Lie, Cheat, & Steal

Kath tells Pat about an unlikely duo who pulled off a scam raking in hunreds of millions of dollars: a polygamist Mormon and an Armenian gangster team up to scam the heavily subsidized renewable energy market. Much of the info in this episode was taken from a 2021 Wired Article called "The Lion, The Polygamist, ad the Biofuel Scam" by Vince Beiser. You can read it here: https://www.wired.com/story/lion-polygamist-and-biofuel-scam/ 

Pat's laptop got stolen so we're wheeling the VCR into the classroom for another roundup of recent tales of liars, frauds, thieves, and bullshitters.

Pat tells Kath about the Besa Mafia, an organization purporting to offer kill-for-hire services on the dark web, who were discovered by tech journalist Carl Miller of "The Kill List" podcast. check out The Kill List for more in depth reporting on this story.

Kath tells Pat about Dave Pelzer, author of a Child Called It, and his potentially dubious history. This episode is unusual because we're not quite sure what Pelzer has lied about, but we know at least a few things seem off.

Kath tells Pat about a miracle gadget that piqued the interest of crowdfunding investors on kickstarter and indiegogo, despite no evidence that a single prototype was ever produced.

Pat tells Kath about one of the messiest people we've ever discussed - Robert Konashewych, a Toronto cop who resorted to drastic measures to get out of debt while trying to hide an affair.

Kath tells Pat about Albert Rosenberg, a man who had many of Toronto's elite fooled into believing he was a fellow power broker in the city's wealthiest neighborhood. Be sure to check out the documentary, The Talented Mr Rosenberg, produced by Courtney Shea, who wrote the Toronto Life article from which much of this story comes.

Kath tells Pat about coaching, an industry undergoing a surge of popularity, and the pyramid scheme-like ways that opportunistic "coaches" take advantage of it. Listen to the full episode at patreon.com/liecheatandsteal!

Pat tells Kath about a crematory operator in the rural south who offered deep discounts to funeral homes to burn their bodies - how'd he do it so cheaply? he never burned them at all.

A lot has been going on in the scam world lately so we are back with another roundup! Listen to the full episode at patreon.com/liecheatandsteal.