Fraudsters

It’s the season finale of Fraudsters, and we’re reluctantly exploring the grim origins of America’s opioid crisis. From the Sackler family’s OxyContin empire, built on shameless marketing, fake science, and philanthropy-as-image-laundering, to John Kapoor’s Insys Pharmaceuticals, a scrappy underdog peddling fentanyl sprays, we unravel the fraud that fueled this epidemic. With half a million deaths, shattered communities, and contrasting fates for these corporate villains, it’s a class war in a pill bottle. Who paid the price—and who walked free?

Get ready for one of the most sinister and heartbreaking frauds this week – the Kids for Cash scandal. Judges Mark Ciavarella and Michael Conahan turned Pennsylvania’s juvenile justice system into their very own cash cow, sentencing kids to private detention centers they secretly profited from. How else are you gonna clear $330,000 of credit card debt…? From denying legal representation to forcing minors into facilities over petty offenses, their scheme destroyed lives for kickbacks. Join us as we unravel their twisted web of greed and power with guests Marsha Levick co-founder of the Juvenile Law Center and Corene Kendrick of the ACLU.

Picture this: it’s the mid-'90s. Coolio’s Gangsta’s Paradise dominates the airwaves, and America’s crime hysteria is peaking. It’s the perfect time for a new villain to emerge: the “superpredator.” Tune in as we unravel the fear-mongering myth born from flawed statistics, Ivy League arrogance, and moral panic—spearheaded by Princeton professor John DiIulio. We explore how this theory intersected with the 1994 Crime Bill, fueling mass incarceration and devastating policies, with guests Kris Henning (Director of the Juvenile Justice Clinic at Georgetown Law) and Yasmin Cader (Deputy Director at the ACLU). Through stories like Terrance Lewis’s—wrongfully imprisoned for 22 years—we reveal the human cost of a lie that reshaped America’s justice system.

In the summer of 1989, President George H.W. Bush’s War on Drugs needs a dramatic touch for his first national address: a bag of crack cocaine bought steps from the White House. The DEA zeroes in on Keith Jackson, an unsuspecting young dealer, luring him into a dangerous setup to secure the president’s controversial prop. As Bush’s speech electrifies the nation, Keith faces life-altering consequences, sparking questions about political theater, selective justice, and a deeply flawed system. Tune in now as we dive into the chilling tactics used in America’s zero-tolerance crusade with the help of our guest, journalist Jefferson Morley.

This week we’re taking a step back to Miami, 1987. South Beach is buzzing, and the Bank of Credit and Commerce International (BCCI) looks like any other bank—until you take a closer look. BCCI was no ordinary financial institution. It was a global hub for money laundering, arms deals, and shady alliances with everyone from Columbian drug lords to CIA operatives. In this episode, we unravel the rise and fall of BCCI, led by Agha Hasan Abedi. From secretive offshore accounts to "rent-a-face" deals with Arab monarchs, this was a bank that did it all...until it all fell apart. Tune in now to catch the full story!