Journalist Mandy Matney, host of The Murdaugh Murders Podcast, joins to discuss the current state of journalism, her new book Blood on Their Hands: Murder, Corruption, and the Fall of the Murdaugh Dynasty, how systemic sexism helped enable Alex Murdaugh, and what it was like covering that unbelievable trial.

Guest: @mandy_matney

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Danny is joined by Kiki Monique, host of fellow Betches podcast Pop Crime, to do a deep dive on the saga of Ye’s K-12 school, Donda Academy. They cover it all—from bizarre rules about color palettes and staircases, to $10,000 sushi and racial discrimination lawsuits.

Kiki Monique: @thetalkofshame

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Danny catches up on the latest RHOSLC drama before diving into this week’s story: aspiring actor-turned-scammer Zachary J. Horowitz, aka Zach Avery. Avery was charged with wire fraud after using his company, 1inMM Capital LLC, to collect $650 million through fraudulent regional distribution agreements for various streaming platforms.

SOURCES:

https://ew.com/celebrity/zach-avery-20-years-in-prison-ponzi-scheme/

https://people.com/crime/actor-zach-avery-arrested-for-running-allegedly-multi-million-hollywood-movie-ponzi-scheme/

https://www.vice.com/en/article/3aq8v8/the-wildest-parts-of-d-list-actor-zach-averys-alleged-ponzi-scheme

https://www.justice.gov/usao-cdca/pr/beverlywood-man-arrested-allegedly-bilking-investors-falsely-claiming-license-latin

https://www.sec.gov/files/litigation/complaints/2021/comp-pr2021-58.pdf

https://www.justice.gov/usao-cdca/pr/la-man-sentenced-20-years-federal-prison-650-million-ponzi-scheme-falsely-claimed

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Danny is back with a deep dive on Barry Minkow, a man with a relentless entrepreneurial spirit for cons and scams. In Part 1, he covers Minkow’s early start as a child telemarketer and how his adolescent carpet-cleaning business, ZZZZ Best, led to credit card fraud, stock fraud, ties to the mob, and prison. Come back next week for Part 2, where Barry becomes a born-again Christian.

SOURCES:

https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1988-01-19-me-37107-story.html

https://www.fbi.gov/contact-us/field-offices/sandiego/news/press-releases/notorious-conman-turned-pastor-barry-minkow-sentenced-to-five-years-in-prison-for-bilking-congregation-of-more-than-3-million

https://www.dailynews.com/2022/01/11/barry-minkow-got-famous-cheating-the-system-now-hes-back-with-king-of-the-con/

https://moneyweek.com/503094/great-frauds-in-history-zzzz-best

https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1988-12-15-mn-362-story.html

https://www.nytimes.com/1988/01/18/business/company-news-zzzz-best-indictment.html

https://web.archive.org/web/20110705125654/http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/2011/jul/03/jailhouse-convert/

https://www.miaminewtimes.com/news/barry-minkow-has-to-pay-lennar-corp-583-million-and-serve-five-years-6539824

https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/business/real-estate/sdut-minkow-attacking-lennar-2011jul06-htmlstory.html

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In Part 2 of Sara and Danny's deep dive on Barry Minkow, Barry is released from prison and rebrands himself as a pastor, starts a for-profit investigative firm dedicated to uncovering business frauds., and his church parishioners raise funds for a film about his life. But Barry's compulsion for scamming was far from over, and he had to face the legal system once again.

SOURCES:

https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1988-01-19-me-37107-story.html

https://www.fbi.gov/contact-us/field-offices/sandiego/news/press-releases/notorious-conman-turned-pastor-barry-minkow-sentenced-to-five-years-in-prison-for-bilking-congregation-of-more-than-3-million

https://www.dailynews.com/2022/01/11/barry-minkow-got-famous-cheating-the-system-now-hes-back-with-king-of-the-con/

https://moneyweek.com/503094/great-frauds-in-history-zzzz-best

https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1988-12-15-mn-362-story.html

https://www.nytimes.com/1988/01/18/business/company-news-zzzz-best-indictment.html

https://web.archive.org/web/20110705125654/http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/2011/jul/03/jailhouse-convert/

https://www.miaminewtimes.com/news/barry-minkow-has-to-pay-lennar-corp-583-million-and-serve-five-years-6539824

https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/business/real-estate/sdut-minkow-attacking-lennar-2011jul06-htmlstory.html

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Travon Free and Martin Desmond Roe join to talk about their new HBO documentary BS High, which covers the high school football scandal that made headlines in 2021. The Bishop Sycamore Centurions—a football team for a school that doesn’t exist—shocked the internet after a humiliating loss to IMG Academy, televised on ESPN. Travon and Martin share how they got involved with the story, what it was like interviewing self-proclaimed liar Roy Johnson, who orchestrated the scam, and where some of the main characters are today.

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This week, Danny recaps some recent celebrity news. First, Ashton Kutcher and Mila Kunis faced backlash after their letters to the judge in Danny Masterson’s rape case were made public. Ashton subsequently resigned as Chairman of the Board at Thorn, the sex trafficking organization he co-founded with Demi Moore in 2009.

Iggy Azalea also faced criticism last month when her letter of support for Tory Lanez regarding the Megan Thee Stallion shooting became public. Finally, Russell Brand has been accused by multiple women of rape and sexual misconduct and released a YouTube video in response to the allegations.

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Journalist, NYT bestselling author, and Pulitzer finalist Tom Wright joins to talk about his podcast Crypto Kingpins. The podcast explores the rivalry between two crypto titans: Sam Bankman-Fried of FTX and Changpeng Zhao of Binance. Tom explains how Bankman-Fried presented himself as the “good boy of crypto,” how his rivalry with CZ began, and where things stand with crypto now. With Bankman-Fried currently on trial for fraud and billions of dollars at stake, there’s still more to come in this story.

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Documentary filmmaker Sam Lipman-Stern joins to talk about his three-part HBO docuseries Telemarketers. This two-decades-long project began when Sam first started working at the Civil Development Group, where he began recording the bizarre goings-on at the office for entertainment, all while unwittingly participating in a massive scam. Sam shares how everything unfolded, the journey to getting the project funded and made, and what he’s working on now.

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Danny breaks down some current scams everyone should watch out for. First, people posing as Bank of America fraud department employees are tricking customers into transferring money via Zelle. Next, a Florida woman conned an 87-year-old Holocaust survivor out of $2.8 million. Then, a fake romance-crypto scam that started on Hinge and ended with the horrifyingly named “pig butchering.”

Finally, what happens when you hire someone to investigate a scam—only for the investigator to be a scammer themselves? The episode wraps up with an update on Sarma Melngailis, aka The Bad Vegan.

RESOURCES:

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/jul/28/florida-woman-romance-scam-jailed

https://www.justice.gov/usao-sdny/pr/florida-woman-pleads-guilty-defrauding-holocaust-survivor-28-million-connection-romance

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/tech-executive-falls-victim-450k-190411822.html

https://uk.news.yahoo.com/private-investigator-preyed-dating-scam-113900495.html

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