually.

[gray375]

makem use soap

[Knowbetter]

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]

I think the Kennedys have earned their aristocratic status.

[KIVPossum]

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

[Knowbetter]

True.

[tailgateshirts]

Sounds like the Scientologists

[deluk]

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

Liberte, egalite, fraternite.

[Jolimont]

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]

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