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The Fake Nobleman Who Scammed Millions in the Wild West

Khalid Elhassan November 19, 2024 12 min

Conman - James Reavis behind bars — James Reavis behind bars. Pinterest

3. A Fake Spanish Baron in Spain

Conman - A certificate of stock in a company created by James Reavis to further his fraud — A certificate of stock in a company created by James Reavis to further his fraud. Wikiwand

Many in Spain saw through Reavis and his scam, and figured him and his wife for frauds. However, they got a huge kick out of the brazenness of it all, and how he was tweaking the yanquis’ noses. So the Spaniards went ahead and feted the “Baron and Baroness of Arizona”. Things were going great for Reavis, but all good things come to an end. Even as he lived the high life and enjoyed being the nineteenth century version of a rich jet setter, the wheels of justice were grinding – slowly but steadily – to expose his fraud and bring it all crashing down.

Written by

Khalid Elhassan

A lifelong history buff, I developed a particular passion for WW2 history as a child, when I spent hours listening to my grandfather, enraptured, as he recounted his wartime experiences in the British East African Campaign and with the British 8th Army in North Africa.

I graduated with a history BA from George Mason University, then went on to get a JD from the University of Virginia School of Law. After lawyering for a decade, I moved to sunny Rio de Janeiro and a less demanding career, opening a tourism agency in Copacabana.

A big chunk of my free time is spent blogging (you can follow me on Quora https://www.quora.com/profile/Khalid-Elhassan ) or freelance writing, mostly about my favorite subject, history.