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Thread: Con man who passed himself off as a Rockefeller.

  1. #1
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    Con man who passed himself off as a Rockefeller.

    Christopher Rocancourt, the con man who passed himself off as a Rockefeller in order to separate the wealthy from their riches, could spend less than five years in federal prison under a deal with prosecutors, his lawyer said Thursday.

    Peter Hoffman, a private investigator hired by some of Rocancourt's alleged marks, said he had not spoken with any of his clients and was unsure how they will react to the plea bargain Sherman disclosed to reporters. According to Sherman, federal sentencing rules will require Rocancourt to make restitution in addition to the 46 months to 57 months the lawyer says the government is willing to settle on.

    Hoffman said he noted that Rocancourt appeared weary at his arraignment April 11. The defendant wore blue prison garb and looked considerably thinner than in the past.

    "He walked into the courtroom from the holding cell and he looked a little bewildered," Hoffman said. "He looked wormy and scrawny, as one would imagine given what we've seen of him."

    Although the media's fascination with the so-called "Counterfeit Rockefeller" began when his Hamptons summer vacation ended in 2000, law enforcement authorities have been on his trail since at least 1987. From 1987 to 1992, he often used the name Prince Galitzine Christo to con his fellow Frenchmen, published reports say.

    In 1993, Swiss authorities extradited Rocancourt from Las Vegas but were never able to make charges stick. He was suspected of involvement in the 1991 armed theft of more than 400,000 francs from a Geneva jewelry store.

    While on the run in 2000, Rocancourt told the New York Times that he felt pity for his victims but no remorse over his actions.

    "I feel sorry for their greed," he said. "I am not laughing. There is nothing funny about stupidity."

    "We have worked out the case. We just weren't ready to do it today," attorney Victor Sherman said after leaving a federal courthouse in Brooklyn for a routine case status conference.

    Rocancourt, 36, was extradited from Canada last month after serving two years for conning people in the Vancouver area. While he was jailed, Rocancourt wrote an autobiography which has yet to hit U.S. book markets and in which he bragged about his life of crime and ridiculed those he stole from.

    "When all is said and done, they gave me over one million greenbacks in exchange for the promise of putting this money into income-bearing deals with the guarantee of the Rockefeller name and with receipts of absolutely no legal value," Rocancourt wrote, according to European press accounts. "Cash. A record. Almost one million dollars. In the hands of Christophe Rocancourt. Who would have imagined it?"

    Sherman said that despite Rocancourt's apparent glee about his life of crime, he had an epiphany in prison and now wants to settle all his debts to society and become a positive role model for his 5-year-old son, Zeus.

    "He's a changed man since he's been in jail. He dedicated his book to his son," Sherman said. "He realizes the error of his ways and he's going to live a law-abiding life in the future."

    The federal prosecutor handling an 11-count indictment charging Rocancourt with credit card and wire fraud and other charges in Brooklyn said he was not permitted to discuss anything that hasn't happened in open court. The prosecutor, Assistant U.S. Attorney Ronald White, told Courttv.com that the case was continued until May 19, the first chance Rocancourt will have to change his plea to guilty.

    "I can't talk about a plea agreement that hasn't already been filed," White said. "I can't talk about what's not already in the public record one way or another."

    According to Sherman, Rocancourt is prepared to plead guilty to some of the charges in each of three New York and California jurisdictions that have filed criminal complaints against him.

    He jumped bail in the Hamptons, the tony Long Island, N.Y., playground for the rich and famous, in 2000 after being charged with criminal impersonation and running up a $19,000 bed and breakfast bill. After Rocancourt posted $45,000 bail and fled the U.S. to Canada on a forged passport, stories emerged about Rocancourt's lavish spending and bold claims that he was a member of the super-rich Rockefeller clan.

    At the time, Rocancourt was already wanted for jumping bail two years earlier in California. He was freed on $100,000 bail after being charged along with three others, including a woman who claimed to be the adopted niece of the president of a small African country, with forging passports.

    The Brooklyn, N.Y., indictment stems from a classic in which Rocancourt allegedly enticed a woman to fly to New York from Los Angeles to complete a deal in which he would loan her money. Prosecutors say the woman gave Rocancourt the $100,000 "advance-loan fee" he demanded but took off without giving her the $4.2-million loan she believed was forthcoming.

  2. #2
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    Less than 5 years? That's a pretty lenient sentence, especially when considering his long term criminal activity. From the info in the article, I'm not sure if there's enough evidence to prove he is a changed man since serving a mere 2 years in jail. If the prosecution is willing to settle for just under 5 years on several serious felony convictions, there may not be strong evidence in this case to convict or there may be certain circumstances to consider. At least he will be required to pay restitution, but one wonders where he would get the money for that? Not from another criminal I hope.
    Kathie


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  3. #3

    Book Profits

    Maybe, the court system should put an injunction(?) on any profits made from the sale of his book in the U.S. to help pay restitution to his victims. At least that would keep him from making any money off of his crimes

  4. #4
    And who say crime does not pay? I think this is crazy, 5 years is no way near enough!!!

