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Con artists: Switching things their way

The world is a dangerous place – people do anything to survive, including cheating. Here are some famous con artists who switched things their way to get what they want.

 

  1. Frank Abagnale

In the span of 7 years, Frank Abagnale managed to assume no less than eight fake identities throughout his ‘career’ as a con artist. Some of these identities include an airline pilot, a lawyer and a physician. He was put in various prisons before finally deported to America at the age of 21. His tale has been the basis of the Spielberg film ‘Catch Me If You Can’ starring Leonardo DiCaprio. Things have switched now as Frank currently runs his own financial fraud consultancy and is a security consultant for the FBI.

 

  1. Evelyn Knight

Evelyn Knight ran con jobs with her husband Mel Wainberg who would introduce her as one of the world’s richest women, Lady Evelyn Knight. Being a con artist is all about charm and being British might have worked well in Evelyn’s favour – eliminating the need to fake an accent. Alas, they were arrested in 1977 for fraud and conspiracy but soon after switched their ways of doing things by cooperating with the FBI in a sting operation dubbed Abscam.

 

  1. Alan Conway

Stanley Kubrick is an elusive figure in the film industry – so elusive that British man Alan Conway was able to impersonate the American director for years before everyone finally caught on.  As ‘Stanley’, Alan managed to get free meals, drinks, hotel stays and more by asking them to add it to the studio’s tab. One of the people who discovered the lie was theatre critic Frank Rich who contacted Kubrick’s lawyer. The film ‘Color Me Kubrick’ is based on the con, starring John Malkovich.

 

  1. Sa Do Chan

A sleek and suave conman, Sa Do Chan really goes the extra mile. Some of his greatest hits include staging an entire island casino in order to swindle a young millionaire. His biggest con yet is coming as he crosses paths with Oh Ha Ra. The young prosecutor finds Sa Do Chan to be a doppelganger for her senior prosecutor Baek Joon Soo, who is currently recovering from an accident. Oh Ha Ra and Sa Do Chan struck up a deal as she needs the senior prosecutor for an important deal. There’s more that lie underneath the surface as they discover that there are people hunting for Baek Joon Soo due to his role as prosecutor. Find out more on ONE HD (Astro Ch. 393).

 

 

‘Switch – Change the World’ airs every Thursday & Friday at 8:10PM, within 24 hours of Korea on ONE HD (Astro Ch. 393).