There
have been a lot many criminals on the world stage, but how many of
these were the most brilliant. Here are some who defied any logic for
their criminal
activity. They surely were effective for some time until the law got
their hands on them. Most of these people belonged to the western world,
but we have a couple of Indian gems amongst them who created ripples
in their own way. It is not that these people
were ugly, some of them being handsome like Al-Capone was.
BL Dhar
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Who
says that crime doesn’t pay? Rather than making use of their powers for
good causes, these 20 criminal masterminds spent a lot of
their time working out how to get away with some of the most perfect
crimes in history!
Leonardo
Notarbartolo is believed to be the mastermind behind 2003's Antwerp
Diamond Heist, which came to be known as 'the heist of
the century.' He was the only thief to be caught and imprisoned, but
was released after just a short stretch. The diamonds have never been
recovered, and some believe that Leonardo allowed himself to get caught
on purpose. If that's really the case, he's now
rich and can never return to jail for this crime, since he's already
served his sentence!
The
Godfather himself. He expertly ran New York's mob scene for quite a few
years, yet this highly-elusive Italian-American gangster
never saw the inside of a jail cell, in spite of the government's
greatest efforts!
Bernie
needs no introduction, since he's one of the most notorious
fraudsters in recent memory. His Ponzi scheme, through which he managed
to swindle over $64 billion dollars, is the largest financial fraud in
America's history.
McMahon
craftily swindled investors out of their hard-earned cash when he told
them that he was constructing a skyscraper. However,
when drafting the blueprints, he replaced all instances of 'feet' with
'inches.' Incredibly, he actually managed to get away with it too, since
he claimed that he never actually said that it'd be 480 feet and not
480 inches! The 'world's littlest skyscraper'
still stands today, in Wichita Falls, Texas.
Now
a public speaker, Anthony rose to fame in 2008 as the Craigslist
Robber. Whilst planning to rob the Bank of America, Anthony began
looking for construction workers on Craigslist. His ad instructed the
workers to assemble close to the bank around the time of the heist.
Anthony then robbed the bank and fled the scene disguised as a
construction worker himself! He would have gotten away
with it too, if it wasn't for a homeless man who witnessed the entire
scene.
Al
Capone was a master of public relations, and was generally
well-received by the citizens of Chicago. Even though his mob name was
'Scarface,' residents called him 'Robin Hood' and cheered whenever he
made a public appearance. Such public perception was apparently due to
his numerous donations and support of quite a few local charities.
Albert
Spaggiari was a notoriously clever French bank robber. When he
eventually got caught, he managed to escape by confusing the judge
with a fake piece of evidence, before jumping out of the window onto a
planted motorbike. He was never seen again!
Tom
was a man of many talents. Throughout his turbulent life, he tried
everything from being a lawman to an army scout. However, he
is best-remembered as a cutthroat outlaw. Despite not being as famous
as Billy the Kid or Jesse James, Tom made a name for himself in the
violence department, and was eventually hung from a water-powered
gallows.
With
a PhD in probability and statistics, Carl is one of the most educated
criminals of all time! Over the course of 30 years, this
criminal mastermind managed to rob over 50 banks. He was finally caught
in 2002, after some local children came across his stash of weapons and
equipment near a drainage ditch.
Lustig's
major claim to fame comes from him managing to successfully 'sell' the
Eiffel Tower twice. Ironically enough, his last name
actually means 'funny' in German.
After
breaking out of prison, and hiding out in Toys R Us for a few months,
Jeffrey eventually became known as the Toys R Us Bandit.
While in hiding, he posed as a faithful member of the local church, and
even found himself a girlfriend from the congregation. After planning
another robbery, however, the police caught on to him, and his
girlfriend ended up turning him in.
One
of the most prominent Asian pirates of the 19th century, Ching
commanded around 40,000 men in several hundred vessels. She was known
to challenge entire empires, and is considered one of the powerful and
legendary pirates in history.
Canadian
police describe Gerald as Canada's 'most sophisticated' criminal
mastermind ever. He once parachuted into Vienna's Schönbrunn
Palace and stole the Star of Empress Sisi, leaving a fake version
behind him. After serving his time in jail, he has now embarked on a new
career as a security consultant.
Mithilesh
Kumar Srivastava, a.k.a. Natwarlal, was a famous Indian con artist, who
repeatedly 'sold' the House of Parliament and the
Taj Mahal. By the time of his death, he was wanted in more than 100
cases of identity theft and forgery.
Thanks
to German privacy laws, the public have never found out their last
name, but that's not all that German law protects them from!
After robbing a massive department store, they accidentally dropped a
single glove behind them. DNA testing led the police to this pair of
identical twins, but German law requires each person to be individually
convicted. Since they couldn't determine which
twin the glove belonged to, the police were forced to let them both go
free!
The
most notorious bank robber and safe cracker in the northeast during the
19th century, Adam Worth became known as the 'Napoleon of
Crime.' When things started heating up for him in the States, he sailed
over to England, where he disguised himself as a wealthy gentleman in
order to evade the law. After many years, the police eventually caught
up with him in Belgium.
Wild
was a very popular figure in London's 18th century underworld. His
modus-operandi was to pose as a vigilante crime fighter, whilst actually
being in on the crimes themselves! His public image eventually began to
suffer, and he ended up being hung at the gallows.
Frank
is one of history's most famous imposters, and is the inspiration
behind the movie, 'Catch Me If You Can.' Before turning 21,
he had already assumed the identities of a lawyer, a doctor, and a
pilot. He has escaped from police custody twice, one of which was
from from a taxiing airplane! After helping the government identify
forgeries for a number of years, he now runs his own financial
fraud company.
Using
his twisted charm, this Californian songwriter managed to create his
own cult, named the Manson Family, with which he intended
to start a race war. After being imprisoned for numerous murders, he
somehow managed to become a pop culture icon from behind bars!
'The
Pink Panthers' is the name Interpol gave to a group of Balkan criminals
who carried out some of the craziest heists in history.
Bizarrely, many people have described their crimes as "art." To get a
clearer picture, imagine 'The Italian Job' or 'Ocean's Eleven' in real
life!
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__._,_.__BL Dhar
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