Business Crime

It’s no secret that hundreds of companies have been slashing pensions and health coverage earned by millions of retirees. Employers blame an aging workforce, stock market losses, and spiraling costs - a perfect storm of external forces that has forced them to take drastic measures. But this so-called retirement crisis is no accident. Award-winning investigative reporter Ellen E. Schultz reveals how large companies and the retirement industry - benefits consultants, insurance companies, and banks - have all played a huge, hidden role in the death spiral of American pensions and benefits.

This is the story of the "Skinny Bandit" - a whiter-than-cocaine kid from the gang-filled streets of Otay in San Diego - who robbed banks to eat and ironically no longer needs banks because of his steady success in Bitcoin trading and other cryptocurrencies.

Although he was a suburban husband and father, living a far different life from The Wolf of Wall Street, Michael Kimelman had a good run as the co-founder of a hedge fund. But it all came crashing down in the wee hours of November 5, 2009, when the Feds came to his door, almost taking the door off its hinges. He was arrested as part of a huge insider trading case, and while he was offered a sweetheart no-jail probation plea, he refused, maintaining his innocence.

Lloyd Constantine began his career in legal services, representing impoverished clients in civil rights and constitutional cases. Decades later, he would make headlines for representing retailers and consumers against a cartel that undermined one of the fundamental tenets of commerce in America: competition. A man who thrives on competition himself, Constantine now gives us the insider's story on the biggest antitrust lawsuit in history - a case that pitted his small firm against financial-industry giants Visa and MasterCard, along with Clifford-Chance, the largest law firm in the world.

Following a deadly car crash, small-town lawyer Lance Cooper risked everything to battle one of the most powerful auto corporations in the world to get justice for a young woman. A fast-paced, journalistic account of tragedy turned to triumph, despair to hope, Cobalt Cover-Up is an inspirational, thoroughly compelling, and victorious listen.

In one of her escapades as a reporter for Joseph Pulitzer's New York World, the renowned Nellie Bly feigned insanity in 1889 and slipped, undercover, behind the grim walls of Blackwell's Island mental asylum. She emerged ten days later with a vivid tale about life in a madhouse. Her asylum articles merged sympathy and sensationalism, highlighting a developing professional identity—that of the American newspaperwoman.

Leland Faust unmasks Wall Street's unsavory tactics in powerful detail by giving listeners a high-level view of how the financial services industry misleads them, overcharges them, and exposes them to needless risk. He documents the financial industry's alluring come-ons, airbrushed risks, high-stakes gambling, half-truths, misleading statements, outlandish predictions, tricks to overcharge customers, bad deals, and outright fraud by the most prominent and renowned of Wall Street's players.

Born months before the start of World War I, William L. Adams left the North Carolina cotton fields behind forever in 1929 and moved to Baltimore as part of the Great Migration. At the age of 15, he became a numbers runner to support himself. With a preternatural understanding of finance and business, he rapidly ascended, becoming the head of his own illegal gambling operation. His leadership of the racket led to an attempt on his life by the Mafia, repeated criminal prosecutions, testimony before a special investigative committee of the U.S. Senate, and a landmark Supreme Court case.

A frantic phone call interrupts Amaka Mbadiwe’s new life in London. A renowned pastor has been assassinated in his hotel room while one of her girls, Funke, hides naked and terrified inside a sofa. Amaka is headed back to Lagos, and to a new world of private jets, money-laundering and mega-churches. With her trusted ally Police Inspector Ibrahim out of the country, and the hostile Inspector Musa breathing down her neck, Amaka must race against the clock to rescue Funke and untangle this twisted web of religion, power and politics.

A powerful Czech multimillionaire, Radovan Krejcir fled his home country shortly after his arrest in 2005 on charges of fraud. He arrived on South Africa’s shores in 2007, travelling under a fake name with a false passport, and avoiding extradition through pay offs. Krejcir fast began to make a name for himself within South Africa’s underworld, but it was the murder of Teazer’s boss Lolly Jackson in 2010 that brought his name to public attention.

