Victor Von Lustig was a polyglot known for his mental prowess, which even led him to commit crimes such as fraud.
Victor Von Lustig was a polyglot known for his mental prowess, which even led him to commit crimes such as fraud. He took advantage of his skills to get involved in the environment of millionaires and even tried to deceive them with the alleged sale of the Eiffel Tower, an emblematic monument of Paris.
“He had a somewhat rough face, but his elegant bearing and refined manner made that first impression unimportant. He spoke English, German, French and Italian, and had an exquisite culture. He belonged – or so many believed – to the European nobility”, he recalled Ambit.
It is believed that he had more than 20 nicknames and was arrested on at least 45 occasions. “Most of the time, he managed not only to be released, but even to be compensated for the inconvenience,” the publication adds.
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For the supposed sale of the Eiffel Tower, he met with six businessmen, posing as deputy director general of the Ministry of Posts and Telegraphs. He told them that due to the ravages of the First World War, the Government planned to do that with the monument.
One of them, André Poisson, was convinced. But his wife realized the deception and alerted him. But Victor insisted that he was a civil servant just looking to earn extra money; was not reported. On the second occasion, when he was discovered, he fled and could not be captured.
Other hoaxes include the so-called money printing machine. He sold it for $30,000, assuring that he would copy bills of various denominations. At first it did, but then it issued blank papers. Here too he was sought to be captured but quickly disappeared. (I)
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