A French court in Paris convicted two Israeli citizens and sentenced them to 11 years in jail for stealing 55 million euros, claiming that they worked on behalf of the French defense minister and needed money to pay a ransom to liberate two kidnapped French citizens in the Levant.
Based on the court’s ruling, Gilbert Chikli, 54, and Anthony Lasarevitsch, 35 - influenced by the methods of ISIS - were the masterminds of the scam.
Both of them have conducted Skype conversations with about 150 businessmen and wealthy people, and they have mentioned that there was a secret French hostage-taking in Syria.
The scheme, which took place from 2015 to 2016, involved fraudsters posing as Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian to ask politicians and executives for financial aid for what they described as secret operations by the French state.
They ran the talks from a house in Ashdod, southern Israel. The calls were organized from a room decorated with the French flag and behind them the image of the President of the French Republic. Each presented himself as the director of the French Defense Minister’s office and that Le Drian was asking for financial assistance to pay the ransom of the French hostages, under the condition of confidentiality.
Prosecutors say the Aga Khan, spiritual leader of Ismaili Muslims, fell into the trap in 2016 and made five transfers for a total of 20 million euros to Poland and China. Three of the payments were frozen, but 7.7 million euros disappeared.
A few months later, Turkish business magnate Inan Kirac was allegedly convinced to wire more than $47 million.
The Paris court sentenced Chikli to 11 years of imprisonment, and Lasarevitsch to seven years and to a fine of one million euros each.
