A German who used many aliases but whose biggest pretence was to give the impression he was a member of the Rockefeller family. The Man in the Rockefeller Suit gives the best account of his exploits but it is for the 2009 parental kidnapping of his child, Reigh Storrow “Snooks” Mills Boss, by a Harvard graduate named Sandra Boss that he is best known. Jailed for four to five years after being convicted for kidnap, he was subsequently also charged with the 1985 murder of a Californian man named Jonathan Sohus. Whilst this fantasist of the first order rots in the clink, his former wife has built a new life in Knightsbridge, London.
Two stories to keep beside you
The Cheery Street Sweeper
Never without a decent word to say, Knightsbridge’s cheeriest street sweeper is an asset to the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea. Unlike the incompetent, avaricious councillors representing the area, this diligent worker never moans and he never complains. Come sun, rain, wind or snow, here is someone who takes pride in his work and […]
Angela Millington (1981 – 2014)
Found on the Ministry of Defence owned Foulness Island in Essex, a place where access to non-residents is subject to stringent restrictions, the skeletal remains of Angela Millington were discovered along with a “gaffer tape mask” on 21st June 2014 by a group of ramblers. Of this bizarre unsolved case little has been revealed other […]
Readers have their say
13 comments
Matthew how do you find out about all these bizzare stories? They make good reading. Thanks Bx
Matthew,
I just read the whole story in Vanity Fair. Thank you for bringing it to my attention.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6n3CV5tvbx0
Ferdinand Waldo Demara known as the “Great Imposter”, masqueraded as many people from monks to surgeons to prisons wardens and teacher, lawyer, doctor of applied psychology. He had a true photographic memory and was widely reputed to have an extraordinary IQ. Robert Mulligan’s film “The Great Imposter” (1961) was based on Ferdinand Waldo Demara. Tony Curtis played Demara. The last of the real movie stars.
The Prince of Pretoria. In 1990 a restaurant waiter from Pretoria South Africa pretended to be an official VIP visitor to the government of South Africa ( as the Crown-Prince of Lichtenstein) He was treated as royalty for two weeks untill he disappears as suddenly as he appeared. A fascinating true story.
Samuel Goldwyn’s timeless classic masterpiece “The Secret Life of Walter Mitty” was released in 1947.
The film stars the legendary Danny Kaye as a day dreaming editor of a book publishing firm. Fantasy is a coping mechanism for millions of people around the globe. A remake of this timeless masterpiece will be a waste of effort.
Tom Mcloughlin is a born showman, he must negotiate a bookdeal. It is destined to be a best seller. He is a colourful and exciting character. However I do not condone the transgression of statutory laws, and I am not suggesting that crime pays. So don’t get me wrong.
Mr Paddaman I was amazed at and annoyed by your enthusiasm for Tom McLoughlin.
How could you, an articulate jewish writer and comedian be taken in by that serial fraudster, liar and cheat? (And anti-semitic to boot).
But, of course, I realised, that is exactly what happened to me some years ago when I first met him. My judgement of people, which is usually good, let me down. I, too, was conned by this skilled trickster.
I provided him with friendship, research work, writing-input and, sadly, introductions to my friends who took my friendship with McLoughlin as an endorsement of his bona fides and were in turn cheated.
They like me were never paid for our time, input, equipment and work.
You have a right to your opinion, but I doubt that his victims would share your assessment of this crook; that “He is a colourful and exciting character.”
Just look at his record of lies. Starting with his ludicrous answers to Matthew Steeples in the ‘Movers & Shakers’ interview.
His convictions for fraud and his bankruptcy attest to the way he has ripped-off trusting, decent people.
See the report of the leading City law firm, Rosenblatt Solicitors, who describe him as a ‘serial evictee’ who caused three landlords to incur substantial losses and costs of up to £39,000 each. http://thomasmcloughlin.blogspot.co.uk/
You, me and others are not the only gullible patsies though. The distiguished legal firm Denton Wilde Sapte are also owed substantial sums following an unsubstantiated legal claim by McLoughlin against GLG Partners. And his upcoming Crown Court appearance will surely result in further convictions and his probable return to prison ( leaving numerous out-of-pocket victims in his wake).
There is no doubt that he a skilful and plausible liar and cheat. Yet another reaosn not to trust one word of his postings on this site. He is known to too many readers of STEEPLE TIMES and his aggressive, vindictive, snarling insults and lies in his reponses to their comments are the only ‘colourful’ thing about him.
Yoiu almost got it right: “Tom Mcloughlin is a born CONman”.
Mazel tov. Chanuka Sameach.
Glenmore Trenear-Harvey is a international respected author and broadcaster. He is a specialist in his field. He is a credit to the United Kingdom, he has served his country well. My comments regarding Mchloughlin were made in a tongue in cheek manner. It was not my intentions to upset Glenmore. I have the greatest of respect for him.
Panorama confronts the Barclay Brothers with tax relevations. “Start the Revolution without Me” (1970) Starring Gene Wilder and Donald Sutherland. A comedy based on the Corsican twins. It is set during the French Revolution where two peasant identical twins are mistaken for the famous Corsican Brothers (identical twins). Two sets of identical twins were accidentally switched at birth.
How do we deal with a problem like the Barclay Brothers?
Try the Charing Cross Hotel, The Strand, London.
Buy from the Argos Catalouge.
Read the Daily Mail.
George Roy Hill’s “The Sting” (1973) a classic masterpiece. American film set in 1936, created by screenwriter David S.Ward, the story was inspired by real-life con games perpetrated by brothers Fred and Charley Gondorff (not twins) and documented by David Maurer in his book “The Big Con: The story of the Confidence man” Con men still control our economy, think of the banking sector.
Rogue Trader (1999) The exploits of Nick Leeson, an employee of Baring Bank. He became Baring Bank’s key trader in Singapore. He hid huge losses, as he gambles away Baring Banks’s money, with the powers in London, not the much wiser. “The stock market is just one big casino” was the motto of Leeson.
A con artist is a swindler who exploits the confidence of his victims, defrauds after first gaining their trust. They are most of the time trapped in a condition called the “Narcissistic Personality Disorder” People with this disorder expose a pervasive pattern of grandiosity (either in factual or actual behaviour) A need for admiration and respect, and lack of empathy. The Narcissistic Personality Disorder can further be complicated by overlapping features of the Anti Social Personality Disorder, also known as Psychopathy or Sociopathy. There are general symptoms.
Not learning from experiences.
No sense of responsibility.
Inability to control impulses.
Lack of moral sense.
No change in behaviour after punishment.
Emotional immaturity.
Lack of guilt.
Self-centredness.
This will exhibit criminal behaviour.
Yawn . . . . . .http://thomasmcloughlin.blogspot.co.uk/
Oops misspelled “similar”.