The Sugarman Gang was a burglary ring which operated between Leeds and London, England, during the early 1900s until its breakup by Scotland Yard in 1910.
Stolen goods and property would be passed from jewelry auctioneer William Mallinson to Samuel Sugarman, the proprietor of a remnant business. A known fence in the local underworld, Sugarman was known to sell stolen goods including jewelry, watches, drapes, clothing and clocks.
A Detective Ernest Nicholls of Scotland Yard, who had been investigating the organization, recognized Sugarman as having previously attempted to report a false burglary. Bringing Sugarman into custody, he was tried at the Old Bailey on charges of conspiracy, fraud and receiving stolen goods and sentenced to 18 months imprisonment. Although his accomplices Mallinson and Harold Jenkins immediately fled the country, Harry Jacobson, was arrested. After being freed on bail, Jacobsen had reportedly swindled his mother out of $600 which he claimed would use to compensate the burglary victims before attempting to flee the country himself.
Further reading
Nicholls, Ernest. Crime Within the Square Mile. London: John Long, 1935.
Jonathan Wild, also spelled Wilde, was a London underworld figure notable for operating on both sides of the law, posing as a public-spirited vigilante entitled the "Thief-Taker General". He simultaneously ran a significant criminal empire, and used his crimefighting role to remove rivals and launder the proceeds of his own crimes.
The Saint in London is a 1939 British crime film, the third of eight films in RKO's film series featuring the adventures of Simon Templar, alias "The Saint".
A fence, also known as a receiver, mover, or moving man, is an individual who knowingly buys stolen goods in order to later resell them for profit. The fence acts as a middleman between thieves and the eventual buyers of stolen goods who may not be aware that the goods are stolen.
Possession of stolen goods is a crime in which an individual has bought, been given, or acquired stolen goods.
Property crime is a category of crime, usually involving private property, that includes, among other crimes, burglary, larceny, theft, motor vehicle theft, arson, shoplifting, and vandalism. Property crime is a crime to obtain money, property, or some other benefit. This may involve force, or the threat of force, in cases like robbery or extortion. Since these crimes are committed in order to enrich the perpetrator they are considered property crimes. Crimes against property are divided into two groups: destroyed property and stolen property. When property is destroyed, it could be called arson or vandalism. Examples of the act of stealing property is robbery or embezzlement.
John D. "Traveling Mike" Grady was a New York criminal and, as leader of the Grady Gang, financed and organized many of the major burglaries of the 19th century. One of the most prominent fences in the underworld, he was a rival of Fredericka Mandelbaum.
Herbert "Fat Herbie" Blitzstein was a loanshark, bookmaker, racketeer and lieutenant to Tony "The Ant" Spilotro and the Chicago Outfit in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Detective Chief Inspector Walter Dew was a British Metropolitan Police officer who was involved in the hunt for both Jack the Ripper and Dr Crippen.
The Baker Street robbery was the burglary of safety deposit boxes at the Baker Street branch of Lloyds Bank in London, on the night of 11 September 1971. A gang tunnelled 40 feet (12 m) from a rented shop two doors away to come up through the floor of the vault. The value of the property stolen is unknown, but is likely to have been between £1.25 and £3 million; only £231,000 was recovered by the police.
The Johnson Gang is the collective name for a group of Romanichal criminals from Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, who specialised in stealing fine art and antiques from English country houses over a period of 20 years. The goods they stole are estimated to be worth between £30 million and £80 million. The gang were sentenced to a total of 49 years in prison in August 2008.
The Amateur Cracksman is an 1899 short story collection by E. W. Hornung. It was published in the UK by Methuen & Co., London, and in the US by Scribner's, New York. Many later editions expand the title to Raffles: The Amateur Cracksman. Some editions such as Penguin Books, 1948, retitle the collection simply, Raffles.
A Thief in the Night is a 1905 collection of short stories by E. W. Hornung. It was published in the UK by Chatto & Windus, London, and in the US by Scribner's, New York.
The green goods scam, also known as the "green goods game", was a fraud scheme popular in the 19th-century United States in which people were duped into paying for worthless counterfeit money. It is a variation on the pig-in-a-poke scam using money instead of other goods like a pig.
Alexander Day was a British sharper known for cons committed in London in September 1722. Originally from St Andrew Holborn, Day went under the name Marmaduke Davenport, Esq. and hired a carriage and footman to create the impression to shopkeepers in London that he was a respected member of the gentry. Once the shop proprietors had supplied their goods, Day would flee without paying.
The Bling Ring were a group of convicted thieves consisting of seven teenagers and young adults based in and around Calabasas, California. They broke into the homes of several celebrities over a period believed to have been between October 2008 through August 2009. Their activities resulted in the theft of about $3 million in cash and belongings. Much of the stolen property belonged to Paris Hilton, whose house was broken into several times, though over fifty homes were reportedly targeted.
William O'Brien, better known as Billy Porter but also known by the alias William or Billy Morton, was an American burglar and underworld figure in New York City during the mid-to late 19th century. He and partner Johnny Irving were longtime members of the Dutch Mob along with Little Freddie and Michael "Sheeny Mike" Kurtz. He was present during the 1883 gunfight at Shang Draper's saloon in which Irving was shot and killed by rival John "Johnny the Mick" Walsh. O'Brien then killed Walsh and was himself gunned down by Shang Draper. Although surviving his wounds, he was tried for, and acquitted of, Walsh's death.
"To Catch a Thief" is a short story by E. W. Hornung, and features the gentleman thief A. J. Raffles, and his companion and biographer, Bunny Manders. The story was first published in Scribner's Magazine in May 1901. The story was also included as the fifth story in the collection The Black Mask, published by Grant Richards in London, and Charles Scribner's Sons in New York, both in 1901.
Harry Edward Vickers was a notorious and elusive cat-burglar who was active in the 1920s and 1930s. He wore flannel over his shoes to muffle his footsteps, which earned him the nickname Flannelfoot.
Ignacio Pena Del Rio was a notorious cat burglar, scam artist, forger, identity thief, disguise expert and martial artist who was nicknamed the James Bond of the cat burglars due to the tools and techniques that he used in some of his crimes. He was responsible for over 1000 burglaries in California, making him one of the U.S.'s most notorious and prolific cat burglars. He stole more than 18 million dollars in jewelry and art and he surprised the public and achieved notoriety after he agreed to teach some of his techniques to Law enforcement agencies in a 70 minute training video and after he drew a map from his prison cell that led authorities to a buried treasure in the San Fernando Valley in California which contained millions of dollars in jewelry.
Zoe Progl was a British criminal. Born into a poor family and with a father who was often drunk and in trouble with the police, Progl began stealing to feed herself from the age of six. She later progressed to shoplifting and worked in nightclubs where she fraternised with criminals. Progl married an American soldier at the age of 18 but soon left him and began carrying out burglaries with a new partner. Whilst three months pregnant she was sentenced to three years detention at Aylesbury Borstal. After her release she had an affair with Tommy "Scarface" Smithson, a London gangster whose gang included the Kray twins. She had a second child with Smithson before he left her.
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