Both Henri Lafont and Pierre Loutrel (alias Pierrot le fou, "Crazy Pete") were criminals in the Parisian underworld before the war.
Another member, the former police officer Pierre Bonny, had been wanted by the French authorities for misappropriation of funds and selling influence in the Seznec and Stavisky affairs.
The partly criminal nature of the organisation gave it access to contacts such as informers, corrupt officials, and disreputable businesspeople such as Joseph Joanovici.
[citation needed] During January and February 1944, the Carlingue, as members of the paramilitary Légion nord-Africaine [fr; it] (LNA) commanded by Alexandre Villaplane, wore German uniforms as part of Bandenbekämpfung operations against the French Resistance in the area around Tulle, in central France.
In August 2014, the government of Paris ordered the current owners of 93 rue Lauriston to restore the memorial plaque to the former headquarters of the Carlingue.