Giancarlo Parretti: The Italian Job

Summary

Scamfluencers: Giancarlo Perretti - The Italian Job

Episode Release Date: March 31, 2025
Hosts: Scaachi Koul and Sarah Hagi
Source: Wondery

---

Introduction

In this gripping episode of Scamfluencers, hosts Scaachi Koul and Sarah Hagi delve deep into the tumultuous rise and meteoric fall of Giancarlo Perretti, an Italian businessman who audaciously scampered to the pinnacle of Hollywood's elite. Their storytelling weaves through the intricate web of deceit, financial manipulations, and unbridled ambition that defined Perretti's infamous career.

---

Early Life and Entry into Business

Giancarlo Perretti, born in 1941 in Orvieto, Italy, presents a murky origin story. While most records suggest he was the son of an olive merchant, Perretti claims he was abandoned at birth and spent his early years in an orphanage until adoption revealed discrepancies during later investigations. By 1958, a 17-year-old Perretti finds himself as a waiter on the Queen Elizabeth ocean liner, a position he later disputes, exposing his penchant for fabricating his past.

Perretti (BBC Documentary): "I was abandoned as an infant on the steps of a church. I spent five years in an orphanage until a local woman adopted me."

Rise to Power in Italy

Through a combination of charm and relentless hustling, Perretti catches the eye of Graziano Versato, a powerful Sicilian politician and businessman with mob ties. By 1975, Perretti inherits Versato’s business interests, including a local soccer team, amidst rumors of mafia affiliations—a claim Perretti vehemently denies. Throughout the '70s and '80s, he expands his empire by acquiring and bankrupting various businesses, including newspapers like Il d'ario and a French newspaper, amassing a significant criminal record without facing substantial legal consequences.

Sachi Cole: "Nobody knows how to make money on news."
Sarah Hagi: "Tale as old as time."

Partnership with Florio Fiorini

In 1987, Perretti partners with Florio Fiorini, an accountant turned financial mastermind with deep connections in Europe’s oil and finance sectors. Their dynamic duo resembles Pinky and the Brain, with Perretti as the flamboyant frontman and Fiorini orchestrating their complex financial schemes behind the scenes. Together, they establish an extensive network of shell companies to launder money and obscure their illicit activities.

Billy Crystal (Oscar Joke at [03:15]): "From now on, the lion is not gonna roar. He's gonna be taking the fifth."

Entry into Hollywood and the MGM Deal

By the late '80s, Perretti sets his sights on Hollywood, leveraging his connections to secure a loan from CLBN, the Dutch arm of Credit Lyonnaise, to bid $1.25 billion for MGM Studios—a historic yet financially struggling entity. Despite skepticism from industry insiders and media scrutiny highlighting his dubious financial sources, Perretti manipulates brokerages and secures the deal, celebrating with extravagant parties and lavish expenditures.

Scaachi Cole (at [42:02]): "Despite having done this show for such a long time and we've covered so many scammers, I'm always shocked at how people are able to fundraise like this."

Downfall Begins: Legal Scrutiny and Mismanagement

Perretti’s lack of genuine knowledge about the film industry leads to catastrophic mismanagement at MGM. With studios incurring daily deficits, missed payments to stars like Dustin Hoffman and Sean Connery, and the infamous publicized incident where he asks for a favorite movie only to claim ignorance of classics like Gone with the Wind, his facade starts to crumble.

Amid increasing legal pressures from both Italian authorities investigating his past frauds and the Dutch central bank scrutinizing CLBN’s risky investments, Perretti's empire teeters on the brink of collapse. Attempts to secure additional funding through forged Picasso drawings result in further financial losses and shattered trust within his network.

Scaachi Cole (at [55:53]): "It's kind of his."

Final Acts and Legacy

In a desperate bid to salvage his deteriorating empire, Perretti orchestrates one last monumental deal to secure MGM, relying on fraudulent loans and deceitful backroom dealings. However, his overreach leads to his conviction for fraud in absentia in Italy, and subsequent legal battles force him to flee the United States. Despite numerous investigations across continents and an Interpol red notice, Perretti escapes severe punishment, returning to Italy where he remains a controversial figure.

Scaachi Cole (at [59:34]): "It's easier than making good work. So rob a bank."

---

Hosts' Reflections

Scaachi Koul and Sarah Hagi reflect on the ease with which Perretti manipulated the Hollywood and financial sectors, highlighting systemic vulnerabilities that enable such scammers to thrive. They discuss the broader implications of Perretti’s story on the perception of legitimacy within creative industries and the often-blurred lines between genuine success and orchestrated deceit.

Sarah Hagi: "Many industries, Hollywood is kind of based on inventing value of certain actors or businesses or studios and creating a hype machine around it."

---

Conclusion

Giancarlo Perretti's saga serves as a cautionary tale of ambition unchecked by integrity, illustrating how charm and deceit can orchestrate monumental rises and spectacular falls within the glamorous yet treacherous landscape of Hollywood. Scamfluencers meticulously unpacks every twist and turn of Perretti's journey, providing listeners with a comprehensive understanding of one of Hollywood's most audacious con artists.

---

Notable Quotes:

• Billy Crystal ([03:15]): "From now on, the lion is not gonna roar. He's gonna be taking the fifth."
• Sachi Cole ([55:53]): "It's kind of his."
• Scaachi Cole ([42:02]): "Despite having done this show for such a long time and we've covered so many scammers, I'm always shocked at how people are able to fundraise like this."
• Sarah Hagi ([59:34]): "It's easier than making good work. So rob a bank."

---

Sources Referenced in Episode:

• How an Italian Thug Looted MGM, Brought Peretti to Its Knees and Made the Pope Cry by David McClintock in Fortune Magazine
• A Hollywood Mystery by Alan Citron and Michael Siepley in LA Times
• BBC Documentary: The Man Who Definitely Didn't Steal Hollywood directed by John Dower

---

For more compelling stories of deception and fraud, listen to Scamfluencers on the Wondery App or wherever you get your podcasts.

Transcript

[Sarah Hagie]

Wondery subscribers can listen to Scamfluencers early.

[Sachi Cole]

And ad free right now. Join Wondery in the Wondery app or Apple Podcasts.

[Sarah Hagie]

Wondry. Sachi, I know you love power. What would you do if you were suddenly in charge of a movie studio?

[Sachi Cole]

Every movie would be a sequel to RoboCop. RoboCop would be 50 Cent. I would be RoboCop's love interest. The movies are 70 to 10 hours long. No cuts.

[Sarah Hagie]

Okay. As you know, I never want to be in charge of anything, ever. I am a proud follower. But I think I would maybe reboot Mr. Bean. Like he kind of united the world if you think about it. Oh yeah?

[Sachi Cole]

What if Mr. Bean and RoboCop had a crossover and then they fell in love?

[Sarah Hagie]

Oh, Mr. Bean doesn't have those feelings. But maybe he could teach RoboCop the ways of the world.

