In Manhattan Supreme Court last Thursday, a man pled guilty to obtaining huge sums of money by lying. Yes, apparently in some realms this is still illegal as con artist Alexis Quinlin faces up to seven and a half years in prison for second-degree grand larceny. Apparently, he claimed that actor John Travolta and Virgin Group chairman Richard Branson were investors in his film and electronics company, Offline Releasing, in order to scam nearly $4 million from the two bigwigs’ emulating fans. According to Quinlin’s pitch, the money would finance his transactions exporting videos, flat screen televisions and DVDs to Europe. Hmmm, nothing shady there. The poor schlubs who have fallen victim to this ploy since 1999 include a personal trainer, a model, a fashion photographer, and numerous lawyers and businessmen, who each gave amounts up to $600,000. My, such egalitarianism, I guess money really is the great equalizer – at least when it comes to getting conned. Still, it’s hard to believe a portly middle-aged scientologist like John Travolta inspires such confidence. Quinlin used most of the money to pay off his earlier victims (aw, that’s sweet) and to buy the silence of those who didn’t receive the promised return on their investment—not so sweet and not so effective.