Wicked Victorian Boston
Chauncy Larkin
Confidence man.
Chauncey Larkin was a confidence man who specialized in fraudulent military procurement. In Boston he was known as Lieutenant Hunter and dressed in an army uniform as he put together large deals for real estate, ships, merchandise, coal and produce. The sellers were so dazzled by the size of the deal that they had no objection to paying the buyer a small kickback in advance. Of course, Larkin never took delivery of the goods and could never be found to collect payment.