[Sachi Cole]

No. They have to kiss.

[Sarah Hagie]

Okay. Well. Sad. I think you'll be pleased to know I am bringing you yet another Hollywood scam story. Today's story is about a guy who claims to have started from nothing and yet managed to scam his way to the top of Hollywood's most iconic studios. You are going to Love this. It's March 1990, and Hollywood's Dorothy Chandler Pavilion is crackling with excitement. That's right, sachi. It's the 62nd annual Academy Awards and the show is just about to start. The enormous theater is packed with gorgeous A listers and Hollywood bigwigs. Everyone's in their gowns and tuxedos, ready to celebrate the hottest films of 1989. For one audience member, this is an extra special night. Giancarlo Peretti has just walked the red carpet for the very first time. Giancarlo is a stout, squat Italian businessman with aggressively parted black hair. And he's relatively new to Hollywood. He's been in LA for about a year and he's made the most of it. When he's not hanging out at the private dance club he owns or holding lavish parties at his $9 million mansion, he's been trying to buy some of the biggest film studios in Hollywood. And just a few weeks ago, he made his wildest move yet. He agreed to pay more than $1 billion to buy MGM, the historic studio behind some of cinema's all time classics like Gone with the Wind and the wizard of Oz. And sure, the tabloids might be talking about Giancarlo's shady past and his legal issues back home, but at least they're talking about him. And now he's at Cinema's biggest night sitting with celebrities like Spike Lee, Tom Cruise and Morgan Freeman. The house lights go down, the music swells, and Billy Crystal walks out on stage. This is actually his first year hosting the Oscars. Billy starts firing off jokes. He talks about some of the night's big movies like Driving Miss Daisy and Tim Burton's Batman. He roasts Jack Nicholson and Shirley MacLaine. And then he makes this joke aimed squarely at Giancarlo.

[Billy Crystal]

And right here in town, Hollywood is definitely taking on a foreign flavor. And Australia knows 20th Century Fox. MGM is being bought by an Italian who's promised only one small change. From now on, the lion is not gonna roar. He's gonna be taking the fifth.

[Sachi Cole]

Billy Crystal's like award show pablum is so dorky. Like, in hindsight, this is such a ha cha cha joke. But the joke is basically that mgm, which as you know, Sarah, the emblem is lion, will now be in the mob and will have to take the fifth. Which is when you say that you can't incriminate yourself on stand.

[Sarah Hagie]

Yeah, I mean, it is a pretty niche joke, but it gets a huge reaction from the crowd because people in the entertainment business have followed the deal closely along with Giancarlo's legal issues. Everyone has the same question, where does all his money come from? But Giancarlo does not appreciate the joke. Giancarlo feels like he's being smeared with an anti Italian stereotype. His big night has been ruined all before the show even reaches its first commercial break. But for Giancarlo, Billy's jokes will soon be the least of his problems. Because once he takes ownership of mgm, he'll lead it into a debt laden tailspin and get the attention of law enforcement agencies all over the globe. Before it's all over, Giancarlo will have earned a place on Hollywood's walk of shame.

[N/A]

Sasha hated sand. The way it stuck to things for weeks. So when Maddie shared a surf trip on Expedia Trip Planner, he hesitated. Then he added a hotel with a cliffside pool to the plan. And they both spent the week in the water. You were made to follow your whims. We were made to help find a place on the beach with a pool and a waterfall and a soaking tub and of course, a great shower. Expedia made to travel.

When a young woman named Desiree vanishes without a trace, the trail leads to Kat Torres, a charismatic influencer with millions of followers. But behind the glamorous posts and inspirational quotes, a sinister truth unravels. Binge all episodes of Don't Cross Kat early and ad free on Wondery.

[Sarah Hagie]

From Wondery. I'm Sarah Hagie.

[Sachi Cole]

And I'm Sachi Cole.

[Sarah Hagie]

And this is Scamfluencers.

[N/A]

Come and give me your attention. I won't ever learn my lesson. Turn my speakers to 11. I feel like a legend.

[Sarah Hagie]

The American film industry has always had a dark side. But when Giancarlo Peretti arrives in Los angeles in the 80s, it's in a haze of financial crimes so flagrant that even the sketchiest Hollywood executives take notice. Like all legendary Hollywood figures, Giancarlo makes business look glamorous. He cut deals with foreign banks on yachts and bought himself a dance club so he could party till sunrise. But while he basks in the spotlight behind the scenes, the FBI and Interpol start connecting the dots of his global scheme. An enormous financial scam involving a French bank, multiple European governments, and shady characters on at least two continents. I'm calling this one. Giancarlo Peretti, the Italian job legend. Giancarlo's story starts way before Billy Crystal's Oscar debut. A few decades earlier. 17 year old Giancarlo Peretti is scrambling to put all his orders in. It's 1958 and he's a waiter on the Queen Elizabeth, a transatlantic ocean liner. Serving the ship's upper class guests gives him the chance to rub elbows with people he could never meet in his tiny hometown. Giancarlo was born in 1941 in Orvieto, Italy. Like many of the scammers we cover, it's hard to pin down exact details of his early life. Most reports say he was the son of an olive merchant. But in the BBC documentary the man who Definitely Didn't Steal Hollywood, Giancarlo claims he was abandoned as an infant on the steps of a church. He says he spent five years in an orphanage until a local woman adopted him. Giancarlo also says that in his teens, he worked as a waiter at a fancy hotel in London. According to him, he became the personal waiter of one of his regular customers. Winston Churchill. A reporter for Spy magazine once contacted the company that owned the Queen Elizabeth and the London restaurant where Giancarlo says he worked. And neither had any record of him working there.

[Sachi Cole]

Oh, okay, good stuff.

[Sarah Hagie]

Start.

[Sachi Cole]

Good lying. Start.

[Sarah Hagie]

Whatever the truth actually is, it's clear that Giancarlo loves to give himself a cinematic origin story. But there is no denying he is a hustler. A friend who really did work with him at a restaurant in Orviedo. Later told the BBC that, quote, all he wanted was money. Giancarlo's dedication on the cruise ship catches the attention of a man named Graziano Versato. Graziano is a powerful politician and businessman who looks a bit like an Italian Wallace Shawn. He's about two decades older than Giancarlo and admires his work ethic. Before long, Graziano offers a young man a job at his hotel he owns back in Sicily. Giancarlo takes a gig, and pretty soon he and Graziano become close. We don't know exactly how involved Giancarlo is in Graziano's business at this point, but in 1975, a police investigation reveals that Graziano's been running money for a notorious mob boss. Sometime after this, Graziano winds up getting shot in the arm. It's allegedly a fake assassination attempt to delay prosecution. And when he's in the hospital, Giancarlo is right there at his bedside. As soon as he recovers, Graziano leaves Italy, and his wife puts Giancarlo in charge of all the business interests he's left behind, including a local soccer team. Giancarlo has denied that he ever had ties to the Mafia, but he does pay the team every week from a bag full of cash.

