Famous Counterfeit Cases

Posted on by Forest in Saving Money & Finances

There is something almost romantic about the idea of many of the famous counterfeiters. Delinquents that manage to lie and con their way through the upper echelons of society to achieve some of the oddest and most unbelievable feats. In many cases the reality is that they are selfish crooks but anyhow they are extraordinarily fascinating. Counterfeiting is a crime above the norm, it involves a high degree of skill and planning.

Famous Counterfeit Cases

Famous Counterfeit Cases

Counterfeiters and counterfeiting has made headlines now over the years for 100s of years. It’s made it’s way into modern pop culture with movies like The Counterfeiters and Catch Me If You Can. Lets take a look at some of the most famous cases of counterfeiting.

5 Successful Counterfeiters (summarised from howstuffworks)

Stephen Burroughs – A colorful addition in US history! Whilst posing as a minister in Springfield, Mass he was arrested for passing counterfeit money. He went to jail, escaped and after many more arrests and escapes fled to Canada where he joined a successful counterfeiting ring. Oddly he gave up crime to teach children and even opened a library!

The Lavender Hill Mob – In the early 90′s the UK saw the Lavender Hill Mob run a counterfeiting ring that produced around 50 million pounds of fake currency. They also counterfeited stamps on the side!

The Nazi’s (Prisoners) – The Nazi’s used Jewish prisoners of war in Sachsenhausen for Operation Bernard. The successfully copied the pound note and made 650 million in cash which was planned to flood the UK economy. They were planning the same for the US dollar but the war ended with their defeat. A dramatization of the story is shown in the awesome movie, The Counterfeiters.

On Amazon: The Counterfeiters (<– affiliate link)

Charles Ulrich – Ulrich produced perfect $100 bills during the 1860′s. His counterfeits amounted to an estimated $80,000 of bills which translates to about $1.3 million. His weakness with women and numerous on/off relationships up and down the country led to a woman giving him up to police in 1868.

Frank Abagnale – Frank was dramatized by Leonardo DiCaprio in Catch Me If You Can. He was a con-man of the highest level and one of the most famous con/counterfeit artists in history. He was a master cheeck forger and forged $2.5 million in fake checks in all 50 states and 26 countries during his career. It’s reported that he once slipped away from the FBI surrounding his hotel room by coming out poses as another agent before casually walking off, wow! He also posed as a physician and a lawyer using forged documents.

On Amazon: Catch Me If You Can (Widescreen Two-Disc Special Edition) (<– affiliate link)

Read more about these 5 counterfeiters at howstuffworks.

 I hope you enjoyed the summaries. We have written some other articles related to counterfeiting that you may be interested in. Read about the History Of Counterfeiting Money In America and what the Penalties for Counterfeiting Money. Also did you know there is $64 Million Counterfeit Currency circulating in the USA?

Have a great day and thanks for reading.

Tags: cash, confidence man, counterfeit, counterfeiting, money