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Thread: Who is your favorite world renown cheater/scammer/fraud

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    Member Roe D Hym's Avatar
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    Default Who is your favorite world renown cheater/scammer/fraud

    Every so often a memory of mine is jogged about Joyce Hatto whose husband, William H. Barrington-Coupee, released over 100 recordings of Joyce Hatto (pianist) which turned out not to be her but other pianists from previous recordings. It seems Joyce Hatto was likely unaware that her husband manipulated recordings of her and inserted recordings of others. This got me thinking, who is your favorite cheat/scammer/fraud? Barrington-Coupee ranks high on of my list, especially since he was also a convicted tax cheat.

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    Default Re: Who is your favorite world renown cheater/scammer/fraud

    In modern times, Richard Nixon. Nixon was a sort of Shakespearean type villain - intelligent, well-spoken, but also paranoid and duplicitous in a somewhat tragic kind of way. He represented someone with the faculties to have made himself a great statesman, but who instead proved to be a deeply dishonest politician and manipulator. He lied to the American people repeatedly, and the great irony was that the activities giving rise to his downfall were unnecessary. Nixon was going to win the 1972 handily, yet his dishonesty and paranoia landed him in trouble for a cover-up.

    Then around Nixon was a cast of characters that one could not duplicate - the military-like Haldeman, the shrewd and unscrupulous Ehrlichman, the intelligent but self-serving John Dean. Even at a lower level you had the eccentric and over-the-top Gordon Liddy and the dirt-digging Howard Hunt. And all this kind of swirls around the central character of Nixon. Shakespeare would have dreamed for such material were he to write another play.

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    Jon Szanto (February 9th, 2021)

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    Senior Member manoeuver's Avatar
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    Default Re: Who is your favorite world renown cheater/scammer/fraud

    I've got a long list, most of them have worked in DC for decades. Maybe I'll find a juicy one and write it up...

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    Default Re: Who is your favorite world renown cheater/scammer/fraud

    Frank Abagnale. The man assumed several different identities including as a pilot and doctor. He was caught three times, escaping the first two times. "Catch Me If You Can" was based on his life.
    He had a set of cojones on him, for sure.

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    Default Re: Who is your favorite world renown cheater/scammer/fraud

    As this is a pen forum I guess I'll have to plump for George C. Parker - the man who tried to sell (among many other things) the Brooklyn Bridge!

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    Senior Member Yazeh's Avatar
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    Default Re: Who is your favorite world renown cheater/scammer/fraud

    I don't like scammers, but one of the greatest one, albeit fictional is Keyser Söze from the Usual suspects...

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    Jon Szanto (February 9th, 2021)

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    Senior Member Jon Szanto's Avatar
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    Default Re: Who is your favorite world renown cheater/scammer/fraud

    Quote Originally Posted by Yazeh View Post
    I don't like scammers, but one of the greatest one, albeit fictional is Keyser Söze from the Usual suspects...
    As a small aside, many of the percussion sounds you hear in that soundtrack were performed by yours truly. The main composer, John Ottman, was mostly a synth-head early on, and a good friend and colleague of mine (Larry Groupe) did the orchestrations and hired the studio orchestra. I spent two days recording that score, IIRC.
    "When Men differ in Opinion, both Sides ought equally to have the Advantage of being heard by the Publick;
    and that when Truth and Error have fair Play, the former is always an overmatch for the latter."

    ~ Benjamin Franklin

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    Senior Member Yazeh's Avatar
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    Default Re: Who is your favorite world renown cheater/scammer/fraud

    Quote Originally Posted by Jon Szanto View Post
    Quote Originally Posted by Yazeh View Post
    I don't like scammers, but one of the greatest one, albeit fictional is Keyser Söze from the Usual suspects...
    As a small aside, many of the percussion sounds you hear in that soundtrack were performed by yours truly. The main composer, John Ottman, was mostly a synth-head early on, and a good friend and colleague of mine (Larry Groupe) did the orchestrations and hired the studio orchestra. I spent two days recording that score, IIRC.
    Wow! Thanks for letting me know... I had to analyze that movie several times...

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    Senior Member silverlifter's Avatar
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    Default Re: Who is your favorite world renown cheater/scammer/fraud

    Han van Meegeren, the brilliant forger who, among his many accomplishments, sold a forgery to Hermann Göring and inspired one of the greatest novels of the twentieth century, The Recognitions.
    Vintage. Cursive italic. Iron gall.

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    amk (August 5th, 2021)

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    Default Re: Who is your favorite world renown cheater/scammer/fraud

    I have someone in mind who's been backrupt at least four times, cheated his workers and contractors, grabs girls by their privates and brags about it, takes vulnerable children away from their parents, sides with other racists, would rather climb a tree and tell a lie than stand on the ground and tell the truth, and is a complete coward using others to do his meaness. Anybody care to guess?

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    Senior Member guyy's Avatar
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    Default Re: Who is your favorite world renown cheater/scammer/fraud

    Quote Originally Posted by silverlifter View Post
    Han van Meegeren, the brilliant forger who, among his many accomplishments, sold a forgery to Hermann Göring and inspired one of the greatest novels of the twentieth century, The Recognitions.
    As Gaddis scammer characters go, i like JR best. I’d like to think the JR character was entirely fictional, but maybe not.

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    silverlifter (February 9th, 2021)

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    Senior Member silverlifter's Avatar
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    Default Re: Who is your favorite world renown cheater/scammer/fraud

    Quote Originally Posted by guyy View Post
    Quote Originally Posted by silverlifter View Post
    Han van Meegeren, the brilliant forger who, among his many accomplishments, sold a forgery to Hermann Göring and inspired one of the greatest novels of the twentieth century, The Recognitions.
    As Gaddis scammer characters go, i like JR best. I’d like to think the JR character was entirely fictional, but maybe not.
    JR was fictional. He was also an uncannily accurate portrait of a character that has a storied place in US history. It's a great book, perhaps even better than The Recognitions as it really is where Gaddis hit his stylistic stride. (I'm still partial to his first novel as it was my introduction to Gaddis).
    Vintage. Cursive italic. Iron gall.

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    Senior Member Detman101's Avatar
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    Default Re: Who is your favorite world renown cheater/scammer/fraud

    Quote Originally Posted by Chuck Naill View Post
    I have someone in mind who's been backrupt at least four times, cheated his workers and contractors, grabs girls by their privates and brags about it, takes vulnerable children away from their parents, sides with other racists, would rather climb a tree and tell a lie than stand on the ground and tell the truth, and is a complete coward using others to do his meaness. Anybody care to guess?
    Funny....thats the same one I was thinking of!
    He also almost singlehandedly DESTROYED the New Jersey casino community with his scams.
    Lets not even get started on his abuse of the tax system and separatist/dissident/turncoat ways.
    "I can only improve my self, not the world."

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    Default Re: Who is your favorite world renown cheater/scammer/fraud

    These two good 'rogues' -- Captain Francis 'Frank' Foley and Irena Sendler.


    I admire them for cheating evil.

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