[Sachi Cole]

Oh, so now if you pay somebody in cash in a bag, mysteriously you're a part of the mob? It's a little anti Italian.

[Sarah Hagie]

I mean, cash is king, so I have no issues with that.

[Sachi Cole]

Cash is king.

[Sarah Hagie]

Well, now that Graziano's properties are under his control, Giancarlo has the capital and connections to start his own business career. And it seems like he's found his calling. Throughout the 70s and 80s, he buys and sells all kinds of businesses. Banks, insurance companies, and tons of hotels. He even starts a chain of newspapers called Il d'ario, which runs for a few years before going bankrupt. And then in the mid-80s, he takes over a French newspaper and bankrupts it within a year.

[Sachi Cole]

Nobody knows how to make money on news.

[Sarah Hagie]

Tale as old as time, eh?

[Sachi Cole]

Tale as old as time.

[Sarah Hagie]

But while he's doing all of this, he's also building up his criminal record. By the end of the 80s, Giancarlo's convictions range from conspiring to commit bodily harm to violating securities law to straight up fraud. Weirdly, though, nothing ever seems to stick. It could be Giancarlo's connection to Graziano, the corrupt state of Italian politics in the 80s, or just a lax justice system. But he never faces any serious consequences. It probably doesn't hurt that when Giancarlo was running his first newspaper. He became close friends with a few political power players, which comes in handy when he's caught trying to withdraw money from a bank using forged documents. Luckily, an Italian government minister sends an accountant to pay back the money Giancarlo tried to steal. And then the bank drops their charges. Giancarlo's connections are obviously great for helping him stay in business and out of prison. And they're about to introduce him to the perfect partner for his next set of business ventures in a new industry. The movies. It's 1987 at the glamorous Intercontinental Hotel in Paris. The wealthy and well connected are enjoying breakfast when Florio Fiorini starts screaming at his business partner. Giancarlo Florio is a short businessman with a round face and square glasses. He's actually the accountant who helped Giancarlo get out of trouble that time. He forged bank documents. And while most people might be put off by the idea of doing business with someone they met under these circumstances, Florio is not most people. He's a financial whiz with ties to the oil business. And Fortune magazine will later call him corporate quote, one of the biggest, if not the biggest, political briber and money launderer in Europe. Giancarlo and Florio are kind of a classic odd couple. Giancarlo is dramatic and extravagant, while Florio stays behind the scenes organizing most of their financial deals. Here's how a journalist who knew them at the time described their dynamic in the BBC documentary.

[Billy Crystal]

They were sort of like a traveling road show. Peretti would dominate attention, while Ferrini would be quiet. But he would be intelligent and answer questions. Precisely. Ferrini was more or less a normal person. Peretti was extraordinary in every way.

[Sachi Cole]

They sound like Pinky and the brain.

[Sarah Hagie]

Exactly. This is a classic pairing for a reason. This works anyway. The partnership does work well. Mostly they buy existing businesses and strip them for parts. But they also set up an enormous network of shell companies to hide and obscure any shady dealings. This network is actually so enormous that Giancarlo keeps a double sided flowchart in his house just to keep track of all the company names. Lately, Florio and Giancarlo have been dipping their toes into an industry that's brand new to both of them. The movies. Last year, a Catholic organization Giancarlo had worked with in the past asked for help producing a movie called Bernadette. It's about a French peasant girl who sees a vision of the Virgin Mary and eventually becomes a saint. Giancarlo doesn't really care about movies, but he does love that the production process brings him into contact with one of the biggest A listers in the world, the Pope. According to Giancarlo, they screen the film at the Vatican, and when it's over, everyone in the audience has to sit in silence for five minutes because the Pope can't stop crying.

[Sachi Cole]

Is it a rule that you can't do or say anything if the Pope is crying?

[Sarah Hagie]

I feel like maybe it's just you're kind of caught off guard by the Pope crying, you know? Well, regardless of the Pope's emotional state, the religious material makes Florio uncomfortable. He wants them to take their names off the movie and separate themselves from the production. So Giancarlo recently met with Cannon Group, Inc. The American distributor in charge of Bernadette, to see if he could sell their stake in the movie. But he came away from that meeting with a new idea. And this morning, Giancarlo is explaining it to Florio. He says they should buy Canon. Florio thinks this is a very bad idea. Cannon is currently being investigated by the SEC for fraud. They're carrying almost a billion dollars in debt, and they're teetering on the edge of bankruptcy. Sachi, can you read what Florio yells at Giancarlo over their fancy hotel breakfast?

[Sachi Cole]

He says, paretti, may God strike you dead. I send you to sell a movie, and you come back wanting to buy a whole studio with a billion dollars in debt. Sarah, I cannot stress how much a billion dollars is in the 80s. It is so much money.

[Sarah Hagie]

I love the may God strike you dead. You know, it's like.

[Sachi Cole]

That's classic immigrant stuff.

[Sarah Hagie]

Yeah, you would say that. You know, they're already in the religious mindset.

[Sachi Cole]

Yeah, that seems about right for these guys.

[Sarah Hagie]

Well, Giancarlo keeps making his case. He points out that Canon's not just a production company. They're also the largest movie theater operator in Europe. Giancarlo thinks they can make some serious money off this part of the business if they can pick it up for cheap right now. Plus, they'd be sitting on valuable real estate all across Europe. The more Giancarlo explains his idea, the more Florio has to admit there are upsides. By the end of breakfast, Florio is in. But there's one more hurdle to clear. To buy Canon, they'll need to get approval from Cannon's bank, and this could be an issue. Florio and Giancarlo have no trouble bribing and cheating in Italy. But this is a bigger international deal, and their sketchy past could raise major red flags for a bank. Lucky for them, they're about to find someone on the inside who's just as ready to break the rules as they are. Not long after that dramatic breakfast, Giancarlo is at the Cannes Film Festival in the south of France. He's surrounded by movie stars, high powered executives, and even royalty. Princess Diana is here. All across the city, people are mixing business with pleasure. They're partying at premieres and making big deals. And Giancarlo is ready to join them. Today, he's waiting in a corner room at the Carlton hotel with the two men who currently own Cannon. They're here to talk with a bank executive about Giancarlo's proposal to buy the company. The guy they're meeting is named Franz Ahfman. Franz is a Dutch banker in his early 50s, and he looks like a completely smooth Woody Harrelson. He's also one of the most powerful people in the film industry right now. That's because in the 80s, a single European bank was one of the biggest sources of money for all Hollywood studios. The bank is called clbn. It's the Dutch arm of a French bank called Credit Lyonnaise. Under Franz's direction, CLBN has lent out almost $800 million to the American film industry over the last few years. This would be a little over 2 billion in today's dollars. France has given money to the companies who produced the Terminator, Superman, and Rambo, among other blockbusters.

[Sachi Cole]

Yeah, I mean, those are big movies. Those are undoubtedly big movies. And if they had not been made, our culture would be very different, and perhaps we would not have the robocops that we have now.

