My name is Jean-Loup Gassend, I am a forensic pathologist from Switzerland.
These past months I have been researching the life story of Frank Abagnale and happened to find this article of yours: https://www.greenwichsentinel.com/2021/04/28/greenwich-library-hosts-an-evening-with-frank-abagnale-author-of-scam-me-if-you-can/
It was very obvious to me when reading Mr. Abagnale’s book in late 2020 that several facts were untrue. That is when I decided to read up on him. I was disappointed to see that all the newspaper articles about him seemed to simply copy each other, while never checking the true facts. I wrote to Mr Abagnale, who never replied.
Recently, a book about Frank Abagnale called “The Greatest Hoax on Earth” has been published. The book is impeccably researched, and proves beyond any doubt that Mr. Abagnale is a complete fraud. He was in fact in prison at the time at which he claims to have performed his great cons. 95% of his story of completely fabricated based on a very small amount of actual rather pathetic criminal activity.
There are actually articles from the 1970’s from serious journalists who had already noted the many inconsistencies in Abagnale’s life: https://whyy.org/segments/the-greatest-hoax-on-earth/
The ball is rolling, and with “The Greatest Hoax on Earth” out, Abagnale’s reputation will slowly crumble over the next months, under the pressure of true facts.
Your article shows that the people organizing this event are completely oblivious of Abagnale’s true life story.
If they don’t want to make complete fools of themselves and be the last people to have complimented the king on his magnificent invisible cloths, I would highly advise them to cancel Abaganle’s talk, or change the theme to “Why did Abagnale get away with lying about his past for the last 50 years, why didn’t anyone check him out, and why didn’t journalists do their job instead of repeating things without verification”.
Best regards
Jean-Loup Gassend
Centre universitaire romand
de médecine légale
Jean-Loup GASSEND – médecin assistant
