The Book 48 laws of power by Robert Green tells about Victor Lustig!
The story which has actually inspired many movies and series is actually good because it is true!
Once when there was a discussion between cops and robbers, it was told that it is of course more difficult to be a robber! Yes! The saying was that the robber had to be successful all the time only then he or she can be good while the cop had to be successful only once in catching the robber to be good!
The thief who made this statement further elaborated that a thief must have more instinct and be more clever! He or she must have all the senses working for him! You have to be mentally and physically fit to be a thief; at least a good one!
Of course personally I think those who steal are some of the worst humans ever and no amount of justification can ever make it right.
Then again the story of Victor is legendary! Did you know that he once sold the Eiffel tower of Paris!? Not once but twice by the way!
Lustig, was a charming man, fluent in five languages, a good talker and an even better listener! All the trait for a good husband or better yet; a good thief!
But unfortunately when you have such talent, the thing which you must have the most is patience which most would lack! So in an effort of getting rich faster he used his skills to become the most brilliant swindler on the planet!
Those days due to his ‘colourful’ activities he got himself a scar on his face! A scar of a man’s face those days was actually a good thing! The stories of how he got the scar also changed every time and became more and more ‘legendary’!
Now after a few pocket money swindle he was ready for the big one!
So when he arrived in Paris, he had prepared to pull off the ultimate swindle! Now which is the ‘property’ you can sell in Paris which is both big and famous!?
Well, how about the Eiffel Tower!? In a Hindi movie the same act was repeated when a con pair tried to sell off the Taj Mahal!
Of course if you read history, you would know that at the time, Eiffel Tower was not the landmark tourist attraction you know now! At the time it was a 7000 ton behemoth made of metal!
So in little pieces. Lustig planned to sell the landmark in parts and as scrap metal!
It has helped in the fact that the Tower had become a problem! The maintenance of the rivets and joints, the constant cleaning, the painting and repainting (before taking on its final appearance, it was red, yellow and orange), the oiling of the elevators… all of this was very expensive. So much so that a rumor circulated in Parisian society that sooner or later, the Tower would be dismantled!
When this rumor reached Lustig’s ears, he saw dollar signs. This was his chance. He went to Paris, commissioned a trusted forger to make him letterheads and medals of the French Republic, and rented a room at the luxurious Hôtel de Crillon.
There he called together six scrap metal businessmen, introduced himself as deputy director of the National Postal and Telegraph Service, and explained how ugly the Eiffel Tower was, and that it didn’t match the Gothic grandeur of Notre-Dame or the neoclassical style of the Arc de Triomphe!
After his speech, he told them that, although the matter was top secret and they shouldn’t tell anyone, the government was determined to dismantle it and sell it as scrap metal. And then he dropped the bait: that lucrative contract would go to the businessman who submitted the highest bid for the 7,300 tons of iron!
Now of course most would just get up and walk away! But you can always get a bait if you wait! One of the ‘fish’ was Poisson (which makes the story even more ironic, as “poisson” means “fish”).
The best con here is not the fact that he is selling the Tower! But two distinct thing!
One is to make an act in such a way that the conned thinks that they are more clever when he or she is in fact not that clever and the next it to ‘act’ like a government official!
The businessman hinted that he would do whatever it took to get the contract and, like a sniper, Lustig knew that this was the exact moment to pull the trigger: “If you’re really prepared to do whatever it takes, perhaps you and I can come to an agreement… personally.”
Now what is the most ‘important’ feature of a ‘typical government’ official? Well, he or she likes to get greased! Of take a bribe! It is a sad truth as old as history!
Poisson immediately understood what that agreement was and paid him 70,000 francs as a bribe to secure the contract. Lustig accepted, they shook hands, and until next time, which of course never came because Lustig ran off with the money knowing that Poisson would never speak as that would expose him as corrupt!
Poisson actually paid because he ‘thought’ that since Lustig asked for a ‘bribe’ he had to be a real government employee!
He did the same scam again by the way! Even this time it worked like a charm! But it was too smooth! Since it was actually a police set up!
Then again Lustig was not a ‘good’ con man for nothing! He escaped just before being caught because of his ‘informer’! This is the another most important factor in a good con! You must have an informer and pay him or her well and he or she must be well ‘informed’!
Of course in this day and age if you are clever and fluent and well, informed; you can actually be successful without any con! Just be patient! Now do not read the blog and try to sell me the Statue of Liberty!
Now there are people like Lustig who even though clever took the wrong way; then again you have great women like Droupadi Murmu whose life inspires many!
A humble dedication…
Shubh ratri…
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