[Sarah Hagie]

Yeah, that makes total sense. Franz is also known for finding, let's say, creative workarounds for his clients. He's given out millions of dollars without asking for proper documentation, and he's not above saving a little of that money for himself. One year at Cannes, someone claims they saw him literally take a huge envelope of cash from a film exec on a yacht. Though, of course, Franz denies this ever happened. So Giancarlo has every reason to expect that this guy is going to be on his same shady level. But the second Franz walks into the room, the vibes are off. Before Franz even sits down, Giancarlo is doing what comes most naturally to him. Offering a bribe. But Franz doesn't seem that into it. He looks uncomfortable. And it only gets worse from there. All through their meeting, Giancarlo keeps Staring at Franz's female assistant, gesturing at his crotch to try and get her attention. To Giancarlo, this is just normal business stuff. But by the end of the meeting, Franz says outright that Giancarlo and Florio can't buy canon. Giancarlo is shocked and angry. He can't figure out what went wrong.

[Sachi Cole]

This is the part of a scam that always bums me out when someone is deceptive already, clearly, but also like a piece of shit. So unfortunately, now we have somebody who is a liar and gross.

[N/A]

Yeah.

[Sarah Hagie]

And Giancarlo doesn't do any self reflection. He decides he needs to talk to Franz's boss. So the next day, he, Florio and the Cannon guys all head out to a meeting with Georges Vijean, the head of clbn. They sit down on a beautiful sunlit hotel terrace. And unlike yesterday, this meeting goes really well. George is younger than Franz, even though he's his boss. He's in his early 40s, with slicked back hair, a pointy nose and thick glasses. He looks kind of nerdy, but he's actually an ex Foreign Legion paratrooper who once killed an enemy soldier with his own bayonet. And he seems like he commands a lot of respect in the film industry. All through their lunch, Giancarlo watches as stars and big time producers drop by the table to chat. Giancarlo even gets to flirt with a few actresses. Best of all, whatever rubbed Franz the wrong way doesn't seem to bother George at all. By the end of the lunch meeting, he's agreed to let Giancarlo and Florio buy Cannon. And not only that, he's going to give them an extra $250 million to get the company back on its FE.

[Sachi Cole]

I love that slimeball sees slimeball. And they are willing to share millions of dollars and power and control over something that I don't think either of them are equipped to run. Perfect.

[Sarah Hagie]

You know, it's exactly what you said. Game recognized game, Sachi. And of course, Giancarlo is thrilled. After they make the deal, as a thank you, he gives a bunch of CLBN employees drawings that he says are original works by Picasso. Then he flies George and his family to Bora Bora on a private jet for a nice vacation. The future is looking bright. Giancarlo's got money, a foothold in the movie business, and a boss who understands his vision. But his dreams are about to come up against an opponent who can't be bribed, seduced or intimidated. The Dutch Government. A few months after Khan, Georges is facing uncomfortable questions about CLBN's habit of lending lots of money to Hollywood studios. The Dutch central bank, which is like the Netherlands version of the US Federal Reserve, has finally noticed just how much CLBN is investing in Hollywood. They say the bank is concentrating too much money on risky investments in a single industry. And they tell George to diversify the bank's portfolio. But he doesn't want to do this. He likes the power and prestige of Hollywood. In fact, he likes it so much that he just put $30 million into yet another film studio. And it doesn't hurt that the kickbacks he got from this investment were enough to pay for his new yacht. Thankfully, George did a background check on Giancarlo and Florio. After their luncheon con. He learned that they have incredibly checkered pasts, including allegations of fraud and bribery. He also knows they own a huge network of interconnected shell companies, presumably so they can move money without investigators nosing around. So in response to the Dutch central bank's warning, George reaches out to his new Italian partners and asks if he can start funneling some of the bank's money into their shell accounts. And of course, Giancarlo and Florio are more than happy to help. After all, what's a little money laundering between friends?

[Sachi Cole]

Sarah, I am always saying this to you.

[Sarah Hagie]

It's a sign of respect if your friend helps you launder money. And you know what? George's plan works. The shell companies give him the shield he's looking for. Soon enough, CLBN is able to go back to business as usual. In fact, it all works so well that around this time, George actually gets a promotion. Credit Lyonnais, the bank that owns clbn, makes him their head of European lending. But this isn't going to stop George from focusing a lot of his attention and energy on Hollywood. Now that George is one of the most powerful men in European finance, the stage is set for him and his two Italian proteges to take Hollywood by storm. They've successfully taken over one studio, but they're not done yet. And they're going to go follow the playbook of every sequel in Hollywood by going bigger.

[N/A]

Are you looking for a new job or want a career change? Look no further than monster.com need a little help standing out? Our expert resume writing services will make sure you shine. Want to brush up on your interview skills? Engage with our AI Interview prep tool. Want some advice on negotiating your new salary? Visit our salary tools and extensive library of career advice articles and you'll have all the tips and tricks you'll need to succeed. Visit monster.com today and take the first step towards your career. Monster.com find your right job fit.

Hey, it's a Martinez. I work on a news show and yeah, the news can feel like a lot on any given day, but you just can't ignore La Noticias when important world changing events are happening. So that is where the Up first podcast comes in. Every single morning in under 15 minutes we take the news and boil it down to three essential stories. Listen to the upverse podcast from npr.

I feel like a legend.

[Sarah Hagie]

The first thing Giancarlo and Florio do with Canon, their new Hollywood production company, is actually pretty surprising. They make a good business move. They take a portion of the $250 million they got from CLBN and pay off some of Cannon's debt. This ensures the company won't go bankrupt. Yet. With Cannon back on more solid footing, Giancarlo feels free to start dipping into the company's coffers and living the high life. In 1988, Giancarlo moves to Los Angeles with his wife and their three kids. He starts spending a lot of time with a new friend, the producer and fellow Italian expat, Dino De Laurentiis Saatchi. Have you heard of this guy?

[Sachi Cole]

No, but he sounds like somebody who worked with like Al Pacino, am I right?

