Members of a French aristocratic family have described how they were brainwashed by a conman, held as virtual prisoners in Oxford and now live in social housing after losing their chateau, reports the BBC.
Christine and Charles-Henri de Vedrines were conned out of millions of euros after falling under the "hypnotic powers" of Thierry Tilly.
He was jailed for eight years for false imprisonment and abusing the weakness of psychologically vulnerable persons at a trial in Bordeaux in November.
Mr de Vedrines said: "He stole 10 years of our lives - but he did more than that, he destroyed everything on the way."
Speaking to BBC Inside Out, the couple who now live in social housing in south-west France, explained how Tilly infiltrated the family and became all-controlling after fooling them into believing they were victims of a plot by freemasons.
The de Vedrines had enjoyed an aristocratic lifestyle in their ancestral chateau, Monflanquin.
In the late 1990s their partying ended and they became reclusive when the family was infiltrated by Tilly.
At first he appeared as a friend.
Mr de Vedrines said: "At the beginning Tilly said he would look after our home, investments and trusts. We just wanted to protect them.
"We used professionals but he made us believe he was better than them."
He convinced Mr de Vedrines to sell the family chateau saying it was "too dangerous" for the family. They sold a total of seven properties for about five million euros and have not seen the proceeds.
The family's lawyer Daniel Picotin described complex brainwashing techniques Tilly employed - such as making family members spend days in darkened rooms with no clocks to lose sense of time.
He played family members off against each other - from the 16 year-old daughter, to the grandmother in her 80s.
Read more of this story from the BBC.