SPY VS. SPY
How
We Conned the Ultimate Con
11/03/06
The situation was desperate.
A child psychologist from Iowa had vanished
without a trace in Europe after being kidnapped
by her violent, controlling British boyfriend.
Our last, best hope of getting her back
alive, we realized, was to fool him as cleverly
and convincingly as he’d fooled this
American woman and a trail of victims over
a decade. But it wouldn’t be easy.
It had to be just the right plan, carried
out just the right way…
Robert Freegard was a master manipulator. Maybe
it was his natural guile and charm. Or maybe
it was the skills he’d honed selling
used cars or tending bar in an English pub.
Time after time, he completely fooled people
into believing he was an undercover spy or
British secret agent. Then, he’d spin
tall tale after tall tale of intrigue to
lure them deeper into his web—all so
he could ultimately control them and talk
them and their families into giving him big
money.
Once, Freegard held a group of college
students under his spell for months, convincing
them that they were being hunted by the IRA.
He kept them in miserable conditions, controlling
their every move, while he persuaded their
wealthy families to pay him more than a million
dollars over several years for “witness
protection.”
British authorities eventually
got wind of Freegard and his schemes. But
this con man was one slippery character.
He had no permanent address, no mail drop,
no credit cards, no landline telephone—almost
nothing authorities could use to track
him.
British investigators later learned that
he’d begun dating an American child
psychologist in 2001. Freegard convinced
his new amour to join him as a spy, spinning
a seductive tale that they would live together
in a lighthouse off the coast of Scotland
and monitor Russian submarines. After she
paid handsomely for training, of course.
In time, the relationship turned
serious—deadly serious. Freegard
threatened to kill the psychologist if
she tried to leave him. Soon, she was under
his complete control. He had the parents
under his sway, too. Freegard fooled them
into giving him thousands of dollars for
the so-called training and other ruses.
Then, the pair suddenly vanished. British
authorities reached out to our assistant
Legal Attaché in London—Special
Agent Jaclyn Zappacosta—for help in
luring Freegard out of hiding. FBI agents
in our offices in Phoenix, Arizona, and Sioux
City, Iowa—the two offices closest
the victim’s divorced parents—got
involved, too.
The agents came up with a plan
to free the woman from Freegard’s
clutches: they’d wait for
the missing woman to call her parents and
have them ready with bogus stories that
would trick Freegard into revealing his
location. Conning this clever con man was
dangerous—we knew that we couldn’t
make a single mistake that would tip our
hand or he’d never make contact again
and even possibly kill the psychologist.
We carefully coached the parents, going
over and over the plans. Eventually, Freegard
and the woman made contact with the father.
He offered to let Freegard in on a deal to
sell specialized sports equipment in Europe.
Freegard was interested but wouldn’t
give the father an address to send samples.
Now, it was the mother’s turn—and
perhaps our last chance. When her daughter
and Freegard called again asking for more
money, she agreed—but only if she could
deliver it in person in London. Freegard
took the bait. A meeting was arranged at
Heathrow Airport in May 2003. British and
FBI agents swooped in; the dazed American
woman was saved and Freegard captured at
last. The conman was convicted of fraud and
kidnapping; it’s estimated that he
bilked several families out of $2 million
over 10 years.
In the end—as is so often the
case these days—it was partnerships that
made the difference. It’s a
good example of why we’ve set up offices
in 57 embassies overseas, so the law enforcement
relationships are in place when our countries
need them most.
Resources:
More international cases