[Sarah Hagie]

You know what? You are right. He does have a Pacino connection. And even if you don't know him by name, you have seen his work. Dino's produced a huge range of Hollywood movies, including Blue Velvet and Serpico, which starred Al Pacino. He's famous for taking big swings on ambitious projects, and now he's taking a big swing on Giancarlo. Dino introduces him to other Hollywood bigwigs and even lets Giancarlo host a party at his lavish hilltop estate. Giancarlo immediately starts trying to live like his new mentor. He buys a two hundred thousand dollar brown Rolls Royce just like the one Dino drives and even takes over his friend's luxurious office on Wilshire Boulevard. But Giancarlo doesn't stop there. He buys himself a private jet and he moves his family into a $9 million house with seven bedrooms, a tennis court and a pool. The walls are hung with art he tells his guests are original works by Goya, Miros and Picasso, just like the drawings he gave to the CLBN executives as gifts. Now that he's got a home base in Hollywood, Giancarlo throws huge bashes at his Mansion. He serves his guests pasta, expensive wine and cigars. When he gets frustrated that Hollywood clubs don't stay open as late as the Italian ones he's used to, he buys himself a private members only the nightclub called Tramp. And he quickly becomes a regular on the dance floor of his own club. When he's not out dancing, he's hanging out at an upscale restaurant called Madeo. People stop by to pay their respects, just like they did at George's table. Back at Cannes, Giancarlo is finally living his A list dream. All paid for with CLBN loan money that's meant to be financing Cannon Productions. Around this time, Giancarlo also picks up another cliched and extremely disturbing Hollywood habit. He puts three young Italian actresses on the canon payroll, including a former Miss Universe contestant. One magazine later reports that these women are actually his, quote, mistresses, and that they've been paid to service him sexually. He buys them jewelry and promises them acting lessons, which of course, never happen, never mind any actual parts in movies. However, when Giancarlo tries to grope Dino De Laurentiis daughter Rafaela at a party, she reportedly punches him in the face.

[Sachi Cole]

Hell yeah. Appropriate response. In fact, perhaps not even enough. She should have done it twice.

[Sarah Hagie]

The most appropriate response. In December of 1988, Giancarlo hosts a massive, massive Christmas party at his mansion. He even flies George in from Europe. And his generosity doesn't stop there. In the middle of the party, he gathers a few of his closest friends, including George and another CLBN executive, into the library. There, he presents them with a special Christmas gift. Stock certificates for a publicly traded company he's just acquired. The mechanics of this are complicated, but basically, in a few months, Giancarlo's production company is going to buy up this company and use the acquisition to funnel a bunch of money into the pockets of its owners. In this case, his friends at the bank. It's essentially a huge bribe. The next day, just to seal the deal, he flies Georges out to Bora Bora again. All of this is classic Giancarlo. Bold, extravagant and incredibly illegal. And it works. Before the end of the year, CLBN extends Giancarlo's line of credit. Their business dealings and their fates are only getting more intertwined. And eventually, it's going to have serious consequences for everyone involved. By 1990, Giancarlo has made himself a player in Hollywood. But the American media doesn't know what to make of him. When he appears on Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous, host Robin Leach calls him the new king of Hollywood. But the LA Times interviews one industry insider who says that, quote, he mostly talks about food, movies, and his private plane. And even this doesn't seem totally true. Giancarlo doesn't really know anything about movies. In one interview around this time, he has to ask a PR person what he should say his favorite movie is. When she suggests Gone with the Wind, he says he's never heard of it.

[Sachi Cole]

That's obviously bad for a movie executive, but I will say a lot of movie executives don't watch movies. They don't know what makes a good one, and all they talk about is food and their plane.

[Sarah Hagie]

Yeah, it seems like he's honestly fitting right in.

[Sachi Cole]

Yeah.

[Sarah Hagie]

Even though he doesn't seem to know much about movies. Giancarlo has told reporters he wants to take charge of some of the biggest production companies in Hollywood, as well as the French company Pathe Cinema. Pate is actually the second oldest film company in the world and they own the work of a lot of important European directors. Taking over Pathe would be a huge feather in Giancarlo's cap and might even earn him the respect of Hollywood's elites. Giancarlo wants to own Pathe so badly, he literally changes Cannon's name to Pathe Communications Corporation. It's like the business equivalent of calling his shot. He also hires a well respected Hollywood exec named Alan Ladd Jr. To run the company's film unit and give him an air of legitimacy. He makes a $150 million bid for Pathet, and the deal actually goes pretty far until the French government steps in. Now, the details of this whole thing are a little messy. Some newspapers at the time report that Giancarlo's bid to buy the company was successful. But it seems like the French government intervenes after he had already put the money in, but before he could fully take control. CLBN might not have minded Giancarlo's sketchy past, but the country of France apparently has higher standards.

[Sachi Cole]

Do you know how bad you have to be for France to be the governing body that stops you? Yeah, you have to be so bad.

[Sarah Hagie]

Yeah, you have to be pretty messed up. As all of this is going down, the Wall Street Journal runs a piece on Giancarlo's criminal past in Italy. And BusinessWeek runs a story claiming that Giancarlo has ties to the Mafia and that he's been laundering loan money through a network of shell companies. He puts out a statement denying all of this, but it's a huge Blow to the image he's trying to portray of a legit Hollywood player. And it's not just the press who are on his case. Back in Italy, the authorities have started to investigate the collapse of the newspaper chain that Giancarlo founded and then bankrupted. He's been charged with falsifying balance sheets. Giancarlo's not the only one with authorities breathing down his neck. The Dutch central bank has been getting on CLBN's case again. But this time they don't just issue a warning. They impose a limit on the amount of money the bank is allowed to give out to anyone. One client, of course. Georges. Giancarlo and Florio already have a system for dealing with this. They can just move money around into different shell companies to make it look like they're setting things right. So now all Giancarlo has to do is lay low and press pause on his crazy business deals until things settle down. But Giancarlo just can't help himself. And in the face of so much suspicion, he's about to make his biggest move yet. Sachi, when I say the name mgm, what do you think of?

[Sachi Cole]

I think about Leo the Lion, the mascot in the MGM logo, and his big roar.

[Sarah Hagie]

Yeah, that is undeniably iconic. And I don't know, it just seems like one of those things you are always aware of if you've seen movies, is the MGM logo and the fact that it's a big company. Right? Well, the studio has been around since the 20s and has been one of the most prestigious names in cinema. Their logo, as you mentioned, a roaring lion, is an iconic symbol of classic Hollywood. But by 1990, MGM is a shell of its former self. Over the previous few decades, the company has lost a ton of money, produced way fewer movies, and burned through multiple CEOs, including one guy they hired after he was fired from another studio for embezzlement. At this point, MGM is bleeding money and the owner is looking for someone to take it off his hands. So when Giancarlo and Florio offer $1.25 billion for MGM, the owner accepts with a few conditions. He doesn't trust that these two jokers actually have access to this much money. So he says they have to come up with it in four months. Until then, they have to pay him non refundable deposits of $50 million a month. It's a pretty high bar to clear. But Giancarlo agrees. The press reception around all this is skeptical, to say the least. The LA Times runs an article about How? Nobody in the industry thinks Giancarlo can really afford mgm. His company has been steadily losing money, and it's only produced one actual movie since he took charge. A Sean Connery Michelle Pfeiffer vehicle called the Russia House. Have you ever heard of this movie?

[Sachi Cole]

I did not know the two of them were in a movie. This feels like a fake 30 Rock movie. Honestly, looking at the poster, it feels.

