One of France‘s top film stars is suing an allegedly fake Irish aristocrat who he claims scammed him out of millions.
Dany Boon, 59, has made allegations that Thierry Fialek-Birles duped him out of nearly €7million (£6.04million) involving luxury yachts, offshore accounts and claims of connections to Monaco’s royal family.
Boon claims in a case that will be heard next month in France that Thierry Fialek-Birles passed himself off an an Oxford-educated ‘Irish lord from an ancient family’ to scam him at least twice.
Birles, who Boon says charmed his way into the Royal Cork Yacht Club in Ireland, is alleged to have convinced him in November 2021 to hire him to oversee the renovation of a recently purchased yacht valued at €3.5million.
Birles allegedly boosted his credentials by claiming to be a master mariner and a maritime lawyer.
After being wooed, Boon transferred €2.2million to South Seas Merchants Mariners Ltd. (SSMM), a Dublin-registered firm that Birles claimed his family had run for more than a century.
Just a few months later, Birles allegedly persuaded Boon to invest a further €4.5million into a made-up ‘Irish Central Bank’ scheme that he claimed would offer tax-free returns of 3.25% per year.
Boon is said to have become suspicious of Birles following an anonymous tip-off from someone claiming to be a past victim.
Dany Boon (pictured), one of France ‘s top film stars, is suing an allegedly fake Irish aristocrat who he claims scammed him out of millions
Thierry Fialek-Birles (pictured) allegedly duped him out of nearly €7million (£6.04million) involving luxury yachts, offshore accounts and claims of connections to Monaco’s royal family
After he asked for his money back, Birles claimed SSMM had been sold to an Italian family and told Boon to sue them for his mission money.
Birles is said to have then vanished, forcing Boon to hire two private detectives to track him down.
They reportedly revealed that the so-called ‘lord’ held at least two passports and ran several firms.
He was also said to have addresses in Paris, Roquebrune-Cap-Martin on the French Riviera, Monaco, the West Indian island of St Kitts, and Guadeloupe.
They also revealed he went by another alias, Commodore Sir Thierry Waterford-Mandeville of the West Indies Yacht Club.
Boon lawyered up, hiring top barrister Rossa Fannins, who later became Ireland’s attorney general, and set about suing Birles in Ireland.
Dublin’s High Court froze Birles’ assets three years ago, impounding a yacht and a classic motorboat, while another boat was seized in Genoa.
Last February, he was arrested in Panama on an Interpol warrant before being extradited to France six months later, where he remains in custody.
Boon’s trial on charges of fraud, money laundering and forgery opens in Nice on September 26.
Boon claims in a case that will be heard next month in France that Thierry Fialek-Birles passed himself off an an Oxford-educated ‘Irish lord from an ancient family’
After being wooed, Boon transferred €2.2million to South Seas Merchants Mariners Ltd. (SSMM), a Dublin-registered firm that Birles claimed his family had run for more than a century
Despite the allegations, Birles has continued to run a website promoting his seafaring experience.
He was described in a post this month as ‘running his sea-weathered hands along the restored hull of a yacht’.
The post adds that he ‘believes in outside-the-box thinking to conquer new markets for businesses, always in a tax-efficient manner’.
Share or comment on this article:
French film star is ‘duped out of €7million’ by ‘fake Irish aristocrat’ in alleged luxury yacht scam