[citation needed] He met Jean Kay, who was a writer, adventurer, mercenary and member of the neofascist Paladin Group, through two women, Bernadette Roels, who was 36 years old and an ex-prostitute, and her friend who was Kay's partner, Danielle Marquet, who he met at a bar.
[citation needed] Jean Kay stole Vaithaire's file and blackmailed him in turn.
On August 27, two days after the resignation of Jacques Chirac as Prime Minister, the press learned of the scandal and the Vathaire affair came to light.
[8] Vathaire returned to Paris from the Greek island of Corfu on September 8, 1976, and was arrested, but had none of the stolen funds in his possession.
Others speculated that the money might have funded two burglaries that were used to finance international networks of the extreme right, including the efforts of Albert Spaggiari who organized the burglary of the Société Générale in Nice in August, 1976.