Count Victor Lustig Case

A thief stealing as simple as purse is, by far, nothing short of a petty crime, and for the same thief to plan an elaborate bank heist could at the very least be considered a respectable effort, but what of a thief who is capable of stealing, for all intents and purposes, an immovable object? Absurd… perhaps, but that is essentially what the Czechoslovakian con-man Count Victor Lustig accomplished by selling Paris’s one and only Eiffel Tower; though to elaborate the tower was fraudulently sold not physically stolen. Lustig’s plan was a fairly simple one that involved selecting a target, disguising as a government official and claiming the money, but it was the specific decisions that he executed that allowed his operation to be successful.

The most crucial part of Lustig’s plan was without a doubt the selecting of an appropriate mark (target) for his scam.

Selling the tower to any mere fool willing to accept Lustig’s offer at face value would have likely required minimal effort, but that would have most definitely resulted in very little gain as well; in order to truly profit from this bold endeavor a much more substantial victim is required. Lustig did indeed “[draw] up a shortlist of five [suitable] candidates” (ProQuest citation) but he ultimately set his eyes on Andre Poisson, “A French businessman and scrap-metal merchant hoping to make something of a reputation for himself” (Prague citation), and he did so for good reason to. Poisson possessed three crucial traits that made him Lustig’s ideal target, for one he was wealthy, which of course meant Lustig had a lot to gain from duping him, but he was also a scrap dealer which meant that he himself could be motivated by the profit from purchasing such a huge towering mass of steel. But in addition to that, Poisson was “anxious to make a name for himself in Paris” (ProQuest Citation) and what better way to do so than to claim ownership of the city’s iconic tower? The tower was originally built as an entrance to the 1889 World’s Fair and was never intended to be a permanent structure; a businessman such as Possion would have been more than aware of such fact and, if presented to him, would leap at an offer to buy the

tower.
As a result of Lustig now having his ideal target, the next step of his plan would have involved fooling them into willfully handing over their money. Acting aside, Lustig pulled this off by having several measures to not only remove doubt from his victim but also to ensure that his efforts would have a greater chance of being rewarded. Though Lustig desired to direct his scam towards the previously mentioned Andre Poisson, he nonetheless invited five top members of the scrap metal industry to join in a secret meeting hosted at Hotel de Crillon (Smithsonian Citation). Lustig’s decision to invite more candidates than needed would essentially have accounted for Poisson declining his offer by having multiple potential victims to select from, but it also would have decreased suspicion by presenting the somewhat outlandish offer to multiple men rather than just one in private. Another benefit from having multiple men attend the meeting is that rather than selling the tower at a fixed price Lustig could pin these powerful men against each other and offer the tower to the highest bidder (Smithsonian citation), not only allowing himself to gain more for the operation but also encouraging the so called winner to go through with their offer in fear of losing to another. Additionally Lustig made sure to cover the blatant secrecy of the meeting and lack of any other official presence by choosing to claim it was to avoid causing a political uproar, and only the most trustworthy businessmen would be aware of the arrangement which, for fear that the offer would be lost, would encourage the men to maintain secrecy (Prague Citation).
Nevertheless, of course Lustig contacted only Poisson in private declaring him the winning bidder out of all five men. Although Poisson still had doubts about the entire affair, Lustig quickly cleared them by expanding upon his present deceit and claiming to be a corrupt official in need of a bribe (Prague Citation). While at first glance this may appear counter intuitive and generally odd due to him basically requesting more money, just by claiming to be a corrupted government agent Lustig not only increased his own monetary gain, but also eliminated any sensation within Poisson of the deal being “too good to be true”, and succeeded in guaranteeing the transaction’s continuation. With the target successfully convinced, and the money in Lustig’s possession the operation had concluded. Furthermore, demonstrating the importance of a proper target in regards to Lustig’s scam, due to Poisson’s pride the entire incident went unreported (ProQuest Citation) allow Lustig to flee without a trace.
Despite the core simplicity of Lustig’s plan it was the specific choices he made along the way that allowed him to succeed throughout all steps. Lustig made certain to direct the scam towards Andre Possion, a wealthy business man with a high likelihood of falling for the scam due to their desire, and awareness of the tower’s plausible demise, in addition to pride that would allow the scam to go unreported. Lustig also held a well-organized private meeting that served to remove participant doubt, prevent word of the scam getting loose, and encourage Possion to follow through with his bid. Not only that, even after Possion had won, Lustig cleverly choose to present himself as a corrupt official, which miraculously eliminated any lingering suspicion Possion would have held.