French actor Dany Boon has filed a lawsuit against a man named Thierry Fialek-Birles, aka Terry Birles. As revealed by the Irish daily Irish Examiner, the actor would have wrongly believed in the good faith of this alleged “Irish lord”, in fact a real crook. Rossa Fanning, Dany Boon’s lawyer, claims that the amount of damage suffered amounts to 6.7 million euros, over a period between April and July 2021.
It all starts when Dany Boon goes looking for a company to carry out the maintenance of his yacht. He meets the man who calls himself Terry Birles and says he belongs to Irish high society. The latter quickly put the actor in confidence and assured him that he came from a family specialized in the field of maritime law. Dany Boon therefore agrees to make a payment of 2.2 million euros, intended for the South Seas Merchants Mariners Ltd Partnership (SSMM).
But the scam does not stop there: Terry Birles convinces the French celebrity to invest a large sum of money in an investment program, in connection with the Irish Central Bank. He baits him by promising him an annual interest rate of 3.25%, tax-free. Dany Boon then pays 4.5 million euros, hoping to obtain a very good return on investment.
Everything changes four months later, when Dany Boon learns with astonishment that the SSMM company has been bought by an Italian family. Suspicious, he asks to get his money back, but he is told that he has been transferred to Panama and South Korea. The artist then receives an anonymous message, which informs him that he has been the victim of a vast scam. The well-crafted scenario of Terry Birles collapses: the SSMM never legally existed, just like the investment program with the Irish Central Bank.
Dany Boon’s lawyers are now working to recover the star’s money, which has evaporated in the wild. According to information from the Irish Examiner, the sum would have been used by Terry Birles to buy a luxurious Irish property as well as a sailboat participating in competitions. Representatives of Dany Boon’s interests obtained on July 13, 2022 the freezing of all assets owned by the unscrupulous individual. A hearing is scheduled very soon.
