The 20th century has gone down in history as a century of fraud and grandiose deceptions. The sale of the Eiffel Tower, financial pyramids, MMM, robberies, medical quackery - an incomplete list of fraud that shocked humanity. So, we present to your attention the TOP 10: the most grandiose scams of the century.
10th place. A duet that 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 duo that can't sing.
Milli Vanilli is a protege of the famous German producer Frank Farian. The duo was created in the early 80s of the last century and quickly gained recognition around the world. Grand shows, performances in the biggest cities of Europe, millions of fans - all this has become a reality for former dancers Rob and Faris. The duo's popularity peaked in 1990, when Milli Vanilli received the prestigious Grammy Award for Best New Artist. However, the group's activities were soon interrupted due to a scandal. During a concert in Bristol (USA), where Rob and Faris sang "live", there was a technical failure of the disc, onwhich the soundtrack 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 followed a long trial. As a result, the duo was forced to refuse all awards. In addition, deceived listeners were reimbursed for the purchase of Milli Vanilli records and tickets to their concerts.
9 place. John Brinkley's Miracle
9 on our "Biggest Scams of the Century" ranking is John Brinkley's medical scams. This man managed to turn from a poor country boy into a multimillionaire in a matter of years!
John Brinkley was born in a small American village. In his youth, he had to work hard. It was at this time that John begins to think about illegal earnings. Brinkley's "teachers" were well-known swindlers and swindlers in North Carolina.
In 1918, John bought a medical degree and began to implement a variety of machinations. The false doctor started solving problems related to male potency. He offered his patients "miraculous remedies" from tinted distilled water. Then John Brinkley had another brilliant idea. Soon the pseudo-doctor convinced all the men that transplantation of genital organs from a goat would help solve the problem with potency. Two years later, Mr. Brinkley began to bring incredible income. In a month, he and his colleagues performed at least 50 operations! In 1923, a successful businessman bought his own radio station, on the waves of which he advertised Dr. Brinkley's clinic.
In the 30s. the pseudodoctor was forced to end his medical practice. Several lawsuits have been filed against Mr. Brinkley due to the death of former patients. In 1941, the famous swindler was declared bankrupt.
8 place. Outlaw Artist
At the beginning of the 20th century, a wave of banking scams swept across the Russian Empire. The largest banks in the country lost large sums. The issue was hushed up for a long time, as the organizations did not want to lose the trust of their millionaire savers. Later it turned out that all these robbery scams were carried out under the leadership of a certain Mikhail Tsereteli. In different parts of Russia, he was known under different names: Prince Tumanov, Eristavi, Andronnikov.
Tsereteli invited the richest people of the empire to cooperate, took away their passports and appropriated their bank deposits. In 1913, a fraudster managed to carry out a large-scale scam in Germany. He organized a fundraiser for the construction and repair of the fleet, and then embezzled a large sum.
Another line of Tsereteli's activity was the robbery of we althy ladies in European resorts. The young man quickly rubbed himself into confidence, and then swindled large sums from women.
In 1914, under the name of Prince Tumanov Tsereteli settled in Odessa. A year later he was arrested. It turned out that only1914-1915 the scammer pulled off more than 10 major scams! Nevertheless, Tsereteli never looked for excuses for himself, he only stated: “I am not a criminal, I am an artist.”
7 place. Catch me if you can
Frank Abagnale has committed a huge number of grandiose scams in 5 years. This man went down in American history as the biggest swindler. In addition, based on the life of a brilliant swindler, Steven Spielberg's film Catch Me If You Can was filmed. So what made Frank Abagnale famous?
Mr. Abagnale's great scams involved counterfeiting bank documents. Frank began his criminal activity at the age of 16, deceiving his own father. Until the age of 21, a young man “tried on” many professions. He was a pediatrician, a professor of sociology, and even the attorney general of Louisiana! Depositors of banks in 26 European countries suffered from the machinations of Mr. Abagnale.
At 21, the swindler was arrested. But 5 years later, he was released early on the condition that the former fraudster would cooperate with the FBI. As a result, for more than 40 years, Frank Abagnale advised the Bureau of Investigation and assisted in exposing scammers.
6 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. Rokancourt leaves for the USA. At first, Christopher entered into the confidence of rich women, posing as the son of Sophia Loren or the nephew of Dino de Laurentiis. Soon Mr. Rockancourt came up with a newlegend. He became a member of the family of the American banker James Rockefeller, the famous founder of Standard Oil. A rich life, the attention of women, a personal helicopter - all this has become a reality for the former poor man. Christopher Rockefeller is quickly taking root in the trust of the most famous people. Jean Claude Van Dam and Mickey Rourke became his friends. But the glory of the fake Rockefeller was short-lived. In 2000, Christopher Rokancourt was arrested. After bail was paid, the swindler left for Hong Kong, where he continued his scams. In 2001, he was arrested again and charged with embezzlement of $40 million.
