With new recruits to carry out his scam, Oscar went big time. He hit every town, church, and bar east and west of the Mississippi. Millions of dollars lined his pockets and it was then that he remembered a key lesson that had originally led him to realize Sudie was a con — she didn't remain in contact with her victims. Oscar decided to take the opposite approach. Not only did Oscar remain in contact with his "investors," he befriended many of them as well. He began sending out letters, telling his investors about the great progress he was making in England, and that the fortune was almost back in America. Years passed and no one questioned Oscar's honesty and integrity.

Then one fateful day, the English press got a hold of Oscar's scheme and printed a column exposing his devious tactics, and that there was not, nor had there ever been, an "unclaimed Drake Fortune." Hartzel laughed wholeheartedly and responded, "Of course there isn't an unclaimed Drake Fortune; I claimed it!" People everywhere went wild for Oscar and his bold renunciation of the papers and their obvious ignorance. He didn't stop with his public address. He began writing bolder and increasingly passionate letters, talking about the great American destiny and the fortunes that awaited. He even made the claim that there was so much money that if it was paid in one large sum, the Bank of England would go bankrupt. This, of course, was creating delays in the payments to his investors.

Oscar enjoyed his lavish lifestyle for more than a decade before the postal service caught up with him and promptly had him arrested for mail fraud. All of his supporters and investors protested the imprisonment of their hero and demanded his release. Protests were held in the streets, proclaiming his innocence. But, Oscar was eventually convicted and sent to prison for 10 years. By 1935 he was declared clinically insane, and in 1943 he died in a mental institution. However, even after Oscar's death, people spread rumors that he was alive in England, negotiating the return of the Drake Fortune. Even in death, Oscar was still an American hero.
 

Editor's Note: The above comment was made in a satirical nature and is not factual--in other words, don't sue us, Ken.