The “king of the scam” fascinates the crowds. This Monday, a long queue had formed on the sixth floor of the Paris court to attend the highlight of the trial of the gang known as the "fake Le Drian": the interrogation of Gilbert Chikli, suspected of being the brain of 'a monumental scam. In 2015-2016, with the help of six accomplices who are now on trial by his side, the Franco-Israeli would have extracted tens of millions of euros from several personalities by usurping the identity of Jean-Yves Le Drian, then Minister of the defense. The false minister most often asked his interlocutors to help France pay a ransom for hostages held in Syria, and assured that they would be reimbursed in the process.
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In the box, Gilbert Chikli, now 54 years old, denied with the latest energy, a real sense of "show" - in the words of the prosecutor - and sometimes a certain aggressiveness, to be the instigator of this incredible scam. The latter cost in particular 6 million euros to the owner of the company Château Margaux, 20 million euros to the Aga Khan, spiritual leader of the Ismaili community, and 50 million euros to a Turkish businessman. . Other personalities were also approached, including the Gabonese President Ali Bongo, King Philippe of Belgium, the CEO of LVMH Bernard Arnault, Nicolas Hulot, Mgr Philippe Barbarin…
In his hoarse, very peculiar voice, the one who received in 2015 seven years in prison for “swindle in an organized gang” firmly declared: “I have absolutely nothing to do, neither by far nor by close, with all this . […] You did not hear this case, you built it ” . The 50-something said he knew the "protagonists of this case" but that "we should not count on [him] to try to bring these people before French justice" . He also refused to answer when the president asked him if before his arrest in Ukraine, in August 2017, he was trying to commit a scam at ... "false Prince Albert" in Monaco. Before finally adding: "Nothing has happened in Ukraine".
The extraordinary balance of the false "Le Drian"
The voice of Gilbert Chikli, precisely, was the subject of intense debates during the hearing this Monday afternoon. Despite opposition from the defendant and his lawyer, the court listened to ten recordings of conversations between one of the crooks and his targets. With extraordinary aplomb, the man on the phone - whom Gilbert Chikli denies being - suggests to the financial director of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry (CCI) of Landes to postpone his vacation, enjoins the prefect of Drôme to write to a business manager to thank him for his participation, ask the Aga Khan to tell him how much money he sent "because we cannot reimburse something you have not paid" ...
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The 13th Chamber also devoted a large part of the afternoon to the different expert opinions of voices based on these same conversations. “The four expert reports put forward the same hypothesis; there is a high probability that it is Gilbert Chilki ” , underlined Me Delphine Meillet, the lawyer of Jean-Yves Le Drian and four of his former collaborators - all absent at the trial. For its part, the defendant's defense firmly contested these analyzes, which "do not provide certainty" , according to Me Stéphane Sebag. "What do you want me to tell you?" [The experts] are wrong. I don't believe in these techniques, ” added Gilbert Chikli. “Today, I am in trouble; just have a deep voice like me or pretend to be me, then do all the scams, and then say 'it's Gilbert'? It's a little too easy! ”
