Real Life ‘Catch Me If You Can’ Teen Lands In Jail

Leonardo DiCaprio has played some envious characters on the big screen. One of his most showy characters came in his performance of real life fraudster Frank Abagnale Jr. who conned millions of dollars worth of checks as a Pan Am pilot, as well as other misleading professions.

Now a teen has followed in suit and globe trotted all over the world. Instead of earning an Oscar nomination, this teen has wound up in jail for sixteen months.

19-year-old Reece Scobie is being described as a “boderline genius” with Asperger’s Syndrome. It’s reported that the teen, much like Leonardo DiCaprio’s character in the 2002 film Catch Me If You Can, flew all over the world to the tune of £70,000. In order to get around Scobie used aliases to jet set all over and to stay at hotels without paying a cent.

The teen lived with his mother at the time, and decided to target travel firms like Cambridge Business Travel during his fraud. The flights he booked included trips to Atlanta, New York, Auckland, and Abu Dhabi. The teen also stayed in posh hotels, living the high life in the rooms where most celebrities stayed in.

During his hearing he conned the court staff to return his passport, which at the time was confiscated under bail. Reece isn’t comparing himself to DiCaprio’s character, but everyone else is. His solicitor Jim Laverty has called him Frank Abagnale Jr. for living up an incredible life while involving himself in fraud.

Laverty explained the easy comparison to Leonardo DiCaprio’s character, as he told the Perth Sheriff Court of Scobie’s transgressions:

“While the life of Mr Abagnale was shown by Leo DiCaprio in Catch Me If You Can, I don’t think the gauntlet thrown down by him was the same gauntlet thrown down by Mr Scobie, who was fairly easily traceable.”

So how did Scobie commit fraud? Scobie acquired a job with a travel agency Thomson Travel in Perth. The teen worked at the agency for two months, but then continued to use the passwords given to him in order to book flights and hotels for himself.

Scobie admitted to three charges of fraud, two at his old job, and the third between July 2011 and January 2012.

Do you think Reece Scobie is like the real life Frank Abagnale Jr.?