Between his cashmere coats, his perfect French accent and his claims of big-bucks dealings with John Travolta and Jodie Foster, Alexis Quinlin was quite the convincing businessman – taking some 22 investors into handing him nearly $4 million over five years.
But every one of these deals was a swindle, Manhattan prosecutors said yesterday, as Quinlin was thrown in jail on grand larceny charges.
Quinlin, 46, of SoHo, claimed that he exported DVD players and flat-screen TVs to Europe at astounding profit but needed money from investors to finance these transactions, prosecutors said.
To throw some extra razzle-dazzle into his sales pitch, he sometimes pretended to be famous French photographer Jean-Baptiste Mondino, prosecutors said.
And to clinch the deals he’d pull out of his briefcase what he claimed were contracts in which no less celebrities than Travolta, Foster and Virgin founder Sir Richard Branson had invested in his deals.
In fact the celebrities were never involved – Quinlin had allegedly forged their signatures.
“He speaks French fluently; he’s a regular at Balthazar; he’s the man about town” said an alleged victim, who asked not to be identified. “Designer clothes, clean cut, always flirting with young girls – he acted like he really knew everything about everything.
“And he would give money back quickly, unexpectedly, so you wouldn’t suspect anything. So you wanted to give even more money” said another alleged victim.
The victims were all acquaintances of his – a personal trainer, a model, a teacher, lawyers and businessmen, prosecutors said.
Quinlin used some of the money to pay off debts from his movie projects, including the distribution of the Oscar-nominated film “The Taste Of Others” (“Le Gout Des Autres”).
He also blew the money on fancy dinners at The Four Seasons, Daniel, and Bouley, prosecutors said.
He’ll be in jail at least three days, as anything he posts toward his $100,000 bail is scrutinized.
Quinlin was caught after one of his alleged victim’s pals spotted him at Coffee Shop in Union Square.
Source: New York Post – Friday May 12, 2006
Attorney for the defense: Matthew D. Myers