Review: Framed In Monte Carlo by Ted Maher

Synopsis: When billionaire banker Edmond Safra died in the ashes of Monaco’s La Belle Époque on December 3, 1999, the event made international headlines—for many reasons. One, of course, was the sheer wealth of the Lebanese mogul and his formidable presence in the international banking world. But the more seductive reason for the worldwide attention was the strange and intriguing way Safra died—ensconced within the armored walls of his vigilantly secured residence in the “safest city in the world.”

At 4:45 in the morning, a firestorm gutted Safra’s opulent Monte Carlo penthouse, trapping—and killing—Safra and one of his nurses, Vivian Torrente. The fire was ruled arson. Safra’s death, the result. The person responsible: ex–Green Beret Ted Maher, another of Safra’s nurses. Or so he stood accused.

The true details concerning the bizarre circumstances that led to Safra’s death and the subsequent conviction and imprisonment of Ted Maher are contained within the pages which features a play-by-play of the night Edmond Safra died, as well as Maher's sham of a trial and his subsequent imprisonment for seven years and eight months. 

After Maher had already served over ninety-five percent of his sentence, Ted was freed and his name was cleared—at least officially. But his business is unfinished. Now, for the first time ever, hear the facts straight from the source, including never-before-released details. The biggest question remains: who did kill Edmond Safra? With names like Vladimir Putin being legitimately put forth, the authors' conclusions will shock you.

There is really no need to add much more to the above synopsis. It is a powerful story of a man wronged by the legal system of another country for a crime he is being held to account. Ted Maher begins with his family, career, and married life prior to going into the events that led him to Monte Carlo in the first place. They we are taken through a blow-by-blow account of his time there before those tragic events of Safra's death. Ted then details his time in prison awaiting trial, the trail and subsequent sentencing, hunger strikes and his escape and then his final release.

But there is also a second tragedy that is Ted's own life - his poor choices in women and his failed marriages, including the betrayal of his wife at the time; the failure and betrayal of the legal system of Monaco as applied to foreign nationals; the sense that although finally freed, no-one has been held to account. 

Ted's story is easy to follow - and is heavily footnoted.  Unfortunately for Ted he comes across as a bit of a tosser - a man full of hubris - he is focused primarily on himself and his own self-promotion; he is not just a jack of all trades but an expert in all things; money and the making of it seems to always underlie his choices; and his need to control situations and those around him was misogynistic and grating. For someone bragging about is "green beret" skills and instincts, Ted truly made some dubious choices, and whilst the trial itself suggests sham, Ted is his own worst enemy.

I was seriously struggling to find some connection - some empathy - for this man, even though he was set up as a scapegoat for the sake of legal expediency, and even though he lost it all and was never truly compensated. There are some serious credibility issues here which should have been addressed prior to publication if Ted was hoping to elicit sympathy from his audience. The Foreward by Michael Griffith hints at a high-level conspiracy yet what we get is something quite different.

The presentation was a bit mish-mashed: I think it was supposed to be presented as a "tell-all" memoir peppered with news reports and trial details, but there was a lot of jargon and "tough guy" talk that one begins to wonder how much is fact and how much is fiction; what actually did take place and what has been possibly exaggerated to give the story more of a dramatic flair. There were times when I was thinking what a load of bullshit - this sounds more like the plot of a novel.  

As is befitting a memoir, most of the story is from Ted's perspective.  I would like to have heard a bit more from the Safra side; however, as Ted does feel hard done by the family, it is not surprising but it left me questioning his narrative.

I was rather surprised that the "final reveal" was literally left to the final chapter and the connections Ted was trying to make were that obvious - at least to me - and were probably deserving of a bit more page time as there was a lot purporting to be going on behind the scenes that the average reader would not necessarily have been privy to. Not having read anything on this case or Ted prior to this, I could not confirm if there were indeed any new "never-before-released details" or not contained within.

Framed In Monte Carlo is a proverbial car crash - you cannot look away.  Ted himself refers to this whole saga as a "glorified game of Clue". I was interested to read more and decided to follow up afterwards on my own as certain aspects in this seemed just too fantastical to be real.  Like Ted himself, much has been said and yet there is much left unsaid. And in the end, the truth is never revealled, merely speculated.

further reading:

A Privileged Witness: The Truth About Billionaire Edmond Safra's Death by Ted Maher

Gilded Lily: Lily Safra: The Making of One of the World's Wealthiest Widows BY Isabel Vincent (read online HERE)

Vanity Fair - Death in Monaco 

I have also doctored up some of my own footnotes summarising events and theories which have been taken from a plethora of media accounts and interviews that followed.