5 place. MMM
5 in the ranking of the great scams is the MMM pyramid scheme. Mavrodi Sergey is considered the organizer of the largest scam in the history of Russia. The structure was founded in 1989 and continued to be active until 1994. Organizing the MMM, Mavrodi decided to make a name from the first letters of the names of its founders (Sergey 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 put into circulation the so-called MMM tickets. The price of one ticket was 1/100 of a share. Outwardly, they were similar to Russian rubles, but in the center of the paper was a portrait of Mavrodi himself. In 1994, MMM had more than 12 million depositors. In August 1994, the scandalous founder of the financial pyramid was arrested, and the activities of MMM were terminated. According to various sources, from the scam of Sergei Mavrodiabout 10 million depositors were affected.
Financial fraud is one of the main problems of the 20th century. The structure of Sergei Mavrodi was not just one of the few companies from which millions of people suffered. You can see the list of financial pyramids of the XX century below.
The most famous pyramid schemes
- Pyramid of Dona Branca. In 1970, Donna Branque, a Portuguese citizen, opened her own bank. To attract depositors, 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, Dona Branca was arrested for fraud, and the grand pyramid scheme collapsed.
- Lou Perlman's scheme. The resourceful swindler became famous for selling shares of non-existent companies for almost $300 million.
- Royal Club of Europe is a company created by Hans Spachtholz and Damara Bertges. As a result of the activities of a fraudulent organization, thousands of investors from different countries lost about $ 1 billion.
Pyramid XXI
Financial pyramids are not only a problem of the 20th century. A variety of criminal schemes continue to be implemented to this day. We present to your attention a list of the most famous financial pyramids of the XXI century.
- "Double check" - a scheme developed by an ordinary teacher from Pakistan Syed Shah. He first made a lucrative offer to his neighbors, promising to quickly double their investment. Soon the pyramid expanded throughout the country. As a result, Shah managed to lure more than 800 million from investorsdollars.
- The Barnard Medoff Pyramid is a major scam organized by an American businessman, considered one of the biggest financial frauds in history. As a result of the activities of the Medoff investment fund, more than 3 million people were deceived. The damage suffered by depositors is estimated at $65 billion.
4 place. Financial genius Charles Ponzi
4 on our "Biggest Scams of the Century" list is Charles Ponzi's financial fraud. Mr. Ponzi is considered one of the biggest fraudsters in US history. The future financial crook arrived in the country in 1903. According to Ponzi himself, he had "$2 and a million dollars of hope" in his pocket. In 1919, he borrowed $200 from a friend and started his own pyramid scheme, SXC. Ponzi offered its depositors earnings by selling and buying goods in different countries. In addition, the scammer promised his clients 50% profit from the deposit for 3 months. The Ponzi scheme began to work successfully. However, the ingenious plan collapsed when a friend of Charles, who once lent him money, demanded half of Ponzi's income. A long 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 with his last $75.
3rd place. Cheating Prodigy
3 in the "Biggest Scams of the Century" ranking is Martin Frenkel's scams. This man, along with Charles Ponzi, is considered the largestswindler in US history. Since childhood, Martin has been denigrated by the fate of a successful businessman. The boy finished school ahead of schedule, and then entered the university.
The brilliant swindler began his criminal path in 1986, founding the investment company Creative Partners Fund LP. As a result, Martin Frenkel managed to swindle about $1 million from his investors. A few years later, the swindler founded another investment fund and thereby significantly increased his income.
A few years later, Frenkel came up with a new scam and started buying insurance companies in different states.
In 1998, the brilliant swindler 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 charitable foundation 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
2 in our ranking is the largest financial fraud of the 20th century. It went down in history as the "Nigerian Letters", or "Scam 419". It should be noted that the scheme outlined below is still in effect.
The 419 scam started back in the 80s. last century. At this time, a group of criminals formed in Nigeria, who began to implement the old technique of deceiving gullible citizens. Soon, this scam technique spread to the Internet. What isessence of Nigerian letters?
People from different countries receive letters from Nigeria or other African countries in the mail. The sender begs the recipient to help in multi-million dollar transactions, promising a substantial percentage. Typically, the sender introduces himself as a former king, a we althy heir, or a banker. The letter contains a request for assistance 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.
1 place. Eiffel Tower for sale
So, the 1st place in our rating is occupied by the most original scam of the 20th century. Its organizer is Viktor Lustig. This swindler went down in world history as the man who sold the Eiffel Tower.
At the beginning of the 20th century, Viktor Lustig, a native of the Czech Republic, settled in Paris. Here he turns several 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 had practically fallen into disrepair and needed to be repaired or demolished. This information served as the basis for a new ingenious scam. Lustig, posing as a French minister, sends telegrams to the richest magnates of Europe with a proposal to take part in the discussion of the future fate of the main symbol of Paris. At the same time, he assures them of the need to keep this information secret. As a result, Victor Lustig sold the right to dispose of the Eiffel Tower to Andre Poisson for $50,000. The scandal that followed soon after was hushed up by the French authorities.
Lustig emigrated to the US, but returned to Paris a few years later and sold the Eiffel Tower again (this time for $75,000).
