The Lost English Fortune

For about ten years, a man living in London ran a fundraising operation through roughly twenty agents across the United States. Contributors were told he had found the sole living heir of a famous English sea captain and held an assignment of that heir's vast estate, said to be worth billions in gold, jewels and real estate. Donors were promised at least $1,000 back for every dollar they gave to help press the claim. Prosecutors said $700,000 to $800,000 in cash was collected and that the representations were false. He was tried in a federal court in the Midwest. The defence argued the court had no jurisdiction because he had been in England, and attacked the indictment, the evidence, the jurors' qualifications and the jury instructions.