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dtl_famous_conartists.ID_WB = 11745502;
dtl_famous_conartists.sPubDate = "3/10/2006 8:53:51 PM GMT";
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dtl_famous_conartists.appHeader = "Dateline| Some famous con artists";
dtl_famous_conartists.appFooter = "Sources: David Sinclair, 'The Land that Never Was'; MSN Encarta; <a href=http://www.randomhouse.com/broadway/catalog/display.pperl?isbn=9780767917377>Joseph Weil's autobiography (Broadway Books)</a>";
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dtl_famous_conartists[i++] = new Array("","Frank Abagnale, 'Catch Me If You Can'","","","","", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "");
dtl_famous_conartists[i-1].body = "The film \"Catch Me If You Can\" is loosely based on Frank Abagnale's exploits. In the late 1960s, Abagnale committed bank and check fraud, masqueraded as a Pan Am pilot to get free rides around the world, impersonated a pediatrician, and even held a job at the state attorney general's office in Louisiana. He was eventually arrested in France in 1969. <p>Abagnale was released from prison in 1974, and is now a consultant and authority advising the business world against forgery, embezzelment, and fraud.";

dtl_famous_conartists[i++] = new Array("","Victori Lustig, 'The man who sold the Eiffel Tower'","","","","", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "");
dtl_famous_conartists[i-1].body = "In the 1920s, Victor Lustig adopted the persona of a government official, rented a prestigious hotel room, and offered the Eiffel Tower for sale to scrap metal dealers looking to make a buck. At that time, the tower wasn't a historical landmark yet, so his proposition was believable. Lustig sold it to the man who struck him as being the most anxious to get ahead from the secret sale. The victim was so embarrassed to have fallen for the con that he never reported Lustig to authorities.<p>After leaving France with his spoils, Lustig later came back to Paris and tried to sell the tower once again. ";

dtl_famous_conartists[i++] = new Array("","Gregor Macgregor , 'His Highness, Cazique of Poyais'","","","","", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "");
dtl_famous_conartists[i-1].body = "Gregor Macgregor was a Scottish soldier who fought in the South American wars of liberation. In the 1820s, he concocted the 'Territory of Poyais' -- a purported tropical Eden in Central America -- and appointed himself 'His Highness, Cazique of Poyais.' He spread the word of this dream island around Europe -- even producing a guidebook and some currency. Macgregor sold land and enticed settlers and investors.<p>On a cold January morning in 1823, a group of immigrants looking for a new life set sail for the island. Two months later the ship landed on the swamp-infested Mosquito Coast and the settlers realized that they had become the victims of one of the most elaborate hoaxes in history. Over a hundred would-be settlers were estimated to have perished during the journey, or to tropical diseases while living elsewhere in Centra America. Some returned home. ";

dtl_famous_conartists[i++] = new Array("","Joseph 'Yellow Kid' Weil","","","","", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "");
dtl_famous_conartists[i-1].body = "Joseph &#147;Yellow Kid&#148; Weil was a notorious con artist of the late 19th century.  He swindled the public of more than $8 million dollars and established the reputation for robbery and trickery. &#147;Yellow Kid&#148; used phony oil deals, women, fixed races, and an endless list of other tricks. He was one of the inspirations for the Academy-award winning film \"The Sting.\"";

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