By SEAN DALY Special to the Daily Press
NEW YORK CITY — A few years back, two teens from Long Island took out an ad in the New York Post promising the top 10 selling sex videos for $49.95. No cash or credit cards were accepted – just checks sent to a Post Office box in Summit, New Jersey. Once each payment was deposited into a legal bank account, a letter was generated to the buyer stating: “Unfortunately, we are unable to fulfill your order, so enclosed please find a check to cover your full refund.”
The reimbursement checks were real, drawn on a legal account with more than sufficient funds. The catch? Each one came with their company name emblazoned in bold red ink across the top: “Child Pornography Videos, Inc.”
Needless to say, few checks were ever cashed.
The scam is one of hundreds investigated by Frank Abagnale, Jr., during his 26 year tenure with the United States Federal Bureau of Investigation. Abagnale, 54, joined the agency’s bank fraud unit in 1976 with some rather unique credentials – he was once one of the world’s most elusive con men.
From the age of 16 to 21, Abagnale successfully masqueraded as an airline pilot, a district attorney, a college professor and a pediatrician. During that time, he also manufactured and cashed more than $2.5 million in fraudulent checks.
His story is told in director Steven Spielberg’s new movie “Catch Me If You Can,” opening Christmas Day. “What I did was wrong, illegal, immoral and unethical,” Abagnale says addressing a group of reporters in a Manhattan hotel suite. “I am not proud of it. That’s why I rarely talk to the media.”
Until today. In 1980, Abagnale sold the film rights to his escapades for $250,000.00 and agreed to serve as a consultant on the project should it ever make it to the screen. “Catch Me If You Can” (based largely on the 1980 book co-written by veteran journalist Stan Retting) bounced around from studio to studio for years, once almost being produced with Tom Cruise in the starring role. Spielberg eventually chose Leonardo DiCaprio to portray the notorious young swindler. “[Frank] was mature beyond his years, a chameleon, able to adapt to his surroundings,” boasts DiCaprio, 28, who invited Abagnale to spend several days at his Hollywood estate in preparation for the role. “He has mastered the art of misdirection. Frank is a great actor and the world was his stage.”
He’s not kidding. At one point, Abagnale was wanted in all 50 US states and 26 foreign countries. Abagnale’s adventure began when he ran away from home following the divorce of his parents in 1964. “My parents’ divorce was nothing more than the reason I walked away from home,” he says. “It’s not the reason I broke the law. I have no one to blame for breaking the law but myself.”
By adding gray streaks to his hair, and donning a uniform hustled from a laundry facility, Abagnale was able to pass himself off for more than two years as a pilot for Pan Am, permitting him to travel for free and spread his check cashing con around the globe.
“He was like the Elvis of impersonators,” co-star Tom Hanks told Newsweek. “He walks into a room and you think who is that big, trusting looking guy? And it turns out he is the guy who is going to steal your money.”
“He was like the Elvis of impersonators. He walks into a room and you think who is that big, trusting looking guy? And it turns out he is the guy who is going to steal your money.” — — TOM HANKS Actor
The ruse was exhilarating at first, Abagnale admits: “I was a 16 year-old kid dating 25 year-old women, so obviously there was some joy to all of that.”
Abagnale was eventually nabbed by a tireless FBI agent (loosely portrayed in the film by Hanks) and tossed into a French prison for almost a year before being extradited back to the United States. “My entire youth, from 21 – 26, was spent behind bars,” he says, crediting his wife Kelly for eventually helping him turn his life around. They have been married for 26 years and have three sons: Scott, Chris and Sean, ages 18 to 23. Today the Abagnales reside in Tulsa, Oklahoma, where Frank enjoys working in the garden and washing his car in the front driveway.
He travels three to four days a week – (“I have over five million miles on American Airlines”) – consulting with private clients such as Discover Card and Standard Register on how to reduce their exposure to fraud, forgery and embezzlement.
For his services, Abagnale earns millions of dollars annually, but continues to maintain a modest lifestyle. “I don’t live in a big mansion,” he quips. His one splurge: clothing. “I’ve always liked to dress well. I do believe that presentation is everything. That’s why I was a success at 16. That’s why I am a success today,” he says, sporting a black Brioni suit and a custom made Oxford shirt with his signature on the cuffs.
Abagnale, now completely gray with a receding hairline and thin rimmed glassed, was equally well dressed as he walked the red carpet at the December 16 premiere of “Catch Me If You Can” in Los Angeles. But don’t be fooled – “I’m really not looking to become a celebrity again,” he insists. “I like to travel around without being noticed.”
Why then would Abagnale agree to speak so candidly of his wrongdoings: “I don’t want people to think that I am proud of what I did, or walk away with this character being glamorized,” he says.
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on December 26, 2002. Read the original PDF.