{"id":26402,"date":"2022-12-01T09:00:57","date_gmt":"2022-12-01T08:00:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.radiotimes.com\/?p=1747534"},"modified":"2022-12-01T12:52:42","modified_gmt":"2022-12-01T11:52:42","slug":"where-is-gilbert-chikli-the-masked-scammer-now","status":"publish","type":"rss_feed","link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/rss_feed\/where-is-gilbert-chikli-the-masked-scammer-now\/","title":{"rendered":"Where is Gilbert Chikli, the Masked Scammer now?"},"content":{"rendered":"

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By Grace Henry\n \t\t<\/p>

Published: Thursday, 01 December 2022 at 12:00 am<\/p>

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Netflix is looking into the crimes of French con artist Gilbert Chikli in its brand new documentary The Masked Scammer.<\/p>\n

Featuring interviews with his accomplices and victims as well, the film explores how the master conman scammed French elites out of millions of euros.<\/p>\n

Using the disguise of the then-French Minister of Defence Jean-Yves Le Drian, Chikli managed to fool his victims, persuading them to voluntarily transfer him more than 80 million euros.<\/p>\n

So, where is Gilbert Chikli today? Here\u2019s everything you need to know about Chikli\u2019s current whereabouts.<\/p>\n

Who is Gilbert Chikli?<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Gilbert Chikli, 56, is one of France\u2019s biggest known conmen, who managed to extort wealthy French politicians, entrepreneurs and religious figures out of more than 80 million euros.<\/p>\n

Chikli worked alongside Anthony Lasarevitsch, 37.<\/p>\n

Using a silicone mask in the likeness of Jean-Yves Le Drian, who is now France\u2019s Foreign Minister, but was the Minister of Defence at the time \u2013 the pair were able to scam French elites out of their money.<\/p>\n

The scheme, which took place from 2015 to 2016, involved fraudsters posing as Le Drian to ask politicians and executives for financial aid for what they described as secret operations by the French state.<\/p>\n

They would appear in video conferences sitting at a fake official desk and wearing a dark suit and the mask of Le Drian, while making calls by phone and video links to more than 150 targets \u2013 three of whom were successfully duped.<\/p>\n

\"""\"<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div>
The Masked Scammer.<\/span><\/figcaption> Netflix<\/i><\/span><\/div>\n

As reported by The Guardian<\/a>, the Aga Khan \u2013\u00a0Imam of the Shia Ismaili Muslims \u2013 was conned by a Le Drian impersonator in 2016 and transferred a total of \u00a317.5 million to Poland and China. Three of the payments were frozen, but \u00a36.7 million disappeared.<\/p>\n

Turkish business tycoon Inan Kirac was also convinced to send more than \u00a336.5 million in what he thought was ransom money for two journalists held hostage in Syria.<\/p>\n

In 2015, a French court convicted Chikli in absentia to seven years in prison for similar scams in 2005 and 2006, in which he posed as business chief executives.<\/p>\n

He was arrested two years later while on the run with Lasarevitsch in Ukraine. Authorities found pictures of a silicone mask of Prince Albert II of Monaco on their phones, suggesting another hoax was in the works.<\/p>

Where is Gilbert Chikli today?<\/strong><\/h2>\n

On 11th March 2020, Gilbert Chikli and Anthony Lasarevitsch were sentenced to 11 years in jail, although these were reduced on appeal, according to The Times<\/a>. They were also fined \u20ac2m and \u20ac1m respectively.<\/p>\n

Upon sentencing, Chikli \u2013 who denied the charges \u2013 shouted from the dock \u201cIt\u2019s a scandal. You should be ashamed.\u201d<\/p>\n

Five others aged 27 to 59 faced lesser charges. One was released, and four others received sentences ranging from suspended 15-month terms to five years.<\/p>\n

The Masked Scammer is available to watch now on Netflix<\/a>. Sign up for Netflix from \u00a36.99 a month<\/a>. Netflix is also available on\u00a0Sky Glass<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0Virgin Media Stream<\/a>.<\/strong><\/p>\n

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Check out more of our\u00a0Documentaries<\/a>\u00a0coverage or visit our\u00a0TV Guide<\/a>\u00a0to see what\u2019s on tonight.<\/strong><\/p>\n

The latest issue of Radio Times magazine is on sale now \u2013\u00a0<\/strong>subscribe now<\/strong><\/a>. For more from the biggest stars in TV, listen to the\u00a0Radio Times View From My Sofa podcast<\/a>.<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div> <\/body><\/html>\n

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By Grace Henry Published: Thursday, 01 December 2022 at 12:00 am Netflix is looking into the crimes of French con artist Gilbert Chikli in its brand new documentary The Masked Scammer. Featuring interviews with his accomplices and victims as well, the film explores how the master conman scammed French elites out of millions of euros. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":24,"featured_media":26403,"template":"","categories":[1,5],"acf":[],"uagb_featured_image_src":{"full":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2022\/12\/where-is-gilbert-chikli-the-masked-scammer-now-scaled.jpg",2560,1706,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2022\/12\/where-is-gilbert-chikli-the-masked-scammer-now-150x150.jpg",150,150,true],"medium":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2022\/12\/where-is-gilbert-chikli-the-masked-scammer-now-300x200.jpg",300,200,true],"medium_large":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2022\/12\/where-is-gilbert-chikli-the-masked-scammer-now-768x512.jpg",768,512,true],"large":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2022\/12\/where-is-gilbert-chikli-the-masked-scammer-now-1024x682.jpg",800,533,true],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2022\/12\/where-is-gilbert-chikli-the-masked-scammer-now-1536x1023.jpg",1536,1023,true],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2022\/12\/where-is-gilbert-chikli-the-masked-scammer-now-2048x1365.jpg",2048,1365,true]},"uagb_author_info":{"display_name":"importmanagerhub@sprylab.com","author_link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/author\/importmanagerhubsprylab-com\/"},"uagb_comment_info":0,"uagb_excerpt":"By Grace Henry Published: Thursday, 01 December 2022 at 12:00 am Netflix is looking into the crimes of French con artist Gilbert Chikli in its brand new documentary The Masked Scammer. Featuring interviews with his accomplices and victims as well, the film explores how the master conman scammed French elites out of millions of euros.…","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rss_feed\/26402"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rss_feed"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/rss_feed"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/24"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/26403"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=26402"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=26402"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}