Elda Benguinua told people she was a Spanish heiress who was related to the European Royal Houses of Hapsburg and Bourbon and was the richest woman in the world. Now she is just another prisoner having been convicted of fraud.
She would befriend comfortably off but lonely and vulnerable people , impress them with tales of her fabulous wealth and then tap them for loans, saying her funds were temporarily inaccessible.
Bit like the African politician who was displaced by a coup and now desperately need your help to release some cash from a Swiss Bank account really, and like the politician Elda assured her marks they would be repaid many times over for their help.
Some people never smell a rat do they.
One of Benguinua’s favourite stories was that she had two million tons of gold stashed in a cave. Now two million tons of gold is worth an amount of money that makes Bill Gates and Warren Buffet look like a couple of schnorrers. Even Mr. T does not have that much bling.
