Criminal Masterminds

Crime is a topic that never fails to fascinate. From the evil geniuses who think they can get away with anything to the bumbling idiots whose crimes are so stupid they're almost funny. With that in mind, here are 20 people who have made their mark on history, for better or worse.

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1. Pablo Escobar

Pablo Escobar was the leader of the Medellín Cartel. Escobar was a master at establishing and running an extensive empire, making billions, and staying ahead of law enforcement for decades. Escobar's cunning and strategic thinking, as well as his ability to exert control over his organization, have made him one of the most successful and well-known criminals in the world.

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2. D.B. Cooper

D. B. Cooper was an unidentified criminal who hijacked a Northwest Orient Airlines flight in 1971, collected $200,000 in ransom, and parachuted away, disappearing without a trace. The elaborate scheme, carefully planned and executed with no mistakes, remains one of the most celebrated unsolved crimes of all time.

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3. Frank Abagnale

Frank Abagnale is a former check forger, impostor, and con artist who pretended to be a pilot, a lawyer, and a doctor, and defrauded banks, airlines, and other companies. He was the subject of the movie Catch Me If You Can. He later became a consultant for businesses and institutions fighting fraud, but his skill and creativity made him a very smart criminal.

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4. Charles Ponzi

Charles Ponzi was an early 20th-century fraudster who ran one of the first "Ponzi schemes," in which he promised investors implausibly large returns on investments in foreign postage coupons. He duped thousands of people into giving him millions of dollars. Ponzi's charismatic personality, while criminal in intent, demonstrated the shrewdness and control of a true criminal mastermind.

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5. Al Capone

Al Capone was an American gangster and organized crime boss during the Prohibition era. He was known for his skill in overseeing and coordinating criminal activities. Capone especially controlled bootlegging, which is his claim to fame.

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6. Victor Lustig

Victor Lustig was a con man who "sold" the Eiffel Tower twice in the 1920s, duping scrap metal dealers into believing they were the proud owners of the tower. Lustig's adeptness at manipulation and deception helped him to successfully orchestrate a number of audacious scams throughout Europe. Lustig's ingenuity and brazenness helped him gain international infamy as one of history's most crafty criminals.

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7. Ted Kaczynski

Ted Kaczynski’s identity was not widely known until he had been at large for decades. Kaczynski is a mathematician who was able to remain unidentified for 17 years as he committed a nationwide explosive campaign from 1978 to 1995. His work caused a lot of property damage and loss of life.

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8. Leonardo Notarbartolo

Leonardo Notarbartolo was the planner of the 2003 Antwerp Diamond Heist, one of the biggest and most intricate robberies ever. He had taken photos of the entire vault and memorized every detail. His planning was so extensive, and his actions at the time so considered, that the heist involved over $100 million in diamonds.

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9. Natwarlal

Natwarlal (born Mithilesh Kumar Srivastava) was an Indian confidence trickster who "sold" some of India's most famous landmarks, including the Taj Mahal and Red Fort, on numerous occasions. A charming, witty, and deceptively bold man, Natwarlal was responsible for duping thousands of people throughout his career. Natwarlal's chutzpah and guile have led to his being remembered as one of the greatest rogues in the history of criminal intelligence.

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10. Doris Payne

Doris Payne was a jewel thief who committed thefts across the world for more than 70 years, making off with high-value jewelry in stores and museums. She employed observation, intelligence, and sleight of mind to steal valuable goods with great proficiency. Payne's wits and calculated approach made her a successful and notorious criminal.

Now that we have talked about some of the smartest criminals in history, here are 10 that definitely prove crime doesn’t pay.

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1. Armed with a Cucumber

Gary Rough tried to rob a bookmaker in Glasgow in 2014 with a cucumber wrapped in a black sock as a weapon. His “armed” robbery went nowhere when he was tackled to the ground by an off-duty police officer. Rough was later found guilty and sentenced for assault with intent to rob.

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2. Emu Wars

There was a time in the 1930s when the country of Australia declared war on the emus that inhabited the region. Surprisingly, the emus won. It’s unsurprising considering some of the silly antics going on during this fight, where some poachers even ended up aiming at their own feet rather than the emus they were supposed to cull.

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3. Live Robbery

In 2018’s “Live Instagram Robbery,” a thief decided to stream their crime live on Instagram. Unsurprisingly, their robbery was a total failure, but they definitely ended up famous for the act. Obviously, they were arrested shortly after.

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4. Doing Tesco

Robber Andrew Hennells was caught after he took a selfie with a weapon and boasted about robbing a Tesco on Facebook. He was arrested 15 minutes later with the stolen £410 in his hand. He was jailed for four years for putting his plans in writing.

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5. Forgot the Bag

A burglar made off with some cash when he robbed a home in 2013. Although, there was one small detail he overlooked: the thief forgot to bring a bag and was forced to abandon almost all the loot he stole. His burglary lasted less time than it took to walk in the front door.

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6. Free Drinks

The Derbyshire Police in the UK have used an unusual trick to entrap wanted criminals by using a free crate of beer as bait. Nineteen burglars, car thieves, and other lawbreakers took the bait, proving just how gullible and desperate they were by showing up at police stations to pick up a “special offer,” where they were arrested by officers in the guise of salesmen.

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7. Goldilocks

In 2014, Martin Holtby and Pat Dyson, a retired couple from Lancashire, returned from holiday to find burglar Lukasz Chojnowski asleep in their bed. Chojnowski had washed their dishes, their underwear, and bought some food, leaving the house cleaner than when he arrived. However, he pleaded guilty to burglary and was sentenced to two years' conditional discharge and ordered to pay £200 costs.

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8. Heads Up

In 2010, Albert Bailey tried to rob a Fairfield, Connecticut bank but called the bank first to tell them he was coming. Claiming he was "doing the bank a favor," Bailey told his juvenile partner to tell the tellers to get $100,000 and that he'd give them "time," but one employee called the police. As expected, the holdup went nowhere, and Bailey was arrested.

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9. Donkey Robbery

Three Colombian thieves chose a 10-year-old donkey named Xavi as their getaway vehicle in an attempt to rob a grocery store in Juan de Acosta in January 2013. The plan backfired almost immediately after the thieves began their escape. The donkey started braying, effectively notifying the police of the crime before the robbers had left the scene.

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10. Failing to Deliver the Mail

In this one, it isn’t the criminal who was dumb, but the system he served instead. Gabriel March Grandos, 22, of Palma de Mallorca, Spain, was sentenced to 384,912 years in prison in 2015 for not delivering 42,768 letters. The absurd sentence means that he must serve 9 years in prison for each letter he failed to deliver, totaling 384,912 years. The story is only the latest in a series of disproportionately long prison sentences that people have faced in recent years under fraud laws.

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