Data is a real-time snapshot *Data is delayed at least 15 minutes. var _regex = /([^=&/<>()[].,;:s@"]+(.[^=&/<>()[].,;:s@"]+)*)@(([[0-9]{1,3}.[0-9]{1,3}.[0-9]{1,3}.[0-9]{1,3}])|(([a-zA-Z-0-9]+. All Rights Reserved. 'stitle' : 'The Mormon Madoff: American Greed 63' , All the while, he managed successful bands N*SYNC and Backstreet Boys through Trans Continental Records (what a dummy to use the same name). Even investors who have been burned by the stock market are still willing to take very high risks. After selling everyone on a story about God waking him one night, Payne and other senior members promised elders the opportunity to double their money. Alot Living "updatecorrelator" : true Amount: $100M Victims will get about 16.5 cents on the dollar after Merriman's possessions were liquidated following a federal judge's order. })(); The Con: Gerald Payne set up the Greater Ministries International as an evangelical Christian ministry that ran an elaborate Ponzi scheme. Working out of his garage, Slatkin sold phony investments in what was considered one of the largest Ponzi schemes since Charles Ponzi. Shawne's mother's name is Gloria Wiliams. Growing his investment company quickly, Shapiro incurred millions of dollars in debt, including his illegal gambling activities. Fund manager & investment adviser Shawn Merriman takes money from investors to fund a lavish lifestyle, including $4 million in fine art, antique cars, and sports memorabilia. What Merriman did is considered affinity fraud where a perpetrator tries to swindle a specific group out of money. Among those charges were RICO violations, bribery, racketeering, conspiracy, fraud, employment discrimination, forgery,and sexual assault. He was raised in Upper Marlboro, Maryland. Ponzi schemes are almost always marketed as something exclusive or selective, said Tracy Coenen, a forensic accountant and fraud investigator. mps._queue.mpsloaded = mps._queue.mpsloaded || []; Shawne Merriman's Early Life and His Time in Amateur Football. mps.response.dart.adunits[i].data = ''; 'cat' : 'CNBC TV|Primetime Shows 2|American Greed' , isEEARegionCheck(); Payne maintains his innocence from behind bars, saying he was supporting Christian causes in a gifting program. Amount: $35M var script = document.createElement("script"); The Con: Salandar was considered the Madoff of the art world, and he used his gallery to steal numerous works of art from art lovers, including John McEnroe and Robert DeNiro Sr. (father of the actor). As a result, Shawne was primarily raised by his mother, Gloria Williams, in a single parent home. if (typeof adunit != "string") return false; 'cag[brand]' : 'none' , Marcillus Wiley, Claudia Jordan and Shawn Merriman Matt Levine, football player Shawne Merriman, singer D. Woods and singer Aubrey O'Day at Danity Kane's official album release party at The Bank. Nobody would ever accuse Shawne Merriman of being soft. Currently serving a 110-year federal prison sentence, Stanford is incarcerated in Coleman, Florida. 'content_id' : '47881681' , script.setAttribute("onerror", "setAdblockerCookie(true);"); if (!oneTrustCookie) return true; window.location.href = `/opt-in-check?pub_referrer=${encodeURIComponent(url)}`; Serving 14 years, Slatkin was released and later died in 2015 of a heart attack. Victims: 440 senior citizens. const ONE_TRUST_COOKIE_NAME = 'OptanonConsent'; mpsload.id = "mps-load"; Testimonials from early investors help perpetuate the crime. The weird thing, though, is that sometimes greed does pay. // execute document.addEventListener("DOMContentLoaded", function(event) { [00:01:04] Will Johnson: For the AARP's Perfect Scam Podcast, I'm your host, Will Johnson. Name: Kenneth Starr function isOneTrustAnyBlocked() { Hes still awaiting word on his freedom. return ''; .map(categoryPreference => parseInt(categoryPreference.split(':')[0], 10)); (function() { "host" : 'mps.cnbc.com', Both Costa and Wanzeler fled to Brazil in 2014 and were finally arrested in 2019. He now commands fees as a motivational speaker. Selling pre-paid costs, Cassity spent their money not on plots orarrangements, but on personal expenses. if (typeof window === 'undefined') return; }); The individuals depended upon the SSI money to live, and thats still being worked out as many may also be co-conspirators. const name = ONE_TRUST_COOKIE_NAME; Scrushy directed employees to falsely report company earnings (in some instances 4700% over) during a period of 10 years. }; On December 2, 2009, Shawn Richard Merriman, age 46, of Aurora, Colorado, pleaded guilty to one count of mail fraud and one count of asset forfeiture. 5,330 Following. . While it all comes down to a tale of two Bernies, the other 28 crooks are pretty darn fascinating. They think about rich people investing in private investments, and assume that must be the way to make money, Coenen said. Read along to see who the top 30 dirtiest schemers arewho stole money and earned significant fame. After the successful acquisition . head = document.head || document.getElementsByTagName("head")[0], mpsload = document.createElement("script"); if (!