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    He definitely should not be permitted to profit from his crimes. I think this should be a standard provision of any plea bargain, or even a separate law itself, because victims should be the ones who are compensated. Just my opinion.
    Kathie


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    I agree, no way he should be able to accept a profit.
    Robert Smith

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    Michael Harris is offline Lifetime Professional Management Member

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    Fortunately, most people cannot lie well enough to pull off any kind of .

    Unfortunately, those who can lie weel enough, make up for the rest of us.
    Michael E. Harris

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  8. #8
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    Five years is ludicrous! His errors of thinking pattern has not changed and I bet he will impersonate another because he was sentenced next to nothing in regard to his criminal history. People should guard themselves from con artists who offer to give more money for some money! The woman who gave him $100,000 has learned an expensive lesson I doubt will repeat!

  9. #9
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    I agree with the others who believe any money made from his book should go to his victims. I don't believe he will change. It is a very costly lesson to learn be leary of people who promise you will make more than is given. All you have to do is look at all the e-mails you get that promise you that you can make alot of money if you pay a certain amount to get the books or tapes.

  10. #10
    Interesting case. Five years doesn't seem nearly enough though. Seems like this character played off his fake identity to win a lot people's trust...but karma always wins in the end.

  11. #11
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    WOW! That was an interesting case. According to the story he had a long history of fraud and conning people. But it appeared that the Prosecuting Attorney didn't have enough evidence to convict him for a long period of time.

    It goes on to say that in some of the cases such as in 1993 they did not have enough evidence to make it stick. So it appeared that many of the charges were circumstantial, so they were willing to settle for a plea bargain.

    As for him making royalties off his book he wrote in jail it doesn't seem fair, but some people in this country become famous or infamous by the crimes they commit. That's when they find an opportunity to cash in on their royalties because some people are intrigued and willing to buy or listen to their stories.

    It makes you wounder; hum....

    Katrina

  12. #12
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    Update On Christopher Rocancourt

    This story intrigued me, so I had to see if there was any news since:

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christopher_Rocancourt

    Christopher Rocancourt
    From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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    Christophe Thierry Rocancourt (b. July 16, 1967 in Honfleur, France) is an impostor and con artist who 0000000 affluent people by masquerading as a French member of the Rockefeller family.

    He told Dateline NBC in a 2006 broadcast that his mother sometimes worked as a prostitute and his father was an alcoholic who took Christophe to an orphanage when the boy was 5. He ran away and made his way to Paris where he pulled his first big con: faking the deed to a property he didn't own, then "selling" the property for USD $1.4 million.

    Making his way to the United States, Rocancourt used at least a dozen aliases. He got the rich and powerful to invest in his schemes, he told Dateline, by tapping into their greed. He convinced them that he, too, was rich by paying for their lavish dinners in cash. In Los Angeles, he pretended to be a movie producer, boxing champion or venture capitalist. He dropped names like "his mother" Sophia Loren or "his uncles" Oscar de la Renta and Dino de Laurentiis and was associated with various celebrities. He married Playboy model Pía Reyes; they had a son, Zeus. He lived for a time with Mickey Rourke.

    In 1997 police raided Rocancourt's hotel suite. In 1998 he was arrested for an involvement in a shootout and jumped bail. In 1999 he was freed of charges of forging passports; he had bribed State Department employees to get a passport. He was arrested in 2000 in the Hamptons for an unpaid hotel bill, then jumped bail. In April 27, 2001 he and Reyes were arrested in Oak Bay, British Columbia, Canada, and charged with defrauding an elderly couple. Reyes was released after convincing authorities that she had no part in the 0000, much less, had any idea of her husband's "profession."

    In Canada, Rocancourt wrote an autobiography in which he ridiculed his victims. In March 2002 he was extradited to New York. He pled guilty to 3 of 11 different charges including theft, grand larceny, smuggling, bribery and perjury. He was accused of defrauding a total of 19 people. He admitted three counts of fraud to avoid the maximum penalty of 20 years in prison. He received fines of $9 million and was ordered to pay $1.5 million. In Switzerland, the police have connected him with a jewel theft and barred him from the country until 2016.

    He estimated to Dateline that he "made" at least USD $40 million.

    On June 7, 2006, the Associated Press reported that imprisoned former private investigator Anthony Pellicano performed an illegal background check on a law enforcement official who was investigating Rocancourt in a fake passport scheme.

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