Trivia

As the movie states during the opening sequences: "Some of this actually happened". And it did. Christian Bale's character was loosely based on Melvin Weinberg. The FBI employed Melvin Weinberg, a convicted swindler, international con artist and informant, and his girlfriend Evelyn Knight, to help plan and conduct the FBI sting operation. They were both facing a prison sentence at the time and in exchange for their help, the FBI agreed to let them out on probation. Although Weinberg was a previously convicted criminal and had been involved in previous scams, he avoided a three-year prison sentence and was paid $150,000 in concurrence with the operation. See more