September 1822: A ship set sail from Scotland bound for Central America. British citizens, mostly middle-aged commoners, had loaded their life belongings aboard the vessel, and they looked forward to a new beginning across the Atlantic in a country filled with promise.
They were going to Poyais.
A Scotsman named Gregor MacGregor had returned to London after having fought for Simon Bolivar against the Spanish for Venezuelan independence. He enjoined other military campaigns in the region - including in a little known kingdom called Poyais.
MacGregor claimed that, due to his victories in battle, the king of the country had named him a prince. His new title: the Cazique of Poyais.
MacGregor described Poyais as if it were El Dorado: fertile land, abundant fruits, and even gold in its mountains.
But no one needed to take his word for it. A man named Strangeways, a high-ranking officer who answered to the Poyais king, had authored a book about the land.
Also, balladeers roamed London streets singing about the magical kingdom of Poyais.
Disenfranchised Brits eagerly booked passage to the Central American country.
Before their departures, however, they needed to convert their local currency into bank notes that could be used in Poyais. Gregor MacGregor accommodated that, of course.
In his position as the Cazique, MacGregor endowed some men with governmental titles so that they would be treated with respect upon their arrivals.
He then secured loans from several British banks to pay for the expeditions to the faraway land. The bankers saw no need to perform their due diligence given his war reputation and offered McGregor massive sums.
The first ship departed for Poyais with roughly 50 passengers. A second voyage with roughly 150 aboard left port shortly thereafter. The sea passages took months.
Meanwhile, the Cazique signed up more voyagers to join the new kingdom.
When the two ships arrived and the crew helped them disembark, the stunned passengers found no gleaming city and no welcoming committee, just a vacant shoreline and jungle beyond.
A fierce storm then whisked the vessels out to sea. The newcomers were abandoned and left to fend for themselves… on the Caribbean shore of Central America.
There was no country named Poyais. There was no king or kingdom. There was no author named Strangeways; that book was written by MacGregor. Although he had indeed been a war hero, he was not a Cazique or prince. And there definitely was no Bank of Poyais.
It was all an elaborate con job.
Word spread to Honduras about the stranded passengers, and the survivors were rescued to Belize.
Five more ships eventually set sail from Scotland for the fake country. Honduran officials tried to intercept them before reaching land.
Meanwhile, Gregor MacGregor and his co-conspirators took the money and slipped away to France where they successfully set up the same confidence game.
By 1825, French vessels set sail for the imaginary kingdom of Poyais with more duped passengers.
Two years later, MacGregor returned to London. He was arrested… but then inexplicably set free.
Back to Paris he went. And he was arrested there, too. The French put him in prison for a short time but then also set him free.
Gregor MacGregor lived many years in France with all of his loot and no consequences.
When his money ran out in 1839, he contacted the Venezuelan government, reminded them of his war conquests, and asked to relocate.
They accepted and even gave him a pension.
Gregor MacGregor got away with his audacious crimes and lived out his remaining years in Venezuela.
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