''American Greed'' (also known as ''American Greed: Scams, Scoundrels and Scandals'' and as ''American Greed: Scams, Schemes and Broken Dreams'') is an American documentary television series on

CNBC CNBC (formerly Consumer News and Business Channel) is an American basic cable business news channel. It provides business news programming on weekdays from 5:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m., Eastern Time, while broadcasting talk sho ...

. The series focuses on cases of Ponzi schemes, embezzlement and other

white collar crime The term "white-collar crime" refers to financially motivated, nonviolent or non-directly violent crime committed by individuals, businesses and government professionals. It was first defined by the sociologist Edwin Sutherland in 1939 as "a ...

s and features interviews with police investigators, fraud victims and sometimes fraudsters. It was initially created by Mark Hoffman, the President, CEO and Chairman of the Board of Trustees and Directors of CNBC, and it is produced by

Bill Kurtis Bill Kurtis (born William Horton Kuretich; September 21, 1940), is an American television journalist, television producer, narrator, and news anchor. Kurtis was studying to become a lawyer in the 1960s, when he was asked to fill in on a tempora ...

' Kurtis Productions. The program is narrated by Stacy Keach Jr., who was recruited because Kurtis himself was unavailable for that purpose. It premiered on June 21, 2007.

Subjects

The business-reality program focuses on the stories behind high-profile

corporate A corporation is an organization—usually a group of people or a company—authorized by the state to act as a single entity (a legal entity recognized by private and public law "born out of statute"; a legal person in legal context) and r ...

and white-collar crimes, betrayals, and scams in American history, including the financial scandals involving

WorldCom MCI, Inc. (subsequently Worldcom and MCI WorldCom) was a telecommunications company. For a time, it was the second largest long-distance telephone company in the United States, after AT&T. Worldcom grew largely by acquiring other telecommunic ...

HealthSouth Encompass Health Corporation, based in Birmingham, Alabama, is one of the United States' largest providers of post-acute healthcare services, offering both facility-based and home-based post-acute services in 36 states and Puerto Rico through its ...

Tyco International Tyco International plc was a security systems company incorporated in the Republic of Ireland, with operational headquarters in Princeton, New Jersey, United States (Tyco International (US) Inc.). Tyco International was composed of two major b ...

, and

CyberNET ''Cybernet'' (also known as Interactive) was a weekly video gaming magazine programme, originally broadcast overnight on the ITV network in the United Kingdom. The programme was commissioned by ''Yorkshire Television'' and produced by ''Caprico ...

. Besides these high-profile cases, stories have featured lower-profile

financial crimes Financial crime is crime committed against property, involving the unlawful conversion of the ownership of property (belonging to one person) to one's own personal use and benefit. Financial crimes may involve fraud (cheque fraud, credit card f ...

that have affected individual investors and smaller companies, including various

Ponzi schemes A Ponzi scheme (, ) is a form of fraud that lures investors and pays profits to earlier investors with funds from more recent investors. Named after Italian businessman Charles Ponzi, the scheme leads victims to believe that profits are coming ...

, real estate and other investment frauds,

bank robbery Bank robbery is the criminal act of stealing from a bank, specifically while bank employees and customers are subjected to force, violence, or a threat of violence. This refers to robbery of a bank branch or teller, as opposed to other bank- ...

identity theft Identity theft occurs when someone uses another person's personal identifying information, like their name, identifying number, or credit card number, without their permission, to commit fraud or other crimes. The term ''identity theft'' was c ...

, medical fraud, embezzlement, insurance fraud,

murder-for-hire Contract killing is a form of murder or assassination in which one party hires another party to kill a targeted person or persons. It involves an illegal agreement which includes some form of payment, monetary or otherwise. Either party may be ...

art theft Art theft, sometimes called artnapping, is the stealing of paintings, sculptures, or other forms of visual art from galleries, museums or other public and private locations. Stolen art is often resold or used by criminals as collateral t ...

, credit card fraud, money laundering, and political corruption. In addition, there have been three ''American Greed'' special presentations: ''American Greed Special: Bernie Madoff Behind Bars''; ''American Greed: Special Presentation: 9/11 Fraud – "A Contractor Capitalizes on Disaster"''; and ''Mob Money: An American Greed Special Presentation''. In April 2022, ''American Greed'' and CNBC partnered with

AMC AMC may refer to: Film and television * AMC Theatres, an American movie theater chain * AMC Networks, an American entertainment company ** AMC (TV channel) ** AMC+, streaming service ** AMC Networks International, an entertainment company *** ...

to deliver a special episode detailing the life and crimes of fictional lawyer

Jimmy McGill James Morgan Jimmy McGill, better known by his business name Saul Goodman, is a character created by Vince Gilligan and Peter Gould and portrayed by Bob Odenkirk in the television franchise ''Breaking Bad''. He appears as a major character ...

in promotion for the 6th season of ''

Better Call Saul ''Better Call Saul'' is an American crime and legal drama television series created by Vince Gilligan and Peter Gould. Part of the ''Breaking Bad'' franchise, it is a spin-off of Gilligan's previous series, ''Breaking Bad'', and serves as a ...

