Out the Comet's Ass: Swindlers

Money Central offers a list of "The 10 Greatest con Men of All Time." I could find birth dates for only about half of them on Wikipedia.

Link to article:

http://timesbusiness.typepad.com/money_weblog/2009/03/1-buy-brooklyn-bridge---george-c-parker--2-the-poyais-scam---gregor-macgregor--3-selling-the-eiffel-tower---victor-lustig.html

Quick look at some of their birth dates. I suppose that most of them had multiple birth dates just because of the type of business they were in. These are only the guys who got caught, their advantage is that these types don't usually get caught so Saturn and Chiron may play a bigger role in their charts than the ones who get away.

One would definitely have to have an innate understanding of greed and how to take advantage of greed in others. So look for Venus in a big aspect. Venus helps with the popularity quotient as well. Smooth talker and dishonest cheat definitely starts with Mercury problems. Charming, quick, and able to move on without feeling guilty. It's great to have a ruthless Saturn-Pluto aspect just as long as it is balanced by some good and happy Uranus-Neptune stuff. Saturn-Pluto gives an ability to manage on a big scale and strong outer planets aspects to each other might show an ability to think on a big scale. Hitler said that if you want to win the public over with lies you have to use big lies because they understand and can see through the small lies.

These crimes are committed by the popular types, the ones you trust. Today most of the older guys would be called "Marketers." These people would also need excitement, guess I didn't pay enough attention to their Marses. Uranus comes out surprisingly strong in the charts. What else? I'm missing something, guess that's par for the course with these guys. They have to inspire confidence in others, that might be another Uranian thing as Leo is on the opposite end and Leo rules confidence. From looking at the list it seems that Earth Suns are strong here. That shows placing importance on the material world. Plus, when the Sun progresses out of Earth and into the Air Signs that come after they might get a little overly oxygenated in the brain.

1. George C. Parker. Article says he sold New York Landmarks to Tourists. He sold the Brooklyn Bridge about twice a week for years.

Born 1870. Having grown up in a tourist town in a tourist state, I think this guy is kind of funny. Tourists are annoying. No birth date.

2. Gregor MacGregor. Something wrong with Parents who repeat your last name in your first name -- have to check his Moon and Saturn. He sold land & metals from a bogus state or country in Central America to British Investors.

b. Dec. 24, 1786 Edinburgh, Scotland

Sun 3 Capricorn; Moon Aquarius; NN 16 Capricorn

Sun is conjunct Mercury Rx so the guy was charming and smart, and his brain probably got a boost when his Progressed mercury stationed out of retrograde.
Pluto conjunct Saturn in Aquarius (ruthless in a friendly kind of way) squaring Jupiter in Taurus (greed) and trining Neptune 19 Libra (He would have liked to have stayed alive to attend Woodstock?).
Big Cardinal Sign t-square in feel good planets on the Nodal Axis: Venus 21 Capricorn Rx conjunct NN, squaring Neptune 19 Libra and opposing Uranus 15 Cancer.

3. Victor Lustig sold everything. Made a money making machine. He tried to sell the Eiffel Tower to a junk metals dealer.

Born Jan. 4, 1890 in Bohemia (I used Munich because SolarFire doesn't track the latitude of really good beers).

Sun 15 Capricorn; Moon Gemini or Cancer; NN 3 Cancer

Sun 15 Capricorn conjunct Jupiter 19 Capricorn
Venus 4 Capricorn conjunct SN 3 Capricorn
Neptune 3 Gemini conjunct Pluto 6 Gemini squaring Saturn 4 Virgo (boy, I'm surprised that everyone born during this time wasn't a swindler)

4. Frank Abagnale as a teenager posed as different professionals and defrauded people. Forger.

b. Apr. 27, 1948 Bronxville, NY

Sun 8 Taurus; Moon Sagittarius or Capricorn; NN 15 Taurus

Sun conjunct NN squaring Pluto Saturn Mars in Leo
Jupiter 29 Sagittarius opposing Uranus 24 Gemini

5. Charles Ponzi created the pyramid scheme.

b. Mar. 3, 1882 Lugo, Italy

Sun 13 Pisces; Moon Leo or Virgo; NN 5 Sagittarius

Saturn, Neptune, chiron, Jupiter and Pluto all in Taurus 10 to 29 degrees.
Sun conjunct Venus 16 Pisces opposing Uranus 7 Virgo

6. Philip Arnold responsible for the "Diamond Hoax of 1872." Scattered some bad quality diamonds over land in Montana and sold it to Mr. Tiffany.

Nothing, born 1829, Elizabethtown, Kentucky

7. Howard Welsh did some sort of Ponzi Scheme.

Nothing, nothing born 1953

8. Gerd Heidemann, German journalist, sold the rights to a bogus version of Hitler's Diary.

Nothing, born 1932

9. Shaun Greenhalgh worked with Art Forgeries.

Nothing, born 1961

10. Bernie Madoff, the greatest swindler that Wall St. has ever produced, and that's saying a lot.

Sun 9 Taurus; Moon Aries or Taurus; NN 28 Scorpio