[Sarah Hagie]

Like the kind of movie Netflix would make now and you'd never watch. Yeah, but actually, things are worse than these Hollywood insiders realize. There's no CLBN loan money left, which means Giancarlo and Florio have just agreed to an enormous business deal with absolutely no money. To follow through on it, Giancarlo will have to tap into all his connections and raise over $1 billion. It's a tall order, but Giancarlo gets off to a surprisingly promising start. An executive at Time Warner agrees to give him $650 million in exchange for video game rights to some of MGM's movies. The deal gets far enough along that Giancarlo gives the Time Warner exec one of his Picasso drawings he's famous for handing out as a thank you gift. But the guy wisely sends a drawing out to be insured and surprise, surprise, the appraiser tells him that it's a fake. The exec gets spooked and pulls out of the deal.

[Sachi Cole]

It's so funny. Cause I think, like, gifting the Picasso is such a common movie executive thing. There's like an old story about Robin Williams and how he took a pay cut when he did Aladdin under the condition that he wouldn't be used for a certain percentage of marketing products of merchandising. And they did it anyway. And then he didn't do the second movie. And then there was this changeover at Disney, and then the new executive gifted him a Picasso, so to get him to do the third movie. Which worked, which is why he is in the third movie and not in the second.

[Sarah Hagie]

And you know why that probably worked? Because it wasn't fake. Giancarlo is really messing up, and he doesn't have much time left to fund the MGM deal. But things are about to get even worse. The Italian authorities finished their investigation into the collapse of Giancarlo's newspaper, and he's convicted of fraud in absentia. He gets sentenced to three and a half years in prison. Back in Italy, Giancarlo appeals, but it's too late. The news travels across the Atlantic, and by awards season, Giancarlo's conviction has become juicy Hollywood gossip. This is when Billy Crystal makes that joke about him. At this point, everyone is tired of his antics and he's going from eccentric European mogul into LA laughing stock. But for Giancarlo, the show must go on. And it's his last desperate encore that will bring his whole life in Hollywood crashing down. About seven months after Giancarlo buys mgm, he's in a car with Florio in Palm Springs. They're heading home from a meeting with a potential investor after their funding from Time Warner fell through. They got an extension on raising money for the MGM deal. But they still have to pay that non refundable $50 million a month and they're hemorrhaging cash. They've managed to scrape together some deals, but they're still $600 million short and the clock is ticking. But the executive they just met with could be the answer to their prayers. He's an oil billionaire with an interest in media, and he's nice enough to send them back to the airport in a car with his own personal driver. But while Giancarlo and Florio discuss the meeting in the backseat, Giancarlo makes a series of incredibly anti semitic comments about the executive. He's speaking Italian, so he probably thinks he doesn't need to worry. But the limo driver also speaks Italian and can understand everything Giancarlo is saying. So when Giancarlo and Florio show up for their second meeting a few days later, the oil executive tells him he knows exactly what they said about him. Sachi, can you read what he says to them next?

[Sachi Cole]

He says, quote, you have a choice. You can get out of this office in the next 30 seconds or I'm going to throw you through this window.

[Sarah Hagie]

Perfect.

[Sachi Cole]

And that is also something that happens in robocop.

[Sarah Hagie]

Also. It's like after flying so high on his charms and all these idiotic things he did that put him up top and he keeps making these stupid mistakes right before a deal is like, all but signed.

[Sachi Cole]

It's good schadenfreude. I feel great.

[Sarah Hagie]

Well, he's still that same scrappy striver who made his way from an orphanage to the sound stages of Hollywood. So unbelievably, Giancarlo manages to pull together yet another deal. Giancarlo and Florio create an incredibly tangled web of loans, bribes and backroom deals. They disguise some of their shell companies as legitimate outside investors to make themselves look like a better prospect to potential partners. Giancarlo promises An Italian media company the rights to play MGM movies on TV and pay per view. And somehow they convince CLBN to lend them an obscene amount of money again. After weeks of desperate, desperate negotiating, they manage to cobble together a billion dollars to finally buy mgm. Giancarlo and Florio have no concrete plan to deliver on any of their promises or pay anyone back. But they don't care. All that matters is that they won. The deal closes on November 1, 1990.

[Sachi Cole]

Despite having done this show for such a long time and we've covered so many scammers, I'm always shocked at how people are able to fundraise like this, like how they were able to find this much money to buy something that they have no business owning.

[Sarah Hagie]

There are all these people out here with stupid amounts of money who are just willing to give it away knowing that they're dealing with a scammer. And yet here we are, just being normal. To celebrate, Giancarlo and Florio host a huge party on the Embassy MGM studio lot. Everybody pops champagne and a real 400 pound lion parades around the set. Apparently Giancarlo screams na me mangia when he sees it. That's Italian for don't eat me. After the party, he puts out a press release saying the company is going to be, quote, the most powerful Euro American communications group of the 90s. Again, against all odds, Giancarlo has pulled off a deal for the Hollywood history books. But unlike the grand epics of cinema, this moment doesn't spell the end. Giancarlo has written a lot of IOUs, and they're all about to come due.

[N/A]

In the 1950s, America was glued to its television screens, watching contestants battle it out for big money on quiz shows like 21 and the 64,000 Doll. But behind the scenes, producers were feeding answers to the most popular contestants to keep audiences hooked. Hi, I'm Lindsey Graham, the host of Wondry show American Scandal. We bring to life some of the biggest controversies in US history. Presidential lies, environmental disasters, corporate fraud. In our latest series, quiz shows dominate 1950s TV. Until a disgruntled contestant blows the whistle and reveals that the shows are rigged. Follow American Scandal on the Wondry app or wherever you get your podcasts. Experience all episodes ad free and be the first to binge the newest season only on Wondery. You can join Wondry in the Wondery app, Apple podcasts or Spotify. Start your free trial today.

[Sachi Cole]

Hey everyone.

[Sarah Hagie]

Sachi here and Sarah, you know those sketchy messages we all get? The job offers that seem too good to be true.

[Sachi Cole]

Well, we thought we'd seen every type of scam out there, but this story completely blew our minds.

[Sarah Hagie]

Those messages, they're actually coming from people trapped inside heavily guarded compounds, forced to scam others at gunpoint.

[Sachi Cole]

Scam Factory Wondry's riveting new series exposes a multi billion dollar criminal empire operating in plain sight.

[Sarah Hagie]

And this isn't your typical social media scam. Inside these compounds, armed guards ensure the only way out is to scam your way out.

[Sachi Cole]

And trust us, after covering countless scams, this story left even us shocked.

[Sarah Hagie]

Follow Scam Factory on the Wondery app or wherever you get your podcasts. You can binge all episodes of Scam Factory early and ad free right now by joining Wondery.

[N/A]

I feel like I.

[Sarah Hagie]

For Alan Ladd Jr. Being the head of film production at Pathe should be an exciting new chapter in his already storied career. Alan, whose friends call him Laddie, has a boyish face and a toothy grin. He's best known for having been the president of 20th Century Fox in the late 70s, where he famously greenlit the original Star Wars. He's a popular and respected guy in the industry. But on the very first day after Giancarlo takes over MGM Studios, Alan arrives at work and hears shocking news. Giancarlo's first order of business is to fire a ton of the company's financial staff. And then he installs his 21 year old daughter in a key finance position. Over the next few months, Alan watches in horror as things at MGM start to go steeply downhill. The studio starts running a deficit of $1 million per day. They bounce a six figure check to Dustin Hoffman, withhold a letter of credit to Sean Connery, and miss an important interest payment on one of their bonds.

