Mother and Son Con Artists Profiled

We just read Steve Fishman's feature on the NYU senior/con man, Hakan Yalincak (the NYU senior who was arrested after a $43 million bank fraud), and his family and fortunes (?), and Gothamist must say, it feels like the makings of an early David Mamet film. For instance, Fishman, decides to ask Yalincak's mother, Jackie, who has recently been charged with playing a part in the schemes, if he can speak to someone who has been awarded one of the scholarships from the Yalincak's $21 million donation to NYU:

"Do you know the name of anybody you gave a scholarship to?" I ask. I could speak to them, I suggest.
"McCormack, last name," Jackie says, "and Rachel."
"McCormack?"
"Hale! Hale!" shouts Jackie.
"Coming!" calls Hale, who’d slipped away.
"My daughter keeping the name," she explains. Hale rushes in. "What is the last name that McCormack person?"
"I’ve just called him McCormack."
"Do you have . . . phone number?" asks Jackie.
She has McCormack’s number, but only nine of ten digits. A little later, the phone rings. Apparently, it is McCormack. Jackie passes me the phone. He doesn’t want his full name mentioned, but he says that, yes, he receives a scholarship from the Yalincaks.

It's so House of Games. Or even The Spanish Prisoner. And what's even more crazy about the article is that the Halincaks lie and their stories turn on a dime. But, the Halincaks still have an NYU building named after them.

Photograph from NYU Today