High-profile scams related to financial frauds always cause a wide public outcry. But famous swindlers attract huge public attention, and their names remain in the memory of people for a long time.
The Eiffel Tower
Paris swindler Victor Lastig, nicknamed the Count was well known in narrow circles. A regular casino patron dressed as a needle has always determined who to deal with. At first glance, he assessed the welfare of a new acquaintance and, if such an opportunity was taken up, cleared him to the skin for a card game. But in 1992, Lastig decided to crank up a truly grandiose scam. Sitting in a cafe for a cup of morning coffee, Victor looked through the newspapers and found an announcement about the upcoming repair of the Eiffel Tower. The note said that repairs would be very expensive, and at the moment, even the proposal to demolish the tower is being considered. Lustig immediately came up with a brilliant plan - introducing himself as a government official, he sent an offer to buy the tower to several rich people, motivating it with too expensive maintenance of the attraction. Lastig announced a competition and gave the victory to the entrepreneur, who offered $ 50, 000. Of course, having come for his property, the businessman became convinced of a fraud, but Lastig with money in his pocket was already outside France by then.
In 1926, Lastig was caught and sentenced to 20 years in prison.
A loud scam that nearly cost a life
Khan van Meegeren was not a very famous Dutch artist who often abused drinking. Undoubtedly, Meegeren had abilities - he painted animals and portraits well, subtly conveyed the play of light, but in his works there was a lot of imitation to earlier masters. This quality served him in the future as a source of income. In 1937, the missing painting of the legendary painter Vermeer Delftsky "Christ at Emmaus" was found. The canvas was discovered by van Meegeren and sold by him to the museum for several million dollars. After a few more “missing” Vermeer works appeared on the painting market. In 1943, one of the paintings was discovered in Germany. The Dutch authorities determined that van Meegeren was the seller. The artist was arrested and sentenced to death for the sale of national cultural property. Under pain of death, Meegeren admitted that he was the author of all the works. To prove his innocence, the artist had to make a copy of Vermeer's painting in a prison cell, only after that he was released into the wild.
Van Meegeren became the hero of several novels.
One of the largest real estate scams
German realtor Jürgen Schneider entered the real estate business in 1981, during the reunification of Germany. At that time, many objects of pompous socialist architecture were demolished, and more massive and modern housing was built in their place. Jürgen Schneider specialized in the most expensive and elite facilities. He invested a lot of money in the restoration of existing buildings, turning them into masterpieces of architecture. Schneider quickly became one of the largest investors in Germany, having established several subsidiaries and gained a huge staff. In 1994, the entrepreneur announced to employees that he was going on a short vacation. However, several weeks passed, and Schneider never showed up. It turned out that a successful real estate guru simply escaped, leaving the company millions of debts and problems with the authorities. However, Schneider's carefree journey did not last long - in 1995 he was caught and arrested for 7 years.
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