Fraudsters

Harry Anslinger has now entered the chat. Meet the villainous mind who helped get us to where we are today in this one-sided “war” on drugs. This guy’s got it all: a strong anti-drug stance likely related to childhood trauma, racist tendencies and he’s a failed jazz musician – throw in some intense xenophobia and you’ve got the first commissioner of the Federal Bureau of Narcotics! Tune into this...

We’re back and better than ever baby! We’re shaking things up this time around and dedicating this entire season to breaking down the systemic fraud that is The War on Drugs. Would you believe us if we told you that this “war” has cost over a trillion dollars?? AND has ruined the lives of many in countless ways?! But before we get there, jump into the Introduction to Season 5 where our guest, Prof...

August 20th we're beginning our latest season - all on the War on Drugs! Subscribe now to get all the latest episodes every Tuesday! Subscribe to SiriusXM Podcasts+ to listen to new episodes of Fraudsters ad-free.  Start a free trial now on Apple Podcasts or by visiting siriusxm.com/podcastsplus. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collectio...

Join us for our last episode of season four as we close out the story of Milli Vanilli! We pick up right where we left off last week with the infamous track slip during Milli Vanilli’s live show that actually ended up making them MORE popular. Pretty soon after that, it became public knowledge that Rob and Fab were never the voices behind Milli Vanilli and they started on their journey to become r...

Girl you know it’s - girl you know it’s - girl you know it’s all about Milli Vanilli this week!!! We dive deep into the tragic story of the band and the producer behind it all, Frank Farian. Sure, Frank set himself up for success, but Rob Pilatus and Fab Morvan, the faces of the group… eh, not so much. Those two were famously just the faces of Milli Vanilli, no matter how hard they pushed Frank to...

This week, our journey with the former governor of Illinois comes to an end. Don’t cry because it’s over, smile because it happened!! In this episode, we dive into our favorite crimes he committed and interview Rod’s attorney, Sam Adam Jr. We can all agree Rod’s accomplished quite a lot throughout his life. We wrap up his story by hitting some of the highlights talking through his trials, from att...

This week we’re back with more Blago, baby!! Rod Blagojevich is just the gift that keeps on giving– from Elvis impersonations to leaked angry phone calls to many, many, many talk show appearances. Rod’s given us a lot to work with, and for that we’re grateful!! In this episode, we not only talk Rod, but we try to untangle the web of corruption that was Chicago politics in the early aughts. Let’s j...

This week we begin our journey covering the one and only, Rod Blagojevich. Rod is the epitome of the American Dream– the son of Yugoslavian immigrants, he came from humble beginnings, shining shoes, delivering pizza, working as a… bookie. He worked himself all the way up to Congress and the story does not stop there! He ran for Governor of Illinois and won on an anti-corruption platform. Spoiler a...

We’re back to finish off the story of Jen Shah. In this episode, comedian and Emmy-nominated TV writer, Rae Sanni, serves as our Real Housewives expert helping us dig into Jen’s time on the Real Housewives of Salt Lake City. Jen Shah is nothing if not ambitious, she chose to be on national TV while actively running a telemarketing scheme that targeted the elderly. She’s sick and twisted and at the...

What’s the one place riddled with fraud that we just don’t talk about enough? That’s right, it’s reality TV baby!!! This week we’re talking all about Jen Shah from the Real Housewives of Salt Lake City. And there’s a lot to talk about. From her very Mormon childhood growing up in Utah to meeting her husband and converting to Islam, to when she started dipping her toe in the pool of defrauding the...

This week we’re back with more on Elijah Muhammad and the NOI! But of course, we can’t talk about the NOI without at least mentioning Malcolm X and his influence and then ultimately his breaking away from the group. What led to this you ask? Well, it maybe had something to do with Elijah Muhammad’s complicated relationships, financial improprieties, revelations of pregnancies, affairs, and blackma...

Our Fraudster du jour is none other than the honorable Elijah Muhammad paired with the Nation of Islam. As always we are setting up the fraud with some good ole fashioned background info. We go from Elijah’s turbulent childhood and upbringing to his days as an alcoholic, to the moment he found God… or Wallace Fard, who interestingly enough claimed to be the Mahdi and founded the Nation of Islam. O...

This week we’re back with more Jim Traficant tales to tell with some help from Senator Bob Hagan. Traficant was a complicated man, a hero to some, and a fraudster to… everyone else. We take a walk down memory lane (CSPAN) to look at some of Traficant’s most memorable one-minute speeches AND his frauds from his time in Congress. Eventually, an FBI-led mob investigation brought him down. He represen...

