Financial Crime World

Unraveling Financial Crimes: 15 Intense Documentaries Expose Scams and Fraudsters

With the proliferation of financial schemes and frauds, staying informed and learning from the past is essential. In this list, we’ll explore some of the most gripping and thought-provoking documentaries that expose financial crimes and their perpetrators.

Top Documentaries on Financial Crimes

  1. The Inventor: Out for Blood in Silicon Valley (2019) Meet the rise and fall of Elizabeth Holmes, the young CEO of Theranos, a health technology company that promised to revolutionize blood testing. Discover the massive securities fraud behind the ambitious goals. 🔬🩺 HBO

  2. Dirty Money (2018) Netflix documentary series investigates various corporate scandals, including Madoff Securities, Rudy Giuliani’s carwash scheme, and the Nike sweatshop controversy. 💸💔 Netflix

  3. The Great Hack (2019) An in-depth look into Cambridge Analytica’s role in the 2016 U.S. presidential election and the resulting Facebook data scandal. 📈👀 Netflix

Documentaries Exposing Corporate Scandals and Conspiracies

  1. The Chinese Economic Miracle: Made in India (2019) A three-part documentary series that exposes the truth behind China’s economic success, revealing the inhumane conditions in factories that produce goods for the global market. 🌍💼 BBC Three

  2. Icarus (2017) Netflix’s “Icarus” follows filmmaker Bryan Fogel as he uncovers the largest doping scandal in sports history while making a film about performance-enhancing drugs in cycling. 🏊‍♂️🤯 Netflix

  3. The Billion Dollar Code (2020) Delve into the complex web of fraud, betrayal, and revenge within the fintech startup world. 💻💰 Netflix

  4. The Witness (2016) A gripping documentary film about a small-town conspiracy in Kaufman County, Texas, where three district attorneys and a key witness were mysteriously murdered. 🔪🕵️ HBO

  5. Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room (2005) A documentary exposing Enron, the now-infamous energy company, and its inner workings that resulted in one of the largest bankruptcies and corporate frauds in U.S. history. ⚡💸 HBO

Specific Financial Schemes and Con Artists

  1. “The Tinder Swindler” (2022) A Swedish con artist named Simon Leviev, also known as ‘The Tinder Swindler,’ is accused of running an elaborate scheme on unsuspecting victims on the dating app Tinder. ❤️🤥 Netflix

  2. “The Way Down: God, Gangsters, and the Causeway” (2020) A shocking expose of an evangelical preacher who rose to power in a small town, defrauding parishioners and manipulating the community. ���удо🤺 Netflix

  3. “Making a Murderer” (2015) Although not solely about financial crimes, this Netflix documentary became a sensation due to the discussions on the evidence presented and became a benchmark for crime documentaries. 🔒🕵️ Netflix

Deception and Manipulation

  1. “The Carbon Club” (2015) Witness how powerful politicians, big corporations, and the media form an alliance to deceive the public and push for climate change denial in the 70s and 80s. 🌍💔 HBO

  2. “The Imposter” (2012) A documentary following the story of Frédéric Bourdin, a French man who posed as an American teenager who had disappeared in Texas. 🤫😳 Netflix

  3. “The Wolf of Wall Street” Docu-Series (2019) Though not a documentary, this HBO mini-series based on Jordan Belfort’s memoir sheds light on the real-life financial crimes and excesses occurring within Wall Street. 💸💰 HBO

  4. “The Central Park Five” (1989 & 2012) A harrowing documentary about a tragic case of five teenagers falsely accused of a rape in Central Park in 1989, exposing racial biases and systemic corruption in New York City’s justice system. 🌉🔒 Netflix, Showtime

By learning from the intriguing and insightful documentaries in this list, we can make informed choices, protect ourselves from financial crimes, and build a more transparent and just world.