Generoso Pope, Sr., an Italian immigrant, arrived in New York in 1906 with only pennies in his pocket. He got a job shoveling sand, but through his intelligence, he worked his way up to become the biggest provider of cement, just as it was becoming the key material for building. Gene Pope, Jr., was his father’s choice to inherit and run the business, but Gene’s mother and two brothers forced him out, and he found himself penniless and on his own. With a loan from his godfather, mobster Frank Costello, Gene bought the New York Enquirer. He renamed it the National Enquirer.

A burning sneer, a snide remark, and a stolen kiss. Three distinct memories among a million others that stain my childhood with Remy Luciano. Sour gummy worms and a nickname. Two more memories and everything I loved to hate started blurring at the edges. A wedding dress made for another. And one whispered confession that has gripped the three of us in its sticky fingers of heartbreak and doubt...you've always been Mine.

When Jennifer Mascia is five years old, the FBI comes for her father. At that moment Jenny realizes that her family isn’t exactly normal. What follows are months of confusion marked by visits with her father through thick glass, talking to him over a telephone attached to the wall. She and her mother crisscross the country, from California to New York to Miami and back again.

Learn about investment traps with an insight into fraudulent Ponzi Schemes with iMinds insightful audio knowledge series. A Ponzi scheme is an illegal business practice. Investors are recruited into a Ponzi scheme and offered excellent returns over time for little or no risk. The operator of a Ponzi scheme relies on further recruitment of investors to accumulate funds. Earlier investors are repaid with later investor's money. They have also been described as Pyramid Schemes.

Frenchurch Falls is a playground of indulgence for the rich and famous. But behind its gleaming facade, lie dark and dangerous secrets. And some of them will prove deadly…When Callie Renfrew’s husband, Gavin, vanishes, she isn’t entirely surprised. As the owner of Frenchurch Falls, Callie has always known Gavin had a knack for skirting the law. But what she uncovers about his dealings will drag her into a web of danger.

The atmosphere on board the first non-stop flight from London to Sydney is electric. Celebrities are rumoured to be among the passengers in business class, and the world is watching the landmark journey. Flight attendant Mina is trying to focus on the passengers, instead of her troubled five-year-old daughter back at home - or the cataclysmic problems in her marriage. But soon after the plane takes off, Mina receives a chilling anonymous note. Someone wants to make sure the plane never reaches its destination. They're demanding her cooperation...and they know exactly how to get it.

First, the madman Lucky Richards sneaks onto The Circle M intending to kill Trey McCall’s wife and young son. But there’s more—the Nemesis chairman confirms that his oldest son Robert—a half-crazed delusional lad—was involved and is on the loose with a fresh “reason” to take revenge on the McCall family.

There is growing evidence that Trump has spent decades cultivating ties to corrupt Russians and the post-Soviet state. In Trump/Russia: A Definitive History, Seth Hettena chronicles the many years Trump has spent wooing Russian money and power. From the collapse of his casino empire - which left Trump desperate for cash - and his first contacts with Russian deal makers and financiers, on up to the White House, Hettena reveals the myriad of shady people, convoluted dealings, and strange events that suggest how indebted to Russia our 45th president might be.

Eddie Tipton went to prison in 2017 for masterminding the biggest lottery fraud in U.S. history. In a twisting and bizarre tale, he somehow mixed a cocktail of greed, Bigfoot hunting, deception, cybercrime, and a love of hot dogs on his way to a felony conviction after he and several accomplices scored a series of jackpots from rigged drawings but fell short on the biggest "score" of them all. It's a wild story of greed and misplaced confidence, and a study in public officials whose determination survived a nearly cold trail.

Ya se sabe que Marcial Maciel, fundador de la congregación, dedicó su vida a tareas poco espirituales, pero poco se conoce la habilidad que tuvo para crear una auténtica mafia financiera. Al establecer los cimientos del imperio, arrebató con engaños herencias de viudas, constituyó decenas de empresas fantasmas, cazó donativos con supuestos fines humanitarios e hizo negocios con príncipes, archiduques y barones de la realeza europea.