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A man who got away with $242M using ‘black magic’

bbc.com

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Re: A man who got away with $242M using ‘black magic’

#61

Post by ollieshmollie »

rando444 wrote: post #54
firasd wrote: post #10

Reminds me of a great (now-deleted) tweet I saw a few years ago: "Everything is legal if you scale it up." Convert the cash to assets, then convert the assets to political clout---at that point the cash heist is in the rear-view mirror...

Somewhat related quote: "It is forbidden to kill; therefore all murderers are punished unless they kill in large numbers and to the sound of trumpets." - Voltaire

Reminds me of: "In its majestic equality, the law forbids rich and poor alike to sleep under bridges, beg in the streets and steal loaves of bread." - Anatole France

Re: A man who got away with $242M using ‘black magic’

#62

Post by samstave »

firasd wrote: post #26
ztoben wrote: post #24

Okay, someone help me follow this. I understand the whole give me money and I'll double it thing. But how did he end up with $242 million? That seems like and incredible amount for a single person to have the authority to give away.

Did some googling and based on this legal judgment it seems like his relationship with the woman at Citibank really helped in making withdrawals from the Dubai Islamic Bank https://www.courtlistener.com/opinion/2504755/dubai-islamic-... Also found this article from '98 where a coworker asks the same thing and gets the same answer Ayyoub gave other people: "I asked how he had transferred so much money without approval…

Given the current state of computers and surveillance, It would seem that we dont know anything about the simplicity required to pull off mass heists in the age prior to computers-in-their-current-form....

It would seem that it was REALLY easy to rob banks in the past.

I wonder what Dillenger's actual networth would have been...

Re: A man who got away with $242M using ‘black magic’

#63

Post by olivermarks »

ZeroGravitas wrote: post #14
pjc50 wrote: post #4

The "send me your money and I'll send double back" scam is a staple among kids playing MMOs since at least the days of Runescape. Doubtless it goes a lot further back.

How does this work exactly? I can see how it works in the short term e.g. you give me money, I give you double, you give me lots of money and I disappear with it. But it seems he had an ongoing relationship with the Daubi bank manager, how is that possible?

hypnotism?

Re: A man who got away with $242M using ‘black magic’

#64

Post by sireat »

rando444 wrote: post #54
firasd wrote: post #10

Reminds me of a great (now-deleted) tweet I saw a few years ago: "Everything is legal if you scale it up." Convert the cash to assets, then convert the assets to political clout---at that point the cash heist is in the rear-view mirror...

Somewhat related quote: "It is forbidden to kill; therefore all murderers are punished unless they kill in large numbers and to the sound of trumpets." - Voltaire

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monopoly_on_violence as long as you are a state you are fine.

Plenty of current examples from all types of states.

Re: A man who got away with $242M using ‘black magic’

#65

Post by JackFr »

ZeroGravitas wrote: post #14
pjc50 wrote: post #4

The "send me your money and I'll send double back" scam is a staple among kids playing MMOs since at least the days of Runescape. Doubtless it goes a lot further back.

How does this work exactly? I can see how it works in the short term e.g. you give me money, I give you double, you give me lots of money and I disappear with it. But it seems he had an ongoing relationship with the Daubi bank manager, how is that possible?

Because they're all lying. At least one guy in Dubai (but most likely more) were stealing and at least one guy from Mali was laundering.

When someone got caught, that was the best lie they could come up with.

Re: A man who got away with $242M using ‘black magic’

#66

Post by JackFr »

jan_g wrote: post #19
ZeroGravitas wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How does this work exactly? I can see how it works in the short term e.g. you give me money, I give you double, you give me lots of money and I disappear with it. But it seems he had an ongoing relationship with the Daubi bank manager, how is that possible?

... Mohammed Ayoub had claimed at his trial that Sissoko had put him under a spell ... Mr. Ayoub is the person working at Dubai bank. So, I'd guess some form of social engineering, where Sissoko had been convincing enough to repeatedly make Mr. Ayoub wire money to different accounts around the world.

Or he's lying.

Or maybe there were a bunch of them stealing and Sissoko was laundering for them and Ayoub was the designated fall guy, and this was the best lie the group could come up with.

Re: A man who got away with $242M using ‘black magic’

#67

Post by JackFr »

saalweachter wrote: post #38
giarc wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think it comes back to the part in the beginning where the article says that blackmagic is forbidden but there is a strong belief in it.

At some point you also have good old fashioned black mail . Once the mark has been tricked into giving away a small sum, you can now hold it over their head as blackmail to give you a larger sum - they are as fired/going-to-jail after giving away $X as for $10X, so with the stick of telling their bosses what they've done and the carrot of "maybe I can get you out of this if you give me a little more", the con artist…

Or he was stealing in conspiracy with Sissoko and is lying about it now.

Re: A man who got away with $242M using ‘black magic’

#69

Post by 77pt77 »

microcolonel wrote: post #36
firasd wrote: post #10

Reminds me of a great (now-deleted) tweet I saw a few years ago: "Everything is legal if you scale it up." Convert the cash to assets, then convert the assets to political clout---at that point the cash heist is in the rear-view mirror...

Well, that's just how social/cultural norms work (the greater the proportion of the population participating, typically the greater acceptance), but in this case it is literally illegal and believed still by the vast majority of people to be unjust.

> typically the greater acceptance

It also allows for selective prosecution. You prosecute some individuals for something everyone does as a punishment for totally unrelated matters.

It's very effective.

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