_qs) { mps._queue.gptloaded.push(function() { Starr only served 7.5 years for his corruption. Entrepreneur United States shoplightsout.com Born May 25 Joined February 2009. The Con: Eric Conn is a flamboyant attorney who ran a disability claim scam in 2018 out of his Kentucky law office, masterminding one of the largest social security disability frauds in history. const COOKIE_REGEX = /groups=([^&]*)/; He has petitioned President Trump for early release or reduced sentence. People showed up to tents and prepackaged meals instead of luxury villas and gourmet island cuisinein the pouring rain. Name: Stan Chesley, attorney at law Victims:Victims who pre-paid funeral costs. 'nid' : '47881681' } script.setAttribute("onload", "setAdblockerCookie(false);"); //document.forms['formtop']['aff_sub2'].value = fullname ; //.replace(' ','=' ) ; const blockedCategories = decodeURIComponent(matches[1]) A money judgment will then be entered against Merriman in the . John McTiernan 43029-112 Shawne Merriman was born on May 25, 1984. mps._queue.mpsloaded.push(function(){ mps.cloneAd = function() { return false; } 'nid' : '100007730' For a while, it was the second long-distance telephone company in American, after only AT&T. Shawne Merriman. // If in iframe, bypass OneTrust. cinder block evaporator arch; mars square midheaven transit He was sentenced to 12 and a . if (cEnd === -1) { TARGETED_ADS: 4, By Andrew Cohen 12.10.2021. American Greed's Mob Money reveals the inner workings of the mob through the eyes of New Jersey's DeCavalcante family. s.src = "https://fm.cnbc.com/applications/cnbc.com/resources/files/2020/03/28/VisitorAPI.js"; SHAWN MERRIMAN SENTENCED TO FEDERAL PRISON FOR MAIL FRAUD. } script.setAttribute("src", "//www.npttech.com/advertising.js"); The Con: Founding Stanford Financial Group, Allen Stanford didnt keep his business strictly on the U.S. side. if(typeof window.MediaSource !== 'function') { Maybe he had a guilty conscience. var pixelurl = ((document.location.protocol === 'https') ? var script = document.createElement("script"); In 2019, he decided he was tired of prison and hand-wrote a letter asking for freedom. From the timeless classics to todays trends, we love all things pop culture here at Alot Living! const matches = oneTrustCookie.match(COOKIE_REGEX); People already invested in the scheme lend credibility to the investment scam. Shawn Merriman was head of an investment firm and lay bishop in the Mormon church who persuaded friends, family, and church members to invest with him. Victims: 800+ pages of clients including Justin Timberlake, The B-52s, The New York Mets, and Harper Collins. let cEnd = document.cookie.indexOf(';', cStart); return _regex.test(_qs); The Con: Scrushy founded HealthSouth Securities out of HealthSouth Corp, a leading provider of post-acute healthcare services. Amount: $21M fetch('https://geo.cnbc.com/info/').then(res => res.json()).then(result => { The auction of many of the possessions from my former life took place two weeks ago.. const ONE_TRUST_COOKIE_NAME = 'OptanonConsent'; Selling fictious promissory notes, he built up his investment firm, which provided an immediate boom of cash that he used to buy expensive automobiles and big-name art including Matisse, Picasso, a Warhol, and defrauded the top hedge funds in the country. if (window.mps) { 'https' : 'http') + '://pix.nbcuni.com/a-pii.gif?X=piiblock&S=' + mps.pagevars.instance + '&P=' + mps.pagevars.mpsid + '&A=' + i + '&U=' + encodeURIComponent(window.location.href) + '&_=' + window._mpspixZ; (function() { } document.forms['formtop']['aff_sub4'].value = window.location ; Over a period of 15 years, he scammed $21 million from friends, family, and church members - gaining a dubious title as "The Mormon Madoff" [1][2]. American Greed has the story of the money manager, the stripper and a multi-million dollar Ponzi scheme. Amount: $500M 'cag[device]' : 'web' , Shawne Merriman- Age, Parents, Siblings, Ethnicity, Education. Victims: Shareholders of WorldCom. Shawne Merriman is 38 years old. } By the time he graduated high school, he had one of the largest accounting frauds in the country. } return false; var foresee_enabled = 1 After numerous short sells, SEC violations, and devaluing companies, his most egregious decision was increasing the pricing of an antiparasitic drug for HIV patients by 56%. console.log('PUB-GDPR-CHECK Blocked Categories: ', blockedCategories); Victims:Well-known clients such as Al Pacino, Natalie Portman, Martin Scorsese, Carly Simon, and Uma Thurman. Despite numerous appeals while diverting money to other companies, the actual phone company was suspended and fined for lacking a license to operate VoIP. Amount: $113M 'cag[attribution_author]' : 'Stacy Keach' , He was sentenced to sevenyears. s.src = "https://fm.cnbc.com/applications/cnbc.com/resources/files/2020/03/28/VisitorAPI.js"; if (mps.response && mps.response.dart && typeof(mps.response.dart.adunits) === 'object') { console.log('PUB-GDPR-CHECK Blocked Categories: ', blockedCategories); Admitted Ponzi-schemer Shawn Merriman was sentenced Tuesday to 12 1/2 years in prison in an emotion-filled hearing . '); console.log('PUB-GDPR-CHECK oneTrustCookie matches: ', matches); Shawn Merriman, aka the "Mormon Madoff," was a well-respected investment broker and a lay bishop in the Church of Latter-Day Saints, known more commonly as the Mormons.