This is not cinema. Dany Boon got scammed. A man, who posed as a “lord” and member of a wealthy Irish family – under the pseudonym Terry Birles – would have convinced Dany Boon to call on his company South Sea Merchant’s Mariners Ltd Partnership (SSMM) to renovate his yacht.
According to the actor’s lawyer, Dany Boon would have been the victim of an “elaborate fraud” committed by this famous Terry Birles. He accuses her of having defrauded him using a network of companies established in Ireland but also in other jurisdictions. These services included maintenance and renovation tasks. Dany Boon would then have invested more than 2.2 million euros to refurbish his yacht. But that’s not all! The director also paid €4.5 million in investments into a scheme affiliated with the Irish central bank.
Where did Dany Boon’s money go?
Immediately after his payment, the actor was reportedly informed that the SSMM had been taken over by an Italian family. Feeling the tide turn, the boating enthusiast requested a refund but the funds would have been transferred to accounts in South Korea or Panama. After an investigation by the actor’s lawyers, it turned out that the SSMM would be a kind of shell company, that the Italian family did not exist and that Terry Birles would have pulled all the strings. In short, between April and July 2021, Dany Boon would therefore have advanced the sum of 6.7 million euros to this scammer. The money given to renovate his yacht could have been used for a house of Terry Birles, while a ship belonging to him is in the sights of the investigators. At present, Dany Boon has not seen his money. The case will be considered again by the Court next week.