The con artist and the WWI war chest: How the French secret service wound up in a blackmail scandal

It has all the elements of the perfect spy novel – a secret war chest, an immoral businessman and daring blackmail attempts. An explosive investigative report on Wednesday blew the lid off of what may be one of the French foreign intelligence service’s best-kept secrets: how it allegedly got swindled by a smooth-talking con artist and sent agents to threaten and extort him.

https://www.france24.com/en/europe/20230105-the-con-artist-and-the-wwi-war-chest-how-the-french-secret-service-wound-up-in-a-blackmail-scandal