Dirty Money

Jim and Pamela Fayed seemed to have it all—two beautiful daughters, a sprawling horse ranch in California, and a gold exchange business that raked in millions every year. But all that glitters is not gold. The Fayeds also harbored a deep secret that would destroy both their lives. This is the tragic story of a family business gone horribly wrong

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Adam Worth was the Victorian Era’s most infamous thief. He was so sneaky, so devious and so damn good at his job that he became Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s inspiration for Dr. Moriarity, arch-nemesis of Sherlock Holmes. Worth’s exploits earned him the nickname “The Napoleon of Crime,” a nod to his ceaseless drive to steal anything that wasn’t nailed to the floor. (And even if it was, he’d steal it anyway.) Worth and an array of ne’er-do-wells were as innovative as they were crooked, tunneling their way into bank vaults from adjacent building basements, setting up shape-shifting illegal gambling dens and slipping into new countries and identities when things got too hot. Worth was pursued across continents by the Pinkerton detective agency (which would one day become the Secret Service) and he cemented his status as one of the greatest thieves in history when he stole an incredibly famous painting of Georgiana Cavendish, The Duchess of Devonshire, right off the wall of a London gallery. Worth held onto the pilfered portrait for years, chauffeuring it around the world in the false bottom of a luggage trunk. Some say he was waiting for the right moment to sell it, others believe he fell in love with the Duchess’s beguiling image. So how did it end for the art thief and his prized score? Listen to the episode and if you like it (of course you will!) please leave our little show a big fat five-star rating and a review. Your comments might be featured in a future episode. Thanks as always for listening!

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Between October 2008 and August of 2009, thieves broke into the homes a number of young Hollywood stars, such as Paris Hilton, Lindsey Lohan, and Orlando Bloom, and stole more than $3 million in cash, jewelry, and high-end designer goods. But these weren’t your typical robbers. They were teenagers from the Valley. One was even the star of a reality show. This is the bizarre story of the Bling Ring and their dirty deeds.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Remember Martin Shrkeli? He was the so-called “Pharma Bro” who raised the price of an anti-viral drug for AIDS patients from $13.50 to $750 a pill. His arrogance and lack of empathy came to embody all that was wrong with the unregulated drug market. But not much is known about Skreli beyond the media hype. Where did he come from, what were his motives, what happend to him, and where is he now? We take a deep dive into the man once dubbed “the most hated man in America.”

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In the 1980s, Chicago’s trading floor was packed with loud-mouth tough guys, mountains of cocaine and a whole lot of money. Those ingredients added up to one of the biggest — and most expensive — undercover FBI investigations in history. On this episode of ‘Dirty Money’ hosts Dan Bova and Jon Small welcome guest Anjay Nagpal, who investigated the federal investigation on his hit true-crime podcast 'Brokers, Bagmen & Moles.' During the talk, Nagpal shares insights into how the Chicago sausage was made when it comes to financial crime and gives a peek behind the curtain of what it is like to interview people who may or may not have killed for fun and profit. Did the Feds take down a massive criminal empire, or was it all just a waste of taxpayers’ money? Did Nagpal tell Dan and Jon the ending of his multi-part podcast series? Listen and find out!

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On December 11, 1978, six armed robbers broke into JFK Airport's Lufthansa Airlines cargo terminal at 3 o'clock in the morning. A little over an hour later, they walked out with $5 million in untraceable bills (worth $22.4 million today ) and $800,000 in jewels (worth $3.6 million today.) At the time, it was the largest heist in U.S. history. And here's the really crazy part: Not a shot was fired and nobody was killed or seriously hurt (during the heist, at least.) If this sounds familiar, it's because it was dramatized in Martin Scorsese's 1990 film 'Goodfellas,' based on Nicholas Pilleggi's 1985 book 'Wiseguys' about mid-level crooks in the Lucchese crime family. The Lufthansa heist was a pivotal moment in the lives of a Queens, NY-based crew. Mobsters Henry Hill, Jimmy Burke and a bizarre group of degenerate gamblers, bookies, wig salesmen and guys with nicknames like Louis Roast Beef all somehow pulled off this incredible scheme...and then almost immediately start killing each other. On this episode of Dirty Money, hosts Dan Bova and Jon Small discuss the crime and its fallout, and what the Goodfellas version got right and what it got wrong. (And by wrong, we mean "slightly unfactual" because it is the greatest movie ever made and by extension, can do no wrong.)

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

We’ve all heard of Ponzi schemes, but who was the guy they were named after? This is the amazing story of the original swindler Charles Ponzi, a dapper, five-foot-two Italian immigrant who in 1920 raked in an estimated $15 million (now $225 million) in less that year. Ponzi lured over 20,000 Bostonians to invest in his securities with promises of 50 percent profits in 45 days. Back in the day, he was a hero of people—until a newspaper brought him and his now infamous scheme crashing down.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices