The 20th century went down in history as a century of fraud and grandiose deceit. The sale of the Eiffel Tower, financial pyramids, MMMs, robberies, medical quackery - an incomplete list of frauds that shocked humanity. So, we present to your attention the TOP-10: the most ambitious scams of the century.
10th place. A duet who can't sing
The rating of the great scams of the 20th century is opened by the popular in the 80-90s. German pop group Milli Vanilli. Rob Pilatus and Fabrice Morvan went down in history as a duet who cannot sing.
Milli Vanilli is the protege of the famous German producer Frank Farian. The duo was created in the early 80s of the last century and quickly gained worldwide recognition. Grandiose shows, performances in the largest cities of Europe, millions of fans - all this has become a reality for former dancers Rob and Faris. The peak of the duo's popularity was 1990, when Milli Vanilli received the prestigious Grammy Award in the nomination "Best New Artist". However, soon the activities of the group were interrupted due to a scandal. During a concert in Bristol (USA), where Rob and Faris sang "live", there was a technical malfunction of the disc on which the phonogram was recorded. As a result, the phrase from the famous song “Girl You Know It's True” was repeated many times, and the duo was forced to leave the stage. It turned out that during their performances, Pilatus and Morvan imitated singing, and the original voices belonged to American vocalists Charles Shaw, Brad Howell and John Davis.
After the scandal, a long trial followed. As a result, the duo was forced to refuse all awards. In addition, deceived listeners were reimbursed for the cost of purchased Milli Vanilli records and tickets for their concerts.
9th place. The Miracle of John Brinkley
9th place in our ranking of “The Most Amazing Scams of the Century” is occupied by John Brinkley's medical fraud. This man managed in a few years to turn from a poor village boy into a multimillionaire!
John Brinkley was born in a small American village. In his youth, he had to work hard. It was at this time that John began to think about illegal earnings. Brinkley’s “teachers” are well-known North Carolina scammers and crooks.
In 1918, John bought a medical degree and began to implement a variety of frauds. The False Doctor tackled the problems associated with male potency. He offered his patients “miraculous remedies” from tinted distilled water. Then John Brinkley got another brilliant idea. Soon, the false doctor convinced all men that transplantation of the genitals from the goat would help to solve the problem with potency. Two years later, Mr. Brinkley’s new business began to generate incredible returns. In a month, he and his colleagues performed at least 50 operations! In 1923, a successful businessman acquired his own radio station, on the waves of which he advertised the clinic of Dr. Brinkley.
In the 30s. the false doctor was forced to complete medical practice. Several lawsuits have been filed against Mr. Brinkley over the death of former patients. In 1941, the famous swindler was declared bankrupt.
8th place. Criminal Artist
At the beginning of the 20th century, a wave of bank fraud swept through the Russian Empire. The largest banks in the country have lost large sums. The problem was held back for a long time, as organizations did not want to lose the trust of their millionaire investors. Later it turned out that all these fraud scams were carried out under the direction of a certain Mikhail Tsereteli. In different parts of Russia he was known under different names: Prince of the Mists, Eristavi, Andronnikov.
Tsereteli invited the richest people of the empire to cooperate, took their passports from them and appropriated their bank deposits. In 1913, the fraudster managed to conduct a large-scale scam in Germany. He organized a fundraiser for the construction and repair of the fleet, and then appropriated a large sum.
Another area of ​​activity of Tsereteli was the robbery of wealthy ladies in European resorts. The young man quickly rubbed into confidence, and then lured large sums of money from women .
In 1914, under the name of Prince Tumanov, Tsereteli settled in Odessa. A year later he was arrested. It turned out that only in 1914-1915. the fraudster has turned over 10 large scams! Nevertheless, Tsereteli never sought excuses, he only declared: "I am not a criminal, I am an artist."
7th place. Catch Me If You Can
Frank Abignail for 5 years has made a huge number of grandiose scams. This man went down in American history as the largest con man. In addition, based on the life of a genius swindler, the film “Catch Me If You Can” was shot by Steven Spielberg. So what is Frank Abignail famous for?
