Welcome to Real Life Regulators, a podcast featuring investment fraud cases from the files of state and provincial securities regulators and discussing how these regulators bring fraudsters to justice.
Real Life Regulators brings true crime stories straight from the investigative files of the securities regulators closest to investors. By taking listeners through the investigative process, the podcast provides an insider’s view of how to identify an investment scam, which is one key to investor protection. Real Life Regulators is produced by the Life Stages Project Group of NASAA’s Investor Education Section and also is available on iTunes and Google Play.
EPISODES
Episode 14 Silver Lined Lies: Today’s episode, “Silver Lined Lies,” was recorded live during the 2023 NASAA Investor Education Conference. We discussed how a small Utah coin shop owner used his storefront to execute the largest Ponzi scheme in Utah history! He did not use an elaborate marketing campaign to advertise his risk-free opportunity but relied on word of mouth to spread his tarnished scheme. The fraud went on for multiple decades as he stole over $200 million from about 500 investors!
EPISODE 13 Failure to Launch: Many of us currently use virtual communication platforms on a regular basis to communicate with colleagues, customers, friends, and family members. In today’s episode, “Failure to Launch,” our guests will discuss an investigation involving an individual who, starting as early as 2006, raised over $25 million dollars from investors to establish a virtual communication platform that never came to fruition. The platform failed to launch NOT because of a weak internet connection, but because of his fraudulent actions.
Though the discussion is based on an actual investigation, please note that certain names, facts, and information have been modified for education and entertainment purposes. Also, the views expressed by the speakers are their own personal views and do not represent the views of the State Corporation Commission or other personnel.
EPISODE 12 Rotten Tomatoes (Part 2): Today’s podcast is the concluding episode of our Rotten Tomatoes story. If you have not listened to part 1 yet, we encourage you do to so before you listen to this episode. Rotten Tomatoes details how a career conman stole over two million dollars in less than six months from Alabama investors. He fooled people into investing in his tomato business, but the deal was simply not real. We talk to the prosecutor, investigator and an agriculture journalist that covered the case in great detail.
EPISODE 11 Rotten Tomatoes (Part 1): Today’s podcast is part 1 of a 2-part episode called Rotten Tomatoes. Rotten Tomatoes details how a career conman stole over 2 million dollars in less than 6 months from Alabama investors. He fooled people into investing in his tomato business, but the deal was simply not real. We talk to the prosecutor, investigator and an agriculture journalist that covered the case in great detail.
EPISODE 10 The Next Frontier – A Virtual ‘Wild West’ in Nontraditional Investments (Part 3): This episode concludes our special three-part series that explores the different “frontiers” of fraud – from the early days of investing and the origins of the Blue captiSky Law, to the “Wild, Wild West” of nontraditional investments within The Metaverse. Our guest is Joseph Rotunda, NASAA Enforcement Section Committee Vice-Chair and Texas State Securities Board Enforcement Division Director. Joseph discusses the next frontier of investment fraud.
EPISODE 9 Money! Money! Money! The Name Has Changed, but the Fraud Game is Still the Same (Part 2): This episode is the second of our special three-part series that explores the different “frontiers” of fraud – from the early days of investing and the origins of the Blue Sky Law, to the “Wild, Wild West” of nontraditional investments within The Metaverse. Our guest is Lori J. Schock, Director of the Securities and Exchange Commission’s Office of Investor Education and Advocacy. Lori discusses investment fraud that takes place in modern times.
EPISODE 8 The ‘Wild West’ of Investing and Origins of the Blue Sky Law (Part 1): Before there was digital currency, there was physical currency. Before there was physical currency, there was barter and trade. And if “necessity is the mother of invention,” then the necessity of exchanging currency for goods and services means there was an opportunity for the invention of fraud. Fast forward to today, and investment fraud has remained a constant occurrence – only the tactics continue to change.
