Thierry Tilly: The Famous Con Man of Monflanquin

Unique Case of Manipulation

Starting in the year 2000 and lasting until 2009, a French aristocratic family was manipulated by a con man named Thierry Tilly. Eleven members of the family of notable aristocrats suffered from his mental influence. The con man made them believe that they were being threatened by a conspiracy.

He was so cunning that he extracted nearly 4.5 million euros from them. Mr. Tilly met with a family member of the de Védrines family and managed to connect with other family members. He used his silver tongue to persuade the de Védrines that their lives were in danger and convinced them he was the only one who could save them.

It seems like the plot of a mediocre Hollywood movie, but it isn't. This one French con artist had the entire Vedrine family under his thumb for nearly 10 years.

The de Védrines Family

The de Védrines are aristocrats that come from a Protestant family established in Agencies. Guillemette de Vedrines, who was born in 1912, had three children: Philippe, Ghislaine, and Charles-Henri de Védrines.

Philippe worked for an oil company. At the time of the event, he was in his sixties and lived with his wife, Brigitte Loriot-Martin. Ghislaine was running a secretarial school in Paris. She was married to an economic journalist with two children. Charles-Henri was an obstetrician in Bordeaux and married to Christine, a documentarian by profession.

Thierry Tilly: The Con Man

The con man, Thierry Tilly, was born in Boise-Columbus, a city northwest of Paris. He led a relatively normal life, and after high school, he enrolled in college to study law. Unfortunately, his ambitions of becoming a lawyer were dashed when he dropped out just a few months after enrolling.

Despite the 35-year-old Tilly's raspy voice and pasty face, he married a woman named Jessica Diener, who was a model. During his first meeting with Ghislaine, he appeared to exude confidence, another con artist trick.

Two of his former associates also claimed that Tilly had defrauded them.

The Encounter

It was Ghislaine who first met with Tilly. She gave him a job as a deputy director. Eventually, he became her right hand, and she introduced him to the rest of the family. She shared every detail about the family and their property with Tilly. After winning the hearts of other family members, he offered to become their financial adviser.

Tilly presented himself as a descendant of the Austro-Hungarian Habsburg nobility and claimed that his communist grandmother had "salons" with former socialist president François Mitterrand. And they all believed him.

Tale of Manipulation

Tilly became the right-hand man of the entire family and started his manipulations, which looked to be already scripted in his mind. He claimed that the de Védrines were soon to become the victims of conspiracies. In September 2001, he persuaded 11 members of the group to seek refuge in their family castle in Monflanquin for their safety.

Jean Marchand (Ghislaine's husband) was left out by their relatives, whom Tilly revealed to be a partner of their enemies. The 11 family members included Guillemette, the matriarch, who was 88 years old at the time, her three children (two sons and one daughter), two daughters-in-law, and five grandchildren.

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As per Thierry Tilly's script, Ghislaine and her family's lives might be in danger; he convinced them that the Freemasons were focused on getting their land. Tilly appeared to have some knowledge of the dark side, and when they asked him about the field he had worked in before, he answered with one palm raised: "Do not inquire. I cannot discuss it."

Family's Behavior Changes

Neighbors of the de Védrines family said that they were living a pretty normal life before they met with Mr. Tilly. The de Védrines were a well-liked and well-respected family. It was mid-2001 when the 11 members cut their ties with all of their friends and family.

The de Védrines began shunning everyone in their lives, even their spouses and children. On January 4, 2002, a neighbor came to see what was wrong. They didn't open the door. She looked through the window and saw them all sitting motionless in the dark. No one was allowed to visit their house. If someone tried to enter through the gate, they started shouting and even attacked some visitors.

Consequences

Since all the de Védrines family quit their jobs, they stopped paying taxes. In 2003, the tax authority seized their property's furniture. Tilly managed to convince the family to sign over all their property to him. But after 2001, Tilly had been missing in action; he was giving them orders from a distance, and they all became puppets in his hands.

Ghislaine's husband was the only one in the family who was able to get out of the trap. He tried to alert the authorities, but the de Védrines kicked him out of the castle.

When Thierry ran into significant legal problems in France, he began shifting his base to England. Philippe de Védrines and his wife left the group in February 2008. Tilly forced the other nine de Védrines to move to Oxford.

Thierry's family and the de Védrines were living together in Oxford. The aristocrats were now penniless. Christine worked as a caterer's salesperson, and Charles-Henri, the former obstetrician, had to work as a gardener; their salaries went into Tilly's account.

Physical Abuse

Of all that was done to the de Védrines, the most serious was the physical abuse of Christine (the wife of Charles-Henri). Tilly convinced the de Védrines that Christine was hiding treasure from them. One of the family members tied her to a stool for two weeks and prevented her from sleeping.

With the help of her employer, Robert Pouget, Christine was able to leave Oxford. He listened to her entire story of torture and the endless list of family possessions that had been lost. In March 2009, she arrived in Bordeaux and met with lawyer Danial Picotin, where she told her story.

The Trial

Thierry Tilly's good fortune was about to end. He became a target after Christine's testimony, and the French government brought charges against Tilly in response to claims of torture and abuse. When Tilly traveled to Zurich on October 21, 2009, he was arrested, and the events that followed quickly brought the de Védrines back together.

He has been prosecuted by the French justice system for abuse, fraud, kidnapping with torture, and fraud. In 2012, he received an eight-year prison term and was ordered to compensate his victims. Jacques Gonzalez, his accomplice, was sentenced to four years in prison. Tilly's sentence was extended to 10 years in jail following an appeal in 2013.

Quick Facts

• Ghislaine de Vedrine denounced her husband, Jean Marchand, under the influence of the con man.
• Jean Marchand found an email from Thierry to Ghislaine that included the following instructions: "Throw the glove and flowers his way to inform him that these are indications that his network is evil and give him 30 minutes to pack."
• Philippe de Védrines and Brigitte Loriot-Martin (the elder son and daughter-in-law) left the group in 2008 and refused to go to Oxford with Tilly.
• The conman had taken everything from Christine—her engagement ring, poems and notes to her late parents, and the Mother's Day cards from her children. All these things were in a suitcase taken to Oxford.
• The television film Wicked Game is about a French family who is swayed by a manipulator. The year 1997 served as the backdrop for the film, right around the time Tilly first met the de Védrines.

Sources

• The Case of Recluses of Monflanquin | Wikipedia
  
• How a Conman Lured French Aristocrat | The Guardian
  
• Aristocrats and Demons | Vanity Fair
  

© 2023 EK Jadoon