Great inventor or con artist? A 54-year-old man appeared at the bar Thursday and Friday at the Nancy court. This ex-college professor, with a lavish lifestyle, is suspected of having defrauded dozens of investors by shimmering their money into a revolutionary invention: a super electric battery. "An atomic bomb on the economic level", assured the one who promised them "a profitability of 1 to 100, even from 1 to 1.000". These individuals, around 150, never saw the color of their money again and the amount of the damage would amount to almost 2.8 million euros. About fifty of them have brought a civil action.
>> Find all of Raphaëlle Duchemin's programs in replay and podcast here
Emirs, Bill Clinton and François Hollande
"He put us in front of interactions with emirs, Bill Clinton who was to come to France for that. There was to be a meeting with François Hollande at the time. Where it was a reality is that the we managed to put him in touch with a real adviser to the former president. But when we put him before the fait accompli he never went there, "said Jérôme Bichet, one of his victims, on Europe 1.
A small plexiglass box, a few electric wires, the idea seemed feasible and very innovative to end the reign of fossil fuels. "The equivalent of the steam engine," claimed the physics associate. This charming man, lover of big BMWs, beautiful mansions, libertine evenings appeared convincing in the eyes of investors. The psychiatrist who examined the ex-physics teacher speaks of megalomania and intelligence far above the average. He also seemed paranoid according to Jérôme Bichet: "He had hired bodyguards. I remember discussions where he said to me: 'Don't call me by phone, I'm tapped'. He was completely mad in his words. He was walking around with silver cases ... "
"The best solution is to put him in prison and treat him"
Some victims, who had invested almost 60,000 euros on average, alerted the investigators in 2014 and the man was released from pre-trial detention in 2015. "The poor man, I don't want to, but with all the money that he amassed, in my opinion, there is going to be someone who will fall on him and put a ball to him. The best solution is to put him in prison and treat him so that he understands that what 'he did it is not normal ", says Jérôme Bichet who has still not recovered his money.