French secret agents held over plot to kill therapist
THREE French intelligence agents have been charged with attempted murder and conspiracy for allegedly plotting to kill a female hypnotherapist who worked as a corporate coach.
The suspects are soldiers from the Action Division, an elite military unit specialising in covert missions outside France, controlled by the Directorategeneral for External Security (DGSE), the French equivalent of MI6.
Two of them, named as Pierre B and Karl E, aged 28 and 25, were arrested carrying guns in a stolen car in Paris last month, and the third, aged 26, was arrested a few days later. The first two told police they were on an official mission, having allegedly been ordered to eliminate a 54-year-old hypnotherapist specialising in corporate coaching. She has not been named.
The pair were arrested near the presumed target’s home in Créteil, southeast Paris, at 8.20am on July 24 after a neighbour telephoned police and reported that they had driven round the block repeatedly during the night. The agents said the killing was to have taken place that morning.
Investigators have found no link between the agents and the hypno therapist, according to Le Parisien. They are exploring a theory that they were paid to murder her by someone who had a dispute with her.
The hypnotherapist told detectives that she was extremely shocked that someone had wanted to kill her. She suggested that the plot could have been motivated by professional rivalry among coaches and psychotherapists. But sources close to the investigation said it appeared disproportionate to recruit intelligence agents to murder her over a professional disagreement.
The agents’ claim to have been on a DGSE mission is striking, as the external service is barred from carrying out such operations on French soil, according to security sources. They breached rules by telling police they worked for the agency.
Sources close to the investigation say the men insist that they were not the “brains behind the operation” and their agency would get them cleared. However, their superiors did not intervene on their behalf when detectives took them to search their rooms at the Action Division’s parachute centre in Saran, central France, where agents are trained to operate in enemy territory.
“This case is as murky as it gets,” said one source close to the investigation. “It’s like being lost in the Bermuda Triangle.”
Two men suspected of masterminding the plot have also been charged with attempted murder and conspiracy, along with the three intelligence agents. One of the pair runs a security firm that guards VIPS and “sweeps”
‘This is as murky as it gets. Its like being lost in the Bermuda Triangle. One man thought he was Bond’
offices and homes for bugging devices, follows people and transports sensitive goods, documents and funds.
An associate told Le Parisien: “He thought he was James Bond.”
The other suspected planner is a former domestic intelligence agent who is now an “e-detective” tracking online fraud and illicit trading. He is a specialist in gathering information from the “deep web”, parts of the internet that are not indexed by standard search engines, often used for clandestine and criminal purposes. His company provides fraud prevention training for private customers and the DGSE. He is thought to have met the agents charged with attempted murder during a course for the service.
The two agents arrested with weapons are in custody. The third, who has not been named, was released on bail.