After he had broken the bank at Monte Carlo in late July to early August 1891, Charles Deville Wells had kept a low profile. He had, however, placed anonymous classified…
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In recent posts I’ve shown how – on rare occasions – Charles Deville Wells took other people into his confidence as partners in crime, only to be let down by…
In 1905 two men were imprisoned for selling shares in a bogus company – the improbably-named South and South-West Coast Steam Trawling and Fishing Syndicate. They had promised would-be investors…
In the mid-1880s, Charles Deville Wells began to dream up a series of inventions including an improved ship’s anchor; a new type of parasol; and even a ‘Combination Fire Extinguishing…
In this short series of blog posts I investigate some associates of Charles Wells who participated in his crimes, or at least knew of them. It’s quite a short list…
After committing bank fraud on a huge scale in Paris, in 1910-11, Charles Deville Wells (the man who broke the bank) escaped to England and lived on a yacht in…
The Man who Broke the Bank at Monte Carlo – Charles Deville Wells, gambler and fraudster extraordinaire is quite a long title! I was wondering whether it qualified for a…
While researching Charles Wells, The Man who Broke the Bank at Monte Carlo, I had difficulty finding any early pictures of him. This came as no surprise. In the 19th…
In early 1912, Charles Deville Wells – best known as “The Man who Broke the Bank at Monte Carlo” – was arrested on board his yacht at Falmouth. A photograph…
The Man who Broke the Bank at Monte Carlo, the biography of gambler and fraudster Charles Deville Wells, has been out for just over a month now, and Amazon reviews…