From Goodfellas to Scarface, there are countless iconic movies about scandalous American gangsters, many of which were inspired by real-life people. Perhaps New Jersey's most notorious criminal, Albert Anastasia was responsible for helping to create the modern American Mafia and was also a co-founder of the Murder, Inc. crime group. Rising through the ranks, Anastasia became the kingpin of the Gambino crime family in the 1940s, and this billionaire bolthole is where he lived...

Anastasia purchased the 1.3-acre plot in Fort Lee in 1947 and set about building himself a mansion worthy of a mafia boss. The 25-room Italianate-style home was designed to his exacting needs and features one-foot-thick concrete walls and at least two doorways in each room for making a swift escape. There's even a reported 'slaughter room', containing nothing but a drain. The space was allegedly used for preparing deer after hunting...

Spanning an impressive 8,551 square feet, the home comes with six bedrooms, an entertainment room with a bar and projector, a swimming pool and a pool house. Left relatively intact since the gangster's days, the retro kitchen and timber-clad office, where Anastasia no doubt hosted many a tense meeting, give us a fascinating insight into his life. The property is also said to have once harboured a secret escape tunnel, although it's unclear if it still exists.

Positioned on an idyllic lot, the mansion offers 180-degree views of Manhattan and the Hudson River. In the October of 1957, Anastasia's kingpin reign ended when he was assassinated in a barbershop. Following his death, the house passed to several other high-profile owners, including the American actor and comedian Buddy Hackett and local entrepreneur, Arthur Imperatore. The property was up for auction in 2015 with a £4 million ($5.5m) asking price but an eager buyer snapped up the house before bidding could commence.

Bernie Madoff duped 4,800 clients out of a staggering £77.7 billion ($64.8bn), operating the biggest financial fraud in US history and the world's largest Ponzi scheme. The law finally caught up with the New York-based swindler and he was jailed in 2009 for 150 years, but before his arrest, Madoff was able to amass an impressive real estate portfolio, which included a Manhattan penthouse and this breathtaking beach house in the Hamptons.

Before it was sold off by US marshals in 2009, the house, though super-valuable, had become decidedly dated and was described by a local agent as “a 1980s dump set in a fabulous location”. The new owners, Vornado Realty Trust CEO Steven Roth and his wife, Tony Award-winning producer Daryl Roth, picked up the mansion for £6.9 million ($9.4m) and soon set about giving it a major makeover.

Other desirable features of the renovated property include the 30-foot stone fireplace, expansive smart home automation system and a stunning free-form gunite swimming pool. As you might imagine, the property is worth considerably more than what the Roths paid for it back in 2010 and was previously listed with Corcoran for £14.6 million ($19.9m) back in 2018.

With so many enemies to contend with, Capone was understandably paranoid when it came to security. To quell his anxiety, he reportedly splurged £147,000 ($200k) on extra security for the amazing estate, which is about £2.2 million ($3m) today when adjusted for inflation. These additions included the installation of a seven-foot-high wall complete with searchlights, as well as a gatehouse.

Mae Capone eventually sold the four-bedroom property in 1952. It was put on the market in 2018 with an asking price of £11 million ($14.9m), after undergoing extensive renovations carried out by MB America. The former mafia hideout retains some of its original Art Deco features, including a glam powder room and tiled fireplaces. 

The luxurious, blinged-out mansion even features a roomy home cinema – perfect for watching all those Sopranos reruns. Palermo's cover was blown in 2009 and several weeks later, he listed the mansion with an asking price of £2.9 million ($4m). It failed to sell, so he took it off the market. The property was listed again in 2015 and purchased the following year for £2.1 million ($2.9m). 

The River Forest mansion was bought in 1983 by an anonymous buyer who listed the property in 2017 for £1.7 million ($2.3m). The home languished on the market and following a series of price cuts, recently sold for just over £810,000 ($1.1m), well below the price the owner hoped for.

Yanukovych, who was elected president in 2010, splurged ridiculous sums of taxpayers' money on the OTT interiors, ordering gilt and crystal chandeliers at £74,000 ($100k) a pop, £52,000 ($64k) doors, marble cladding for a staircase priced at a jaw-dropping £317,000 ($430k), and more. During the year and a half of renovations, Open Democracy reports that the corrupt politician spent £6.9 million ($9.4m).