We’re traveling all the way to Youngstown, Ohio this week to bring you all the hot goss on Fraudster, Jim Traficant. But context is everything, so before we get to the complicated Ohio Congressman, Seena goes over some history and how the rust belt got RUSTY, with the help of our guest, Senator Bob Hagan. Jim Traficant aka Jimbo, was a star college quarterback who could’ve played in the NFL, but i...

We are back with the last installment of our series on the Fugees to talk about the other guy… Pras Michel. As we learned in our last episode, dealing with money was Pras’s “niche” and it all makes sense now! We untangle the web of Pras’s finance fraud in this episode walking through his relationship with billionaire, Jho Low, the 1MDB scandal (a massive embezzlement scheme that toppled the Malays...

The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill? More like the Miseducation of Lauryn Hill filing her taxes! [cough] SO the joke here is that Lauryn Hill, the only truly talented member of the Fugees, intentionally did not file taxes for FIVE years, which is bad. On the bright side, she got to go to the famous prison from Orange Is the New Black. Tax evasion isn’t all we cover in this episode, in fact, there’s so...

Musicians can be Fraudsters too! In this episode, we focus on Haitian-American Wyclef Jean of the Fugees and dive into his many frauds… many many… many many…. you get it. We start off with how the band came to be and the significance of their success, before the trio’s inevitable downfall. But most importantly, we talk the twists and turns of Wyclef’s Yele Foundation/scam. It’s a tale as old as ti...

George Santos has no shame and he will not be stopped. After diving into his origin story and legal crimes we finish this wild ride with his moral crimes. Which crime is worse? Posing as a puppy charity and stealing money from both veterans and Amish people?! But the Amish make such nice furniture! Then he skims ATMs. Is this another dark art taught by Mom? It doesn’t end there as Seena, Justin, a...

Welcome to Part 2 of George Santos! We deep dive into the recent indictment of Anthony George Devolder Califragilistic Expeala Santos and his merry band of frauds. We uncover the 13 counts of wire fraud, money laundering, theft of public funds, and false statements he's been charged with. From fraudulent political contribution schemes to unemployment insurance fraud, Santos keeps on scammin’. But...

Welcome to Season 4! From outrageous lies to check fraud and even a stint as a drag queen, we delve into the jaw-dropping tales of this larger-than-life Congressman who's done more with the delete key than anyone in history: George Santos. This rollercoaster begins with George of the Bungle's origin story starting in Queens NY, to a sudden move to Brazil and then back again to begin a string of ev...

Welcome to our pre-Season 4 Red Flag Bonus episode! We got friends like Lamont King and Erin and Jason Saenz telling us their personal stories of not seein' red flags and gettin' scammed. It'll leave you givin some side eye to gift cards and plane tickets. We also talk to Kelly Richmond Pope, author of "Fool Me Once", about the red flags to spot and how when we're at our most vulnerable. Make sure...

This week we welcome Langston Kerman and David Gborie from the podcast My Momma Told Me! We chat about conspiracies, a little Shaun King, a bit about Dr. Umar Johnson, and more. Plus, are you a melanated person? Because Starry is for you and that knock on your door might be the IRS. Listen now! This week we welcome Langston Kerman and David Gborie from the podcast My Momma Told Me! We chat about c...

In this week's episode of Fraudwire, we welcome Travis Irvine from Abe Lincoln's Top Hat to chat with Seena and Ariel! What's the latest on Kanye's - ahem Ye's (pronounced YAY for those 30+ year olds) - fake school? Well they got sushi. Plus, more of the latest fraud news and the most important question of our era: What mystery food will you eat? Then we have Iowa State Auditor Rob Sand to talk ab...

We are joined by Youtube Crypto personality and fellow Celsius victim Tiffany Fong! She explains how and why she gave a chunk of money to Mashinsky's yield ponzi scheme and all she got was a pic with Joe Biden at the White House. Worth it, right? She also spills the tea (or her cocktail) on how she bagged an interview with Sam Bankman-Fried aka SBF of FTX. And with the gift of hindsight and a good...

Last season our most controversial episode was when Seena shared how he got scammed in crypto. We open this week with the follow up and what exactly he got from that scam, and it's not nothing! It's… three images of…apes. But OOPS he did it again, this time in a different project with money he really did not to lose.  We welcome special guest Jackie Zebrowski of LPN as she along with Ariel and Jus...