American Greed: Scams, Scoundrels and Scandals Season 4 Episode 6 Sholam Weiss

American Greed: Scams, Scoundrels and Scandals season 4 episode 6 delves into the story of Sholam Weiss, a notorious white-collar criminal who engineered one of the biggest insurance frauds in US history. Weiss's scam involved purchasing National Heritage Life Insurance Company in Florida and then stealing millions of dollars from it. The episode tells the story of how Weiss manipulated a group of investors into helping him acquire the company, and then proceeded to drain its assets through a series of complicated financial schemes.

Weiss was born into a wealthy family in Brooklyn, New York, and he appeared to have all the advantages of a privileged upbringing. However, he developed a taste for fast living and gambling and soon found himself in severe debt. He began looking for ways to make quick money, and that's when he began to devise his insurance fraud scheme.

Weiss's first step was to purchase National Heritage Life Insurance Company, an organization based in Florida that specialized in selling policies to elderly people. He convinced his investors that the company was a worthwhile investment, and they helped him to finance the purchase. Once Weiss had control of the company, he began to create false accounts, transfer money to shell companies, and falsify documents to cover his tracks.

As Weiss's fraud grew more extensive, the company began to collapse, and investors started to demand answers. But Weiss was always one step ahead. When the FBI discovered his crimes, Weiss fled the country and went on the run for several years. He was eventually caught in Austria and extradited to the US, where he was sentenced to 845 years in prison.

The episode also explores the impact of Weiss's fraud on ordinary people, including the elderly policyholders of National Heritage Life Insurance Company. Many of these people lost their life savings, and some were left without any means of support. The episode also examines the role of the regulators and auditors who failed to spot Weiss's scam before it was too late.

Overall, American Greed: Scams, Scoundrels and Scandals season 4 episode 6 is a gripping and sobering tale of a man who was able to manipulate a financial system for his own gain, at the expense of thousands of innocent people. The episode is a warning about the dangers of greed and the need for greater regulation and accountability in the financial world.