Big Scam on Campus

By Frank Trippett

But for the fact that he was only a part-time student at Duke University, he might have been rated a Big Man on Campus. Enrolled in 1987 in the continuing- education program, he quickly became a campus celebrity. His moniker helped. The short, wavy-haired chap with the cosmopolitan air just happened to be Maurice de Rothschild, wayfaring scion of the rich and illustrious French banker, Baron Guy de Rothschild.

At least, so he said, and for two years he never let anyone forget it. He drove the little white Honda CRX, he confided, only because he did not want to risk denting his Maserati. He helped out in a research lab for a measly $100 a week, he said, only because his family had cut him off when he failed to go to Harvard. He would not speak French, he said, only because Americans had such atrocious accents. He was fond of showing pictures of family mansions clipped out of magazines. When going away for a few days he would confide he was off for some sailing with the Kennedys. He spent $200 a month at the Campus Florist on bouquets that went to people in Philadelphia or New York with cards that said, "Thanks for the hospitality."

So it went for two years around Duke and Durham. When the putative nobleman had to borrow a few dollars from friends, it seemed to pain him royally. When he could string together enough credit, he was a sport, once laying on a swank downtown party for the Duke swimming team he managed. He lived in an ordinary town house, but it was elegantly appointed and always stocked with good wine. He boasted about his friendships with Kevin Costner, Burt Reynolds and other Hollywood celebrities.

Eventually, a few acquaintances began to wonder about Maurice. It appeared odd, to say the least, that he could speak only halting French. And what about those vivid blue contact lenses? And where did he get that Southern accent? If he was in his mid-30s as he looked, what was he doing in school? Was this guy for real?

As it turned out, no. At a Sigma Alpha Epsilon convention in Cincinnati last summer, Rothschild created such a vulgar scene complaining to the hotel desk that his fraternity brothers decided to check into his background. They learned that another guy named Rothschild had pulled off some funny business at the SAE chapter in Berkeley years before. After they demanded that he prove his identity, Maurice skipped town. He showed up in Bronxville, N.Y., to pick up his belongings from a rented room and has not been sighted since.

Last week Duke's campus daily, the Chronicle, reported that the phony Frenchman was Mario Cortez Jr., 37, of El Paso. In 1967, said the daily, he changed his name to Mauro Jeffery Rothschild. Wherever and whoever he may be, Rothschild left thousands of dollars in debts at Duke, including $14,000 owed to one friend and a $400 tab at the florist. He also left a legacy of stories that ought to last a generation at least.

With reporting by Stephen Pomper/New York and Don Winbush/Atlanta