The Greatest thieves in the History so far ?

regalsoldier (54)in #story • 6 years ago

Greatest thieves in history if you can go through life and not steal anything you might belong to a very small group of people
● did you steal candy from your friend in school?
●did you illegally download a movie?
●what about taking some cash from your mom's jacket pocket? or
●have you ever taken it a step further and lifted something from a store shelf?
● have you taken something from a stranger's house a child from a hotel?or
●did you ever not pay for a meal at a restaurant.?

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we've probably all taken something that wasn't ours but we haven't made it a lifestyle a job of sorts a criminal pastime that can be as addictive as it is a means to support ourselves some thieves are better than others and today we'll look at the supreme leaders of stealing..

Before we start we'll just add that we will feature thieves that worked mostly alone so that discounts gangs that performed heists or criminal organizations such as the Italian mafia ten Frank William Abagnale jr. if you've seen the movie catch me if you can you'll know all about this once precocious young thief he started forging checks from the age of 15 and defrauded banks all over the USA

But it was how he managed to keep doing it that was his masterpiece from the age of 15 to 21 he took on many different identities and pulled them off with aplomb this is the reason he's called one of the best imposters that ever lived he didn't just pretend to be people but he worked their jobs by forging documents and being a great actor.

He was an airline pilot a lawyer a physician popular with the nurses we might add a teacher's assistant and an attorney according to Abagnale himself he wrote about 17,000 bad checks which amassed him about 2.5 million dollars 9 Vincenzo Peruggia this thief goes down for pulling off only one big theft.

He did go and take arguably the most famous painting in the world in 1911

yes he lifted the Mona Lisa and got away with it for a while anyway he didn't really use much skill when he took it he just hidden a Louvre in Paris and took the painting in the middle of the night stuffed it in his jacket and walked past the guards he kept it for two years and then tried to sell it in Italy only for the prospective buyer to turn him in he told the police he did it for patriotic purposes to bring the painting back to Italy.

But letters to his dad that were found to tell a different story he had eyes on a small fortune 8 Dick Turpin okay so we had to include some British history and one of those guys that shouted stand and deliver your money or your life this is what English highwayman said when they held up your coach Dick Turpin is probably the most famous of them all and he was real unlike characters such as Robin Hood he robbed people all over England in the 18th century and was feared from County to County he changed names and evaded arrest but was eventually caught and executed on 7 April 17:39 bill Mason back to present times and a master jewel thief Mason would prey on the rich and famous surveying them and working out what they might have he did this by attending high society parties.

When he had his mark he would burgle their houses and in all it's thought he got around 35 million dollars worth of jewels in 2004 he told the New York Times how he would find his victim saying when I was working I liked a place where you could mingle chat you know a society function you wait until everybody's nice and drunk and then leave with four or five good names in your pocket he got five years in federal prison for his feeding he said he just couldn't stop mostly from the thrill of it in another interview after he got out of prison.

he said it was like a giant jigsaw puzzle putting these things together and trying to figure out how to circumvent all the security precautions I became addicted to it it's like climbing a mountain six Doris Payne we had to have a female thief on this list and Doris Payne fully deserves her place this West Virginia gal now 87 was born to a coal miner but saw herself having a bit more money in life what's amazing is her modus operandi and how long she got away with it she would dress up and look like a woman with plenty of cash to spend.

Then she'd go to a jewelry store in there she talked posh and be charming all the while viewing lots of different expensive pieces the mesmerised clerk wouldn't notice when she took a couple of things just one piece she took in Monte Carlo was worth half a million dollars and she did this all over the world for six decades she was eventually arrested at age 80 in 2010 and at age 83 in 2013 again for stealing jewels she even got caught stealing a cheap bracelet from Walmart at age 87 now that's commitment 5 mythological masiva sava this guy is better known as not Walla and perhaps his greatest trick was to sell the Taj Mahal numerous times perhaps India's greatest ever conman during the 20th century he also sold the president's house the Rashtrapati Bhavan and the Parliament House of India.

he forged documents and signatures and duped a whole lot of rich people not only that he escaped from prison several times he got 113 years for his scams but at 86 he managed to escape from prison and he was even using a wheelchair at the time it's thought he could be dead but who knows if you are wondering how he sold the Taj Mahal 3 times the India Times tells us he posed as a government official and sold it to foreigners for Karl gu Gaugin this American man goes down as perhaps one of the most prolific thieves in American history over 30 years he robbed more than 50 banks throughout the country and got away with it what's quite funny is that he usually only robbed on Fridays hence his sobriquet the Friday night bank robber he also had intricate getaway plans and just like the movies he really scary horror masks he stole around 2 million but was eventually caught in 2002 he was released from prison in 2017 aged 69 3 Charles Frederick piece there are many stories about this man known as the Victorian age is biggest criminal he came from industrial York Shire and preyed on the rich in London and other parts of England it said he was born in a circus to a lion tamer and had gymnast skills with which he used a cat burgle he also murdered people and was wanted all over England for years he evaded arrest by changing his facial features and even using a fake arm as he had lost his fingers Scotland Yard it said had no idea who they were looking for as he was so good at changing his appearance alas he was eventually caught and hanged in 1879 to William Francis Willie Sutton jr. we thought we'd add to the list what we call a gentleman thief a thief with impeccable manners who would try not to cause harm to his victims he robbed over 40 years.

In the mid 20th century did he carry a gun you can't rob a bank on charm and personality he once said about that he also said they were never loaded because someone might get hurt he took over 2 million and escaped from prison three times when asked why he robbed he said because I enjoyed it I loved it I was more alive when I was inside a bank robbing it than at any other time in my life 1 Stefan bright Weiser there is no one that even comes near to this thief we won't say too much because he will soon be featured and have a show all to himself we think you'll agree that he deserves it the Frenchman travelled around Europe in his early 20s working as a waiter from 1995 to 2001 but he had a second job and that was stealing from museums he was good at it too taking 239 works of art what was all that worth a mere 1.4 billion he was caught stealing in 2001 and went to prison he served 26 months but then in 2011 police found more of his stash paintings they didn't know he had he got another three years has there ever been a better thief.

Credit to : infography

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