During the 1920s and 1930s, Tausend said he had developed a process for extracting gold from base metals, a prospect of interest to the Nazi Party, which was desperate for funding in a Germany struggling with hyperinflation.
The Nazis invested heavily in the project, through a number of Hitler's inner circle of friends introduced to Tausend.
However, the process proved to be economically unfeasible and possibly fraudulent, and most of the money went instead to fund the extravagant lifestyles of the four main business partners.
In January 1929, after being involved in a car accident, he was recognized by Italian authorities, arrested and extradited to Germany to face trial for conspiracy to commit fraud.
180 Elemente, deren Atomgewichte und Eingliederung in das harmonisch periodische System by Franz Tausend