''.

Episodes

Companion series

''American Greed'' has had at least three companion programs, all of which have also been narrated by Stacy Keach Jr. In August 2012, CNBC aired the series ''American Greed: The Fugitives,'' which focused on active cases of alleged white-collar crime. The show documented stories of suspects who were still at large and had continued to evade authorities. It lasted 2 seasons, covering 13 cases of financial crimes. After the November 14, 2013, airing of ''American Greed: The Fugitives'' #12, viewer tips led to the successful November 26, 2013, arrest of FBI Most Wanted fugitive David Kaup, who had been a fugitive since December 17, 2012, when he failed to appear for sentencing in Los Angeles. In early 2019, CNBC aired another companion series, ''American Greed: Deadly Rich,'' which focused on high-profile murder cases involving the wealthy. On July 15, 2020, it was announced that another companion series titled ''American Greed: Biggest Cons'' would premiere on July 20, 2020. When ''American Greed: Biggest Cons'' did so premiere, it updated some of the stories the main program had previously featured, such as its profiles of Madoff and

Martin Shkreli Martin Shkreli (; born March 17, 1983) is an American former hedge fund manager. Shkreli is the co-founder of the hedge funds Elea Capital, MSMB Capital Management, and MSMB Healthcare; the co-founder and former chief executive officer (CEO) of ...

and its study of William "Rick" Singer's college-admission scheme. A few weeks before the ''

'' season 6 premiere in April 2022, the CNBC Prime YouTube account uploaded ''American Greed:

James McGill James McGill (October 6, 1744 – December 19, 1813) was a Scottish Canadian businessman and philanthropist best known for being the founder of McGill University, Montreal. He was elected to the Legislative Assembly of Lower Canada for Montreal ...

''. The ten-minute short is a faux documentary done in the same style as the popular series with the same name, and recaps the events of both ''Breaking Bad'' and ''Better Call Saul''. Narrated by Stacey Keach, the mockumentary features in-character interviews from several recurring cast members from ''Better Call Saul'', including DA Suzanne Ericsen (Julie Pearl), Deputy DA Bill Oakley (Peter Diseth) and Kim Wexler’s former boss

Rich Schweikart '' Breaking Bad'' is a neo-Western crime drama franchise created by American filmmaker Vince Gilligan, primarily based on the television series '' Breaking Bad'' (2008–13), its prequel/sequel series, ''Better Call Saul'' (2015–22), and its ...

(

Dennis Boutsikaris Dennis Boutsikaris (; born December 21, 1952) is an American character actor who has won the Obie Award twice. He is also a narrator of audiobooks, for which he has won 13 Golden Earphone Awards and 8 Audie Awards. He won Best Audiobook of the ...

), as they recounted their memories of Jimmy McGill and Kim Wexler. Also making their reappearances are

Craig and Betsy Kettleman ''Breaking Bad (franchise), Breaking Bad'' is a neo-Western crime drama Media franchise, franchise created by American filmmaker Vince Gilligan, primarily based on the television series ''Breaking Bad'' (2008–13), its prequel/sequel series, '' ...

(

Jeremy Shamos Jeremy Shamos (born February 22, 1970) is an American actor. Early life Shamos was born in New York City but raised in Denver, Colorado. He has a M.F.A. from New York University. Career Shamos is a character actor, his most notable roles are ...

and

Julie Ann Emery Julie Ann Emery (born January 16, 1975) is an American television and film actress. She is best known for her roles in the television series ''Better Call Saul'', ''Preacher'', and ''Five Days at Memorial''. She has appeared in films such as '' H ...

, respectively), who had not appeared on the series since the first season, but made their last canonical appearance in the short film '' No Picnic'', which was released after the third season.

References

Other sources * * * 1. Fed.R. Civ. Pro 9. 2. Ashcroft v. Iqbal, 556 U.S. 662 (2009).

External links

* * {{CNBC primetime programming CNBC original programming 2007 American television series debuts 2000s American documentary television series 2010s American documentary television series Wealth in the United States