The Imposter – Out NOW on DVD and Blu-ray – Top Five Imposters In History

FRÉDÉRIC BOURDIN

Boasting the illustrious number one spot - Frédéric Bourdin (b. 1974) AKA “The Chameleon” could have perhaps been an A-list Hollywood actor due to his incredible ability to impersonate others. Instead the cunning Frenchman decided to embark, successfully, on a life of crime and claims to have assumed at least 500 false identities, three of which were teenage missing persons. Bourdin notoriously stole the identity of a blond and blue eyed, Texan teenager called Nicholas Barclay, who tragically went missing on June 13, 1994. Even though Bourdin had brown hair and a distinct French accent, he contacted Barclay’s family and claimed to be their missing son, and deceitfully claimed that he had escaped from a child prostitution ring.

Bourdin conned the family for five months. Eventually a disbelieving private investigator tipped off the FBI, who took Bourdin’s finger prints and DNA, identifying him as the charlatan that he was. Bourdin was sentenced to 6 years in prison. However, upon release, this didn’t prevent the sly Frenchman from impersonating another missing person in 2004, a Spanish boy whose mum had been killed in the Madrid terrorist attacks. The outraged Spanish authorities deported Bourdin back to France, however, just a year later the shameless duper masqueraded himself as Francisco Hernandes-Fernandesz, a Spanish orphan. Bourdin was sentenced to prison. Bourdin claims to this day that the majority of his false identities remain unknown. This incredible, unbelievable thriller of a tale is chronicled in the film The Imposter.

FRANK ABAGNALE

Frank William Abagnale (b.1948), whose story was brought to life in the film release of Catch Me If You Can, perhaps exemplifies the art of professional trickster. Abagnale is one of the most legendary imposters in history having assumed eight high-profile identities, including an airline pilot, a doctor, a U.S. Bureau of Prisons agent and a lawyer – the multiple impostor also escaped from prison twice, all prior to the age of 21 years old.

Abagnale had begun his fraudulent activities as a method to pay for his dates with women, writing phony cheques and misusing his father’s card. Proving his criminal aptitude, Abagnale convinced those around him that he was a qualified pilot, a university lecturer and an attorney. However, Abagnale was constantly irked by the suspicion of others and was eventually apprehended in France in 1969, where upon his capture 12 countries sought his extradition. Once extradited back to the U.S., Abagnale allegedly escaped twice from under the noses of the government agents intent on capturing him. Sentenced to 12 years in a federal prison, Abagnale was released in just five years in exchange for assisting the U.S. authorities in fighting fraud.

VICTOR LUSTIG

At number three sits the conniving Austria-Hungary [Czech Republic] born Victor Lustig (b.1980 – d.1947), who is perhaps best known as “The man who sold the Eiffel Tower”. Lustig was multilingual, highly intelligent, business astute and those that knew him assert that he possessed a persuasive charisma.

The sheer tenacity and intricacy in detail of Lustig’s scam, to sell the Eiffel Tower, is remarkable. Counterfeiting government stationary, Lustig assembled six scrap metal dealers to a top secret meeting at the majestic Hotel de Crillon to discuss the purchase of the iconic Parisian landmark, where he impersonated the deputy director-general of the Ministry of Posts and Telegraphs.

Lustig hired a limousine to bolster his story and succeeded in duping Andre Poisson. Poisson, anxious to establish himself as a honcho in Paris’ business circles, bought the Eiffel Tower for an unknown fee. Poisson eventually discovered the preposterous scam and, utterly humiliated, he didn’t complain to the police, which allowed Lustig to flee to Vienna. Miraculously, Poisson returned to Paris weeks later, attempting to sell the Eiffel Tower for a second time – however, this time, the victim went to the police before Lustig could close the deal. Lustig also wrote the Ten Commandments for Aspiring Conmen! Amongst others, the commandments include patient listening, sobriety, enthusiasm and mimicking the opinions of others.

CHRISTOPHE THIERRY ROCANCOURT

Christopher Rocancourt (b. 1967), was a French thief who posed as a member of the Rockefeller family, one of the most affluent and powerful families in the history of the United States.

Rocancourt begun his life of crime in Paris, selling a $1.4 million property when he didn’t even own the deeds. Soon Rocancourt emigrated to the U.S., like other successful con-artists, where he implemented his engaging and persuasive demeanour via a number of aliases. Buying extravagant dinners in Los Angeles, and paying ostentatiously in cash, Rocancourt misled the rich and powerful to invest in his fraudulent investment schemes. The Frenchman rubbed shoulders with Hollywood elites by impersonating a movie producer; and he dazed those around him by claiming his mother was Sophia Loren and his uncles Oscar de la Renta and Dino De Laurentiis.

The brazen, talented swindler married a Playboy model, lived with Mickey Rourke and allegedly convinced action-man Jean-Claude Van Damme to produce his next movie. However, by 1997, and after courting a second Playboy model, the police arrested Rocancourt for an involvement in a shooting. Rocancourt has since wrote an autobiography scorning his foolish victims, and married Sonia Rolland, a former Miss France. Not bad for a career which allegedly netted the serial duper $40 million, when he only spent five years in prison and paid a $9 million fine.

EDUARDO DE VALFIERNO

Eduardo de Valfierno, the sauave Argentine con and architect of one of the most memorable heists in history, stole the Mona Lisa from the Louvre. Sharp de Valfierno, however, did not care for actually selling on the Mona Lisa. The Argentine, known as Marqués, commissioned French art restorer Yves Chaudron to create six carbon copies of the Mona Lisa. Da Valfierno had cunningly found six buyers, who each expected Leonardo da Vinci’s masterpiece to be stolen for them.

As part of the plan, Da Valfierno conspired with Vincenzo Perggia, a museum employee at the Louvre who on Augst 21, 1911 placed the illustrious painting inside his coat and strolled out of the front-door. After the heist, the six Mona Lisa copies were delivered to the buyers, who believed they had each bought the original, stolen version. Da Valfierno never cared for the original version, instead making his money off the fraudulent copies. Peruggia, however, was not so lucky and was caught trying to sell the original masterpiece, spending one year in prison before being released to serve in World War One.

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NOMINATED FOR 2 BAFTA AWARDS INCLUDING BEST DOCUMENTARY AND SHORTLISTED FOR AN OSCAR NOMINATION FOR BEST DOCUMENTARY, THE IMPOSTER IS OUT NOW ON DVD AND BLU-RAY