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Masterminds (Canadian TV Series)
''Masterminds'' was a true crime documentary television series produced in Canada with truTV (formerly Court TV). Each 30 minute episode features one true property crime story. The profiled property crimes generally involve large sums of cash or merchandise and, more important, extremely unusual and/or elaborate methods of criminal operation which were never before (and sometimes never since) seen by law enforcement agencies. With a few notable exceptions, most criminals profiled in this series were caught within a couple of years of committing their crime(s). Episodes Broadcast , the program is broadcast on History Television and Global TV The Global Television Network (more commonly called Global, or occasionally Global TV) is a Canadian English-language terrestrial television network. It is currently Canada's second most-watched private terrestrial television network after C ... in Canada, and on truTV in the United States. External links''Masterminds'' schedule at ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pierre Hotel Robbery
The Pierre hotel robbery was a January 2, 1972 robbery at The Pierre in New York City. The robbery netted $3 million (worth $27 million today), and was organized by Samuel Nalo; Robert "Bobby" Comfort, an associate of the Rochester Crime Family; and Christie "the Tic" Furnari, an associate of the Lucchese Crime Family. The heist was carried out by several of Furnari's gang burglars. This robbery would later be listed in the ''Guinness Book of World Records'' as the largest, most successful hotel robbery in history. Planning and execution Samuel Nalo and Robert Comfort were professional burglars and thieves. They had previously stolen $1,000,000 in jewelry and cash from Sophia Loren’s suite in the Sherry Netherland Hotel and performed major robberies/burglaries at the Regency Hotel, the Drake Hotel, the Carlyle Hotel, and the St. Regis. Nalo was the main planner behind all the heists but Comfort was also a major organizer. It was not until December 30 in the back room of Nalo's ni ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jonathan Tokeley-Parry
Johnathan Tokeley-Parry is a self-proclaimed former cavalryman and self-appointed antique restorer. He received a philosophy degree from Cambridge University as well as a doctorate in London from University College. He is notable for smuggling more than 3,000 pieces of Egyptian antiquities out of Egypt by disguising them as reproductions. It has been reported that Tokeley-Parry changed his name to Jonathan Foreman. However, on the television series The Lost Relics of the Knights Templar, he appears under his original name. Distinct reference to his military and smuggling past is highlighted and he speaks of it. As well as referring to himself as one of the world's foremost expert in antiquities restoration. Giving his thoughts after examining various claimed Templar items. Career In the early 1990s, he smuggled hundreds of antiques out of Egypt by using his knowledge of restoration to camouflage them into look-a-likes. He would then ship them overseas to a duty-free port in or ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Blane David Nordahl
Blane David Nordahl (born April 19, 1962) is an American cat burglar, who was given the nickname "Burglar to the Stars" after his exploits at the homes of individuals such as Ivana Trump, Steven Spielberg, Curt Gowdy and Bruce Springsteen. A highly skilled burglar, at five feet-four inches and 150 pounds, Nordahl targeted the homes of wealthy individuals across the East Coast and showed an exclusive interest in stealing hallmarked antique Sterling silver. Despite his skill, he was arrested at least eight times and spent many years in prison. The exact sum of his thefts is uncertain, but a November 2000 '' U.S. News & World Report'' article attributed to him 150 burglaries across 10 states, to a value of $3 million. Biography Early life Nordahl was born April 19, 1962, the son of artist David Nordahl and his wife Sharon, and grew up in Albert Lea, Minnesota. He attended high school in Wisconsin, but dropped out and started work in the construction industry. The family later move ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Carl Gugasian
Carl Gugasian (born October 12, 1947) is an American bank robber, known as "The Friday Night Bank Robber", who served a 17-year sentence for armed robbery. He is perhaps the most prolific of such criminals in US history, having robbed more than 50 banks over a 30-year period of a total of more than $2 million. Early life Gugasian was born October 12, 1947, in Broomall, Pennsylvania. At the age of 15, he was shot while attempting to rob a candy store and was sent to the State Youth Facility in Camp Hill, Pennsylvania (present-day SCI Camp Hill) for eighteen months. On his release in 1964, he did not attempt to live a normal life; rather, he took deliberate steps to continue with a life of crime and to excel in it. This decision was, in all likelihood, the result of a misunderstanding. FBI agent Ray Carr remarks, "He didn’t know that juvenile records get expunged. He thought he’d never be able to get a real job." However, he did enjoy the art of ballroom dancing and even did it ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bill Mason (jewel Thief) .
Bill Mason (born 1940 in Hundred, West Virginia) is an American jewel thief who, in his 2004 autobiography ''Confessions of a Master Jewel Thief'', avers that he has stolen $35,000,000 in property from the private residences and hotel rooms, with targets including Phyllis Diller, Johnny Weissmuller and Armand Hammer. In popular culture In 2007, the second story on the episode " Religious Prey: Greater Ministries Int'l / It Takes a Thief", of the television series ''American Greed'', covered his story, including extensive interviews with Mason. In 2010, ''Confessions of a Master Jewel Thief'' was optioned by Anthony Mastromauro of Identity Films Identity Films is a production company formed by Anthony Mastromauro in 2006. References External links < ...