Rivalling the lavish homes of Russian billionaires, the no-holds-barred spending extended to the bathrooms, which were kitted out with the most expensive gold fixtures money could buy. Yanukovych had an underground shooting range added and dropped up to £2.2 million ($3m) on a golf course. A  bowling alley and tennis courts were constructed too.

In the 1970s and 80s, while Romania was drowning in debt and citizens faced food rationing and extreme poverty, communist dictator Nicolae Ceaușescu lived a life of decadent luxury. The Palatul Primaverii or Spring Palace, his Bucharest home, was a showcase of his inordinate ill-gotten wealth. 

The master bedroom of the dictator's lavish home was kitted out with Versailles-esque furniture and copious gilding, along with a priceless Murano glass mirror and yet another crystal chandelier. Ceaușescu also installed a striking indoor swimming pool, hiring Bucharest's best artisans to adorn the pool room with mosaic tiles and swathes of marble.

Dripping in gold, the most ostentatious finishes were saved for the inordinately expensive bathroom. From the taps to the toilet roll holders, the fixtures are made from solid gold. The dictator's rule came to an end in 1989 during the Romanian Revolution. Ceaușescu and his wife were convicted of genocide and executed by firing squad on Christmas Day. The property of the Romanian government, the palace is now a museum. 

In 2012, Malaysian businessman Jho Low, who helped finance the production of The Wolf of Wall Street, splashed £28.7 million ($39m) on this slick contemporary mansion in the affluent celebrity hotspot of LA's Hollywood Hills. Not long after, he fled the country, leaving his new house empty. Low, who is still on the run, is wanted by the FBI for his alleged involvement in Malaysia's multibillion-dollar 1MDB corruption scandal.

According to the indictment, Low is accused of conspiracy to launder billions of dollars in illegal proceeds but he denies any wrongdoing. After Low fled the country, the federal authorities seized the head-turning mansion and listed it on the market. The six-bedroom, seven-bathroom property was eventually sold in 2019 for the knockdown price of £13.6 million ($18.5m), significantly lower than the asking price of £18 million ($24.5m) and less than half of what Lowe paid for it in 2012.

Estimated to have been worth up to £22 billion ($30bn) before his death in the 1990s, notorious drug lord Pablo Escobar was one of the richest villains in history. While his main residence was located in Colombia, the King of Cocaine also owned this idyllic hideaway in Tulum, Mexico.

The ultimate criminal hideout, Escobar would head there to lie low and elude the FBI and Colombian police. Secluded and shielded by dense foliage, the beachfront estate featured bulletproof walls and would have been heavily guarded. Despite the many precautions he took to stay safe, the Colombian cartel boss was shot dead in his hometown of Medellín in December 1993.

Highlights of the hotel include a secret underground swimming pool built in a cave where Escobar is said to have hidden vast sums of cash. Other draws include priceless pieces of artwork, plus two restaurants serving exquisite Yucatán cuisine and a blissful beach garden complete with swings and hammocks. 

The man who perfected the fraudulent investing scheme that bears his name, Charles Ponzi snapped up this handsome Colonial Revival home in Lexington, Massachusetts in 1920, mere months before he was arrested and charged with 86 counts of mail fraud. At the time of the property's purchase, Ponzi was pulling in just over £184,000 ($250k) a day from his various scams, the equivalent of £2.4 million ($3.2m) in today's money.

The mansion was purchased by an eminent lawyer, who held onto it for 70 years. The seven-bedroom, five-and-a-half-bathroom home, which last sold in 2015 for £1.8 million ($2.5m), has since been remodelled but many of the original features Ponzi installed, including the cornices, mouldings and original zinc sink in the butler's pantry, remain in place.

The elegant dining room with its huge dining table, regal wallpaper and chandeliers is likely to have looked similar in 1920 when Ponzi lived in the mansion. The palatial property also features a carriage house and almost an acre of idyllic gardens, a far cry from the cell Ponzi occupied during his long stretch behind bars. 

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