From Elizabeth Holmes to Anna Sorokin, the grifters taking con artistry to new heights

We’re living through a time when a select few men and women have stolen fame, riches and more with their daring schemes

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FILE PHOTO: Elizabeth Holmes, CEO of Theranos, attends a panel discussion during the Clinton Global Initiative's annual meeting in New York, U.S., September 29, 2015. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid/File Photo

Abid Rahman

Published: 10:30am, 3 Feb 2020Updated: 3:42pm, 17 Feb 2020

We are living in a tortured moment in history. What with the oceans boiling, inequality rising, threats of world war looming and Arsenal lagging behind Tottenham, it is tempting to consider every year that passes as the “worst year ever”. But, let’s be honest, 2020, only a month in, is already shaping up to be a doozy. So far this year, Australia has been on fire, the Wuhan coronavirusis fraying all our nerves and Britain is tearing itself apart over Boris Johnson’s attempts to get Brits to “bung a bob for a Big Ben bong” for Brexit. Oh, and Arsenal still suck.

But among all the bad stuff, there is good bad stuff, perhaps even great bad stuff.I’m talking about grifters. This is a time when a select few men and women, with Olympian levels of shamelessness and preternatural abilities to not tell the truth, have stolen fame, riches and my heart with their daring schemes.

Why do I have such a fondness for those who might be deemed criminals? Well, it’s not the crimes, it’s the psychology of the grifter, the audacious confidence, the stunning lack of self-awareness and the delusional focus.

And no, I’m not alone in this fascination for frauds; there are millions like me who can’t seem to get enough of them and, thankfully, the content mill is churning out articles, essays, books, podcasts, documentary films and television series to sate our needs.

If you are grift-curious, let me get you started, as a rising fashion for con artists has left us spoilt for choice. At the top end, we have the obvious, if boring, examples of the Trump familyand Gwyneth Paltrow’s Goop, which peddles expensive New Age products, such as HK$500 vaginal eggs and HK$600 “This Smells Like My Vagina” candles (sold out, natch). My Spidey sense tells me Paltrow might be fixated with the vagina.