Society & Scandal
A Frenchman who posed as an Irish nobleman has been sentenced to five years in prison by the Nice Criminal Court after defrauding beloved French actor Dany Boon of nearly €7 million.
Thierry Fialek-Birles, 36, who called himself Lord Terry Birles of Ireland,
was convicted of fraud, forgery, and money laundering in a scam
involving fake investments, offshore accounts, and luxury yachts. He
also faces a €300,000 fine and a separate money-laundering probe in
Monaco.
Fialek-Birles convinced Boon to invest millions in a bogus yacht
management company and a non-existent tax-free financial product
supposedly tied to the Central Bank of Ireland. After years on the run,
he was finally arrested in Panama in 2024 and extradited to France.
The Nice court called the scheme “sophisticated and audacious,” while Monaco’s ongoing investigation aims to uncover whether any of the stolen funds passed through local accounts.
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