Spiegel Stuff: When the Impostor Faced His Past; a Dream Man Turned Nightmare; the Dynasty Shattered From Within

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Happy April Fools' Day! From scammers and scandal to cases of mistaken (misappropriated, rather) identity, count your blessings with these tales of worst-case scenarios.

The Man in the Rockefeller Suit

How an impostor charmed his way into exclusive communities, clubs, and financial institutions. The lifelong con included his marrying a Harvard MBA; working at Kidder, Peabody; and showing off an extraordinary art collection—until his arrest brought him face-to-face with his past and with questions regarding skeletal remains.

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The Little Prince

Mike Romanoff claimed he was a Russian prince, educated at Eton and Oxford, and a former commander of a Cossack regiment. In reality, he was a tailor's son from Vilna who spent miserable years as a deportee, con man, and thief. But his ultimate identity was forged by Romanoff's, the legendary Beverly Hills restaurant he opened in 1939 with the backing of Jock Whitney, Alfred Vanderbilt, and Laurance Rockefeller.

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In Cold Blood

Elizabeth Holmes built Theranos, her $9 billion blood-testing start-up, on a host of extraordinary lies. But the company's final days were littered with sad truths—blinding legal bills, demoralized employees, deceit, and a wolf, who was really a dog, that pooped all over the office.

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Man of Her Dreams

When award-winning NBC News producer Benita Alexander fell in love with the famous transplant surgeon Paolo Macchiarini―while filming A Leap of Faith, a documentary about him―she thought her biggest problem was a breach of journalistic ethics. But as she and the dashing Italian doctor planned their dream wedding, to be officiated by none other than the pope, Alexander found herself in a nightmare.

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Shattered Dynasty

Jay Pritzker quietly built a $15 billion empire of more than 200 companies and a network of 1,000 family trusts. But one of the patriarch's final deals before his 1999 death, designed to bind his heirs closer, unleashed a torrent of anger, greed, and betrayal, culminating in a $6 billion lawsuit by his 19-year-old niece, Liesel.

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Reuters: U.S.

Saturday, April 1, 2023

When the Impostor Faced His Past; a Dream Man Turned Nightmare; the Dynasty Shattered From Within

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