Delphine Meillet est interviewée par CNN sur le sujet du faux Le Drian
Delphine Meillet, the lawyer representing the actual Le Drian, who is now France’s foreign minister, told CNN the fraudsters used the war in Syria to their advantage.
« There were real hostages at the time, in 2015, and the technique to convince them was to play on fears of terrorism, » Meillet said.
« When the state asks you to do it a favor, to help fight terrorism, how can you say no? How can you say no to a minister? » she added.
The voice of the fake Le Drian is allegedly that of Gilbert Chikli, according to prosecutors, a Franco-Israeli accused of being the mastermind behind the sting. He is charged with organized fraud and usurping a person’s identity. Chikli denies the charges.
Meillet describes the 54-year-old as being a modern-day Victor Lustig, the notorious con man who sold the Eiffel Tower to a scrap-metal dealer in 1925, not once but twice.
