Now a film starring Leonardo di Caprio, this is the true story of
the criminal activities of Frank W Abagnale, and it's a tale
stranger than fiction. Known as the 'Skywayman', Abagnale cashed
over $2.5 million in forged cheques before the age of 21. He was
one of the most daring conmen, forgers, impostors and escape
artists in history. Abagnale came from a broken home yet had a
relatively easy upbringing with his honest and trusting father. The
lure of attractive women and a luxurious lifestyle and the ease
with which someone with Frank's sharp intelligence and seductive
manner could acquire those things were the motivating factors that
lured the young man into the life of a fugitive. He never felt like
a criminal yet he became a conman 'of Academy Award calibre'. The
challenge of being able to swindle his way to success proved too
much to resist and he travelled across continents, changing
identity and passing counterfeit cheques. He soon learnt that a
uniform was a passport to respect and dignity and successfully
donned a pilot's uniform and co-piloted a Pan Am jet. His other
outrageous scams included masquerading as the supervising resident
of a hospital, practising law without a licence and passing himself
off as a college sociology professor. His adventures make very
entertaining reading and it is difficult not to admire his nerve
and intelligence. Abagnale led a life of luxury while on the run
from police in 25 different countries and across the United States
but it all came to a grim end when he decided to 'retire' to
France, aged 20. Identified by an ex-lover, he was thrown into a
French prison where he was stripped, starved and forced to live in
solitary confinement in filth and complete darkness for six months.
Only the imagination that had once fuelled his crimes kept him from
descending into madness. He was eventually removed to Sweden where
he was treated for double pneumonia and severe malnutrition but
then faced the prospect of being a wanted man across the globe and
further imprisonment. His subsequent escapes from the authorities
were characteristically audacious and make fascinating and
hilarious reading. He was finally captured and forced to pay for
his crimes in the US in 1971. Since then, Abagnale has turned his
life around to become a successful white-collar crime specialist,
lecturing on counterfeiting and secure documents. Today he teaches
the FBI Academy and is the founder of a secure-document corporation
in Washington DC. The book ends with an interview with the man
himself, who reflects on his early life and the lessons he has
learned. Unmissable. (Kirkus UK)
I stole every nickel and blew it on fine threads, luxurious
lodgings, fantastic foxes and other sensual goodies. I partied in
every capital in Europe and basked on all the world's most famous
beaches'. Frank W Abagnale, alias Frank Williams, Robert Conrad,
Frank Adams and Ringo Monjo, was one of the most daring con men,
forgers, imposters and escape artists in history. In his brief but
notorious career, Abagnale donned a pilot's uniform and co-piloted
a Pan Am jet, masqueraded as a member of hospital management,
practised law without a licence, passed himself off as a college
sociology professor, and cashed over $2.5 million in forged checks
all before he was twenty-one. Known by the police of twenty-six
foreign countries and all fifty states as 'The Skywayman', Abagnale
lived a sumptuous life on the run - until the law caught up with
him. Now recognised as the nation's leading authority on financial
foul play, Abagnale is a charming rogue whose hilarious,
stranger-than-fiction international escapades and ingenious escapes
- including one from an aeroplane - make CATCH ME IF YOU CAN an
irresistable tale of deceit.
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