White Collar

Cecil Jacobson’s fertility practice appeared to offer hope to people struggling to become parents, but prosecutors alleged that deception was occurring behind the examination-room door. False representations, questionable pregnancy diagnoses, financial transactions, and secret inseminations eventually brought federal investigators into the case. It became an extraordinary exampl...

Federal prosecutors accuse cybersecurity businessman Zohar Pinhasi of charging customers millions for purportedly specialized ransomware recovery services while secretly paying the attackers themselves. This episode examines the alleged financial mechanics, including customer representations, undisclosed payments, substantial markups, and potential wire fraud. Explore how invest...

In 1980s New York City, pouring concrete for a major building could mean navigating more than contractors, unions, and developers — federal prosecutors alleged that organized crime families had manipulated parts of the industry through an arrangement known as the Concrete Club. This episode breaks down how the scheme worked: restricted competition, inflated costs, and payments e...

Money laundering sits at the strange intersection between street crime and white-collar crime. Behind some trafficking organizations are financial specialists whose job is to disguise where money came from and make criminal revenue usable. This episode examines how legitimate businesses, layered transactions, financial intermediaries, and seemingly ordinary bookkeeping can becom...

Episode Description:
A restaurant can serve real customers, a construction company can build real houses, and a car dealership can sell real vehicles—and still become part of a criminal financial network. Money laundering increasingly blurs the boundary between the legitimate economy and organized crime by using apparently ordinary businesses to disguise the origins of ill...