Frank Abagnale - Catch Me If You Can

Catch Me if You Can

Frank Abagnale

Frank Abagnale , alias Frank Williams, alias Robert Conrad, Frank Adams, and Robert Monjo, was one of the most hunted con men, fraudulent check writers, master forgers in historyand the worlds greatest impostor. Ersatz airline pilot, assistant state attorney, pediatrician, college professor, FBI agent, Abagnale was known by the police of twenty-six foreign countries and all fifty states as The Skywayman.

At sixteen, Abagnale dropped out of high school and left home to become an airline pilothis lifes dream. By converting an ordinary ID into an airline ID, donning a uniform purchased by ruse from a New York manufacturer, and counterfeiting a pilots license, Abagnale found his way into Pan Am. With study and discreet inquiries, Abagnale picked up airline jargon and discovered that pilots could ride free anywhere in the world on any airline; and that hotels billed airlines direct and cashed checks issued by airline companies. During the five years Abagnale was to fly for Pan Am, he bilked the company for a small fortune in cash, traveled several hundred thousand miles at its expense, and nearly drove the public affairs people berserk.

Hiding out in a southern city, Abagnale learned that the state attorney general was seeking assistants. With a forged Harvard Law transcript and four months of study, Abagnale passed the bar on the third try and succeeded in being hiredat a salary of $12,800. For nine months he practiced law, but when a real Harvard lawyer appeared on the scene, Abagnale figured it was time to move on.

Abagnale fell into and out of other professions, until, unexpectedly, his identity was exposed and he was thrown into one of the most notorious prisons in France. Abagnale spent the next four years in various jails and, after a series of escapes, resigned himself to the fact that he had been caught for good.

I was always aware of who I was in reality. My postures were always for purposes of monetary gain. But it would be wrong to say it was only for money. Money was just a part of it. I did have fun fooling people. It was exciting and at times glamorous, and I became so good at what I was doing that it just became natural for me to assume an identity other than my own. But it wasnt all acting and I was always aware that if and when I was caught, I wasnt going to win any Oscars. I was going to prison.

Catch Me If You Can

Frank W. Abagnale, Jr.

with Stan Redding

GROSSET & DUNLAP

A FILMWAYS COMPANY

Publishers New York

This book is based on the true-life exploits of Frank Abagnale. To protect the rights of those whose paths have crossed the authors, all of the characters and some of the events have been altered, and all names, dates, and places have been changed.

Copyright 1980 by Frank W. Abagnale, Jr.

All rights reserved

Published simultaneously in Canada

Library of Congress catalog card number: 79-91619

ISBN 0-448-16538-4

Fifth printing 1980

Printed in the United States of America

To my dad

CONTENTS

Catch Me If You Can

CHAPTER ONE

The Fledgling

A mans alter ego is nothing more than his favorite image of himself. The mirror in my room in the Windsor Hotel in Paris reflected my favorite image of mea darkly handsome young airline pilot, smooth-skinned, bull-shouldered and immaculately groomed. Modesty is not one of my virtues. At the time, virtue was not one of my virtues.

Satisfied with my appearance, I picked up my bag, left the room and two minutes later was standing in front of the cashiers cage.

Good morning, Captain, said the cashier in warm tones. The markings on my uniform identified me as a first officer, a co-pilot, but the French are like that. They tend to overestimate everything save their women, wine and art.

I signed the hotel bill she slid across the counter, started to turn away, then wheeled back, taking a payroll check from the inside pocket of my jacket. Oh, can you cash this for me? Your Paris night life nearly wiped me out and itll be another week before Im home. I smiled ruefully.

She picked up the Pan American World Airways check and looked at the amount. Im sure we can, Captain, but I must get the manager to approve a check this large, she said. She stepped into an office behind her and was back in a moment, displaying a pleased smile. She handed me the check to endorse.

I assume you want American dollars? she asked, and without waiting for my reply counted out $786.73 in Yankee currency and coin. I pushed back two $50 bills. I would appreciate it if you would take care of the necessary people, since I was so careless, I said, smiling.

She beamed. Of course, Captain. You are very kind, she said. Have a safe flight and please come back to see us.

I took a cab to Orly, instructing the driver to let me off at the TWA entrance. I by-passed the TWA ticket counter in the lobby and presented my FAA license and Pan Am ID card to the TWA operations officer. He checked his manifest. Okay, First Officer Frank Williams, deadheading to Rome. Gotcha. Fill this out, please. He handed me the familiar pink form for nonrevenue passengers and I penned in the pertinent data. I picked up my bag and walked to the customs gate marked CREW MEMBERS ONLY. I started to heft my bag to the counter top but the inspector, a wizened old man with a wispy mustache, recognized me and waved me through.

A young boy fell in beside me as I walked to the plane, gazing with unabashed admiration at my uniform with its burnished gold stripes and other adornments.

You the pilot? he asked. He was English from his accent.

Nah, just a passenger like you, I replied. I fly for Pan Am.

You fly 707s?

I shook my head. Used to, I said. Right now Im on DC-8s. I like kids. This one reminded me of myself a few years past.

An attractive blond stewardess met me as I stepped aboard and helped me to stow my gear in the crews luggage bin. Weve got a full load this trip Mr. Williams, she said. You beat out two other guys for the jump seat. Ill be serving the cabin.

Just milk for me, I said. And dont worry about that if you get busy. Hitchhikers arent entitled to anything more than the ride.

I ducked into the cabin. The pilot, co-pilot and flight engineer were making their pre-takeoff equipment and instrument check but they paused courteously at my entrance. Hi, Frank Williams, Pan Am, and dont let me interrupt you, I said.

Gary Giles, said the pilot, sticking out his hand. He nodded toward the other two men. Bill Austin, number two, and Jim Wright. Good to have you with us. I shook hands with the other two airmen and dropped into the jump seat, leaving them to their work.

We were airborne within twenty minutes. Giles took the 707 up to 30,000 feet, checked his instruments, cleared with the Orly tower and then uncoiled himself from his seat. He appraised me with casual thoroughness and then indicated his chair. Why dont you fly this bird for a while, Frank, he said. Ill go back and mingle with the paying passengers.

His offer was a courtesy gesture sometimes accorded a deadheading pilot from a competing airline. I dropped my cap on the cabin floor and slid into the command seat, very much aware that I had been handed custody of 140 lives, my own included. Austin, who had taken the controls when Giles vacated his seat, surrendered them to me. You got it, Captain, he said, grinning.

I promptly put the giant jet on automatic pilot and hoped to hell the gadget worked, because I couldnt fly a kite.

I wasnt a Pan Am pilot or any other kind of pilot. I was an impostor, one of the most wanted criminals on four continents, and at the moment I was doing my thing, putting a super hype on some nice people.

I was a millionaire twice over and half again before I was twenty-one. I stole every nickel of it and blew the bulk of the bundle on fine threads, gourmet foods, luxurious lodgings, fantastic foxes, fine wheels and other sensual goodies. I partied in every capital in Europe, basked on all the famous beaches and good-timed it in South America, the South Seas, the Orient and the more palatable portions of Africa.