Twenty two defendants appeared in court Monday and now face a jury over “murder and other serious crimes,” with thirteen of the accused facing life imprisonment. The former Athanor Masonic Lodge, located in the Parisian suburb of Puteaux, sits at the center of what prosecutors allege was a tightly organized network that carried out violent acts ranging from assaults to contract killings.
Most of the accused are between 30 and 73, and the account states most have no previous criminal record. Four military personnel from France’s foreign intelligence service, the DGSE, and two police officers are among the defendants, according to the same account. The trial is scheduled to run for at least 3 months.
According to The U.S. Sun, Prosecutors allege the lodge served as a hub for an organized structure that reached from assaults into alleged contract killings. The defendants are accused of carrying out violent crimes “on behalf of a mafia network inside the former Athanor Masonic Lodge.” Thirteen defendants face life imprisonment.
The alleged ringleaders were identified as Athanor freemasons Jean-Luc Bagur, Frédéric Vaglio and Daniel Beaulieu. Sébastien Leroy is accused of carrying out the trio’s work himself, or through a network of hitmen.
A “botched contract killing” in July 2020 is described as the turning point that led police to uncover the network. Two members of the military were arrested in possession of weapons near the home of business coach Marie-Hélène Dini, according to the account.
The two arrested military members told police during questioning that they had been asked to murder Dini on behalf of the French state. According to the suspects, they were told Dini “was working for the Israeli spy agency, the Mossad.” Investigators then unearthed a link to Bagur, 69.
Bagur is described as the “venerable master” of the Athanor lodge and as a rival business coach to Dini. Bagur allegedly asked fellow freemason Vaglio, a 53 year old entrepreneur, to arrange for his rival to be killed, offering to pay a fee of £60,843 (€70,000). Vaglio faces accusations of working as the intermediary between Bagur and a hit squad linked to Beaulieu.
Beaulieu is described as a 72 year old retired agent for the domestic intelligence service, the DGSI. Leroy is described as Beaulieu’s right hand man, a security guard, and the leader of the hit squad, and the account says he also faces life in prison.
Leroy told investigators he or his associates carried out most of the assaults, robberies and murders described in the case, including the 2018 killing of racing car driver Laurent Pasquali. Pasquali’s body was found in a forest after he allegedly failed to pay a debt to one of Vaglio’s friends.
The account also states the group has been accused of attempting to murder a business coach and a trade unionist, and of aggravated assault and criminal conspiracy. It also describes one of the charges relating to industrial espionage, alleging that Leroy’s group assaulted a businesswoman and snatched her computer.
In 2019, the car of one of Bagur’s associates was set on fire after she found evidence of financial fraud within his company, according to the same account.
Leroy told investigators he believed he had been acting on behalf of the French government. Leroy also claimed Beaulieu had “manipulated” him. The account states it remains unclear what evidence the prosecution has gathered from interviews with Beaulieu.
Beaulieu allegedly attempted suicide in police custody. The attempt left him disabled with “impaired concentration,” according to his lawyer.
Jean-William Vezinet, identified as lawyer for the targeted business coach Dini, said she was “terrified” and referred to “people who are supposed to act for the good of society.”
A case this sprawling does not run on headlines. It runs on evidence, accountability, and a justice system willing to test every claim in open court, not behind closed doors.
