Friday, July 13, 2007

The Three Card Monte Roadshow and a bit of higher education

Every time I think the old con games are dead and buried, one resurfaces. Perhaps they are zombies.

The venerable game of Three Card Monte recently made an appearance at a truck stop on Route 206. This sounds like an old-style road mob only smaller and less smart. Letting yourself get caught on camera tossing the broad is not a good career move, especially if the take is only a couple of grand.

On the other hand, check out the cajones on Ralph Cucciniello. This guy volunteers to be a researcher at Yale and then claims to have found an immigration loophole. He convinced a couple of hundred immigrants (mostly Irish) that for a mere $5K each he could guarantee them a green card. He also ran a longer scam on a Long Island couple that netted him over $100K. I'm guessing that he'll be spending more than a few days in prison, and he probably won't be able to wear his Yale t-shirt.

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