Join us for a special three-part series that explores the different “frontiers” of fraud – from the early days of investing and the origins of the Blue Sky Law, to the “Wild, Wild West” of nontraditional investments within The Metaverse. This episode is the first part, “The ‘Wild West’ of Investing and Origins of the Blue Sky Law.”
Our guests are Dan Klucas, Kansas Securities Commissioner, and Tom Treacy, the Public Information Officer for the Kansas Insurance Department, who will discuss the history of Blue Sky Laws in Kansas.
EPISODE 7 The Salsa Swindler (Part 2): Today’s episode is the concluding episode featuring the Salsa Swindler. If you have not listened to part 1 yet, we encourage you do so before listening to this episode. The Salsa Swindler is a career criminal who started a long-distance relationship with lady who had accumulated some nice savings. However, lies and deceit are the key to his salsa recipe when he sets his eyes on her money to fund his alleged business. We talk to the investigators who worked the case and the actual victim. She courageously shares her viewpoint to help others avoid being burned by fraudsters like the Salsa Swindler.
EPISODE 6 The Salsa Swindler (Part 1): Today’s episode is part one of a two-part episode featuring the Salsa Swindler, a career criminal who started a long-distance relationship with lady who had accumulated some nice savings. However, lies and deceit are the key to his salsa recipe when he sets his eyes on her money to fund his alleged business. We talk to the investigators who worked the case and the actual victim. She courageously shares her viewpoint to help others avoid being burned by fraudsters like the Salsa Swindler.
EPISODE 5 Don’t Get Taken to the Cleaners: Today’s episode will focus on a Ponzi scheme case with many twists and turns involving a narcissist who will even pitch an investment idea to the prosecutors, fires his defense attorney during the trial, and asks for a life sentence, just to name a few. A Ponzi scheme is when you take a new investor’s money to pay back previous investors. The mastermind behind this Ponzi scheme was a longtime investment advisor who owned a dry-cleaning business and hoped to open a doggie daycare but ended up taking over 1.7 million dollars from about five victims.
EPISODE 4 Fake Talent Search Mastermind Leads to Broken Hearts Instead of Topping the Charts: Today’s episode mirrors a soap opera script. A charismatic bachelor who professes to have Hollywood connections lures multiple women from dating websites and promises them fame, money, and love and delivers on none. Romance scams occurs when a scammer uses the illusion of a romantic relationship to steal from the victim. Romance scams are some of the more heartbreaking scams out there because often, the victims crave love and attention more so than the money they have lost.
Produced by the North American Securities Administrators, Real Life Regulators is a podcast featuring investment fraud cases from the files of state and provincial securities regulators and discussing how these regulators bring financial con artists to justice.
EPISODE 3 A Wolf in Sheep’s Clothing: After receiving a tip from adult protective services, the Securities Department at the Office of the Montana State Auditor began an investigation into a man allegedly using bank accounts of fellow church members as a personal piggy bank. When all was said and done, more than $2 million was unaccounted for. Thankfully, Montana securities regulators were there to help.
EPISODE 2 Swindled by the Son She Never Had: The American dream is at the heart of this episode, which features the story of a young immigrant who comes to the United States and becomes a successful entrepreneur through her strong work ethic. Her retirement becomes anything but comfortable after she meets a wolf in sheep’s clothing. In this episode of Real Life Regulators, investigators and attorneys from the District of Columbia Department of Insurance, Securities and Banking explore the devastation that can occur when an elderly victim entrusts the wrong person and becomes socially isolated due to the influence of a fraudster. Produced by the North American Securities Administrators, Real Life Regulators is a podcast featuring investment fraud cases from the files of state and provincial securities regulators and discussing how these regulators bring financial con artists to justice.
EPISODE 1 The Advisor and the Widow: Investigators and lawyers from the Connecticut Department of Banking’s Securities and Business Investment Division, discuss how an unscrupulous financial advisor took advantage of a widowed client and drained her investment account to pay down debt and spend on personal expenses, including limousines, expensive dinners and sporting events.