[Sachi Cole]

I don't know that I would want to withhold money from Dustin Hoffman or Sean Connery. I would be worried about my personal safety.

[Sarah Hagie]

Well, Hollywood is a small town and word quickly gets out about Giancarlo's erratic behavior. A few months after buying mgm, he throws a huge gala dinner party, supposedly to raise money for something called sachi. It is called the National Council on the Aging.

[Sachi Cole]

In all fairness, I do think we need a council on Aging. The aging, whatever we are calling it.

[Sarah Hagie]

What does that mean?

[Sachi Cole]

I did look it up and a table was ten grand.

[Sarah Hagie]

What is the aging? Are you talking about Alzheimer's? Are you talking about dementia? Are you talking about. I think it's elder care. I think it's elder care on the aging.

[Sachi Cole]

Sure, he's English is not his first language.

[Sarah Hagie]

You're right. And also, this obviously doesn't exist. Therefore, who cares?

[Sachi Cole]

Yeah, it's not real. It's not worth getting mad about.

[Sarah Hagie]

Well, it should be a coronation for the new owner of mgm. But unlike the parties he hosted when he first got to Hollywood the guests here are C list at best. And the vibes are bad. Alan sits as far away from his boss as possible. In fact, Allen will later tell Vanity Fair that this is when he gets fed up with Giancarlo. Allen is preparing for the release of the movie Thelma and Louise. He knows he's got a hit on his hands. But MGM's messy state of affairs is making everything chaotic. At one point, production loses control of the literal film. A processing lab holds it hostage because Giancarlo refuses to pay them. Alan's been calling Giancarlo every day asking for money or at least some explanations. But of course, he hasn't been getting either. Alan's dream job is turning into a nightmare. He and everyone else at MGM are trapped in the car with Giancarlo as their new boss has his own showdown with the law. And soon, they're all going over the cliff. It's the spring of 1991 and Charles Meeker is starting to think he made a mistake taking on his new client, mgm. Charles is a Princeton graduate with a wide forehead and a square jawline. He's in his late 40s and he's a partner at an LA law firm working as an entertainment lawyer. He occasionally produces B horror movies on the side so he knows the movie business and how some of its shadier players operate. A few months ago, his firm got called in by CLBN to help them manage a delicate situation. CLBN was worried about MGM and its new owner, Giancarlo. A few of the studio's creditors have actually gotten together and threatened to sue. And if they're successful, MGM will have to pay $300 million of debt within 60 days. The company would go bankrupt which would invite a lot of unwanted government scrutiny. CLBN doesn't want anyone looking too closely at their banking relationship with Giancarlo. So they hire Charles to prevent this by negotiating a deal with the creditors. And he pulled it off. The only person who doesn't like this new arrangement is Giancarlo because as part of the deal, he gets demoted. He still works at mgm, but he's no longer the head of the company. Plus, Crediliones now has taken over voting control of a bunch of MGM stock But while Giancarlo is finally facing consequences for his stupidity, Charles is getting praised for pulling off this life saving deal. In May of 1991, CreditLiones asks Charles if he wants to be the president of mgm. He says yes. Charles probably knows that Giancarlo isn't going to enjoy having a new boss and things go south fast. Sachi, can you read what Giancarlo reportedly screamed at Charles after working for him for just one month? Yes.

[Sachi Cole]

He says, I want you to understand, Meekers, that I am really crazy. I want you to understand that I am really dangerous. I am very dangerous. Do you understand, Meekers? I'm very dangerous.

[Sarah Hagie]

I'm starting to think he might be a little dangerous.

[Sachi Cole]

I'm starting to think that's what he wants us to believe.

[Sarah Hagie]

Yeah, you don't have to tell me twice. Well, Charles has heard the rumors about Giancarlo's mafia ties. He also knows that Crediglione's executives have hired armed guards for security just in case. So when Giancarlo makes this threat, Charles takes it seriously. And he does the first reasonable thing any of Giancarlo's co workers have done so far. He calls the FBI and the sec. He even takes it a step further by hiring a retiring head of the FBI's LA bureau to start looking into Giancarlo independently. The authorities start investigating Giancarlo pretty much immediately, and of course he panics. On June 14, he tries to convene a board meeting to revoke the bank's control of MGM Credit. Lyones responds three days later by fully seizing control of the company and firing Giancarlo altogether. Charles probably isn't shocked when Giancarlo flees the country to escape all the ongoing investigations. So Charles turns his attention to running mgm. About a year later, he learns that Florio has been arrested in Switzerland and is being held on fraud charges related to one of their holding companies. Then Charles hears that American authorities are looking to press charges against officials at Credilie? Nez even while the bank sues Florio. About a year after Florio's arrest, Charles resigns as the head of mgm. He managed to negotiate a big time distribution deal for the company. But Cardigli? Nez is also actively working to sell the studio. Charles is getting out while the getting is good. Luckily, he has a great escape. He owns a winery in Sonoma. Finally, a couple of Years later, in October 1995, Giancarlo is caught. He is suspected of misappropriating $100 million meant to go to MGM. He was back in America to give a deposition in his lawyer's office in downtown Los Angeles. The BBC later asks him why he returned to the country where he was being investigated. Giancarlo says he had no fear because he didn't do anything wrong. Charles must finally breathe a sigh of relief and probably treats himself to a very generous pour of wine. But anyone hoping for a clear cut ending to this saga is going to be disappointed because Giancarlo has a different vision for his final act. Giancarlo's unraveling sets off a legal firestorm on both sides of the Atlantic. His web of crime spans multiple continents, branches of government and an enormous mess of companies. It's so complicated that different authorities start trying to pick it apart from different angles. In France, there's a massive investigation into fraud and conspiracies at Credit Lyonnes. The press jumps on the story of the bank's involvement with the imploding mgm. CLBN executives are forced to defend themselves in the press and in front of the government. And a few of them, including George, very quickly retirement. Others are reassigned to new posts in new countries. And Saatchi. You'll never believe this, but in the middle of all this scrutiny, the bank's headquarters mysteriously catch fire in May 1996.

[Sachi Cole]

This is the luckiest man in the world. I've never been so lucky.

[Sarah Hagie]

Sometimes fires just happen and there's no cause.

[Sachi Cole]

That's true. There is no reason. They just spontaneously erupt.

