Scandal in France; Masons ordered murders: "I thought I was working for the state"

Seven of the accused face life imprisonment. All 22 are charged with murder, attempted murder, aggravated assault, and criminal conspiracy on behalf of a mafia-like group within the Athanor Masonic lodge in the Paris suburb of Puteaux.

On the defendants’ bench are at least four Freemasons from the lodge’s roughly twenty members. The other accused include four officers from France’s external intelligence service (DGSE), three police officers, six company executives, a security worker, a doctor, and an engineer.

Most of the accused, aged between 30 and 73, had no prior police record. The alleged leaders of the criminal operations are Masons from the Athanor lodge—Jean-Luc Bagur, Frédéric Vaglio, and Daniel Beaulieu.

The case began after a failed contract killing in July 2020, when two members of the French paratrooper regiment were arrested with weapons near the home of business consultant Marie-Hélène Dini.

During questioning, they said they believed the murder of Dini was requested in the name of the French state, allegedly on behalf of the Israeli intelligence agency Mossad. Investigators found connections between Dini and Bagur, a business rival and 69-year-old “worshipful master” of the Athanor lodge.

Crimes escalate over time

According to the investigation, Bagur asked fellow Mason Vaglio to organize the elimination of his rival for a payment of €70,000.

Vaglio, a 53-year-old entrepreneur, reportedly acted as a middleman between the client and a team of mercenaries who worked for another Mason from Athanor, Beaulieu, a retired agent of France’s domestic intelligence service (DGSI).

The mercenary leader, Leroux, in custody, admitted that he and his associates carried out most of the attacks, robberies, and murders for the Athanor lodge mafia, including the killing of a race car driver. Over time, the crimes ordered by the Masonic mafia escalated from minor revenge attacks to outright murder.

In an industrial espionage case, Leroux’s group allegedly attacked a businesswoman on the street and stole her computer. One of Bagur’s associates’ cars caught fire in 2019 after she discovered evidence of financial fraud within his company.

Trial and legal proceedings

In 2018, the body of race car driver Laurent Pascal was found in a forest. He was allegedly killed for failing to repay a debt to Vaglio’s associates.

Leroux, who had left the army to work in private security, told police that he believed he was acting on behalf of the government. He added that Beaulieu “manipulated” him, luring him with the idea of becoming a DGSI informant.

“For my client, it was terrifying that key figures in this case—police officers, former DGSI agents, and Masons—were precisely those who are supposed to serve the public interest,” said Marie-Hélène Dini’s lawyer, Jean-William Vézinet.

It is unclear what information the prosecution will be able to obtain from Beaulieu, who attempted suicide while in custody, leaving him disabled with impaired concentration, his lawyer warned.

The trial is expected to last at least three months.