Omaha daily bee., 1912-04-06
Humble Innkeeper's Son Makes His
Mark in Shady Lanes.
BIGGEST SwINDLER IN EUROPE
Posed As Prince, Marquis and Mon
signor of the Church and Then
Seooped in Millions by
Forgery.


a sort Of professional pride in his achieve
ments. When he realized that denial
was henceforth futile he shrugged his
shoulders and said:
Il congratulate the Roman police.
have Travelled all over the world and got
away with many hundreds Of thousands
of lire. have always succeeded In
evading the police. and in two days
should have left Rome. Ny ability is SO
great that once when was arrested In
France under the name Of the Prince di
Belmonte a lawyer wanted to defend me
for nothing, and the pubic prosecutor
said to me: You are the most intelligent
man have ever known
However, that which / stole ] stole
from the rich. I never trimmed anyone
for less than 10000 lire (s2o,oeO. What
a pity that the law must punish me!
have helped an infinite number OF poor
priests. Today had an appointment
with another preiate; instead. i am in
jail. What pity
This unique scoundrel Is sort Of COM
bination Of Tartuffe and Barry Lyndon.
lie posed as a priest and wore priestly
garb. but he was not content with that,
for he wore purple at his throat and
purple girdle, which indicated that he
was q monsignor Of the church. and his
Visiting cards always had ''Monsignor"
prefixed to the name. This latter va
Tied. 1t was changed frequently, but
always 1t sounded noble and was gen.
orally the pstronymic of some family
famous in the councils Of the church.
A Crook I'm His Teens.
The bearer of these noble names and
ecclesiastical titles had no right to any
OF them He was never priest He, nad
no right to wear even cassock, much
less the purple OF prelate.. He is just
plain Giovanni Battista Gindri. son of a
respectable Turin hotel keeper. He OBJ
tained his familiarity with church affairs
while receiving his education in an eccie-
siastcal seminary. His father probably
hoped that he would become priest. But
the youth found his vocation along very
different lines.
Just when he began his career OF swim
ding is uncertain, but 1t must have been
when in his teens. He Is now q years
old. Eight years ago. in 1904. he was ar.
rested and sentenced to six months in
prison for swindling Father Bleageville.
a French missionary.
But recently he has been having COM
paratively easy sailing. although he has
had to be careful, as warrants for his ar
rest had been issued in Turin. Milan,
Novara, Saluzzo and other cities. and
the police Of all Italy. France. Germany
and Austria were looking for him.
Only by his supreme nerve did he elude
them. His name changed like the coiors
of q chameleon. Here he was Mgr.
the Able Jean de seyigne, there the Rt.
Rev. Marquis de Saint Mars. elsewhere
the RI. Rev. Prince Granite di Bel
monte in some places he was Mgr. Jean
Boni de Caller des Marquis de villar-
moir: again he posed as the Rev. Mgr.
Edoardo Lanzetti. In one OF his SWIM
ding games he was private secretary
TO the archbishop OF Paris"
LishtninE Changes.
At his boarding house in Rome he was
simply Edoardo dl santo stefano. theo-
logical student. #R e..
II was only by such lightning changes
of name and residence that he succeeded
In keeping the fraudulent game going
with impunity for SO many years.
II would be impossible and useless to
make list Of those he has swindled. It
IS believed he has got away with several
millions Of francs In all. The greater
number Of his victims have made no
formal complaint against him, prefer
ring to pocket their losses rather than to
suffer the chatting of their friends be-
cause OF their gillibility. But 1t is known
that among the sufferers are cardinals;
archbishops, abbots of monasteries
mother superiors and ADDRESSES OF con-
vents and noblemen and women who are
charitably disposed.
How did he do IL? In many ways. He
forged letters Of introduction from one
bishop to another. He ingrstisted HIM
self here and there by conspicuous acts
Of charity and piety and so got genuine
letters Of Introduction from prelates and
mobiles.
Among those upon whom he imposed
was the dowager duchess Of Genoa,
mother OF Queen Margherita Of Italy, In
whose private chapel at Novara he said
mass. and from whom he received q
present. FL
When caught in Rome he was about to
go to St. Peters to say mass, the author
nation SO to do being signed by Cardinal
Respishi, which signature is declared to
be a forgery. At the Pontifical academy
called del Nobili Ecclesiastical" in the
Piazza della Minerva, letters addressed
TO him had been piling up for several
days. They were all directed to THE
Rev. Granite di Beimonte," a name he
was using in certain quarters where he
had passed as a nephew of Cardinal
Granite di Belmonte. Many of these
letters were in feminine hands and daint-
lily perfumed. They were a puzzle to
Monsigner Francesca sogaro. archbishop
Of Armida. the president of the college.
until he heard Of GIndri's arrest and
read the list Of names the fellow had
used. Then he sent all the letters to the
police. They are said to throw a bril-
liant light on Gindrfs methods.
Trunks Full of Loot.
The police were astonished when they
searched the trunks In Gindri's room in
the Pension la Bella. in the Via del
Babuino. His trunks and valises were of
the finest leather. with gold-pIated
mountings. They were full Of sacredotal
garments Of the finest broadcloth lined
with silk and satin; laymen's suits made
BY the most fashionable tailors in Eu-
rope; collars and cuffs were in a box Of
81 i've