Heist Podcast

We pick up where we left off with our crazy international art smuggler Michel Van Rijn, this time he's pulling a fast one on a small time art dealer looking to make a name for herself. And at the same time trying not to get arrested and/or killed by his long time enemies. It's always a wild ride with MVR. HEEEISST!

Today we tell the story of Michel Van Rijn, probably the biggest international art smuggler in history, this guy has lived a crazy life. He hung out with the Russian mob one minute and clinked glasses with the richest people in the world the next. At the height of his smuggling career Michel was making millions, owned a private plan, yachts and villas around the world. But you can't smuggle and forge art all around the world with out making enemies, and he has a lot of them.

Today we tell the story of the Microsoft quality assurance agent who stole millions and millions of dollars in gift cards from his employer. Think about how many sweet Minecraft skins you could buy with that!  

Captain Andrew McKenna was a DOJ prosecutor in Washington D.C. A few years later he was blasting 60 bags of Heroin a day and robbing banks to fuel his $300 a day habit. Don't do drugs kids.  HEEEIIISST!

The Order is a religious sect that broke off from the Mormon church after they got rid of their polygamy policy. These dudes run Salt Lake City maintaining hundreds of profitable business. Their most profitable business (up until a few years ago) was running a bio fuel factory for the soul purpose of milking the government out of millions and millions of dollars. BLEED THE BEAST! HEIST!

We pick up where we left off on Part One. Mesrine is an international fugitive and escapes back to his homeland to get into some even crazy trouble, like I don't know, using a judge as a body shield! Jacques Mesrine (1936-1979) was a french criminal who never met a crime he didn't like. Robbery, burglary, bank jobs, kidnapping, prison breaks outs, prison break ins, you name it he was down. Mesrine traveled the world pulling off jobs, avoiding arrest and seeking out the ladies...which were mostly prostitutes. He was also super okay with murder, so "not cool Mesrine." 

Jacques Mesrine (1936-1979) was a french criminal who never met a crime he didn't like. Robbery, burglary, bank jobs, kidnapping, prison breaks outs, prison break ins, you name it he was down. Mesrine traveled the world pulling off jobs, avoiding arrest and seeking out the ladies...which were mostly prostitutes. He was also super okay with murder, so "not cool Mesrine." 

Today we are telling the strange and mysterious Story of Gerald Cotten. A pioneer in the bitcoin world who held the cold wallets of thousands of people. Until he died in India four days after he wrote a will. Where is that bitcoin fortune now and is Gerald actually dead? Lots of questions on this episode of HHHEEIIISSSTT!

In 1986 a mysterious man stole two Rubens sketches from the Fine Arts Museum in La Coruña, Spain then he disappeared. When one of the sketches showed up at an art appraisers office a year later, it kicked off a ten year mission to retrieve the second sketch and arrest the mysterious thief known only as Roman.

Are you ready for twists, turns, British royalty and learning what a "push-in" robbery is? Well check out our latest episode about Darius Guppy (like the fish, as in it's named after his family) an aristocrat connected at the highest level, this dude was BFFs with Boris Johnson and was Princess Dianna's brother's best man. Darius and his buddy, Benedict Marsh were victims of huge gem heist in the big apple....or were they? Wait...What? Find out on this wild episode of Heist. HHHEEEIIIST!

DuckTales is HUGE in Germany and so was an inventive extortionist that used Scrooge McDuck as his calling card. All Arno Funke ever wanted was to become a successful satirical cartoonist but after numerous failed attempts and his 40th birthday looming on the horizon, Funke decided what he needed was merely time to focus on his art, and money...a bunch of money. How was he going to get it, crime.

Forest Tucker spent most of his life behind bars but that didn't stop him from breaking out multiple times, his first jail break was at 15 years old and he was on a chain gang at 16. Not only did Tucker run with a crew of older gentleman named the "over the hill gang" he pulled off heists into his 70s. Oh and he also lived two secret lives as a family man. This dude was in the dog house and the big house non-stop. HEEEIISST!

During the 90s Blane David Nordhal was the biggest cat burglar in the united states, possibly the world. He robbed the mansion of the wealthiest people on the east, coast we're talking the Trumps, We're talking the Boss we're talking...American Sportscaster Curt Gowdy? The best part of the story, his crazy commitment to his MO and the fact he only stole one thing...Listen now to find out what.

Today we talk about famous heist mastermind slash prison escape artist Redoine Faid. From stealing packs of gum at 6 to running a gang of thieves at 18 to robbing armored vehicles and escaping prison via helicopter, Redoine was a heister right out of the movies. Which makes sense because he used many of the classics as blueprints for his crimes.

F-list actor Zack Horwitz (Stage name Zack Avery) was on his way to becoming a big time actor and at the same time he was the head of a massive investment group that was selling movie rights to Netflix, HBO and Sony. Well at least that's what his investors thought, turns out Zack didn't know any one from the major studios. Zack Attack was actually just running a textbook Ponzi scheme. Come for the scam, stay for all the hilarious stuff we dug up about this ridiculous character. You may have heard this story from other sources but none of them are telling it the way we are. HEEEEIIISSST!

Today we cover the crazy tale of Pal Enger a professional soccer player/career criminal that stole Edvard Munch's Scream from Norway's national museum on the night of their Olympic opening ceremony. The coolest part of this story, the criminal organization that hired Pal to steal it didn't give a crap what he did with it. It was all a distraction for bigger crimes.  HEEEIIISST!

Beirut 1976, in the middle of a civil war one of the biggest bank heists in history went down. $150 million in cash and gold was stolen, to never be seen again. To this day this highly skilled expert crew's identity has never been discovered, but after meeting a very secretive military source, one journalist believes he knows who pulled it off, and well it's crazy.

Tony Gignac spent decades pretending to be part of the Saudi royal family conning everyone from Saks on fifth, to the Beverly Hilton, to the uber wealthy people that live on a secret island in Florida. The one question we have is, did Tony actually think he WAS a Saudi Prince?  

Today we cover the Mission Impossible Gang. Gavril Popinciuc ran heist crews all over Europe, and he stuck to one moral code. Don't crap where you eat. His crews never pull off jobs in Romania. And it was working great, that is until Gavril got his hands on millions of dollars worth of rare books.

Today we tell the tale of Langdon Moore a man who pretty much failed at everything he did. Langdon is what we refer to in the industry as a "heat bag" always bringing way too much attention to himself, especially when acting as look out man. His story is a great lesson in what NOT to do. HEEIIISST.