Mr. Abignail’s great scams involved tampering with bank documents. Frank began his criminal activity at the age of 16, having deceived his own father. Until the age of 21, the young man "tried on" a lot of professions. He was a pediatrician, professor of sociology, and even the attorney general of Louisiana! From the frauds of Mr. Abignail, bank depositors of 26 European states suffered.
At 21, the con man was arrested. But after 5 years, he was prematurely released on the condition that the former fraudster would cooperate with the FBI. As a result, for more than 40 years, Frank Abignail advised the Bureau of Investigation and assisted in exposing the scammers.
6th place. Fake rockefeller
Christopher Rocancourt was born in a small French village. At the age of 20, he committed his first crime - the robbery of the Bank of Geneva. After that, Mr. Rockancourt leaves for the USA. At first, Christopher came into trust in wealthy women, posing as his son Sophia Loren or nephew Dino de Laurentis. Soon, Mr. Rockancourt invented a new legend. He became a member of the family of American banker James Rockefeller, the famous founder of Standard Oil. A rich life, the attention of women, a personal helicopter - all this became a reality for the former poor. Christopher Rockefeller quickly embeds confidence in the most famous people. His friends were Jean Claude Van Dam and Mickey Rourke. But the fake Rockefeller fame was short-lived. In 2000, Christopher Rockancourt was arrested. After making a deposit, the fraudster went to Hong Kong, where he continued his scams. In 2001, he was again arrested and charged with misappropriation of $ 40 million.
5th place. Mmm
5th place in the ranking of great scams is the financial pyramid MMM. Mavrodi Sergey is considered the organizer of the largest scam in the history of Russia. The structure was founded in 1989 and continued its activities until 1994. Organizing the MMM, Mavrodi decided to compose the name from the first letters of the names of its founders (Sergei Panteleevich himself, his brother and Olga Melnikova). Initially, the company was engaged in the sale of computers. Since 1992, the organization began to issue its own shares, which were sold very rapidly. Then Mavrodi introduced the so-called MMM tickets. The price of one ticket was 1/100 shares. Outwardly, they were similar to Russian rubles, but in the center of the paper was a portrait of Mavrodi himself. In 1994, there were over 12 million contributors to MMM. In August 1994, the scandalous founder of the financial pyramid was arrested, and the activities of MMM ceased. According to various sources, about 10 million investors suffered from the Sergey Mavrodi scam.
Financial fraud is one of the main problems of the 20th century. The structure of Sergey Mavrodi was not only one of the few companies that affected millions of people. The list of financial pyramids of the XX century you can see below.
The most famous financial pyramids
- Pyramid of Dona Branca. In 1970, Portuguese citizen Donna Branca opened her own bank. To attract investors, she promised a monthly rate of at least 10% to each client. Thousands of people from all over the country have entrusted their deposits to the bank. But in 1984, Don Branca was arrested for fraud, and the grandiose financial pyramid collapsed.
- The scheme of Lou Perlman. The resourceful swindler became famous for having sold nearly 300 million dollars in shares of non-existent companies.
- The Royal European Club is a company created by Hans Schpachtholz and Damara Bertges. As a result of the activities of the fraudulent organization, thousands of investors from different countries lost about $ 1 billion.
Financial Pyramids XXI
Financial pyramids are not only a problem of the 20th century. A variety of criminal schemes continue to be implemented so far. We present to your attention a list of the most famous financial pyramids of the 21st century.
- “Double Shah” is a scheme developed by a regular teacher from Pakistan, Saed Shah. First, he made an advantageous offer to his neighbors, promising to quickly double their investments. Soon, the pyramid expanded throughout the country. As a result, Shah managed to lure investors from more than $ 800 million.
