Rachid Tabti

Rachid Tabti (; 27 May 1930 – 30 July 2009) was an Algerian spy, lawyer, actor, and boxer. Born in Constantine, he studied law and political science in France, where he also competed as a boxer, winning the Paris and French university welterweight championships before pursuing a brief acting career in French and American cinema.He is best known for his role in assisting Algeria during negotiations leading up to the nationalization of oil in 1971. Operating under the false identity of "Richard, Prince of Marmara," a supposed Turkish dignitary, he infiltrated French diplomatic and economic circles and cultivated a relationship with a secretary at the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs, obtaining hundreds of classified documents that were passed to Algerian intelligence.Arrested in February 1970 and tried before the Cour de sûreté de l'État, he was sentenced to ten years in prison before being released and expelled to Algeria in July 1971 as part of a prisoner exchange. After his return, he practiced as a lawyer at the Supreme Court of Algeria. He died in El Biar, Algiers, in 2009 at the age of 79.

Biography Early life and education Rachid Tabti was born on 27 May 1930 in Constantine into a well-off family. In 1950, he moved to France to complete his secondary education. After earning his baccalaureate, he enrolled at the University of Paris Faculty of Law, obtaining a law degree, followed by diplomas from the Paris Institute of Political Studies and the Institute of Higher International Studies in the early 1960s. After Algeria's independence, he joined the Sécurité Militaire (SM) service.

In 1963, he was recruited by the Embassy of Algeria in France as a secretary, later working briefly at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Algiers before returning to Paris on intelligence assignments focused on Franco-Algerian economic relations. He subsequently took up the position of public relations advisor at Sonatrach, the national oil company of Algeria.

From the mid-1960s onwards, Tabti infiltrated French diplomatic and economic circles under the false identity of “Richard, Prince of Marmara,” a supposed dignitary linked to the Marmara Island in Turkey. He also used the title “Duke of Adrianople” and introduced his wife, Monique Deutch, as “Countess of Cardessi.”

On 28 October 1970, both men were tried before the and sentenced to ten and eight years in prison respectively for “intelligence with agents of a foreign power.” Halegua received a five-year suspended sentence, the court ruling she had acted in good faith and been deceived. he died at his home in El Biar, a suburb of Algiers, on 30 July 2009 at the age of 79. His death remained largely unknown to the public until 2011.