The Great Double Cross of a Master Criminal
Jonathan Wilde (1682 – 1725) was an English master criminal who reigned over an underground kingdom of thieves and highwaymen. He ran a far-flung extortion racket and was Britain’s biggest fence for stolen goods. After he declared that he had reformed his ways and gone straight, the authorities turned to Wilde to help bring rampant crime under control. They figured that it literally took a thief to catch another thief, so they hired Wilde and set him loose on criminals who had seemingly run amok and terrorized London.
Designated “Thief-Taker General”, he took to his new job and title with a passion. He formed highly effective teams of thief catchers who fell upon the criminal underworld and criminals with a will. However, there was a hiccup. Wilde hunted only criminals who competed against him. He double-crossed the English authorities and used their trust in him to turn himself into the greatest English criminal kingpin to have ever lived. Even as he was lauded for his effectiveness as a crime fighter, Wilde ran an extensive underground criminal empire that spanned the realm.