S4 Ep56: The Space Program (Challenger Disaster)
The organizational culture of the United States space program leads to one of the deadliest disasters in aeronautics history. Prelude: Soviet cosmonaut Vladimir Komarov embarks on a doomed mission to space.
51m Sep 27, 2020
51m
S4 Ep55: The I.M.O.M. (Peter Foster)
An Australian con artist is arrested on multiple continents while indulging in "millions, models, and mayhem". Prelude: Novy Chardon disappears amid a divorce dispute with her millionaire husband.
44m Sep 12, 2020
44m
S4 Ep54: The Barefoot Bandit (Colton Harris Moore)
A teenager from the Pacific Northwest embarks on an international burglary spree. Prelude: Joshua Paul Calhoun becomes the East Texas "Superthief."
51m Aug 30, 2020
51m
S4 Ep53: The Treatment (Bayer AG)
A multinational pharmaceutical company with a dark past becomes the central figure of a contaminated blood product crisis. Prelude: Ryan White is banned from school after contracting HIV.
49m Aug 16, 2020
49m
S4 Ep52: The Referee (Tim Donaghy)
A professional basketball referee uses his knowledge of the inner workings of the league to place bets on the games. Prelude: Joe Gagliano recruits Arizona State University's star basketball player to participate in a point-shaving scandal.
52m Aug 03, 2020
52m
S4 Ep51: The Vigilante (Pat Johnson)
A towing industry watchdog patrols the streets of Austin, Texas in search of a serial rock thrower. Prelude: Joe Stack exacts revenge against the Internal Revenue Service.
50m Jul 19, 2020
50m
S4 Ep50: The Octopus (United Fruit Company)
One of the largest and most recognizable banana companies in the world has an exploitative and bloody history in Central America. Prelude: An American banana company continues to use a pesticide in Central America after it is banned in the United States.
59m Jul 06, 2020
59m
S4 Ep49: The Genius (Martin Frankel)
A sex-obsessed stockbroker uses astrology when conducting a series of investment frauds. Prelude: Tommy Quinn's life of crime.
58m Jun 21, 2020
58m
S4 Ep48: The Grant (Scott Westerhuis)
The suspect administration of an education grant in South Dakota leads to tragedy. Prelude: Steven Sueppel discovers an easy way out after being charged for embezzlement.
58m Jun 07, 2020
58m
S4 Ep47: The Pope (Dan Johnson)
The lies and crimes of a Kentucky pastor turned politician are revealed in an investigative report. Prelude: A Louisville city councilman's career in politics ends following multiple accusations of sexual misconduct.
1hr 16m May 24, 2020
1hr 16m
S4 Ep46: The Gamechanger (Belle Gibson)
A young Australian woman becomes a health and wellness guru after defeating terminal brain cancer through diet, exercise, and alternative therapies. Prelude: Jess Ainscough transforms into 'The Wellness Warrior' following a rare cancer diagnosis.
1hr 13m May 10, 2020
1hr 13m
Free Bonus: The Boner King (Enzyte)
Led by an effective advertising campaign (Smilin' Bob), an herbal supplement company's popular male enhancement pill is revealed to be a $500 million fraud. (Originally published on March 7, 2019)
18m Apr 01, 2020
18m
S3 Ep45: The Switch (Flint Water Crisis)
A cost-cutting decision to switch municipal water sources leads to a public health crisis in Flint, Michigan. Prelude: The discovery and response to the lead contamination of Washington, D.C. drinking water.
1hr 9m Jan 26, 2020
1hr 9m
S3 Ep44: The Raid (Agriprocessors)
An immigration raid at a kosher slaughterhouse in Postville, Iowa uncovers financial crimes committed by the company's CEO, Sholom Rubashkin. Prelude: Thirteen hundred undocumented workers are arrested during a coordinated raid of six Swift & Co. meatpacking facilities.
53m Jan 12, 2020
53m
Free Bonus: The Promotion (McDonald's Monopoly)
In a scheme that lasted over a decade, Jerome "Uncle Jerry" Jacobson defrauded fast-food giant McDonald's for over $20 million by rigging the promotional Monopoly game. (Originally published on January 8, 2018)
21m Jan 05, 2020
21m
S3 Ep43: The Sultan (Anthony Gignac)
A lifelong con artist impersonates a Saudi Arabian prince to live a life of luxury. Prelude: Thomas Noe manages the State of Ohio's $50 million rare coin investment.
49m Dec 22, 2019
49m
S3 Ep42: The Revenger (Hunter Moore)
A middle school dropout embraces his role as "the most hated man on the Internet" after creating a notorious "revenge porn" website called Is Anyone Up. Prelude: Kevin Bollaert becomes the first person convicted under California's revenge porn law.
