Shows / Follow the Lies: Fraud & Deceit Uncovered
Follow the Lies: Fraud & Deceit Uncovered
I’m Kevin Barrows, former FBI Special Agent and lead case agent on two of the largest white-collar investigations in U.S. history.
I’ve been in the room where the lies were built, where the evidence was uncovered, and where the truth finally broke through. I also co-hosted the Smithsonian Channel docuseries Sports Detectives, exposing forgery and tracking down missing pieces of sports history.
In Follow the Lies, I take you inside real fraud cases across the Deception Spectrum—from massive…
Episodes
- Follow the Lies: Fraud & Deceit Uncovered
Episode 18: Wirecard's Missing €1.9 Billion — How Germany's Fintech Star Faked Its Fortune
Wirecard told the world €1.9 billion, a quarter of its balance sheet, was sitting in two banks in the Philippines. In June 2020, the auditor finally asked…
- Follow the Lies: Fraud & Deceit Uncovered
Episode 17: Four Million Fake Students — How Charlie Javice Sold Frank to JPMorgan
Charlie Javice told JPMorgan Chase that Frank had 4.25 million student users. Chase paid $175 million. Months later, a marketing email to that list almost…
- Follow the Lies: Fraud & Deceit Uncovered
Episode 16: Hollywood’s $650 Million Fake — How Zachary Horwitz Forged Netflix and HBO
Actor Zachary Horwitz (screen name Zach Avery) told investors he was flipping film rights to Netflix and HBO at 25–45% returns. The contracts looked real. The…
- Follow the Lies: Fraud & Deceit Uncovered
Episode 15: The Astros’ Stolen Signs — How a Trash Can Rigged a World Series
In October 2017 the Houston Astros were on the verge of their first World Series title. What almost no one knew: a live camera feed and a trash can in the…
- Follow the Lies: Fraud & Deceit Uncovered
Episode 14: The $47 Billion Fantasy — How Adam Neumann Built and Destroyed WeWork
WeWork was once valued at $47 billion. SoftBank invested over $10 billion. Adam Neumann sold a vision of elevating human consciousness through office space…
- Follow the Lies: Fraud & Deceit Uncovered
Episode 13: Celsius Froze $4.7 Billion Overnight — After Promising Safety
On June 12, 2022, Celsius Network froze all withdrawals without warning. Roughly $4.7 billion in customer funds—retirement savings, emergency money, and life…
- Follow the Lies: Fraud & Deceit Uncovered
Episode 12: From Trusted Friend to Convicted Thief — The $17 Million Betrayal of Shohei Ohtani
Shohei Ohtani was living out a historic season when the man he trusted most — his longtime interpreter and close friend Ippei Mizuhara — allegedly stole nearly…
- Follow the Lies: Fraud & Deceit Uncovered
Episode 11: $4.5 Billion Stolen from a Nation — Malaysia’s Sovereign Fund Heist
A $5 million birthday party on a $250 million superyacht with Leonardo DiCaprio, Paris Hilton, and Britney Spears — allegedly funded by money stolen from the…
- Follow the Lies: Fraud & Deceit Uncovered
Episode 10: Purdue Pharma’s Deadly Opioid Empire — How One Family Fueled a National Crisis
How did one family help ignite America’s deadliest public health crisis? In this powerful episode, former FBI Special Agent Kevin Barrows exposes how Purdue…
- Follow the Lies: Fraud & Deceit Uncovered
Episode 9: Cancer Hero or Biggest Cheat? — Lance Armstrong’s Doping Empire
How did Lance Armstrong beat the tests for years while winning seven Tour de France titles? The answer wasn’t just one man — it was a sophisticated doping…
- Follow the Lies: Fraud & Deceit Uncovered
Episode 8: Enron’s $63 Billion Fraud — The Fall of America’s Most Innovative Company
In 2001, Enron was named America’s Most Innovative company for the sixth year in a row. Then, in one day, it collapsed in the largest corporate bankruptcy in…
- Follow the Lies: Fraud & Deceit Uncovered
Episode 7: Boesky & Milken’s Insider Trading Empire — How Greed Corrupted Wall Street
In the excess-filled 1980s, Ivan Boesky and Michael Milken became two of the most powerful men on Wall Street. One was the self-proclaimed “King of Arbitrage.”…
- Follow the Lies: Fraud & Deceit Uncovered
Episode 6: NBA Ref Rigged Games for the Mob — Why It Still Threatens Basketball
Former FBI Special Agent Kevin Barrows exposes the shocking true story of NBA referee Tim Donaghy — the man who secretly bet on and rigged games he officiated…
- Follow the Lies: Fraud & Deceit Uncovered
Episode 5: The $9 Billion Blood Test Lie — How Charisma Fooled Silicon Valley
Episode Overview In this episode, former FBI Special Agent Kevin Barrows takes you inside one of the most audacious corporate frauds in modern history- the…
- Follow the Lies: Fraud & Deceit Uncovered
Episode 4: The $65 Billion Lie — How Madoff Fooled Wall Street for Decades
Episode Overview In this episode, former FBI Special Agent Kevin Barrows takes you inside the largest Ponzi scheme in history, the Bernard Madoff $65 billion…
- Follow the Lies: Fraud & Deceit Uncovered
Episode 3: The $350 Million Sports Memorabilia Fraud — One Man’s Forged Empire
Episode Overview In 2025, a single Indiana dealer allegedly flooded the sports memorabilia market with millions of counterfeit autographed items—forged…
- Follow the Lies: Fraud & Deceit Uncovered
Episode 2: Help Desk Worker Stole 33,000 Identities — Largest Identity Theft Ring in America
Episode Overview In the early 2000s, a single help-desk worker at a credit-reporting company quietly handed over thousands of confidential access codes…
- Follow the Lies: Fraud & Deceit Uncovered
Episode 1: The Largest Securities Fraud Takedown in U.S. History — How the Mob Rigged Wall Street
I’m Kevin Barrows, former FBI Special Agent and case agent on two of the largest white-collar investigations in U.S. history. I’ve been in the room where the…
- Follow the Lies: Fraud & Deceit Uncovered
Episode 1 Trailer
Former FBI Special Agent Kevin Barrows takes you inside real fraud cases that changed lives and markets. Episode 1 dives into Operation Uptick: the mob's…