Some 28 million euros ($30 million) were allegedly stolen in the case, dubbed “red card” because of the dozen football clubs among the plaintiffs.

Some 850 of the victims are represented at the trial which had to be moved to the conference centre in the eastern French city of Nancy because there were too many for a traditional court. Hearings are set to last four weeks.

The defendants, between 28 and 73, are accused of running websites offering fraudulent investment opportunities in diamonds or cryptocurrencies between 2016 and 2018.

One person handed over 400,000 euros believing they were investing in diamonds and what was advertised as a “diamond savings plan”.
Some investors lost big chunks of their savings or even contracted loans to invest, attracted by a promise of large annual returns, said Colman, a law firm representing around 100 plaintiffs.

“We believe this trial marks a strong signal in the fight against international financial fraud,” the firm said in a statement.

The accused opened 199 bank accounts in 19 countries to receive and transfer funds, according to investigators. Some 2.8 million euros were recovered and could be used to compensate victims.
A side business for the alleged fraudsters was swindling money out of French football clubs.

Individuals based in the southern city of Marseille and in Israel pretended to be agents acting on behalf of professional players. They said the players had changed their banking details and salaries should be sent to the new accounts.

Around 10 top clubs were targeted, with Sochaux, Angers and Toulouse falling for the scam and handing over around 60,000 euros.The 22 defendants – including three who are still at large and are being tried in absentia – have varying degrees of implication in the fraud, prosecutors said.

About 12 are charged with “criminal conspiracy”, notably for allowing their names to be used to open bank accounts through which funds were channelled across Europe and to Israel. Others are accused of “fraud committed in a gang”, most of them for building fake websites or ordering fake diamonds.

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The 1936 work in Chinese ink, gouache and watercolour, was destined as a cover for The Blue Lotus, the fifth volume of the Belgian journalist’s adventures. But it never sat on any book store shelves because it was rejected for being too expensive to reproduce on a wide scale – a victim of its own rare craftsmanship.

“They had to do a four-colour process printing, with an additional colour. (But the publisher) thought that the comic albums were already expensive. Reproducing this cover art would increase the production costs,” said comics expert Eric Leroy at Art Curial auction house by the Champs-Elysees avenue.

As the name “Blue Lotus” suggests, the art workplaces Tintin in Asia. A huge red dragon appears on a black background by the Belgian reporter’s petrified face. It is a prized addition to the universe of Tintin, the subject of recent shows in London and Barcelona, a 2011 Hollywood adaptation, a videogame and an app.

In “Blue Lotus,” Tintin travels to China during the 1931 Japanese invasion to investigate and expose – along with his dog Snowy – Japanese spy networks, drug-smuggling rings and other crimes.

But the huge interest in this work has raised a host of questions among French media regarding the work’s provenance – whether it was a gift to the son of Tintin’s printer or a drawing simply never returned to the artist.

There is no question, however, of its authenticity. On Thursday, Hergé, whose real name was Georges Remi, could break the record for the most expensive piece of comic book art at 2.6 million euros that was previously set by himself.

“We set the previous record for the ‘Pages de Garde’ in 2014 ..it would be fair for this piece to break this record. Hergé had done only five comic covers using this technique of direct color so it’s very rare,” Leroy said.

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The monument was “fully” evacuated shortly after midday as a precautionary measure after the police received the anonymous call, the company that runs the Eiffel Tower said in a statement. Police also cordoned off an area around the tower.

The site reopened two hours later after the police had carried out checks in and around the monument. The Paris police confirmed that officers did not find anything suspicious, but declined to provide more details about the anonymous call.

The 131 year-old Eiffel Tower, an icon of France is visited by more than 25,000 visitors each day. It was closed for months due to the coronavirus pandemic but gradually reopened over the summer.

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The fighter jets, built by French aviation firm Dassault, took off from the Merignac airbase in southern France’s Bordeaux.

India signed an inter-government agreement with France to procure 36 Rafale jets for the Indian Air Force under a Rs 59,000 crore deal nearly four years ago.

The fleet is expected to boost the IAF’s combat capabilities at a time when India is locked in a tense border situation in China.

Air to Air Refuelling planned during the first leg of the ferry will be undertaken by dedicated Tanker support from French Air Force. The aircraft are likely to reach AF Stn Ambala on 29 Jul 20. No 17 Sqn, 'The Golden Arrows', is being raised at #Ambala with #Rafale aircraft. 2/2

— Indian Air Force (@IAF_MCC) July 27, 2020

The Rafale aircraft will cover a distance of nearly 7,000km from France to India with air-to-air refuelling and a single stop at French airbase in the United Arab Emirates.

“Delivery of ten aircraft has been completed on schedule. Five will stay back in France for training Mission. The delivery of all thirty six aircraft will be completed on schedule by the end of 2021,” the Indian embassy in France said in a statement.

The Indian ambassador to France, Jawed Ashraf, interacted with the Indian pilots before they took off from France.

"Beauty and the Beast"- Rafale Fighter Aircraft. Ready to take off!! @DDNewslive @ANI @MEAIndia @JawedAshraf5 @rajnathsingh @PMOIndia @gouvernementFR @DrSJaishankar @IndianDiplomacy @Dassault_OnAir @DefenceMinIndia pic.twitter.com/qS9w9lP6CW

— India in France (@IndiaembFrance) July 27, 2020

The Rafale fighter jets are capable of carrying a range of highly effective weapons, including the Meteor air-to-air missile and Scalp cruise missile.

The Rafale jets will come with various India-specific modifications, including Israeli helmet-mounted displays, radar warning receivers, low-band jammers, 10-hour flight data recording, infra-red search and tracking systems among others.

The Air Force has readied the required infrastructure to welcome the jets in its line-up.

In November 2017, Indian National Congress alleged a ‘huge scam’ in Rafale fighter jets deal. The opposition party alleged that the contract violated the procurement procedure. The INC had said that the deal signed with France does not cater for technology transfer and has caused an insurmountable’ loss to the exchequer.

The Rafale deal has a 50 percent offset clause, a large part of which is to be executed by a joint venture company of Anil Ambani owned Reliance Defence.

The then Congress leader Rahul Gandhi demanded a probe and filed a contempt case. Following petitions to investigate the allegations, the Indian Supreme Court said in December 2018 that it found “no occasion to doubt the process” of the billion dollar deal.

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