Fraud Watch

THE MAN WHO SOLD THE EIFFLE TOWER...TWICE

Victor Lustig referred to himself as "Count Lustig". This very stylish, mannered, "gentleman", was greatly admired and held in reverence by the society of international con artists.

Born in Prague, in 1890, his upbringing vague and mysterious, he was a natural linguist, fluent in English and several European languages. Arrested at 18 for petty theft, by age 20 was a confirmed con man. The "Count" worked both sides of the Atlantic with great success. Europe and particularly France were home. He committed so many scams and was so "hot", that he was fled that continent for North America for a few years.

In the U.S.A. he scammed hundreds of thousands of dollars with his bogus "genuine counterfeit moneymaking machine" (a story for another day). One day, in the spring of 1920, in New York, he read a newspaper article about the Eiffel Tower being closed for several weeks, due to extensive, costly repairs. On the spot he hatched a brilliant plan to run an outrageous scam.

Back he went to Paris and began posing as government bureaucrat, the Directeur–Generale de la Ministere des Postes et Telegraphes. The "Counterfeit Count" printed a small number of expensive parchment letterheads bearing the embossed insignia of the French Government. He forged six letters and had them hand delivered to the six largest scrap dealers in France. The letters invited the dealers to a secret conference at a Five Star Hotel in Paris, implying the nature of the meeting was so sensitive that it could not be mentioned through the usual channels.

At the meeting the Count behaved exactly like a pompous, disdainful, bureaucrat. Abrupt, curt, and haughty, he informed the meeting attendees that the Eiffel Tower had become a great liability to the government. The constant, expensive repairs had become a drain on government resources. The outcome of this was that the Tower was about to be dismantled and sold for scrap. The political consequences of this act would be disastrous.

Therefore bids were to be presented now, and the actual dismantling was to be done later when the political climate was cooler.

The wealthy scrap dealers were happy to present their bids. The "Count" had his own selection method. The selected bid came from one whom Lustig perceived as the most gullible. Lustig contacted and informed him that he presented the most likely bid, then began bemoaning his position as a low paid bureaucrat with large expenses. The dealer, like all businessmen transacting with governments, recognized the bribe solicitation. He nodded, and left. Within hours he returned, with a clutch of banknotes, in today's terms over $125,000. Lustig, exchanged conspiratorial smiles and the cash for an official looking, ribbon wrapped, forged government document confirming the Tower's sale. Then he caught a train for Austria. Hiding for more than six months in Vienna, reading all the French newspapers, and hearing nothing, he surmised that his victim wouldn’t and couldn’t contact the police to complain about an illegal bribe.

The bogus bureaucrat again left for Paris, and ran exactly the same magnificent scam, with four new scrap dealers, this time pocketing over $200,000.

An incredible, yet absolutely true story.

Nolan Young is a private investigator with Bay Street Investigations, and also a fraud consultant to Paymaster Corp.