Ep 6. Sticky Fingers / Life in the Fraud Lane

In the American Greed Season 11, Episode 6, we witness the stories of two individuals who have committed fraudulent activities to achieve financial gains. The first story features John Rogers, the former owner of comic book grading company, Certified Guaranty Company (CGC) who commits fraud to fuel his lavish lifestyle. In the second story, we see an Illinois-based couple who runs a Ponzi scheme and a multi-million-dollar mortgage fraud.

The episode starts with the story of John Rogers, who grew up with a passion for comic books. In 2000, he founded CGC, a company that specialized in grading comic books and assigning them a numeric value for collectors. CGC rapidly becomes a prominent company with Rogers becoming a well-known figure in the industry. Rogers was responsible for creating a marketplace for graded comics, and his company attracted buyers and sellers worldwide. He was living the dream of every comic book fan, but beneath the surface, Rogers was committing fraud.

Rogers used his position in CGC to create counterfeit comics, which he later sold for exorbitant amounts of money. He devised an intricate plan involving his employees and even junior high children who were paid to produce fake comics. The counterfeit comics were then graded and approved by his company's employees, authenticated and sold at auctions. Rogers used the profit from counterfeit comics sales to fund his lavish lifestyle, buying expensive sports cars, a mansion, and hosting parties for fellow comic enthusiasts on his yacht.

The story then switches to the Ponzi scheme run by Illinois couple, David and Connie Deutch. In the early 2000s, the couple started a mortgage and real estate business but struggled to make it profitable. They found inspiration in the Madoff scandal and started their own Ponzi scheme that promised investors high returns on real estate investments. The couple recruited people with "marketing" jobs and paid them commissions for recruiting new investors to their scheme. They claimed that they were investing in hotels, apartment buildings, and strip malls but instead used the money to pay off earlier investors and finance their lavish lifestyle.

David and Connie Deutch fraudulently obtained millions of dollars from investors who trusted them with their hard-earned money. The couple used their wealth to buy expensive jewelry, cars, planes, and houses in different states. They even purchased two private islands from the Bahamas but were living on borrowed time. When their scheme collapsed, they tried to flee the country but were eventually captured and brought back to face justice.

The episode ends with the lessons learned from the stories of John Rogers and the Deutch couple. We see how financial greed can lead people to commit fraud, even when they have achieved success. The American Greed Season 11 Episode 6 "Sticky Fingers / Life in the Fraud Lane" serves as a cautionary tale for those who think they can get away with fraudulent activities.