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Martin Cahill
Martin "The General" Cahill (23 May 1949 – 18 August 1994) was an Irish crime boss from Dublin. He masterminded a series of burglaries and armed robberies, and was shot and killed while out on bail for kidnapping charges. The Provisional Irish Republican Army took responsibility for Cahill's murder but no one was ever arrested or formally charged. The media referred to him by the sobriquet "The General". The name was also used by the media to discuss Cahill's activities while avoiding legal problems with libel. Cahill took particular care to hide his face from the media — he would spread the fingers of one hand and cover his face. Early life He was born in a slum district in Grenville Street in Dublin's north inner city, the second of twelve surviving children of Patrick Cahill, a lighthouse-keeper, and Agnes Sheehan. By the time he was in school, Martin and his older brother John were stealing food to supplement the family's income. In 1960, the family was moved to Capt ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Judy Amar
Judy Amar is an American former thief, who committed 400–500 burglaries in the Boca Raton Boca Raton ( ; es, Boca Ratón, link=no, ) is a city in Palm Beach County, Florida, United States. It was first incorporated on August 2, 1924, as "Bocaratone," and then incorporated as "Boca Raton" in 1925. The population was 97,422 in the ... area of South Florida. Police detectives called her "The Bandit of Boca del Mar." She was profiled in the TV Series '' Masterminds'' in the episode "The Bandit Queen." References * External links Judy Amar at History Television Place of birth missing (living people) 1940s births American people convicted of burglary Criminals from Arkansas Criminals from Florida Living people People from Miami {{US-crime-bio-stub ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bre-X
Bre-X was a group of companies in Canada. Bre-X Minerals Ltd., a major part of Bre-X based in Calgary, was involved in a major gold mining scandal when it reported it was sitting on an enormous gold deposit at , East Kalimantan, Indonesia. Bre-X bought the Busang site in March 1993 and in October 1995 announced significant amounts of gold had been discovered, sending its stock price soaring. Originally a penny stock, its stock price reached a peak at CAD$286.50 (split adjusted) in May 1996 on the Toronto Stock Exchange (TSE), with a total capitalization of over CAD $6 billion. Bre-X Minerals collapsed in 1997 after the gold samples were found to be fraudulent. Busang's gold resource was estimated by Bre-X's independent consulting company, Kilborn Engineering (a division of SNC-Lavalin of Montreal), to be approximately . Reports of resource estimates of up to were never made by Bre-X though the property was described as having this potential by , Bre-X's Vice-President for Explorat ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
John Drewe
John Drewe (born 1948) is a British purveyor of art forgeries who commissioned artist John Myatt to paint them. Drewe earned about £1.8 million executing these art crimes. Early life Drewe was born John Cockett in 1948 in Sussex, England. At the age of 17 he dropped out of school and changed his surname to Drewe. He worked briefly with the British Atomic Energy Authority, having initially convinced his superiors that he had a Ph.D. in physics. He resigned two years later, after this was found to be false. After that, there is a 15-year gap in official records about him — no employment or tax records. According to Drewe himself, he joined the student protests in Paris in 1968, moved to West Germany and studied physics in the Kiel University. When he moved back to the UK, he taught experimental physics at the University of Sussex for a year and received a second degree in physics at SUNY Buffalo. None of those educational institutions have his name on their records. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Dinner Set Gang
The Dinner Set Gang (aka The Fat Cat Burglars) was a gang of thieves who became notorious in the late 1960s and 1970s for their burglaries of the homes of the wealthiest Americans while the victims were at home eating dinner. Newspapers in New York City and Florida nicknamed them "The Dinner Set Gang". The principal members of the gang were brothers-in-law Peter Salerno and Dominick Latella. Others included their driver Carmine Stanzione, the husband of Salerno's sister. Modus operandi Salerno and Latella observed the habits of their potential victims until they recognized a pattern to be exploited. The servants were preoccupied with serving the multi-course meals and it was not considered good manners to leave the table during the long meal period, so the rest of the house was usually deserted. Throughout the year, depending on the season, the elite would drift from Palm Beach, Florida to New England. The gang followed. While Latella watched the victims dine, Salerno ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Albert Spaggiari
Albert Spaggiari (14 December 1932 – 8 June 1989), nicknamed Bert, was a French criminal chiefly known as the organizer of a break-in into a Société Générale bank in Nice, France, in July 1976. Early life Albert Spaggiari was born on 14 December 1932 in Laragne-Montéglin in the Hautes-Alpes to Richard and Marcelle (née Clément) Spaggiari. His father died in 1935 and he grew up in Hyères, where his mother ran a lingerie store. At the age of 19, he enlisted as a paratrooper in the First Indochina War, and was posted to the 3rd Battalion colonial paratroopers. During this time, he and a few accomplices put a gun to the head of someone that they claimed had robbed them. The military court, however, believed that this was actually a stickup, and Spaggiari spent the next four years in jail. Following his release, he moved to North Africa and joined the Secret Armed Organisation (OAS), a right-wing group that wanted to prevent Algerian independence. This later led him to ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |