The two Bogdanoff brothers are accused of having defrauded a bipolar millionaire in order to repay their debts and possibly relaunch their show Time X.
The man committed suicide on August 31, 2018, recalls Le Point, in the midst of an investigation involving the Bogdanoff brothers. In his letter, which serves as a will, he writes: I suffer a lot, that’s enough. They made me believe all kinds of things.
This suicidal act follows the indictment in June of the two brothers and another man, Tanguy Ifoku, the son of a diplomat who would have helped the two celebrities of Bogdanoff.
The two Bogdanoff brothers wanted to relaunch Time X
According to the restaurateur, the two Bogdanoff brothers, now in their seventies, had promised him investments. An attempt to relaunch their program “Temps X” and a film project to promote the Congo. Worse, according to Le Point, there was even talk of a helicopter that could only be piloted by Igor Bogdanoff.
The Bogdanoffs, in financial difficulty
The two Bogdanoff brothers, in financial difficulty at the time, would have done everything to extract money from the millionaire. The latter signed checks with a vengeance, which were ultimately not cashed because the bank seemed to realize the deception at that time.
They also managed to produce a film, The Fruit of Hope, obtaining the sum of 600,000 euros, while according to some people who collaborated on the project, it would not have been worth more than 50,000 euros.
The Bogdanoffs lose in court against the CNRS
In this case, the judge did not characterize the abuse as weakness and their lawyers point out that the Bogdanoff brothers did not in any way benefit from personal enrichment. The three defendants, as well as the producer of the film, his daughter and a Parisian lawyer, will find themselves brought before the Paris court, but not for several months. They will face charges of squandering the millionaire’s personal fortune.
In search of scientific rehabilitation, the Bogdanoff brothers lose in court against the CNRS
In a judgment of July 24, the Council of State rejected the appeal of Igor and Grichka Bogdanoff against the CNRS, which had called into question the scientific value of their theses. The twins want to take the case to the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR).
A heavy defeat for the Bogdanoffs
The Council of State inflicted a heavy defeat on the Bogdanoff brothers. On July 24, the highest administrative court rejected the appeal of the two PAF twins, who were trying to have a report by the National Committee for Scientific Research (CNRS) recognized as illegal and to limit its dissemination in the public sphere. No wonder, since this confidential report, disclosed at the time to the weekly Marianne, is a formal attack against the theses of the two twins.
Media turmoil
A little background: in 1999 and 2002, the University of Burgundy awarded Grichka and Igor Bogdanoff the titles of doctor in mathematics. But also, doctor in theoretical physics, following the defense of their respective theses on the existence of a reality before the big bang. For the twins, already crowned with the media success of their scientific program Time X on TF1, it is a great success.
Except that a strange rumor launched by the German physicist Max Niedermaier was gaining ground in the scientific community at the time. According to this physicist, two articles by the Bogdanoff brothers published in reputable scientific journals were in fact gigantic hoaxes, devoid of any scientific basis. After a few days of media turmoil, Max Niedermaier finally admitted that: “This episode, quickly nicknamed the Bogdanoff affair, was based on a slanderous denunciation”.
The universe is just an illusion
But the doubt persists, especially when it concerns personalities as media as the twins of the PAF. In 2003, the CNRS discreetly had their theses evaluated by its specialized sections in physics and mathematics. The result ? A vitriolic 27-page report, whose anonymous authors criticize the work of the Bogdanoffs.
No mathematical result demonstrated. Moreover, mathematical rigor is foreign to the writing of this text… As the report on the work of Grichka Bogdanoff says. Igor Bogdanoff, holder of a doctorate in theoretical physics, does not convince the CNRS experts either. If the style of Mr. Bogdanoff’s thesis manuscript can remind the uninformed reader of certain works in theoretical physics dealing with the origin of the universe, it is only an illusion.
Stunned, Grichka and Igor first think of a mistake.
Despite the virulence of the criticism, the evaluation work is not counterbalanced by any adversarial procedure. The authors of the report did not attempt to contact the Bogdanofs, who could have defended the quality of their work. Content of theses severely criticized… But the diplomas of Igor and Grichka Bogdanoff were in no way called into question. This by virtue of the principle of the sovereignty of juries.
As soon as it was written, this explosive report disappeared in a drawer by the management of the CNRS. Until it mysteriously reappeared seven years later, in 2010. The Bogdanoff twins discovered its existence through a journalist from the weekly Marianne, who claimed to have a copy. Stunned, Grichka and Igor first think of a mistake. Especially since the CNRS had still not informed them of its evaluation process.
A brake on the business of the Bogdanoff brothers
But they have to face the facts: a few weeks later, Marianne publishes a file entitled: The true face of Bogdanof with extracts from the vitriolic text, are also published on the magazine’s website. Outraged, the twins believe that these criticisms reflect the jealousy of part of the scientific community towards them. We were victims of a plot to undermine our credibility and success, Grichka Bogdanoff told Capital.
A brake on the business of the Bogdanoff brothers. The youngest of the twins, who is a few minutes from his birth, says that: The favorable opinions of various experts at the time of the defense of their theses are proof of this. He also mentions the support of Daniel Sternheimer. (Research Director at the CNRS), who had supervised their work at the University of Burgundy. Either way, this report was devastating to the reputation of the Bogdanofs. They quickly launched a counter-attack on the judicial field. In 2014, they won their defamation lawsuit against the weekly Marianne, which had them. called an impostor in his investigation.
More than one million euros in damages
The second part of the case, against the CNRS, was played out before the administrative judges of the Paris court. The Bogdanoff brothers ask the judges to recognize the illegality of the report. They also want the courts to force the research center to remove it from the public sphere. This by any means necessary.
The CNRS has always refused this request. Although it issued a joint statement with the University of Burgundy deploring the disclosure of the document. Grichka and Igor Bogdanoff also declared themselves convinced that this affair slowed down their activities. Reducing their appearances in the media and the sales of their books (God and Science, Before the Big Bang). To compensate for this alleged loss of earnings, they are claiming more than one million euros in damages from the CNRS.
A scathing setback for the Bogdanoff brothers.
On June 30, 2015, the Paris administrative court inflicted a scathing setback on the Bogdanoff brothers. All of their requests were denied. They even received a conviction, forcing them to reimburse the CNRS’ legal costs. This for a total of 2,000 euros. This did not discourage these eternal optimists, who brought the case before the administrative court of appeal. A year and a half after the verdict of the administrative court, the latter partly took the opposite view of the first instance.
In a judgment of November 17, 2018, the judges recognized this: The Bogdanoff brothers were justified in requesting the public withdrawal of the report. The confidentiality had been recognized by the Commission for Access to Administrative Documents (CADA) without giving them a reason. on other aspects of the case.
