Jan 31, 2017
In the summer of 1871,two grubby prospectors conned a Who's Who of San Francisco's financial elite as well of Charles Tiffany of New York to invest $10 million in diamond fields that did not exist. by Chuck LyonsThe framed stock certificate on the wall in banker...
Jun 13, 2016
(Photo RTE)For over 40 years, Julia Holmes was one of the most accomplished con-artists on both sides of the Atlantic. In Texas, she sold over $500,000 of non-existent land in Ireland and hobnobbed with Vice President Dan Quayle. Deported to Ireland, she set herself up as a “...
May 11, 2015
How did a retired electrician become the owner of 271 Picasso artworks worth millions of dollars, and how could he have forgotten for almost 40 years that he had them? By Marilyn Z. TomlinsThursday, September 9, 2010, Claude Ruiz-Picasso, son of the late Spanish-born artist and...
Jan 6, 2014
Jan. 6, 2014“Colonel” Thomas Blood, who stole the Crown Jewels of England in May, 1671.The theft of the Crown Jewels in 1671 was the crime of its age, but King Charles II inexplicably pardoned the motley gang and granted extensive lands in Ireland to the ringleader, Colonel...
Dec 16, 2013
Dec. 16, 2013An excerpt from the book Heist and High by Anthony Curcio and Dane Battyby Anthony Curcio and Dane BattyForewordThe best books teach us something new about something we thought we knew, and do it in a way that captivates us so thoroughly we don’t even realize we’re...
Nov 25, 2013
In the annals of international diamond heists there has never been a group like the Pink Panthers. Of the estimated 200 members of the gang, most are Serb or Montenegrin nationals. Their estimated 120 heists in Britain, France, Dubai, Geneva, Monaco and Japan are marked by the...
Sep 26, 2013
Gerald Chapman became America’s first “celebrity gangster” and its first “Public Enemy No. 1.” President Coolidge pardoned him from the Federal charges against him so that the State of Connecticut could hang him.
by Robert Walsh
“Death itself isn’t dreadful, but hanging...
Sep 5, 2013
The tunnel started in leather goods shop Le Sac and ended inside the Baker Street branch of Lloyds Bank.
After taking almost three months to tunnel under a branch of Lloyds Bank on Baker Street, on September 1, 1971, three robbers forced open more than 260 safety-deposit...
Jul 15, 2013
The evolution of forensic science is turning hopelessly unsolvable cold cases into convictions.
by Liz Porter
British armed robber Andrew Pearson probably never imagined he’d end up as the star of an anti-dandruff advertisement. He also probably never dreamed he’d get caught...
Jun 24, 2013
An excerpt from the book American El Dorado: The Great Diamond Hoax of 1872.
by Ron Elliott
Preface
Many years ago, I saw a televised interview in which a famous novelist discussed the differences between fiction and nonfiction. One of the points he made was that, as...
