On the season 20 finale we discuss Texas oil tycoon T. Cullen Davis who was once the richest man in the state until his life exploded into a double murder case, a bitter divorce, and a dramatic courtroom drama. After his stepdaughter and his ex-wife’s boyfriend were killed, Priscilla Davis identified Cullen as the gunman, but with immense wealth and a powerhouse legal team, he walked free not once, but twice.
While the financial crisis was unfolding and ruining the economies of the world, China had a little more to contend with. In 2008 babies began to contract kidney stones, and all of them were fed with the same baby formula produced by Sanlu Group. Join us this week as we discuss how milk in China became contaminated, how it affected the world's dairy trade, and how it led to the deaths of multiple people.
This week we discuss Chinese-Mexican businessman Zhenli ye Gon, who operated one of the largest drug manufacturing plants in Mexico. The only problem is that the drugs he was manufacturing were less than legal. Join us on the journey that pseudoephedrine took from China, to Mexico, to the meth pipes of America all transported in Zhenli's back seat
This week we discuss master art forger Wolfgang Beltracchi, who created paintings to fill the holes of lost work by great artists. Holes that had largely been left after the Nazis destroyed many pieces of artwork during WWII. Find out if he was a genius, or just an egotist, on this week's episode.
This week we discuss one of the craziest stock market manipulations in history. This time we travel to India where Harshad Mehta is the king of the world in the early 90's, and he is trading at ridiculous volumes and has a stranglehold on the market. But his methods are not just unconventional, they're illegal. Listen to discover how it all unfolded.
This week we discuss Bill Mastro, who helped build the multi-million dollar industry of sports memorabilia trading with his auction site Mastro Auctions. However, he also helped to build the massive corruption that lurked behind these sites by cheating the buyers and hawking fake merchandise before eventually striking out.
This week we give you vignettes of healthcare fraud that was uncovered in a sweeping shift by the DOJ to root out these kinds of scams earlier this year. Join as as we discuss unnecessary skin grafts, improper billing codes and so many more things that I swear are more interesting than they sound.
This week we dive into the backstory of one of the lesser talked about US presidents Warren G Harding. We talk about his humble beginnings in journalism, his rise to the presidency, and the scandals that left his legacy tarnished including what was widely considered the worst US political corruption scandal... that is until Richard Nixon set the bar even higher.
This week we discuss the madam at the center of a prostitution ring that serviced the most powerful men of Washington D.C. Learn Jean Palfrey's story about how she built an escort service that prided itself on fulfilling fantasies, and how she was maybe unfairly targeted when the ivory tower dwellers her service catered to got jumpy.
We are so back baby! Did you miss us? We know you did. But life trudges, and one of our hosts moved multiple states so our hiatus between seasons was a little longer than we hoped. Oops. But to make it up to you we have our Season 20 finale all about one of the largest douche bags to profit off of the fallout of 9/11 David H Brooks. Who milked PointBlank Industries, a company who exclusively made bulletproof vests for the armed forces and police, for millions of dollars to personally enrich himself. Come hate him together with us and we can now all do it virtually!
For the season 19 finale we once again talk murder committed by the wealthy. This time we travel to the years leading up to the American Civil War when a congressman shot a man in public, admitted to the crime, showed no remorse, and still lived a long life. How did Daniel Sickles get away with murder? And he introduced who to the queen of England?! All answered in this episode!
This week we sit down to discuss how a broken printer led to a huge hit on a nation's economy when the Bank of Bangladesh was hacked to the tune of $81MM, but it could have been a lot more than that. Find out the circumstances that led to the hack and how the money was cleaned before being shipped to one of the craziest countries out there.
Although not in the top ten data breaches by people affected, the 2017 Equifax Data Breach showed us just how bad data leaking online can be when it comes because a huge corporation pays absolutely zero attention to cybersecurity. Join us this week as we discuss just how royally Equifax messed up, and also a little about the history of credit reporting in general.
This week we discuss disgraced former mayor of New Orleans Ray Nagin, who for years (encompassing the disaster of Hurricane Katrina) funneled money through backdoor deals into his... rock business. How boring. The rocks... not today's episode... please still listen.
This week we delve into two stories from the history books filed under "The Early 1800s Ridiculous Scams" . First up is the Blanc brothers who used the first telecommunications system to commit the first telecommunications fraud. Then we dive into the truly awful story of Gregor MacGregor who duped all of Europe into buying into a fake South American country.
This week we discuss the Kardashians of the South: The Chrisleys. Starring in the popular reality tv show Chrisley Knows Best, the family led by Todd and Julie Chrisley, were well known for being over the top. But when the cameras were off the big personalities remained, and the family was pulling a lot of shady strings to maintain their wealth.
Today we discuss the largest Ponzi scheme, the largest FBI investigation, and the longest conviction handed down in a White Collar crime... in Indiana. Tim Durham was unapologetically greedy and loved to flaunt his wealth, but when a friend flipped on him the playboy wannabe was about to come crashing back to Earth.
In this weeks fan submitted episode we dive into the sprawling sports complex in Mesa, Arizona now known as Legacy Fields but was once Bell Bank Park. The origin of this complex goes back to a father and son duo who would do anything to get it built including lying their a$$es off.
This week we tackle a German giant in industrial engineering, Siemens (yes there is more than a few jokes about it). Siemens has survived through two world wars on the losing side, and still managed to keep the scandal alive into the early 2000s when the entire company was finally outed for its decades long practice of bribing government officials. Find out all the dirty details in this episode!
This week we discuss Christina Marie Chapman and the scheme she helped perpetuate that brought workers into I.T. positions for U.S. companies. The only issue is that these workers allegedly had stolen identities and were actually taking jobs to steal secrets and funnel money into North Korean weapon's programs.