Jean-Claude Romand - The Deception

The Deception

The deception began with a simple lie: Romand claimed that he had passed a second-year medical examination that he did not take. He therefore never qualified as a doctor, a fact unknown to his peers.

Romand fooled his family and friends for 18 years; they thought he was a successful medical professional and researcher in the World Health Organization. He managed to give an impression that he had researched arteriosclerosis and he had contacts with political figures.

In reality, he spent his days wandering and used free information services of the local WHO building. He lived close by in Prévessin-Moëns, France. Periodically he left for a supposed work trip but only traveled to Geneva Cointrin international airport and spent a couple of days in a hotel room there, studying medical journals and a travel guide about Switzerland, the country where everyone supposed he worked. Romand lived off the money his wife and he had made by selling an apartment, from his wife's salary and from sums of money which were given to him by various relatives, who relied on his assurances that he was investing the money in various imaginary hedge funds and foreign ventures.