Ludger Harel was an affable charmer who spent a lifetime pretending to be the in-law that you hadn't yet met.
Harel, born in 1882, first saw the inside of a jail cell in 1905 as the audacious fraudster made himself whoever you wanted him to be and then pretended that he had lost his wallet with the cash he needed to get back home.
He would then proceed to borrow a little cash from his new contact, never to be seen again.
Harel, posing as an elegant Frenchman, tore his way through the upper crust of insurance industry types in Westmount in 1911.
In one encounter he visited Charles Hagar of Dominion Guarantee at his home at 342 Elm and ended up leaving with $20.
He also dropped in on others who also contributed to his eternal effort to return home: George Simpson, $10, John Bucknell $10, J.H. Hudson $5, William Kirkpatrick $5 and so forth.
Harel would do a little research and then approach strangers with irresistible charm, "Hello my dear Uncle Jean-Baptiste!"he'd cry out while giving a hug to a man he had absolutely no real connection to.
He'd then deliver a believable yarn about how he was a distant relative and then hang around the home, helping carry wood or other chores for a little while. He'd then ask to borrow $5 or so and then leave without returning.
He was nailed in 1923 and sentenced to two years for the stunt.
As Harel aged he only got better at his craft.
He'd follow the social page to find out who was getting married and then determine the addresses of those involved. He'd then drop by the parents of the married couple claiming to be related to their son or daughter's new spouse.
The family would invite him in, offer him a cigar and a meal and he'd wrap up the evening with the sudden panic of a man who had just lost his wallet and was unable to return to his home in the countryside.
He would then borrow $20 that he would never return as he never saw the people before.
He was aged 68 in 1950 when he was sentenced to four years in prison for the fraudulent friendships.
All told, Ludger Harel provided temporary friendship to such dupes hundreds of times over the years.
He spent over 20 years behind bars for his efforts.