Murder in Monaco is an intriguing 2025 documentary, available on Netflix, that delves into the mystery surrounding the death of Edmond Safra, the billionaire banker who was seemingly murdered in his penthouse in Monaco, ironically considered the safest country for the wealthy. Through interviews with various investigative experts and family acquaintances, and even the main suspect, the film presents each of the possible theories about the billionaire's death and, furthermore, reveals a recent and unique unexpected twist in the case. Ultimately, Murder in Monaco is a well-made documentary that will undoubtedly captivate and impress any fan of the true crime genre.
Edmond Safra was a Lebanese-Brazilian banker who amassed enormous wealth and influence through his work in the private banking sector. Born in Lebanon, Edmond belonged to a respected Jewish family originally from Syria that already had experience in the banking industry. When Edmond was a teenager, his father, Jacob, had already successfully founded his private bank, Banque de Credit National S.A.L., so he joined the family business and learned the trade. At a very young age, Edmond managed to earn several million dollars in the business and founded his own Trade Development Bank in Geneva, targeting the super-rich, whom he considered his most lucrative clients.
Director: Hodges Usry
Writer: Sam Hobkinson
As the business grew and he eventually founded the Republic National Bank of New York, Edmond Safra continued to target the same clientele globally, with most of the billionaires from the world's wealthiest countries, such as Monaco, Luxembourg, and Switzerland, placing their trust in him. The businessman became the private banker to the rich and famous, with numerous movie stars, politicians, and high-society figures from around the world entrusting their money to his bank. In turn, Edmond Safra became a public figure who was often seen at charity events, and was named by Forbes as one of the 200 richest men in the world.
However, the first thing that probably comes to mind when mentioning the name Edmond Safra is the mysterious way he died in the early hours of December 3, 1999. Distrustful of his professional and personal rivals, Edmond and his wife, Lily, moved to the principality of Monaco, considered not only a tax haven but also the safest place for billionaires. He literally took refuge behind the security of bulletproof shutters on the windows and numerous security cameras installed in his penthouse to prevent attacks.
However, on December 3, 1999, two masked men managed to enter the penthouse, likely from the luxurious hotel adjacent to the building, with the intention of kidnapping or murdering Edmond Safra. While Lily Safra managed to escape, Edmond took refuge in the panic room with his nurse, Vivian Torrente. But when the attackers set fire to the penthouse before leaving, toxic fumes also seeped into the panic room. When firefighters arrived on the scene, they found Edmond Safra dead from asphyxiation, sitting on a sofa inside the panic room, while Vivian lay dead on the floor from the same cause.
Given that the deaths of the billionaire and his nurse occurred under clearly mysterious circumstances, the Monaco police immediately launched an investigation to find the two culprits who had allegedly broken into the penthouse and started the fire, as well as the criminal organization that backed them. There was no shortage of theories about who might be involved, as Edmond Safra had made numerous enemies throughout his professional career. The first suspect everyone thought of was the Russian mafia, and both the police and the media began to seriously consider this possibility. Through a business partner named Bill Browder, Edmond Safra had conducted significant business in Russia, and it was believed that he had become involved with shady characters. Safra and Browder had created a joint venture in Russia called Hermitage Capital Management, which had grown from $25 million to $1 billion in just a few months.
However, when the Russian government devalued its currency in 1998, the company allegedly lost $900 million of the money its clients had invested through them. As a result, Safra and Browder wanted to immediately exit the Russian market, which apparently angered several powerful politicians, including a young Vladimir Putin, who wanted foreign companies to continue supporting the country during this phase of transformation. Around the same time, numerous foreign businessmen were being murdered in the streets of the country's major cities. There was also pressure at the time for the oligarchs, who were essentially backed by and closely linked to the government, to invest in businesses that would boost the new Russia.
Safra and Browder had invested in a Russian oil company called Sidanco, 96% of which was owned by the oligarch Vladimir Potanin, and according to Browder, Potanin was attempting to claim 75% of the profits he and Safra had earned during their collaboration. They were pressured to accept the deal, and when they firmly opposed the oligarch, there were clear attempts to harm and threaten the bankers. Shortly afterward, Edmund Safra also notified the FBI that certain members of the Russian government were attempting to launder money through his bank and a rival bank in the United States, which was soon confirmed. It was primarily at this time that Safra became extremely concerned about his safety and hired bodyguards and security agents for himself and Browder. Therefore, the theory that the Russian mafia had hired assassins to kill Edmond Safra in his own penthouse was the first one that came to everyone's mind, although nothing concrete was found to support this belief.
When the Monaco police concluded their brief investigation, they revealed some surprising details and a theory about the true cause of the billionaire's death, and also provided evidence to support it. There was actually little evidence that anyone had entered the penthouse on the night of the incident, and security camera footage would have been extremely helpful. Although numerous cameras were installed throughout the house, both inside and out, the specific footage that could have shown the perpetrators had been mysteriously deleted from the system. It was primarily because of this that the police suspected an inside job, or at least an act of negligence, and officially held Edmond Safra's nurse, Ted Maher, responsible.