- The Barnard Medoff Pyramid - a major scam organized by an American businessman, is considered one of the biggest financial frauds in history. As a result of the Medoff Investment Fund, more than 3 million people were deceived. The damage suffered by investors is estimated at 65 billion dollars.
4th place. Financial genius Charles Ponzi
4th place in our ranking “The Most Amazing Scams of the Century” is occupied by the financial frauds of Charles Ponzi. Mr. Ponzi is considered one of the largest scammers in US history. The future financial crook came to the country in 1903. According to Ponzi himself, in his pocket was "$ 2 and a million dollars of hope." In 1919, he borrowed $ 200 from a friend and founded his own financial pyramid SXC. Ponzi offered his investors earnings on the sale and purchase of goods in different countries. In addition, the fraudster promised his customers 50% of the profit on deposit for 3 months. The Ponzi scheme began to work successfully. However, the brilliant plan collapsed when a friend of Charles, who had once lent him money, demanded half of Ponzi's income. A lengthy trial followed, during which the "financial genius" was declared bankrupt and deported to his homeland. Charles Ponzi died in Rio de Janeiro, where he was buried for his last 75 dollars.
3rd place. Wunderkind Cheater
3rd place in the ranking of “The Most Amazing Scams of the Century” is occupied by Martin Frenkel’s fraud. This man, along with Charles Ponzi, is considered the largest con man in US history. From childhood, Martin was discredited by the fate of a successful businessman. The boy graduated from school ahead of time, and then went to university.
The ingenious fraudster began his criminal path in 1986, having founded the investment company Creative Partners Fund LP. As a result, Martin Frenkel managed to lure about $ 1 million from his investors. A few years later, the con man founded another investment fund and thereby significantly increased his income.
A few years later, Frenkel came up with a new scam and began to buy insurance companies in different states.
In 1998, a genius fraudster made two very useful acquaintances: with the American ambassador to the USSR and with the famous Catholic priest, father Jacob. With their help, he organized a charity fund in support of the American church, which, in fact, was another financial pyramid.
Mr. Frenkel's activities were suspended only in 2001, when he was arrested and sentenced to 200 years.
2nd place. Scam 419
2nd place in our ranking is the largest financial fraud of the XX century. It went down in history as “Nigerian Letters,” or “Scam 419.” It should be noted that the scheme set forth below continues to operate so far.
Scam 419 began in the 80s. last century. At this time, a group of criminals formed in Nigeria, who began to implement the old technique of deceiving unsuspecting citizens. Soon, this technique of fraud spread to the Internet. What is the essence of Nigerian letters?
Letters from Nigeria or other African countries come to people from different countries. The sender begs the recipient to help in multimillion-dollar operations, promising a substantial percentage. Typically, the sender appears to be a former king, wealthy heir, or banker. The letter contains a request for help in transferring a large amount to another country or in obtaining an inheritance. If the recipient agrees to assist the sender, then he not only does not receive the promised money, but also loses his own.
1st place. Eiffel Tower for sale
So, the 1st place in our ranking is occupied by the most original scam of the 20th century. Its organizer is Victor Lustig. This con man went down in world history as the man who sold the Eiffel Tower.
At the beginning of the XX century, a native of the Czech Republic Victor Lustig settled in Paris. Here he cranks up a few scams, and then moves to the United States. In 1925, Lustig returned to Paris. There, on the pages of one of the newspapers, I read a message that the Eiffel Tower was practically unusable and needed repair or demolition. This information served as the basis for a new brilliant scam. Lustig, introducing himself as a French minister, sends telegrams to the richest tycoons in Europe with a proposal to take part in the discussion of the future fate of the main symbol of Paris. At the same time, it assures them of the need to keep this information secret. As a result, Victor Lustig sold the right to utilize the Eiffel Tower to Andre Poisson for 50 thousand dollars. The scandal that followed shortly afterwards was hushed up by the French authorities.
Lustig emigrated to the United States, but a few years later he returned to Paris and again sold the Eiffel Tower (this time for 75 thousand dollars).