57m Dec 08, 2019
57m
S3 Ep41: The GPO Girl (Samantha Azzopardi)
Australia's "most notorious con-woman" adopts multiple aliases to commit crimes around the world. Prelude: Jerry Joseph leaves Haiti to become a high school basketball star in a small, west Texas town.
53m Nov 24, 2019
53m
S3 Ep40: The Mine (Crandall Canyon Mine)
A coal mining disaster in Utah places the mine's owner in the media spotlight. Prelude: The Sago Mine disaster leads to renewed scrutiny on mine safety.
59m Nov 10, 2019
59m
S3 Ep39: The Madam (Deborah Jeane Palfrey)
The owner of a Washington D.C. escort agency loses everything after becoming the subject of a federal investigation. Prelude: Kristin M. Davis, the Manhattan Madam, runs for office after spending time in prison.
53m Oct 27, 2019
53m
S3 Ep38: The Family Business (Doug Pielsticker)
A successful trucking company is destroyed after it is inherited by the boss' greedy son. Prelude: Hundreds of Falcon Transport employees are blindsided by the company's sudden closure.
50m Oct 13, 2019
50m
S3 Ep37: The Survivor (Tania Head)
A Spanish woman becomes the president of a survivors group in the aftermath of the World Trade Center attacks on September 11, 2001. Prelude: Fred Parisi, a New York City police officer, creates a foundation to support 9/11 first responders.
53m Sep 29, 2019
53m
S3 Ep36: The Fundraiser (Johnny Bobbitt Jr.)
A New Jersey couple raises money on GoFundMe to repay a homeless man for his act of kindness. Prelude: Ginny Irovando Long organizes a fundraiser for her terminally ill son.
39m Sep 15, 2019
39m
S3 Ep35: The Whistleblower (Karen Silkwood)
A chemical technician risks her life to expose corporate misdeeds at a nuclear facility in Oklahoma. Prelude: Energy mogul Robert S. Kerr becomes the "uncrowned king of the Senate."
46m Sep 01, 2019
46m
S3 Ep34: The Tour (Jered Threatin)
A disastrous European tour reveals that an American rock band manufactured an entire fan base. Prelude: German R&B duo, Milli Vanilli, is exposed for lip-syncing.
54m Aug 18, 2019
54m
S3 Ep33: The Implants (Poly Implant Prothèse)
A French breast implant manufacturing company's method of cutting costs incites a global health scare. Prelude: Concerns over safety issues related to silicone breast implants lead to a moratorium on sales in the United States.
50m Aug 04, 2019
50m
S3 Ep32: The Match (Simon Leviev)
An international fraudster posing as a wealthy CEO utilizes a popular dating app to scam women out of hundreds of thousands of dollars. Prelude: Maria Elvira Pinto Exposto, an Australian grandmother, meets the man of her dreams online.
45m Jul 21, 2019
45m
S3 Ep31: The Socialite (Anna Delvey)
A Russian-born con artist posing as a wealthy German heiress scams businesses and acquaintances in an attempt to develop her own art foundation in New York. Prelude: Kari Ferrell's Brooklyn exploits earn her the nickname "The Hipster Grifter."
59m Jul 07, 2019
59m
S2 Ep30: The Producer (Joe Francis)
A young entrepreneur’s Girls Gone Wild franchise leads to a litany of legal issues related to tax evasion, bribery, and false imprisonment as well as accusations of sexual assault. Prelude: A group of high school students creates a much-maligned reality film titled Bumfights that features amateur stunts performed by homeless people.
1hr 4m Apr 01, 2019
1hr 4m
S2 Ep29: The Downline (Herbalife)
A multi-level marketing company becomes a global success despite accusations of dangerous products and exploitation. Prelude: Glenn W. Turner’s lifetime of pyramid schemes.
50m Mar 17, 2019
50m
S2 Ep28: The Sting (Abscam)
The FBI turns to a career con artist to assist with an undercover sting operation that ensnares multiple members of the United States Congress. Prelude: Mel Weinberg’s lifetime of scams finally catches up with him.
43m Mar 03, 2019
43m
S2 Ep27: The Mayor (Kwame Kilpatrick)
A young politician ruins a promising career with numerous financial and sexual scandals. Prelude: The unsolved murder of Tamara Greene.
51m Feb 17, 2019
51m
S2 Ep26: The Body Snatcher (Michael Mastromarino)
A prominent oral surgeon embarks on a new career path after an addiction to painkillers leads to the loss of his dental license. Prelude: A horrifying discovery is made at the Tri-State Crematory in northwest Georgia.
40m Feb 03, 2019
40m
S2 Ep25: The Formula (Nestlé Boycott of 1977)
An international boycott ensues after a multinational corporation is accused of contributing to the deaths of millions of infants around the world. Prelude: Baby milk tainted with an industrial chemical leads to over 300,000 illnesses and 6 deaths in China.
