The Eiffel Tower Can Be Yours For...

Aug 16, 2016
5 min read

I am going to take a brief break from Olympic posts to share a story of an apprentice salesman, adding to the list of Badasses That You Didn't Know Existed that I have written down at my desk.

Victor Lustig was born in Czechoslovakia in 1890, and always had an eye for things that weren't his (in fact, he had a scar over his eye from the business end of a knife wielded by a man unhappy with Lustig's eye for his girlfriend). Lustig spent much of his time in bars, learning the in's and out's of billiards, poker and other gambling sports. Not content with beating up on the same locals, he hopped on a boat full of wealthy elites to take them for their money. I will admit, this does sound a bit like the start of the Titanic, but from what I could research all of the boats Lustig traveled on stayed afloat the whole time. It was on these boats where he learned the art of the con, an art he perfected after World War I.

Lustig spent some time in the US shortly after World War I, where he notoriously sold counterfeit money printers to would-be cons. Well, counterfeit counterfeit money printers. He would show other cons a box (literally just a fancy mahogany box someone made for him) with two extremely accurate printings of one hundred dollar bills in them, and then proceed to sell the press for $30,000. The buyers would soon find out that they paid $30,000 for two real $100 bills (no wonder the counterfeits looked so convincing!).

Lustig conned bankers out of money too. In Missouri, he turned in $20,000 of bonds (no record of if they were acquired legally or if they were even legitimate) for the deed to a farm and $10,000 in cash. In addition, he asked them to cash $10,000 in bonds. Switching the envelopes somehow, he walked out with both the bonds he was supposed to be cashing and the cash. When the banks tracked him down to New York City, he was arrested and transported back to Missouri. During the trip, he convinced them to let him go, that the news of them arresting a man for grabbing the wrong envelope would run them out of business. Somehow, he was able to convince them to let him go and give him $1,000 for the trouble of taking a train ride halfway across the country.

In 1925, he found himself in Paris where city officials were struggling to keep up with the maintenance needs for the Eiffel Tower. Seeing an opportunity to make a buck, he forged official letterhead from the city and asked 5 local scrap metal dealers to meet with him. At the meeting, he told the scrap dealers that the city could no longer afford to maintain the monument and that they were hoping to sell it for scrap to the highest bidder. Fearing that they would call real officials regarding the deal, he asked them to keep it a secret so that the public would not catch wind before anything could be finalized.

Lustig found his buyer, Andre Poisson. Poisson was on the outside of Paris' inner circle, and he felt a business deal of such magnitude would vault him in. Poisson was so desperate to improve his stance that the only cause for alarm came from his wife, who told him she felt this was a sketchy deal. Approaching Lustig, Poisson voiced his (wife's) concerns and Lustig confessed. Sort of. Lustig confessed that he was always trying to live outside of his means (similar to Poisson), and was hoping that making this deal would would lead to more wealth and fame. Somehow, dealing with a corrupt government official put Poisson's mind at ease and he agreed to a $20,000 deal with Lustig that included a $50,000 bribe. Lustig made off with a briefcase of cash, and Poisson only realized his error when he went to the city officials to begin the deconstruction process. He was too embarrassed to file any charges, who would believe a man that tried to buy the Eiffel Tower?

Lustig retired to Vienna to enjoy his bribe. For a month. He returned to Paris after a month to begin the same process, and found 6 new scrap dealers to sell the monument too. Not surprisingly, one of them went to the cops and Lustig was forced to flee back to America.

Lustig didn't stop there, in 1930 he had a business meeting with Al Capone. Capone should be on everyone's "Badasses That You Did Know Existed" and if he is not, put him on the top of your "Badasses That I Need To Google". Long story short, Capone is one of the most famous gangsters of the American Prohibition era and was played by Robert de Niro in The Untouchables, in fact, skip googling and just watch The Untouchables. Recognizing Capone's connections to the wealthy, Lustig hoped to gain his trust. The two met to set up a $50,000 investment deal, and Capone happily agreed. Walking out with $50,000 you can only imagine the things Lustig had planned. While he did have a plan, it was to return the money. All of it. Lustig told the gangster that the plan went south and the deal didn't work, but Lustig would return $50,000 of his own money. Recognizing his honesty, Capone gave the con $5,000. Lustig got what he wanted, Capone's trust.

Capone put Lustig in contact with a chemist named Tom Shaw. After seeing how well his money boxes sold, the two decided to get in the real counterfeiting game. Together they spread bills across the U.S., gaining attention from the Secret Service. The two evaded the cops until Lustig's girlfriend called the cops because she was angry that she had caught Lustig with Shaw's mistress. So Lustig got busted for cheating on his girlfriend with the woman that Shaw was cheating on his wife with, a fun flow chart if you have the time.

Lustig was placed in jail while awaiting trial. While there, he bragged that no jail could hold him (having years of experience getting of jail in his previous trips to the United States, this was true) and he demonstrated it by tying his bedsheets together and lowering himself out of the window. While lowering himself, he pretend to be a window washer, fooling the passerby who did not seem to notice that the window washer was dressed in the prison issue clothing.

He was eventually recaptured and sentenced to 20 years in A̶z̶k̶a̶b̶a̶n̶̶ Alcatraz.

Lustig was also notable for his 10 Commandments of the Con Man, found below:

Be a patient listener (it is this, not fast talking, that gets a con man his coups).
Never look bored.
Wait for the other person to reveal any political opinions, then agree with them.
Let the other person reveal religious views, then have the same ones.
Hint at sex talk, but don't follow it up unless the other person shows a strong interest.
Never discuss illness, unless some special concern is shown.
Never pry into a person's personal circumstances (they'll tell you all eventually).
Never boast - just let your importance be quietly obvious.
Never be untidy.
Never get drunk.