[Sarah Hagie]

Well, during all of this, Florio has been in a Swiss prison writing his memory memoirs on a typewriter. But Giancarlo is harder to pin down. After his arrest, he manages to get released from jail after just 10 days due to mistakes on his extradition paperwork from the French government. No one sees him in the US again until the fall of 1996, when he comes back to face charges relating to the whole MGM debacle. In October, he's convicted of perjury and evidence tampering. He's released on bail until his sentencing in the New Year, where he could face up to 10 years in prison. But of course, Giancarlo's always got one more trick up his sleeve. In January of 1997, just days before he's due to be sentenced, he jumps bail and goes back to Italy. In the BBC doc, his former PR agent says she had seen Giancarlo at at his house the night before. And this is what Giancarlo promised.

[Billy Crystal]

He said, I will defend my Name. I will defend my ownership. I will be there on my word. He fled that night.

[Sachi Cole]

Yeah, I bet he did.

[Sarah Hagie]

You know, he's really good at, like, doing the movie type lines of like, I'll defend my name. Of course I'll do this. And then being like, actually, I'm just gonna run.

[Sachi Cole]

It's kind of his.

[Sarah Hagie]

Well, Giancarlo puts out a statement through his lawyer arguing that he technically didn't do anything wrong since his bail agreement didn't prevent him from traveling. The press speculates that he's trying to avoid extradition, since he also has charges pending against him in France, where the punishment could be even more severe. There's an Interpol red notice out for him, which basically means that if he ever leaves Italy, he could be arrested and extradited to the United States to finally stand trial. So in one sense, he's trapped in Italy, but he also got away without serious consequences. Giancarlo Peretti managed to get out of this saga the way he went into it, blatantly scamming and not really getting punished for it. And, of course, he's managed to give his whole story a classic Hollywood ending. As of August 2024, a Hollywood producer is shopping a movie script based on his crimes. And in September, the BBC released its documentary about Giancarlo. He participated in the documentary telling his whole life story, but eventually he stopped talking to them because he didn't like the documentary's name. Sachi, you. You're kind of Hollywood adjacent in many ways. You know, you got all those documentaries. You're always on tv. Do you feel like you want to find a way to get a billion dollars now?

[Sachi Cole]

No, I don't think it's gonna come to me as easily as it seemed to come to these guys.

[Sarah Hagie]

I think you should be a little more charming, dude.

[Sachi Cole]

Oh, charm is not my problem. I have so many problems. That is the only thing keeping me afloat.

[Sarah Hagie]

That's why it's funny.

[Sachi Cole]

I mean, this is such a frustrating story because there's just a million dudes in movies who are like this and are not considered scammers and are considered actually moderately successful despite being full of shit.

[Sarah Hagie]

It's funny because you also mentioned at one point, like, a lot of execs don't watch movies or read books based on movies they're trying to get or whatever. And I feel like many industries, Hollywood is kind of based on inventing value of certain actors or businesses or studios and creating a hype machine around it. And I think what is so Crazy about this is, I guess, the involvement of real government, banks and officials who were all for it.

[Sachi Cole]

Yeah. I mean, I think the thing that bothers me about this scam is it's like there's all these places that are kind of in cahoots. Like, there are these investors who are feeding into it, banks that are feeding into it, other rich movie executives feeding into it, and then, like the entertainment industry that always feeds into this. It just feels like a scam where the material that you need to eat to keep the scam going is everywhere.

[Sarah Hagie]

Yeah. And it's not a scam until someone decides it is one. And then everyone jumps away and is like, actually, this is super bad and I'm not a part of it at all. Yes. It's crazy because people in Hollywood want so much respect as, like, legitimate business people and artists and whatever. Whatever. And then, you know, you read something like this and quite frankly, many other stories that involve some sort of Hollywood aspect. Everyone's just cosplaying as something else. No one's actually doing anything.

[Sachi Cole]

Yeah. I mean, that's an easy place to hide your fraud because the way movies are made is subjective and chaotic and expensive. It is easy to sort of just like, hide your money and hide the fact that you're full of shit.

[Sarah Hagie]

Yeah. And we've done quite a few episodes of this show, I'd say. And I think one common thread here is that it's really easy to scam anyone in a creative industry. It's actually the easiest thing you could do. It's easier than making good work.

[Sachi Cole]

Yeah. Greater likelihood of having a scam be successful than having your movie made, unfortunately. So rob a bank.

[Sarah Hagie]

Wow. What would you say your lesson is here? My lesson is that being Italian sounds fun.

[Sachi Cole]

Does it?

[Sarah Hagie]

They have fun insults. They have good turns of phrases, you know? Okay. Yeah. Okay.

[Sachi Cole]

Well, you be Italian and I will rob a bank.

[Sarah Hagie]

Um, I don't think I'm gonna be Italian, but let's just rob a bank. Who cares?

[Sachi Cole]

If you like scampflancers, you can listen to every episode early and ad free right now by joining Wondery in the Wondry app or on Apple Podcasts prime members can listen ad free on Amazon Music. Before you go, tell us about yourself by filling out a short [e-mail] survey.

[Sarah Hagie]

This is Giancarlo the Italian Job. I'm Sarah Haggie.

[Sachi Cole]

And I'm Sachi Kol. If you have a tip for us on a story that you think we should cover, please email us at. Scamflancersundry.com we use many sources in our research. A few that were particularly helpful were the how an Italian Thug Looted mgm, Brought Predilese to Its Knees and Made the Pope cry by David McClintock in Fortune magazine A Hollywood Mystery by Alan Citron and Michael Siepley in the LA Times and the BBC documentary the man who Definitely Didn't Stop Steel Hollywood, directed by John Dower.

[Sarah Hagie]

Emma Healy wrote this episode. Additional writing by us Sachi Cole and Sarah Hagie. Eric Thurm is our story editor. Fact checking by Lexi Peary Sound design by James Morgan. Additional audio assistance provided by Augustine Lim. Our music supervisor is Scott Velasquez for Freeson Sync. Our managing producer is Desi Blaylock. Our senior managing producer is Callum. Jeanine Cornello and Stephanie Jens are our development producers. Our associate producer is Charlotte Miller. Our producer is Julie McGruder. Our senior producers are Sarah Enny and Ginny Blume. Our executive producers are Jenny Lauer, Beckman Marshall Louie and Erin O'Flaherty. For wondery.

[N/A]

Everyone has that friend who seems kind of perfect for Patty. That friend was Desiree. Until one day I texted her and.

[Sarah Hagie]

She was not getting the text.

[Sachi Cole]

So I went to Instagram.

[Sarah Hagie]

She has no Instagram anymore. And Facebook. No Facebook anymore.

[N/A]

Desiree was gone. And there was one person who knew the answer.

I am a spiritual person, a magical.

Person which a gorgeous Brazilian influencer called Cat Tourists, but who was hiding a secret from wondering. Based on my smash hit podcast From Brazil comes a new series, Don't Cross Cat, about a search that led me to a mystery in a Texas suburb. I'm calling to check on the two missing Brazilian girls. Maybe get some undercover crew there.

[Sachi Cole]

The family are freaking out. They are.

[N/A]

I'm Chico Felitti. You can listen to Don't Cross Cat on the Wondery app or wherever you get your podcasts.