Victor Lustig

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Lore & Background

Lustig was born in Hostinné, part of the Kingdom of Bohemia, Austria-Hungary, as the second of three children to Ludwig and Amelia "Fanny" Lustig. Raised in a German-speaking middle-class Catholic family, he grew up in a four-room house at Tyrsovy street. His father was a tobacco goods salesman and at one point a mayor of Hostinné, who was reportedly physically abusive towards his children and wife. At age eight, Lustig was forced to sign a written oath to abstain from alcohol and always attend church. He also had to attend violin lessons, which he hated, and during an argument his father beat Lustig over the head with the instrument. His parents divorced around 1898, although they still lived together during the 1900 census. On his first day of infant school, Lustig was immediately expelled for obscenity, after telling a female teacher "Leck mich am Arsch" ("Kiss my ass"). A 1902 school report described him as "retarded morally, an idiot in other respects". By age thirteen, Lustig had taken up boxing. In 1904, he ran away from home for a week before returning. He was sent to a boarding school in Dresden, where he learnt English, French, Italian, and Hungarian and took a course in design. Most biographers state that he dropped out before his 17th birthday. In 1909, shortly after starting a semester at the Sorbonne in Paris, Lustig took to gambling. During this time he sustained a defining scar on the left side of his face from the jealous boyfriend of a woman he consorted with.

Reader's Guide

Lustig's career began with cons on ocean liners sailing between France and New York, where he posed as a musical producer seeking investors in a non-existent Broadway production. In May 1922, posing as Robert Duval, he purchased land from a bank in Springfield, Missouri, overpaid with Liberty bonds, pocketed his bonds along with $10,000 in change, and was arrested in New York City. In 1925, back in Paris, he chanced upon a newspaper article about the Eiffel Tower's disrepair. He hired a forger to produce fake government stationery, then invited scrap metal dealers to a confidential meeting, identifying himself as the Deputy Director-General of the Ministère de Postes et Télégraphes. He convinced them the government wished to sell the tower for scrap. His mark was André Poisson, an insecure man who wished to rise in Parisian business. Lustig convinced Poisson he was a corrupt official, and Poisson paid a large bribe plus around 70,000 francs for the tower's "sale". Lustig fled to Austria, then returned to Paris to pull off the scheme once more, but fled to the U.S. when police were informed. The "Rumanian Box" scam involved a mahogany box that supposedly duplicated currency. Lustig would demonstrate by inserting a bill, then produce a genuine bill he had planted. He once sold a money box to a Texas sheriff for thousands of dollars; when the sheriff pursued him to Chicago, Lustig gave him counterfeit cash as compensation, which led to his arrest. On 5 July 1929, Lustig and William McSherry were arrested in Chicago, traveling as "Robert Miller" with forged documents and a money box. During the Great Depression, Lustig concocted a risky scam aimed at Al Capone.

Did You Know?

• Lustig was expelled from infant school on his first day for telling a female teacher 'Leck mich am Arsch' ('Kiss my ass').
• A 1902 school report described Lustig as 'retarded morally, an idiot in other respects'.
• Lustig sustained a defining scar on the left side of his face from the jealous boyfriend of a woman he consorted with.
• Lustig once sold a money box to a Texas sheriff for thousands of dollars, then gave him counterfeit cash as compensation.
• On 5 July 1929, Lustig was arrested in Chicago while traveling as 'Robert Miller', carrying forged documents and a money box.

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