Ted Maher, who features extensively in the Netflix series "Murder in Monaco," was a former Green Beret who had become a professional nurse after returning to the United States, and it was through a wealthy client he was working for at the time that he came into contact with the Safra family. Edmond was looking for a nurse to help him with his Parkinson's disease, and Ted applied for the job solely for the good salary it offered, even though it would keep him away from his wife and children. The fact that Ted had military experience further impressed the family, as he could serve as both nurse and personal bodyguard to the nervous banker, so they hired him. According to him, both he and the Safras were happy with the arrangement, and his employer agreed to let Ted bring his family to Monaco when he requested it a few months later.
However, authorities revealed that they were certain it was Ted who had started the fire in the penthouse to create a false emergency situation from which he would rescue his boss and become a hero, in order to gain financial or other benefits. According to them, Ted had started the fire in a wastebasket, which triggered the initial alarms, and then allowed the flames to spread to the rest of the house, while claiming that two intruders had broken in, forcing Edmond and Vivian to take refuge in the safe room.
He also stabbed himself twice in the stomach, according to the police, to make his story about the intruders more convincing, but ultimately failed to save his boss as he had planned, because he passed out from his injuries. Through his lawyer, Ted Maher claimed that he had, in fact, started the fire in the trash can to trigger the fire alarms, which he believed was the only way to alert the authorities. He also asserted that no one in their right mind would stab themselves in the stomach just to carry out a ridiculous plan. But authorities countered by stating that Ted had received the precise medical training to know how to inflict self-harm without damaging internal organs during his time as a Green Beret. He had also worked in Las Vegas casinos as a security guard and possessed knowledge of how to erase security camera footage.
A third, equally interesting theory emerged later, involving Edmond's rather suspicious wife, Lily Safra. A Brazilian national, Lily came from humble beginnings but had managed to climb to the top of the social hierarchy through her multiple marriages, some of which had rather suspicious endings. For example, her second husband, Alfredo Monteverde, was one of the wealthiest businessmen in Brazil when they married, but he died under extremely suspicious circumstances a couple of years later. Alfredo was found dead in his bedroom with two gunshot wounds to the chest, and the official autopsy ruled it a suicide, although it seemed simply bizarre that a man would shoot himself twice in the chest. Most believe there was foul play in the death, which was carefully covered up, and the only person who benefited significantly from the death was the widow, Lily.
Just weeks before Alfredo's death, he had amended his will to completely exclude his sister, Rosita, and leave everything to his wife, so Lily inherited his fortune and businesses upon his death. Similarly, shortly before Edmond Safra's death, he too had amended his will to exclude his siblings, who had always disliked Lily, considering her of too low a social status for the family, and had left everything to his wife. Thus, once again, only Lily Safra benefited from Edmond's mysterious death, as she inherited $4.8 billion and also the extravagantly expensive Villa La Leopolda on the French Riviera. Interestingly, Lily seemed to go to great lengths to implicate Ted Maher as solely responsible for the arson. It is believed she paid an unknown sum of money to Ted's wife, Heidi, when she went to visit him in Monaco, to turn her against Ted and separate from him.
It is also possible that Lily was in cahoots with the Russians, as both wanted Edmond Safra dead. When Lily decided to sell Villa La Leopolda, the interested buyer turned out to be Mikhail Prokhorov, another Russian oligarch, who paid approximately $50 million upfront. Curiously, the deal fell through, and surprisingly, Lily decided not to return the $50 million, with Prokhorov apparently raising no objection. This could well have been some kind of payoff between the two parties.
It is also believed that Lily Safra paid her head nurse, Sonia Herkrath, to provide false testimony against Ted Maher during the trial. Lily was never able to give a convincing account of exactly how she had escaped the house on the fateful night, which made her seem even more suspicious. But, whatever her secrets were, Lily Safra took them to her grave in 2022, at the age of 87.
Regardless of the actual cause of the fire, there is no doubt that the Monegasque authorities may also be responsible for the deaths of the billionaire banker and his nurse. In the early hours of December 3rd, police were alerted to a possible break-in at the penthouse, around 4:49 a.m., after which numerous more calls were made to the authorities.
From the panic room, Vivian Torrente made multiple calls to Sonia Herkrath pleading for help, and the head nurse continued to alert the authorities to the situation, but they simply could not reach the penthouse in time. When firefighters arrived on the scene, there was confusion about whether the perpetrators were armed, so police had to search the entire building and declare it safe before firefighters were allowed entry.
Finally, at 7:45 a.m., three hours after the first call to the police, firefighters broke into the panic room, where they found Edmund and Vivian dead. Had they been exposed to the toxic fumes for less time and had the firefighters rescued them sooner, they would have survived. However, the authorities were not held accountable, and some still claim there may have been an even larger cover-up, given Edmund Safra's prominence. Although he recently condemned the Russian attack on Ukraine, Prince Albert of Monaco has always been a very close friend of Vladimir Putin, leading some to believe that the prince himself might have been involved in a possible political assassination and the subsequent cover-up.
Ted Maher was ultimately found guilty of the arson that caused the deaths of the billionaire and his nurse at trial and was sentenced to 10 years in prison. Interestingly, the judge who handed down this sentence, Hullin, stated a few years later that he had participated in an act of systemic corruption in which he decided who to indict even before the trial began.
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