Ep 77. Brooklyn's Madoff / Corrupted Software

In season 7, episode 77 of American Greed titled "Brooklyn's Madoff / Corrupted Software" viewers are introduced to two cases of greed that end up causing massive financial harm. The episode begins in Brooklyn, New York where a man by the name of Solomon Dwek tricks numerous investors out of millions of dollars through a Ponzi scheme that is similar to the infamous Bernie Madoff scandal. Dwek built up the trust of the community by portraying himself as an honest businessman, devout family man, and highly respected philanthropist. However, he was selling fake real estate investments and pocketed all of the money that his victims gave him. With dozens of people harmed and financially ruined, Dwek goes on the run only to be caught later by the FBI.

The episode also focuses on a case of electronics corruption that takes place in Silicon Valley, California. The CEO of a software company called Autonomy is accused of defrauding the company's shareholders of over $11 billion dollars. The CEO, Mike Lynch, misled investors with false and fraudulent financial statements. He claimed that Autonomy was growing faster than it actually was, and then tried to hide the deception by doctoring financial records. The fraud was only discovered after the company was sold to HP in 2011 when it became clear that Autonomy's revenue and growth forecasts were far lower than those they presented to attract the purchase. Though Lynch fled the country to avoid prosecution, in February of 2022, UK courts ruled that Lynch be extradited to USA to face trail.

The cases portrayed in this episode demonstrate how greed can have serious effects on the lives of people targeted by scammers. With the increasing interconnectedness of the world, it has become easier to scam people out of their hard-earned money. In both these cases, people who trusted the perpetrators were devastated by their deceit, and left to pick up the pieces of their shattered lives. Through expert interviews and footage of the trials, American Greed skillfully unravels the complicated schemes these men created in order to defraud investors. This episode will surely leave viewers reeling from the terrifying reality that anyone can become the victim of financial fraud.