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

By Chellie Cervone - Posted: Nov 12, 2012 at 10:34 am

Simon Gann and Jordan Gann

Chronicles of longtime identical twin con men Simon Gann and Jordan Gann Part Seven; Six more Gann twins victims in 2007

Masterful con artist arrested in Florida wearing an orange prison jumpsuit

Con artist Jordan Gann (Photo: Tampa Bay Online)

By now, you have likely realized just how accomplished the identical twin brothers, Simon Gann and Jordan Gann are at conning women and committing other crimes along the way.

Jordan Gann was incarcerated in Florida from Nov. 17, 2004 through July 15, 2006 for grand theft so Simon Gann was the only Gann brother on the loose,

A writer named Jack Prague, met Simon Gann, who was using the alias, Simone Buscaglia, in February, 2007 on a bus in Santa Monica.

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Even though his inner voice knew something was up, he still purchased meals, provided bus fare and even let the man he knew as Simone Buscaglia crash on his couch.

Simon Gann, using his Buscaglia alias, told Prague a mighty tall tale, including designing an algorithm that he claims was used on Kelly Clarkson’s first album to get around the high notes that she could not hit. He said he had a meeting with one of the the famed Weinstein Brothers, who wanted to purchase the algorithm.

Prague seemed to be a bit fascinated by his somewhat interesting new-found friend, the con man, but wised up pretty quick.

In August 2007, Jordan Gann was a free man and it was not long before he was in trouble again but seemed to skate on serving any significant time.

He was arrested in Tucson, AZ, after a Caldwell Banker employee told police a suspicious person said that he was an oncologist and wanted to buy homes in the $800,000 to $1-million price range.

He tried to pass himself off as Dr. Matt P. Cohen of Massachusetts and faced charges of false reporting to police and refusing to give his name. The arresting officer also found a New Jersey warrant for him. He was purportedly carrying a picture of a small girl and told police she was his daughter in Florida.

A month later in September, 2007, Melody Stang, a St. Petersburg real estate broker, told police she was defrauded of $2,440 by a man claiming to be Dr. Shawn J. Rosenthal, an oncologist at St. Joseph’s Hospital. Was it Simon Gann or his brother Jordan Gann?

Jordan Gann then made his way back to one of his favorite stomping grounds, Florida.

On October 14 2007, Jordan Gann, who said he was from Massachusetts was arrested in Tampa, FL at Hattricks, a pub and restaurant at 107 S. Franklin St., on a warrant charging him with felony organized fraud.

The owner of Hattricks, David Mangione, said that Gann identified himself as Dr. Shawn Cohen and then said he was an attorney with Marriott looking to throw a party for $15,000.

Mangione, one of the few to so quickly see through the charade, searched the internet for the name given and found stories of Jordan Gann’s numerous exploits, along with a photo of him, and immediately contacted authorities.

One day after the Hattricks arrest, on October 15, 2007 , Danielle Hotch of Washington DC contacted local detectives in DC and detectives in Tampa about being scammed by Simon Gann. Or the man she thinks is Simon Gann.

You see Simon and Jordan Gann use so many aliases and Jordan has been known to use his twin brother’s name.

Hotch met the man she thinks is Simon Gann at a bookstore.

She went with him to view a house that he said he was thinking of buying that cost $11 million but had, oh so conveniently, lost his debit card.

He asked her to buy him a $600 suit and other items, and like so many other women, Hotch happily complied.

Jordan Gann certainly moves around and was very busy in October of 2007. He met a biochemist named Jennifer Keele at a Clearwater/Tampa Beach Bar. He said he was a pediatric oncologist and according to Jennifer, seemed to really know his stuff.

He offered to help her out of her financial problems by telling her that he would deposit $100,000 in her bank account if she gave him $750.

Sounds crazy but many of the Gann’s victims have fallen for this con, or variations of it, time and time again.

Master Manipulator Jordan Gann

Within 24 hours after meeting the smooth talking Jordan Gann, Jennifer was $750 poorer. Her inner voice kicked in and she was having second thoughts about loaning him the money so he just grabbed it out of her hand and ran.

Jordan Gann was sentenced to 30 months in prison on a grand theft charge for stealing the $750. It was expected that he would serve about two years due to jail credit, and was expected to complete six months of community service and 24 months of probation.

He was only out of prison for approximately a year before being sentenced for scamming the biochemist.

And you know what he said in court?

I’m not here to blow smoke. I’ve manipulated almost everybody I’ve come into contact with. I know it’s unacceptable.

In October of 2007, Simon Gann tells the St. Petersburg Times that he is in Nassau, Bahamas, at a casino.

Authorities in Alexandria, VA., were apparently investigating a theft complaint against Simon Gann and they believed, at the time, that he was in the Washington, DC or Philadelphia area and that he was not in Nassau.

It appears that while Jordan was in jail in Florida, Simon Gann was very busy.