Andrew Carnegie’s Fake Heiress Who Scammed Banks to Bankruptcy

The mastermind behind the greatest scams of the nineteenth-century

(Right)Portrait of Cassie L. Chadwick, 1904. — (left)Andrew Carnegie — images courtesy of Wikimedia

This is the story of Cassie L. Chadwick who managed to get away with borrowing millions from various banks. Keep in mind that her scam games went on from the late 1800s to the early 1900s. She was born on October 10, 1857, in Ontario, Canada, and her birth name was Elizabeth Bigley.

Chadwick’s first scam

Chadwick started embarking on her scamming journey from a young age. When she was fourteen, she moved from her family home to Woodstock, Ontario. During her stay there, she opened a bank account. Above that, Chadwick forged an inheritance letter which she claimed was from her uncle in England.

Chadwick was able to receive checks from a local bank by using the forged inheritance letter. However, she was arrested within weeks. Chadwick was released because of her age. Another reason that contributed to her release was the belief that she was insane.

Chadwick got to know of her sister’s marriage, Alice, after she returned home in 1875. She then proceeded to move in with her sister, who lived in the United States.

Later on, she was able to move to her own place in Cleveland, owned by a woman…