The Devils of American Finance - Past and Present

1970s-2000s: MOVIE-WORTHY

Robert Vesco was a legendary swindler and fugitive, convicted of securities fraud, drug dealing and illegal funding for a company owned by President Richard Nixon’s nephew. To escape arrest, Vesco famously bounced around Central and Latin American countries that did not have extradition laws with the U.S., tried to buy an Antiguan island in order to make it an autonomous country, and successfully lobbied Costa Rica to make a law to also protect him from extradition. He eventually landed in Cuba but could not stay out of financial trouble. In 1996, he was convicted of fraud and sentenced to 13 years in prison, where he died in 2007.

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