Most Extreme Scams In History

January 20, 2001, a few hours before leaving the White House forever, US President Bill Clinton signed a pardon to financier Mark Rich, which caused a storm of indignation in business circles. Swiss resident Rich was notorious for two reasons: firstly, he violated the international embargo imposed against Iran in 1979, and clandestinely bought Iranian oil. Secondly, using fraudulent schemes, he hid $ 48 million from taxation, which is considered a particularly serious crime in the United States.

The presidential pardon was the occasion for a separate prosecutorial investigation and hearings in the US Congress. Bill Clinton in absentia pardoned not just a swindler, but a man accused of treason. Passions played out serious.

The scandal's culprit Mark David Rich (real name Reich) was born December 18, 1934 in the Belgian city of Antwerp in the family of a scrap metal trader. In 1941, the Reich family, fleeing the Nazis, first moved to France and then to the United States, changing their surname to a more "American" - Rich ("Rich" - rich). Mark's father opened a jewelry store in Kansas City and was very successful in his craft.

In 1950, Richie settled in New York. After graduating from the prestigious Rhode School in Manhattan, Mark entered New York University. After studying for a semester, he got a job at Philippe Brothers, the largest commodity trading company in the world at that time. Mark Rich amazed others with his extraordinary ability to perform complex mathematical operations in his mind. He was born to play on the stock exchange, because he knew how to take risks deliberately. Having completed several successful transactions, Rich headed the Philippine Brothers Bolivian office.

Courtesy Mark Rich enjoyed steady success with women. During a business trip to New York, he met Denise Joy Eisenberg, heiress to the Florheim shoe empire. In 1966, they got married, and a few months later Mark was transferred to Madrid, where he had a worthy partner Pincus (Pinky) Green. They composed an excellent duet. Rich, nicknamed Matador, invented ingenious schemes, Green, aka Admiral, modified them and put them into practice.

The tremendous success of Rich and Green was marked by the conclusion of direct contracts for the purchase of oil from Arab sheikhs, bypassing the Seven Sisters, the largest international oil companies that dominate the market. Philip Brothers traders have established direct ties with oil producers in the Middle East, and used sophisticated barter schemes for mutual settlements, which doubled and even tripled profits.

It was oil that caused the breakdown of the unique duet with Philip Brothers: in the spring of 1973, Rich and Green, from their sources in Arab countries, learned about OPEC's intention to sharply raise prices and, thanks to this information, made a lot of money. So huge that the company’s management refused to pay Rich and Green the prize that they undoubtedly deserved (traders asked for a million dollars per brother).

The sweet couple quit right there and in November 1973 registered their own company, Mark Rich and Co., in Zug (the tiny Swiss canton of Zug had extremely liberal tax laws). Rich lured Philip Brothers to his side and soon turned into a major player trading in oil, metal, gas and other commodities. He was not afraid to work in the most backward countries and easily found a common language with dictators rejected by the world.

Marc Rich bought a luxurious mansion in the south of France, settled expensive Parisian prostitutes in it. In this mansion, negotiations were held with the Arab sheikhs. Later, the "honey trap" method was successfully tested on the "first Soviet millionaire" Artem Tarasov. In the late 1980s, a suite was specially made for him in a luxurious London hotel, and a yacht with an orchestra was rented.