Paris osteopath on trial for alleged weakness abuse and illegal medical practice

Antonino Mercuri, a 64-year-old osteopath, appeared before the Paris criminal tribunal on Monday, charged with abusing vulnerable individuals, illegal medical practice, money-laundering and tax fraud. Prosecutors say he sold remote "meditation" sessions by phone or SMS, pricing them between 120 and 400 euros, and claimed the results were evident to the clients. Among the alleged victims were a horse and a dog suffering from widespread cancer, whose owner paid for the services, as well as a woman and her elderly mother, the latter supposedly treated from a simple photograph.

The case also implicates Mercuri’s husband, Adrien Villier, notary Laurent Grange, and Sirka Doether, a Parisian jeweller specializing in luxury watches, who are being tried together. The trial began on 12 October and will examine whether Mercuri’s practices constituted exploitation and illegal medical activity.