The man who sold the Eiffel Tower

Victor Lustig wnt down in the anals as the man who sold the Eiffel Tower. He was born in 1890in Czech Republic. 

In 1925, after World War I, France was still recovering and it was the best moment for people as Lustig to make money. One day he read in the newspaper about the problems that the townhole of Pâris had with the maintenance of Eiffel Tower. Even maintain it painted was so expensive so it was begining to be a big piece of junk. That new gave Lustig an idea.

He acquired some official fake documents and make a meeting in the Crillon Hotel (one of the best hotels in Paris at that time)  with six scrap dealers. Obviously the six went to the meeting. Once they arrived, Lustig Introduced himself as the deputy director-general of the Ministry of Posts and Telegraphs. He explained that they had been selected on the basis of their good reputations as honest businessmen, and then dropped his bombshell.

Lustig told the group that the maintenance of the Eiffel Tower was so expensive and the city could not maintain it any longer. So they wanted to sell it for scrap. Due to the public outcry, the sale would be secret until everything would be ok. Lustig said that he had been given the responsibility to select the dealer to carry out the task. The idea was not as implausible in 1925 as it would be today. The Eiffel Tower had been built for the 1889, and was not intended to be permanent. It was to have been taken down in 1909 and be moved somewhere else. It did not fit with the city's other great monuments like the Gothic cathedrals or the Arc de Triomphe, and at that time, it was in really poor conditions.

Lustig took the men to the tower in a rented limousine for an inspection tour. It gave Lustig the opportunity to see which of them was the most enthusiastic and gullible. Lustig asked for bids to be submitted the next day, and reminded them that the matter was a state secret. However, Lustig already knew he would accept the bid from one dealer, Andre Poisson. Poisson was insecure, feeling he was not in the inner circles of the Parisian business community, and thought that obtaining the Eiffel Tower deal would put him in the big league. 

The matter, was Poisson´s wife. She was suspicious about the possible trade, wondering why everything was so secret if it was a public issue. To dismiss any suspiction, Lustig arranged another meeting, and he confessed that he did not have enough money to pursue the lifestyle he enjoyed, and needed to find ways to supplement his income. This meant that his dealings needed a certain discretion. Poisson understood immediately. He was dealing with another corrupt government official who wanted a bribe. That put Poisson's mind at rest immediately, since he was familiar with the type and had no problems dealing with such people.

So Lustig not only received the funds for the Eiffel Tower, he also collected a large bribe. Lustig and his personal secretary, Robert Arthur Tourbillon also known as Dan Collins, took a train for Vienna with a suitcase full of cash.

Surprisingly, nothing happened. Poisson was too humiliated to complain to the police. A month later, Lustig returned to Paris, selected six more scrap dealers, and tried to sell the Tower once more. This time, the chosen victim went to the police and he brought them the counterfeit contract and papers before Lustig could close the deal, but Lustig and Collins managed to evade arrest.

But this is not the last fraud of Lustig, some years after the sell of Eiffel Tower, he convinced Al Capone to give him 40,000 $ for a deal. After ward, he sent a note to Al Capone saying that he was so sorry but  the deal did not work. Moreover, Al CApone gave Lustig another 5,000 $ as a compensation for his wholeness. 

Some years later he was arrested due to other frauds, and he was sent to Alcatraz prison. But even in Alcatraz got living comfortably, briding the guards