Audacious

Teutonic Gigolo

The heiress, the swindler, and the room at the Holiday Inn.

Today’s Times of London tells the amazing story of how the richest woman in Germany got swindled by a con man. Susanne Klatten, whose fortune is estimated at 9 billion euros, met Helg Sgarbi at an Austrian resort last summer. Sgarbi was smart and handsome, and hinted that he was a crisis negotiator for the Swiss government. In fact, he was an alleged former gigolo whom The Times says had pulled the same act on other wealthy women. Sgarbi and Klatten began an affair—at a Munich Holiday Inn, no less—and then Sgarbi began to ask for money. Klatten initially agreed, arriving at their rendezvous points with millions in small bills. Then she realized the con, and turned Sgarbi over to the authorities. His trial begins next year.