Jacques Voignier

Jaques Voignier, also known as Jean Pierre LaFitte, was a prolific French and American criminal and confidential informant, eventually operating as an undercover spy for the American Federal Bureau of Narcotics (FBN) in the pursuit of criminal narcotics and mafia organizations around the world. He also worked for the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) to track and hunt down white collar criminals and art thieves. Notoriously, Voignier used the connections he made as an undercover operative to participate in the criminal underworld while also investigating it - but some historians suggest this was part of a deception invented by the FBI in 1951.

In 1955, the journalist Bob Considine of the International News Service wrote:"...one of the most amazing underworld figures of the age. He is a mystery man who chooses to call himself, at times, Pierre LaFitte, and claims that he is descendant of the notorious Nineteenth century smuggler and pirate, Jean Lafitte... Lafitte is an actor who can impersonate any type, from banker to gangster to skilled portrait painter... As artful a liar as he is an imposter... A man who might have made a career on the stage so convincing is he in any role he chooses to assume... The government insists that his real name is Jacques Voignier."

Early life Voignier was most likely born on the island of Corsica. However, he also once told reporters that he was born in New Orleans. The French newspaper Le Petit Parisien also reported in 1926 that he was born in Paris. Others claimed that he was born in Belgium. In Marseilles, Voignier worked in restaurants and learned to be a chef. Nolan desperately wanted individuals that possessed "strong character, courage, and integrity." These men were trained for a month in infantry tactics at Fort Jay in New York Harbor, and issued distinctive green-corded campaign hats and collar insignia marked “IP.” Without civilian attire or formal instruction in intelligence methods, the new CIP were sent to France to begin their duties. Jean Voyatis was the man who had formed connections within the Opium Regie in French Indochina to obtain legally-produced wholesale opium to be refined in warehouses in Europe. The Drug Barons of Europe provided the foundations that would eventually become the French Connection. The members of the French Connection used the war as a cover to eliminate their competition, and there are several examples of European gangsters submitting their old associates to the SS as "Secret Jews." Carbone even tried to use the Peruvian diplomat Carlos Fernández Bácula in a pot-boiled scheme to infect North Africa with narcotics in order to cause the Allies there to go into a stupor. Carbone was killed when the Nazi train that he was riding in was derailed by a French Resistance unit commanded by Louis Lyon.

In 1939, Voignier joined the Office of the Coordinator of Information (COI), which became the Office of Strategic Services (OSS), to defeat the "Axis powers" in Europe.

Voignier conducted an extensive “interview,” collecting personal details including family names, dates of birth, and marriage information. As soon as Paul Octave Lafitte had left, the Voignier rushed to the local offices to obtain certified copies of the real man’s birth, baptismal, and marriage certificates. With these documents, he constructed a new persona—complete with a ready-made family and background—and became “Pierre Lafitte.”

However, White and Voignier did not really interact until 1948, when they were both stationed in Tehran, and had lengthy conversations about Voignier's dream of becoming a world-renowned restaurant owner.

In an Affidavit filed on April 22, 1970, White wrote:"Lafitte's successful operations as an Undercover Agent on behalf of the government were due entirely to his intelligence, imagination, courage and integrity and at all times were conducted under the close direction of responsible government officials. His investigations resulted in the conviction of some of the most important narcotic traffickers ever apprehended by the government. In addition, he performed similar accra for the U.S. Secret Service and for the Federal Bureau of Investigation." Under Midnight Climax, gangsters, pimps, prostitutes, and other American citizens were dosed with narcotics without their knowledge. One of these gangsters was Eugenio Gianni, who had been given hard drugs as a part of the experiment, who would later be killed by the mafia because they suspected him of having blown the whistle on Joe Orsini.

Voignier arrived in the city in October under a new alias, Louis Tabet, a supposed Italian gangster from the East Coast. According to reports, his cover story was that he intended to purchase a share in Roxie’s lucrative brothel business and later invest in both the Las Vegas Sun (Greenspan's paper) and a local casino. The alias “Tabet” had previously been used by Voignier in the “Fish Johnson” case.

In early 1961, Voignier allegedly recruited contract agents on behalf of the Central Intelligence Agency to participate in the assassination of Patrice Lumumba in the Congo.

Voignier was deployed to Vietnam around this time, where he is suspected to have been involved in the death of Ngo Dinh Diem.

His mission culminated in a sting operation at the Drake Hotel in Chicago. Voignier made contact with one of the defendants, Norton Kretske, and negotiated to purchase the stolen paintings for $40,000. He played his role meticulously, even joining Kretske for dinners and drinks where Kretske, after being assuredly asked if there was "any blood on them," revealed that his "boy" had cut the pictures from the frames in a safe way.

On Good Friday, April 3, 1953, Voignier and Kretske drove to a house to retrieve the paintings and then proceeded to the hotel parking lot. There, Voignier gave the pre-arranged signal, removing his coat, which prompted FBI agents to swarm the car, arrest Kretske, and recover the artworks. To preserve his cover, Voignier was also arrested and booked.

At the trial, Voignier was the government's surprise star witness. His testimony was devastating to the defense, as he detailed the entire undercover operation, including the negotiations and Kretske's incriminating statements about the theft. However, his appearance and past became a major focus of the trial. The defense aggressively cross-examined him, presenting evidence of a long history of using aliases and arrests in various countries. They introduced records that labeled him "a lunatic and a psychopathic liar" in an attempt to destroy his credibility. For a time, the trial seemed to shift from the defendants to Voignier himself.

Despite these attacks, the government successfully defended its witness, maintaining a wall of secrecy around his true identity and background due to his value as an agent. His testimony was pivotal, and while his character was fiercely contested, the operation he led ultimately led to the conviction of Norton Kretske.

Arrest in New Orleans In 1969, the FBI arrested Voignier under his "Pierre LaFitte" alias in New Orleans, where he was working as the head chef of the Plimsoll Club. He was subsequently jailed in Boston on diamond smuggling charges following the $400,000 swindling of investor Ralph Loomis. The intense publicity surrounding the arrest effectively ended Voignier's undercover career as Pierre LaFitte. However, because Loomis had died the previous year, the trial could not proceed.

JFK theories Voignier's name has come up in investigations related to the death of John F. Kennedy. Voignier was also allegedly present during the break-in of New Orleans District Attorney Jim Garrison's office to find out any information about the alleged conspirator Clay Shaw.

Arrest record (according to journalists) Source: