Simon Gann and Jordan Gann; Chronicles of longtime identical twin con men | Part Eight

By Chellie Cervone - Posted: Nov 13, 2012 at 6:21 am

Simon Gann and Jordan Gann

Chronicles of longtime identical twin con men Simon Gann and Jordan Gann Part Eight

Con man Simon Gann (photo: Menlo Park Police SF)

Lifelong con men and identical twin brothers, Simon Gann and Jordan Gann, The Gann Twins, are smooth-talking accomplished con men who appear to utilize any opportunity they come by to commit another scam. It never seems enough.

Perhaps it is the thrill of the chase or perhaps they simply enjoy their way of life. Never holding a “straight” job, getting plenty of free sex, gifts and ultimately cash for what seems to be very willing victims who have been bedazzled by the Gann Twins.

While many people are suffering the effects of the economy, the Gann Twins, Simon and Jordan Gann, seem to have no problems whatsoever finding people, mainly women, to victimize.

Jobs from Indeed

jobs by

It is not known really all of the places where the Gann Twins have left their mark; suffice it to say that they have traveled through the United States and internationally. One of the Gann twins has been known to be in Canada, where he was arrested, and there were rumors of visits to Mexico. We do know that Simon Gann scammed a woman in Honduras.

Simon Gann goes international conning women

In 2008, Michelle, who prefers not to have her last name published, lived in London and was visiting Tegucigalpa, Honduras, when she had the unfortunate experience of meeting Simon Gann. He approached her in her hotel and introduced himself under another alias, Samir Benzema.

Michelle says she wasn’t initially interested in the man she knew as Benzema but when he accurately pinpointed her accent, she relented.

He told her variations of the usual stories saying that he worked for Goldman Sachs and boasted that he was a great card counter, although she watched him lose $5,000 at a blackjack table.

Very few people seem to see through the antics of Simon and Jordan Gann right away and after Simon Gann told her a ridiculous story about losing his bag , which contained $50,000 in cash, she initially fell for it – like countless scores of others.

Later, in hindsight, she even admits to missing the ever present “red flags”.

Ultimately, she was taken for $4,500.

Her inner voice apparently kicked in, because she did ask for her money back, but it was by then, of course, way too late.

Once a con me has your money in hand, you can kiss it goodbye forever!

Michelle even saw evidence of his true name, Simon Gann but he explained it away. By the time she investigated, she was had.

Perpetually on the move, Simon Gann made his way to Vancouver and then Toronto sometime in 2008.

Meredith Gavin conned by one of the Gann twins poses with her son

Meredith Gavin and her son Liam. Meredith believes one of the Gann twins is Liam’s father but is not 100% which one. (Photo: Tampa Bay Times)

Simon Gann is reported to have conned at least 7 victims out of money using his tried and true ruses to separate unsuspecting women, and sometimes men, from their money.

He met his victims in all the usual places where he has honed his skills; bars, coffee shops and libraries, around casinos and even on craigslist.

Nothing is sacred to a con man and Simon Gann reportedly even pretended to have seizures so that he could obtain money for medical bills.

Anything for the almighty payoff.

Here are details of some of his exploits while in Toronto.

Simon Gann took to hanging around Castros Lounge, a small bar in the Beach neighborhood of East Toronto posing as Giancarlo Dinatale, a wealthy man who worked for Goldman Sach’s. In his grandiose fashion, he said he had developed a differential calculus model for stock markets.

He met Stephen Reid, a very well-educated man who holds a Doctorate, while staking out the bar at Castros.

Simon Gann, posing as Giancarlo Dinatale, spun a tale of having his laptop, wallet and passport stolen and, as a testament to how convincing he can be, the well-educated Reid fell for it and loaned him $300.

The next day he conned Reid out of another $140 and even convinced Reid to allow him to crash on his couch.

A con is a con is a con.

A con man doesn’t care what your age is or what your circumstances are. Their eye is focused on one goal; separating you from your money.

Sniffing out an opportunity on craigslist, Simon Gann successfully conned a woman named Sarah, who was a college student, out of $500.

She needed money for a business venture and he told her that he needed to trust her first. To prove her trustworthiness, she eagerly provided her banking information.

Bad move.

Fortunately, she got wise to his scam within the first 24 hours but she still lost $500, which is a substantial sum for a struggling college student.

Simon Gann was arrested at Ottawa airport in late May, 2009 and faced charges in Toronto of fraud, theft, threatening damage and harassment.

Those charges should be able to keep someone off the streets for a substantial amount of time but since Simon Gann has been sighted in Las Vegas in 2012, that did not happen.

Simon Gann obviously got off light yet again.

It was rumored that once he was finished completing his sentence, that he would be deported, but it’s unclear what happened. Maybe they just wanted him out of Canada!