Who was Victor Lustig ?Once upon a time in 1900 in Austria/Hongria, was living a wealthy family, the Lustigs, whose son Victor was very talented : he could speak 5 languages fluently. But his unique ambition was to earn money, money and more money !
At the age of 19, Victor left his parents and “Paris, me voilà !”. After having scammed many rich French aristocrats and american Millionaires, he had enough money to actually live at the Crillon Palace, one of the most luxurious hotels in Paris !
The Eiffel Tower Scam
One morning, in 1925, as he was having a café at a Parisian terrace, Lustig read in the newspapers that the Eiffel Tower was in great need of repair, and the cost was totally prohibitive.
He suddenly had a great idea.
Lustig adopted the persona of a French Government Official and produced fake government stationary. He sent a letter to the 5 biggest scrap metal dealers with an invitation to a confidential meeting to discuss “ a great business that the Mairie de Paris could propose to them”. The letters were purposely vague, because Lustig did not want them to alert the authorities or directly contact the officials. All 5 agreed to meet him and during the meeting, Victor Lustig announced that the government was indeed scrapping the Eiffel Tower !! He reminded them that the ET was never built to be a permanent monument. 7000 tons of metal were to be sold to the best bidder !! They had been chosen on their good reputations and had to keep this information secret.
He even organized a guided visit to the ET for them. As the renovation works had already started, the dealers were quite impressed to see that the “destruction process” was in progress !
One of them, Mr Poisson, submitted a good bid. Lustig chose him because he looked very naive. Lustig asked Poisson (who mortgaged his own house for this bid) for a bribe and a check for the metal. Poor Poisson agreed for both ! Lustig imediately left he country after his scam, with a suitcase full of cash. Mr Poisson felt so embarrassed when he realized he falled in a trap that he did not even complain to the Police…Lustig led a life of great luxury at Poisson’s expense in Austria.
But there is a justice in this world and finally Lustig was forced to leave Europe after he tried to sell the ET a second time ! He got arrested in the USA in 1934 and spent 12 years in jail. He died of Pneumonia in 1947.
One morning, in 1925, as he was having a café at a Parisian terrace, Lustig read in the newspapers that the Eiffel Tower was in great need of repair, and the cost was totally prohibitive.
He suddenly had a great idea.
Lustig adopted the persona of a French Government Official and produced fake government stationary. He sent a letter to the 5 biggest scrap metal dealers with an invitation to a confidential meeting to discuss “ a great business that the Mairie de Paris could propose to them”. The letters were purposely vague, because Lustig did not want them to alert the authorities or directly contact the officials. All 5 agreed to meet him and during the meeting, Victor Lustig announced that the government was indeed scrapping the Eiffel Tower !! He reminded them that the ET was never built to be a permanent monument. 7000 tons of metal were to be sold to the best bidder !! They had been chosen on their good reputations and had to keep this information secret.
He even organized a guided visit to the ET for them. As the renovation works had already started, the dealers were quite impressed to see that the “destruction process” was in progress !
One of them, Mr Poisson, submitted a good bid. Lustig chose him because he looked very naive. Lustig asked Poisson (who mortgaged his own house for this bid) for a bribe and a check for the metal. Poor Poisson agreed for both ! Lustig imediately left he country after his scam, with a suitcase full of cash. Mr Poisson felt so embarrassed when he realized he falled in a trap that he did not even complain to the Police…Lustig led a life of great luxury at Poisson’s expense in Austria.
But there is a justice in this world and finally Lustig was forced to leave Europe after he tried to sell the ET a second time ! He got arrested in the USA in 1934 and spent 12 years in jail. He died of Pneumonia in 1947.
Source : Paris, mystérieux et insolite by Dominique Lesbros.
2 comments:
Anne, that's fascinating. This is from the new book you mentioned to me?
Merci Anne, j'avais vaguement entendu l'histoire mais je croyais a des racontars! Maintenant tu as bien eclaire ma lanterne. Thank you Anne I taught it was a urban legend but you shed some light on the matter.
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