43m Jan 20, 2019
43m
S2 Ep24: The Mogul (Lou Pearlman)
An aviation entrepreneur creates the boyband craze of the nineties and one of the longest-running Ponzi schemes in American history. Prelude: In Australia, Alan Bond is remembered as both a national hero and a national disgrace.
53m Jan 06, 2019
53m
S2 Ep23: The Deputy (Frankie Bybee)
A law enforcement officer goes beyond the call of duty in order to steal money from an elderly woman. Prelude: A fallen hero's criminal nature is exposed after he is killed in the line of duty.
43m Dec 16, 2018
43m
S2 Ep22: The Psychic (Sylvia Browne)
A self-proclaimed psychic makes a fortune by using her supernatural powers to help solve missing person cases. Prelude: The rise-and-fall of Miss Cleo and the Psychic Readers Network telephone hotline.
50m Dec 02, 2018
50m
S2 Ep21: The Contestant (Charles Ingram)
A British Army major and his wife devise a plan to cheat the popular television game show, Who Wants To Be A Millionaire. Prelude: Michael Larson's record-breaking performance on Press Your Luck.
50m Nov 18, 2018
50m
S2 Ep20: The Hostage (Tony Kiritsis)
The president of a mortgage company is taken hostage by a paranoid loan customer after allegations of mistreatment. Prelude: Clay Allen Duke seeks vengeance on a superintendent of a Florida school district.
57m Nov 04, 2018
57m
S2 Ep19: The Fyre Festival (Billy McFarland)
A technology entrepreneur defrauds investors in order to build a luxury music festival in the Bahamas. Prelude: The Lapland New Forest Christmas Festival delivers an underwhelming experience.
47m Oct 21, 2018
47m
S2 Ep18: The Tycoon (Allen Stanford)
The financial empire built by Allen Stanford, a mysterious man from Texas, is revealed to be a massive Ponzi scheme. Prelude: The highs-and-lows of American financier, Michael Marin.
57m Oct 07, 2018
57m
S2 Ep17: The Lawsuit (McDonald's Hot Coffee)
An elderly woman suffers severe burns after spilling McDonald's coffee into her lap. Prelude: A California janitor's case against the owners of a phone booth is labeled as a "frivolous" lawsuit by President Ronald Reagan.
37m Sep 23, 2018
37m
S2 Ep16: The Canoe Man (John Darwin)
An English man is presumed dead after he disappears while canoeing in the North Sea. Prelude: A New Jersey State Senator starts a new life on the Maldives Islands.
45m Sep 09, 2018
45m
S1 Ep15: The Gigolo (Richard Bailey)
A smooth-talking con man becomes the prime suspect in the disappearance of Helen Brach, a multimillionaire candy heiress. Prelude: Horse owners summon "The Sandman" to assist in recovering a portion of their investments.
52m Jul 01, 2018
52m
S1 Ep14: The Association (FIFA)
A culture of corruption at the international governing body of soccer has plagued the world's most popular sport for decades. Prelude: Colin Fowles, a local football star, is remembered by his community.
53m Jun 14, 2018
53m
S1 Ep13: The Pharma Bro (Martin Shkreli)
A young pharmaceutical company CEO raises the price of a drug for a rare disease and becomes the "most hated man in America". Prelude: Valeant Pharmaceuticals pioneers a new business model for the pharmaceutical industry.
56m May 28, 2018
56m
S1 Ep12: The Televangelist (Jim Bakker)
A popular evangelical preacher's financial and sexual scandals topple his Christian entertainment empire. Prelude: The secrets of faith healer Peter Popoff are revealed.
56m May 13, 2018
56m
S1 Ep11: The Hitman (Frank Howard)
A quintessential family man embezzles millions of dollars from his employer to fund a love affair and the attempted murder of his wife. Prelude: A multi-millionaire motivational speaker solicits help from Kenneth Minor, a down-and-out man from Harlem, in a plot to collect insurance proceeds.
41m Apr 29, 2018
41m
S1 Ep10: The Judges (Kids for Cash)
Two Luzerne County judges are accused of accepting over $2 million in kickbacks in exchange for imposing harsh sentences on juveniles to increase occupancy at for-profit detention centers. Prelude: Luzerne County Commissioner Greg Skrepenak is involved in a pay-to-play corruption scandal.
47m Apr 15, 2018
47m
S1 Ep9: The Leak (Bhopal Gas Disaster)
An American company avoids accountability for its role in an accident at a pesticide plant in Bhopal, India. The effects of the tragedy have lasted decades, accounting for over 20,000 deaths and half a million injured. Prelude: A cloud of gas sweeps over the Chemical Valley region in West Virginia.
41m Apr 01, 2018
41m