Tag: fraud

Documentary: Hillsong: A Megachurch Exposed

The decline of a megachurch, and an empire

A church behaving badly is not all that unique, and the Hillsong megachurch is one of the more recent examples. Hillsong: A Megachurch Exposed sheds light on the illegal and un-Christian activities that stood in the way of the church’s goal to take over the world.

Hillsong’s lofty aims were to reach past the worlds of religion and music into realms of higher education and film, and across continents. Impeding these goals were the misdeeds of its pastors and staff, who were involved in sexual misconduct, financial fraud, sexual abuse, and even rape, misdeeds that filtered up into its highest levels to Brian Houston, its former senior pastor, and his father, Frank Houston, Hillsong’s founder.

The four-episode docuseries (featured on Discovery+) starts by laying out the promise of Hillsong, its celebrity congregants, and its expansion, then uncovers the sexual misconduct and affairs of New York City pastor Carl Lentz. Episodes first recount Hillsong’s origins in Australia, its supposed culture of openness, its preaching of the prosperity gospel, and its loyal volunteers. Later episodes show how this dream disintegrated into lies, scandal, fraud, and criminal charges.

Documentary: The Tinder Swindler

The story of con artist Simon Leviev

A brand-new con exists, one that preys on those looking for love online: romance scams. Netflix’s The Tinder Swindler details the story of Simon Leviev, who conned women he dated—and others—out of millions of dollars to support his lavish lifestyle. He met women on the dating app Tinder, and at first, seemed like the perfect rich boyfriend, showering them with fancy dinners, expensive hotels, and flights on private jets. And by pretending to be rich, he laid the foundation for the lies that convinced girlfriends, friends, and others to give him money, lies about enemies out to get him and needing to avoid using his own bank accounts and credit cards.

Leviev was eventually exposed for his dirty deeds by some of the women he cheated, and they worked with a Norwegian newspaper, VG, to reveal his fraudulent activities and warn the world about him.

The Tinder Swindler is a warning about online dating, believing what you see online, and trusting someone who is too good to be true. Who is so bad, in fact, that you might lose your life savings over them.

Documentary: Bad Vegan: Fame. Fraud. Fugitives.

A vegan restaurateur gets scammed by a practiced con artist

Stories like the one in Bad Vegan are almost unbelievable, that one person could fall for so many lies and end up in the trap of scammer only interested in draining them of all of their money. Somehow the charisma and storytelling abilities of such a con artist can exceed all logic and rationality and even the most intelligent person can fall prey.

In Bad Vegan, vegan restaurateur Sarma Melngailis was the target. Melngailis met Shane Fox on social media, who claimed to be involved in black ops and covert activities, and they began a friendship, then a relationship. They met in person, and he made grand promises: to wipe out her restaurant debt, to make her dog immortal, to make her the queen of some secret society. If only she’d send him money. To prove herself. Which she did, many times.

The story isn’t so much about her veganism—that is only a small part—but how Fox, whose real name is Anthony Strangis, manipulated, brainwashed, and conned Melngailis out of $1.7 million, as well as scamming her mother, her investors, and causing her vegan restaurant business to go under.

Melngailis is the main interviewee for this four-part Netflix documentary, along with former employees from her restaurant, a reporter, and her family members. Strangis, while not interviewed directly for the film, appears in conversations she secretly recorded after the scam.

It’s a cautionary tale, and if you think you’d be immune to a con like this, pay close attention. It could happen to anyone.

Documentary: Anatomy of Lies

The story of Grey’s Anatomy writer Elisabeth Finch

It started with a cancer diagnosis. A purported tragedy that was really a lie. Then came more lies, which multiplied and seemed to take on a life of their own, branching out like a gnarled and diseased tree that fed on whatever was around it. You may have heard of pathological liars, or may even know one, but this story reveals the why and how behind one such person’s machinations.

Anatomy of Lies is the story of TV writer Elisabeth Finch, a story that is as shocking as any murder case, and with deeds as pathological as a serial killer. The documentary will lead you through the web of lies told by Finch, who wrote for Grey’s Anatomy and pilfered the lives of those around her for episodes, constructed fake, tragic stories about her own life to garner attention and sympathy, and seemed unable to stop, until one fateful day when her teetering world of lies came crashing down.

Told through three episodes, the Peacock documentary features many clips from Finch’s podcast interviews and magazine articles about her so-called tragedies, interviews with fellow writers from Grey’s Anatomy, and interviews with her former wife and children. (Finch herself does not appear in the documentary.)

Made more interesting because of her status as a writer and co-executive producer on the TV drama, Anatomy of Lies will keep you engaged to the very end.