Fake English Lord's Identity Revealed
July 10, 2006 — -- Many of us dream of living a different life -- a life of great wealth, the best education and higher status in society.
One American made the transition almost overnight.
He simply told people that he was a British aristocrat -- a Lord of the Manor -- who had inherited the title from his father who, he said, was a former diplomat.
A routine border check set in motion the unraveling of more than 20 years of deceit.
A man holding a suspicious passport was detained in Calais, France, in January 2005. When the man passed through immigration, he said his name was "Christopher Buckingham."
But immigration officials found out only one Christopher Edward Buckingham, born on Christmas Eve 1962. According to police records, that Buckingham died when he was a baby.
In this age of terrorism, the discovery put the border guards on high alert.
Even stranger, the man claimed to be a British lord, but there was no current record of any Buckingham with that title. The last Lord Buckingham died over 100 years ago, and the title became extinct.
Under questioning, the man continued to insist he was Christopher Buckingham, a 42-year-old British citizen, computer consultant and father of two.
"It's all a very good cover. It could be a very good cover for a con man. It could be a very good cover for somebody that's mentally ill. It could be a very good cover for somebody whose sinister motives have yet to be uncovered," said Prof. Anthony Glees, an intelligence and security specialist.
Dave Sprigg, the former Kent, England, chief of police and a detective for more than 30 years, said he knew the man was lying but didn't know why.
The man's background story was full of holes, and the detective thought his accent could provide a clue.
"I don't think for a moment that he's British. I definitely think he's a foreigner," Sprigg said.
It was Sprigg's last case before retirement and he was determined to solve it.
He tracked down the man's ex-wife in Northampton, England. The couple was together for 12 years and had two children together, Lyndsey and Edward, before their marriage ended in divorce.
Yet the man's ex-wife, Jody, who didn't want her full name used, said he was just as mysterious to her.
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