December 04

Born in Dumfriesshire, Scotland, MacGregor began his career in the British army and later fought in the Spanish American wars of independence. He styled himself as the Cazique of Poyais, a fictional Central American territory, and attracted investments and settlers. Between 1822 and 1823, he persuaded hundreds of Europeans to emigrate to Poyais with promises of fertile land and wealth. The Poyais scheme collapsed when emigrants arrived to find no infrastructure or settlement, resulting in hardship and death. After the scandal, MacGregor faced trials for fraud but maintained elements of his reputation as an explorer. He died in London in 1845, remembered as one of history's most audacious confidence tricksters.