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The religious fraud is probably the most insidious. I’ve seen more money stolen in the name of God than any other way. It’s the worst form of con-artistry that you can imagine. But think about ministers and those in the religious order – these are the folks you look up to and trust. Joe Borg, Alabama Securities Commission director
There is one thing – I was wondering can you cash me a small cheque? Fawlty Towers: A Touch of Class s1e1 ***** Basil, Lord Melbury to Basil, BBC 1975
Lord Melbury – he’s not Lord Melbury. He’s a confidence trickster. ibid. Polly to Basil
He [Trump] is the classic con artist that rises up out of a decayed state. Chris Hedges, lecture Seattle University 2018, ‘Corporate Totalitarianism: The End Game’ *****
One of the most sensational murder trials in American criminal history is about to begin. The crime is mysterious – a victim buried in a LA garden and his still missing wife. But the accused – Clark Rockefeller – is the biggest mystery of all. Rockefeller came to America as a young German hustler on a road trip to Hollywood. He turned into the greatest conman the country has ever seen. Six Million Dollar Conman: True Stories, Channel 4 2012
1985: the atmosphere in the house grew more and more toxic. Then in February 1985 without warning John and Linda Sohus vanished from San Marino. ibid.
Clark Rockefeller appeared in New York in 1992, eccentric millionaire and patron of the arts. ibid.
The unfolding story of Clark Rockefeller had made headlines around the world. ibid.
His lawyers said he was delusional and insane. ibid.
Linda Sohus is still missing; only John’s body was ever discovered. ibid.
Who Is “Clark Rockefeller”? NBC News
Christian Gerhartsreiter, 52, was found guilty of the first-degree murder of computer engineer John Sohus, 27, who was the son of his landlady in the Los Angeles suburb of San Marino.
At the time Gerhartsreiter was claiming to be a British aristocrat called Christopher Chichester, a baronet related to Lord Mountbatten, and had adopted a fake English accent.
Mr Sohus’s wife Linda vanished along with her husband and prosecutors claimed Gerhartsreiter had almost certainly killed her too, although he was not charged with doing so. The Telegraph online article 10th April 2013
My name is Frank William Abagnale. Catch Me if You Can 2002 starring Leonardo diCaprio & Tom Hanks & Christopher Walken & Martin Sheen & Nathalie Baye & Amy Adams & James Brolin & Nancy Lenehan et al, director Steven Spielberg, opening scene
They call him the James Bond of the sky. ibid. dude, re newspaper report
Politics in a sense has always been a con game. Joe McGinniss
It’s an incredible con job when you think about it, to believe something now in exchange for something after death. Even corporations with their reward systems don't try to make it posthumous. Gloria Steinem
I’m a con artist in that I’m an actor. I make people believe something is real when they know perfectly well it isn’t. John Lithgow
I’ve always loved movies about con men. I think con men are as American as apple pie. Bill Paxton
Conmen: the most devious of all criminals. Charming, cruel and calculating, they betray trust and devastate lives yet remain a complete enigma. Conmen Case Files s1e1: John Myatt & John Drewe, Netflix 2007
The 20th century’s biggest art fraud: a struggling artist was drawn into a con which would make millions, with the artist and conman secretly working together for almost a decade. ibid.
Drewe: his masterstroke was the infiltration of the British art archives. ibid.
‘We reckon he’d done about 200.’ ibid.
The art world and the police were gathering evidence. ibid.
A man who callously conned his local community out of more than £200,000. In true psychopathic fashion Glenn Rycroft cold-heatedly manipulated his friends, his family and his community by doing the unthinkable: pretending he had cancer. Conmen Case Files s1e2: Glenn Rycroft: The Cancer Con
Working as an air steward, Rycroft approached his friends, family and neighbours with an amazingly lucrative but completely fictitious British Airways investment. ibid.
His dramatic and unfounded claims of an inexplicable cult controlling his every whim were rejected by the judge, and the callous cancer conman received a custodial sentence … ‘a four year sentence.’ ibid.
One of Britain’s most prolific and compulsive conmen whose criminal career spanned more than a quarter of a century and who has adopted at least 24 known aliases. His cons not only robbed people of their money but they also put people’s lives in great danger. Conmen Case Files s1e3: Paul Blint: King Con
Walked into a hospital in Kettering Northants in 1983 posing as a locum doctor. ibid.
Paul Blint has committed over 100 offences, appeared in court over 20 times and spent almost a decade of his twenty-five-year conman career in custody. ibid.
The dramatic and shocking intricacies of one man’s elaborate crimes. Conmen Case Files s1e4: Carl Hildebrandt
The men had created fictitious firms and businesses in a sophisticated scheme to fraudulently obtain almost £200,000 in government grants. ibid.
Stolen cheques had been converted to Krugerrands. ibid.
He faked his own death then stole a dead child’s identity. ibid.
The story of the heartless criminal the press called the Casanova Conman, who would seduce women online, whisper words of love and leave them in thousands and thousands of pounds of debt. Conmen Case Files s2e1: Nick Gage
‘Nick Gage – what a hound.’ ibid. Kerry Daynes
2002 Maidstone Crown Court: 2-year non-custodial rehabilitation order. ibid.
Gage moved on to Portsmouth and in 2002 began pursuing his next victim over the internet. ibid.
Gage has simultaneously been conning multiple women at once. ibid.
21 counts and was sentenced to 20 months in prison. ibid.
One of Britain’s most prolific and compulsive confidence tricksters who hid behind the bogus persona of an exceptional yet eccentric Cambridge University professor. Conmen Case Files s2e2: Robert Hyams
The bogus professor was sentenced to four years imprisonment after he ambitiously conned £236,000 from the farming community. ibid.
‘He went on while he was bail to commit a further 81 offences.’ ibid.
2005 Southwark Crown Court: 5 years imprisonment. ibid.
A conman of the fame-obsessed millennium. He lied, cheated, defraud and terrorised celebrities, royals and anyone unfortunate enough to cross his path. Conmen Case Files s2e3: Michael Hammond
Michael Hammond was making small amounts of money selling stories claiming to have slept with famous women, a claim the women in question vehemently denied. ibid.
It would not be the last time he adopted the persona of a policeman; it was to become his obsession. ibid.
Conmen: the most devious of all criminals. Conman Case Files s2e6: Emma Golightly
Over two years Emma Golightly posed as a highflying doctor, a millionairess and a tragic cancer victim and conned at least six known victims out of a quarter of a million pounds. ibid.