Scammers Impersonate French Minister Using Silicone Mask, Scamming $90 Million

In the case which has been considered as one of the most daring scams in history, one or more scammers impersonated France’s Defense Minister, Jean-Yves Le Drian, using a silicon mask and swindled $90 million from wealthy people.

Jean Yves Le Drian worked as the Defense Minister of France from 2012 to 2017. At the moment, he is the Minister of Europe and Foreign Affairs. In his country, he is an important political figure but also a relatively mysterious one. The investigators believe that is probably why he became the target of the identity thefts.

The group used cleverly decorated office and a custom silicone mask to trick wealthy businessmen and members of government into thinking that Mr. Le Drian was contacting them to request for financial aid to pay for the ransoms of journalists who had been captured in the Middle East by the Islamists. While some of the victims found the act suspicious, some still compiled and donated millions.

The scammers posed as a member of the inner circle of Le Drian and contact French as well as foreign businessmen for a conversation with “minister.”

Initially, the conversation was made through phone calls. The scammer succeeded in reproducing the voice of Le Drian to almost perfection. However, to make the whole plan become more believable, they decided to use Skype.

In the video footage, a person with a Le Drian mask can be seen sitting at a French minister desk, decorated with French flags as well as Francois Hollande’s portrait. To make it harder for the victims to see through his fake mask, “Le Drian” seated in a poorly lit room, far from the camera. Throughout the conversation, they kept saying that the video’s quality was bad and kept the conversation short.

The fake Le Drian then asked his victim for money donation to be transferred to a bank account in China.

From 2015 to 2017, multiple victims were scammed of around $90 million. According to the BBC, while an unnamed Turkish businessman donated over half of the sum, the rich Aga Khan sent about $20 million. None of the victims

wanted to discuss the matter with the press.

Mr. Le Drian’s lawyer talked about this case:

Until now, the authorities are still investigating the case. And con artist Gilbert Chikli has been identified as the prime suspect. His criminal background involves pretending to be French corporations’ CEOs to scam money. He also tried to trick the Tunisian government into paying a number of Tiger helicopters which hadn’t been ordered.

On his trip to Ukraine in 2017, Chikli was arrested.at French authorities’ request. The police discovered evidence on his phone showing that he had bought a silicone mask.

Since then, he has been detained by the French authorities. However, earlier this year, the scam started again with the same method of asking for donations from wealthy people.