FRANK ABAGNALE CATCH ME IF YOU CAN

FIRST CRIMES When he was 15 he stole his fathers gasoline card and used it to buy tires and attempted to sell them back to the gas stations His father was charged $3,400 for the items that Frank had stolen He started out by making false checks and depositing them in multiple banks He also stole others checks and faked payroll checks

FRAUD AND IMPERSONATIONS He pretended to be an airline pilot for Pan-American airlines. During this impersonation he flew over 1,000,000 miles and got free hotel and food wherever he went. He also flew the plane on multiple occasions even though he had no experience flying planes. He forged a fake diploma from Harvard Law School and passed the bar exam in Louisiana and practiced law for 8 months at a law firm. He got a job at a hospital using fake medical licenses as a supervisor at an emergency room. Having no medical experience he used his interns to do all of the work. Some of his other impersonations included a federal prison investigator and teaching assistant at a major university.

CAPTURE AND IMPRISONMENT Captured in France and tried in France, Switzerland, Italy, and finally the U.S. Served time in France for Fraud (6 months) Sentenced to 12 years in a federal prison in the U.S. for Fraud Served 5 years and then worked for the F.B.I. Fraud - is a deception deliberately practiced in order to secure unfair or unlawful gain

POPULAR MEDIA Movie “Catch Me If You Can” Musical by the same name No Nickname “What I did in my youth is hundreds of times easier today. Technology breeds crime.” – Frank Abagnale

THEORY The theory that I believe affects Frank Abagnale is the conflict theory. I believe this because he committed his crimes in the pursuit of wealth and power. He felt pressures from culture and his peers to make something of himself and to be successful. He was able to use his knowledge and the weakness’s in society to make financial gains and have success as a criminal. Frank Abagnale was raised in poverty and he did not have many chances for success in his early life. Because of this he had to fend for himself and make a way to gain success. His parents divorce and played a large role in defining him as a criminal because he felt the pressure from two separated parents to do well and not end up like them. He ran away after their divorce so he had to find a way to fend for himself. He did not have any skills or education so he had to turn to a life of crime and deceit to survive.