Crime Con

In 2016, on stage at Wembley Arena in front of thousands of adoring fans, Dr Ruja Ignatova promised her followers a financial revolution. The future, she said, belonged to cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin. And the Oxford-educated, self-styled cryptoqueen vowed that she had invented the Bitcoin killer. OneCoin would not only earn its investors untold fortunes, it would change the world.

Han pasado años del derrumbe del Muro de Berlín y con la caída del Telón de Acero, Washington desbanda a La Cuadrilla. Pero como hay rumores en la viña de que un desclasado agente del antiguo G.R.U. soviético ha vuelto a las andadas, ahora formando parte de la mafia rusa, alguien en Capitol Hill da orden al coronel Berkowitz de infiltrar a algunos de aquellos feroces ‘dinosaurios’ que sobrevivieron la Guerra Fría en el submundo del hampa con ojos y oídos bien abiertos... Entra en acción Patrick Coonan, el agente Delta.

Belle Gibson convinced the world she had healed herself from terminal brain cancer with a healthy diet. She built a global business based upon her claims. There was just one problem: she'd never had cancer. In 2015, journalists uncovered the truth: this hero of the wellness world, with over 200,000 followers, international book deals and a best-selling smartphone app, was a fraud.

After her father died in 2003, Susan Fensten turned to a genealogy message board to search for surviving relatives. Days later, she was delighted to receive an email from someone claiming to be a distant cousin. In fact, Susan had just been ensnared by a relentless sociopath. She soon became the target of an elaborate cyber-hoax involving dozens of frightening characters, including known sex offenders, who made threats of kidnapping, murder, rape, torture, and cannibalism. Remarkable in its complexity, this story of Internet stalking is also a harrowing tale of courage in the face of madness.

In 2009, Notts County FC were on the brink of bankruptcy when they were taken over by a mysterious company supposedly backed by the Bahraini royal family. The club was promised millions of pounds worth of investment and a list of marquee players, including Sol Campbell and Kasper Schmeichel were signed, in a recruitment drive led by former England manager Sven-Göran Eriksson, who was appointed to take the club all the way to the Premier League.

Chilling. One of the best words to describe the cases recounted in this book set. These gruesome crimes seemed to hit a dead end...that is until the cases were reopened for investigation later and then solved thanks to modern technologies and investigation techniques. From the more famous cases to the more obscure, the crimes and hardships that the victims had to suffer will send shivers down your spine. Notably detailing the disappearance of Chandra Levy as well as the multiple murders committed by Dennis Rader.

London 1901. The city is in the grip of "monkey man mania". Intrepid explorer Drake Patterson has caused a media storm following his astonishing discovery of a frozen ancient man in the remote Himalayan Mountains. This primal man has been triumphantly transported back to England as proof of the missing link in evolutionary theory. The upcoming auction of the specimen causes a stir amongst academics and the board of the British Museum.

La strana morte di un usuraio conduce Bacci Pagano nei misteriosi sobborghi di Genova. Il settantenne Giacomino Terenzi – noto strozzino – viene ucciso in un parco da uno sconosciuto sicario, ma Bacci Pagano sospetta il coinvolgimento della vedova, che da anni intrattiene un rapporto extraconiugale.

The third of a trilogy, this collection features 16 of the world's most outrageous scams and hoaxes. They all really happened, and were taken from firsthand accounts, newspaper reports, or historical documents found in public libraries. They date as far back as the late 1800s, but most are more recent. However, you won't find any defrauded widows or orphans in these stories; the victims are institutions or corporations quite capable of defending themselves, and the crooks who match wits with them are just as savvy. You could almost call it a fair fight!

Zwischen 1975 und 1978 erpresste ein sich 'Monsieur X' nennender Mann mit ungewöhnlich persönlich begründeten Drohbriefen und gezielten Sabotageakten die Deutsche Bundesbahn, wobei er trotz großer Polizeianstrengungen lange unentdeckt blieb und erst nach der Ausstrahlung eines Aktenzeichen XY-Beitrags durch einen entscheidenden Hinweis identifiziert werden konnte.

The best-known educator of the 20th century was a scammer in cashmere. "The most famous reading teacher in the world," as television hosts introduced her, Evelyn Wood had little classroom experience, no degrees in reading instruction, and a background that included a collaboration with the Third Reich. Nevertheless, a nation spooked by Sputnik and panicked by paperwork eagerly embraced her promises of a speed-reading revolution.

In the heart of Indian country in the American west, clandestine criminals were profiting greatly from the sale of sacred Native American artifacts stolen from tribal lands. These artifacts were so ancient they had been used since the migration of the first Americans into North America some 15,000 years ago. In the year 1998, the illegal trafficking of these artifacts peaked in Santa Fe, New Mexico.

Audrey Edmunds was a happily married young mother of two with a baby on the way; the neighborhood soccer mom in a small Wisconsin town providing casual childcare when the unthinkable happened. An infant died in her care at the same time the unknown science of Shaken Baby Syndrome hit the media. Swept up in a media frenzy, Edmunds was accused of killing the child through SBS. She was stripped from her children and husband and sent to prison where she would fight for freedom 13 years before she was finally exonerated.

The killing of six-year-old beauty queen JonBenét Ramsey—found in the basement of her family home in Boulder, Colorado, with a smashed skull and a garrote placed around her neck—remains one of America’s most shameful unsolved crimes. A flawed investigation, fraught with police, prosecutorial misconduct, and widespread evidence tampering, means that the little girl’s killer remains at large after more than two decades.

When Tim Bowden went back to Tasmania to explore his state of origin for the first time in many years, he was reminded of his adolescent assertion that "Tasmania is the testicle of Australia, suffusing the mainland with strength and vigour. What a pity there is only one of them".

Discover unspeakable acts of brutality and violence in this volume of 12 shocking true crime cases. If you’re fascinated by the stories of both killers and victims, and how police work with forensics and evidence in pursuit of coldblooded murderers, this captivating book is for you, taking you on a journey through some of the most unforgettable murders in recent times.

All farmer Mathew Dunbar ever wanted was to find love and have a family of his own. That’s why, just months after meeting Natasha Darcy, the much-loved grazier didn’t hesitate to sign over his multi-million-dollar estate to her. When Mathew died in an apparent suicide soon afterwards, in a stranger-than-fiction twist, Natasha's estranged husband – who she was once charged with trying to kill – was the first paramedic on the scene.

An invitation from a liberal arts college to buy their mystery-novel collection comes as a welcome surprise for Raymond Ambler, crime-fiction curator at New York City's 42nd Street Library. But his pleasure quickly turns sour when the collection's curator—Sam Abernathy—tells him he plans to fight the acquisition tooth and nail. The collection would make a fine addition to his holdings, but Ambler's not looking for drama. But just a couple of weeks later, one of Abernathy's colleagues is shot dead from the library's roof, and all signs point to the crime-loving professor as the perpetrator.

Don't hint that Richard Hauptmann was executed as an innocent man. Don't dare to think that Charles Lindbergh had clean hands when it came to the kidnapping and murder of his son. It's unpopular and may be dangerous to say aloud, but there was no kidnapping at the Lindbergh estate in 1932...No kidnapping...Instead of the story of the American hero and the trial, those parts are summarized, and the emphasis is on the actual evidence and the investigation. Hauptmann was innocent, there was no kidnapping, and the true killer is named.

The tragic story of Natalee Holloway still remains a mystery to this day. The events prior to her disappearance are centered on unreliable witnesses, investigators not following proper procedures, and friends who had left her alone with local patrons. To say that a school trip is never supposed to turn out this way is a monumental understatement.