`Guru goes on trial for 'brainwashing' …when does the Government goes on trial?
‘He was the da Vinci of mental manipulation’: Guru goes on trial for ‘brainwashing’ French aristocratic family out of £3.6m fortune
- Thierry Tilly is accused of defrauding 11 members of the Védrines family
- He allegedly told them they were in mortal danger and he’d protect them
- Tilly denies persuading victims to part with property, savings and jewellery
A guru has gone on trial in France accused of keeping three generations of an aristocratic family under his ‘mental spell’ and defrauding them of their £3.6million fortune.
Thierry Tilly is said to have persuaded the Védrines family that he was a Nato ‘master spy’, a confidante of presidents, a financial genius, and the representative of an ancient order which fights the forces of evil.
The 48-year-old, from Oxford, is accused of using brainwashing techniques and violence to convince them that they were in mortal danger from a cabal of freemasons, a European secret society and paedophiles.
Prosecutors have called Tilly, who told 11 members of the family that he could protect them, the ‘Leonardo da Vinci of mental manipulation’.
If convicted, Mr Tilly could face a 10-year prison term and €750,000 (£600,000) fine. Jacques Gonzalez, 65, his alleged accomplice, could face a five-year sentence.
The court in Bordeaux heard that Mr Tilly used his ‘superior intelligence’ to ingratiate himself with the family.