Kidnapped in Nice in October 2016, millionaire Jacqueline Veyrac, then 76 years old, was found safe and sound, tied up in a van.
From Monday January 4 to January 29, the accused will have to answer for their acts towards the owner of the gastronomic restaurant "La Réserve" and of the "Grand Hotel" in Cannes who, in 2013, had already been the victim of a first kidnapping attempt .
In total, fourteen people were sent to the Alpes-Maritimes Assize Court for having played a role in the kidnapping of the businesswoman, with varying degrees of involvement: the gang organized itself with, from on one side, the thinking heads, and on the other, the performers.
The main defendants face life imprisonment for kidnapping and forcible confinement committed in an organized gang.
Overview of the kidnappers' profiles.
Read also: An incredible kidnapping in front of the Nice assizes
Guiseppe Serena, the former Italian restaurateur, 67 years old
He's the supposed brain of the gang.
On the first day of the trial, Monday January 4, he introduced himself as "
retired
", reports
Nice-Matin
: "
Before, I was a restaurateur.
I am of Italian nationality, originally from the province of Turin
”, he declared.
Born in Salassa, a small village north of Turin, he tried to break into politics, planned to build a casino, then finally decided to move to Nice, where he had been living for 30 years.
With his companion, the Finnish chef Jouni Törmänen, he moved to “L'Atelier du Taste”, a very popular address in Nice.
Spotted by Jacqueline Veyrac, the couple agreed to take over their restaurant "La Réserve" in 2007. But the collaboration came to an end: plunging the establishment into abysmal ruin, the Italian was ousted from the restaurant in Veyrac for its poor management. financial.
Looking for new projects, he plans in 2016 to buy the restaurant "Coco Beach", located opposite "La Réserve", but, lack of funds, the sale was about to be canceled.
Since her incarceration, Serena has multiplied requests for release, fiercely denying any involvement in the kidnapping of Jacqueline Veyrac.
However, all the other defendants point the finger at him.
Regularly invoking his fragile health, he did not fail to recall it during his trial, reports
France Inter
: “
I have diabetes, I have one less lung
[withdrawn from cancer]
, we Installed me a defibrillator.
But despite everything, I have still been in prison for 4 years!
".
At the end of the trial, Guiseppe Serena faces life imprisonment.
Philip Dutton, former British special forces soldier, 51
Of English nationality, Philip Dutton's career is one of the most incredible.
A former British special forces soldier, he has traveled all over the world and claims to have fought in Iraq, Afghanistan and Bosnia.
However, on the first day of the trial, he introduced himself as a "construction
worker
".
He also designated himself as the “
operational manager
” of the kidnapping project.
Homeless for a long time on the island of Jersey, at the time of the events, he was a night watchman on a beach in Nice.
Philip Dutton admitted calling the victim's son on his mother's phone to demand a ransom.
He also allegedly asked for 5 million euros by sending an SMS, but the message never left.
This former soldier is also being prosecuted for the 2013 kidnapping attempt on Jacqueline Veyrac.
Like Serana, Dutton faces life imprisonment.
According to
Le Parisien
, he has also already been sentenced by the British justice to 8 years in prison for rape.
Enrico Fontanella, Serena's former butler and childhood friend
A Piedmontese in his sixties and an old friend “
of 40 years
” of Serena, Enrico Fontanella was for a long time a butler.
It was he who allegedly introduced most of the accused to Serena.
Giuseppe Serena hoped that Enrico Fontanella would find in Jersey, where the latter lives, "
an investment company which could be interested
" in the takeover of the hotel-restaurant "Le Masque de fer", on an island opposite Cannes , reports
AFP.
On the island, Fontanella, guardian of a chapel, will only meet Dutton: according to
Le Parisien
, the two friends met at the Sanctuary House, a place of accommodation for the most deprived.
Absent from his trial for health problems, according to his lawyer, Enrico Fontanella is currently in a wheelchair and should undergo dialysis three days a week.
He is also due to undergo surgery in mid-January.
Because of his state of health, his case was therefore disjointed.
According to the prosecution, the Serena-Dutton-Fontanella trio have already tried for the first time to kidnap Jacqueline Veyrac in 2013.
Luc Goursolas, the detective nicknamed "Tintin", 50 years old
Nicknamed "Tintin", Luc Goursolas had several hats.
Initially a news photographer for
Nice-Matin
according to
Le Parisien
, he also worked for the firefighters before becoming paparazzi in Nice then a private detective.
Facing financial difficulties, contacted by Philip Dutton, he would have agreed to put under Jacqueline Veyrac's personal car GPS beacons linked to her phone.
Read also: The mysterious kidnapping of the discreet heiress of the Grand Hotel de Cannes
Ali Gueffaz, alias "Ali the blue eyes", 34 years old
He is one of four Tunisians recruited from the popular Moulins district.
Without a profession and nicknamed by the other members of the gang "Ali the blue eyes", the latter admitted that he had come to check for a third party if the vehicle was still there.
Amedeo Urso, the foal of Fontanella
Young Italian hired to expand the ranks of the shock team, Amedeo Urso follows in the footsteps of his mentor Enrico Fontanella.
But, according to
Le Parisien
, he was quickly removed from key positions.
Salim Bousbia, the one-legged electrician
He is part of the gang from the Moulins district and, since a car accident, he has been nailed to a disabled chair.
Calling himself an electrician, he would be nicknamed “
the Hindu
” and his two other acolytes, Ben Hamroun and Ben Fekih, “
Dentless
” and “
Longo
”.
He allegedly served as an intermediary by introducing the leader of the gang, Ali Gueffaz, to Serena.
He would have been approached, according to
Le Parisien
, by Fontanella while the latter was at the heliomarin center of Vallauris after having had his left leg amputated.
He denies any involvement.
Wejdi Ben Hamroun, the house painter, 32 years old
A house painter, he is accused, like his three other colleagues in the Moulins district, of having committed the kidnapping.
Bassem Ben Fekih, from the Moulins gang, 28 years old
The fourth member of the Moulins neighborhood gang, like the other executors, he appeared before the courts for "
arrest, kidnapping, kidnapping or arbitrary detention of a hostage to obtain the execution of an order or a condition, committed in a gang organized
”.
Of the fourteen people tried for the kidnapping of Jacqueline Veyrac, five young Chechens, aged 21 to 23, were also sent back to the assizes: initially recruited to commit the kidnapping and ensure kidnapping, they ultimately did not commit the kidnapping, but their DNA prints remained on the van.
Achraf M'Hamdi, Kabil Raouafi, Turpal Aidamirov, Ilias Khamzatovich Gazgueriev and Khalid Rechedov will therefore appear free before the judge for non-denunciation of a crime.