A con artist is a menace to the gullible and foolhardy. His only interest is in collecting cash; he doesn’t care about his victims or worry about the moment when they discover they’ve lost everything. The worst of these rotten apples are the con artists who prey on the most vulnerable and develop phony friendships with their victims. To me, these types are even worse than the fat cats of Enron – executives whose greed and senses of entitlement were off-the-charts.
For example, take the two scoundrel brokers who were barred from the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) on Aug. 31. First, there’s Oren Eugene Sullivan, Jr., of Rock Hill, SC, who allegedly ran a $3.7 million Ponzi scheme for 20 years. According to the FINRA press release, his more than 30 clients include: 15 widows, two people who had Alzheimer’s, and an individual with a developmental impairment. Many of the victims “considered Sullivan a close family friend,” reads the release.
A second broker was barred: William Walter Spencer, Sr., of Franklin, TN. For his part, Spencer allegedly “borrowed” about $2 million from members of his church, many of them elderly and all of them individuals of modest means. One of his victims is said to be a 62-year-old who drove a school bus for children with special needs; after her husband’s death, she regrettably loaned Spencer $60,000.
How could a person do such a thing?
Amongst our infamous gallery of con artists, there are a few who seem especially cold-hearted. Take Gerald Payne, who the judge called a “wolf in sheep’s clothing.” He earned that title by preying on the religious faith of his victims, bilking them of their savings to bulk up his wallet.
Then there’s the most infamous of our inductees: Bernie Madoff. The size and reach of his con, and the way he had everyone fooled for so long, touches off a singular rage. Before his sentencing, I mentioned his name to an acquaintance; this calm and cheerful man declared that Madoff should be “guillotined on Madison Avenue.” He said it without a smile (as if he meant it).
Have you read about a con artist who shocked you with his amorality? We’re looking ahead to the next batch of inductees and would love to hear from you. Please nominate a con artist to the Hall of Infamy.
Con artists, in their charm, ‘aura’ of power and confidence, ability to seem authentic, trustworthy and sincere, and in their contempt for others, are surely displaying the ordinary behaviour of the sociopath. I don’t know if sociopathology comes in degrees, i.e. if someone can be more or a sociopath than another, of if it is a genetic malfunction that manifests in the same way in all sociopaths, but there dos seem to be a difference between the successful ‘legitimate’ sociopath, i.e. one who achieves power and wealth through legal means (though distasteful personal means) and those who decide fraud and crime work better. But legal or illegal activities do not hide the basic foundation of the sociopathic personality. If is as natural as autism and strangely similar: a failure to be able to empathise with another human being. This is why con men are so chilling: there is no ‘moral core’ or germ of shame to appeal to.
Generally, I like this.
You have missed one of the most important con artists, Yellow Kid.
Weil was important because of his descriptions of how he played the psychology of “something for nothing” to commit his criminal acts.
I look forward to more from this blog, and especially some additions from the mlm and franchising world.