King of Con series on Discovery Plus brings a one of the first interviews with Minkow discussing his life and crimes. The series offers a glimpse inside the mind of one of the most notorious, over the top con men to ever exist and a very rare opportunity to hear, first-hand, from him exactly how he managed to defraud countless people over four decades.
King of Con Synopsis
A poor boy from the San Fernando Valley who was determined to build a different life from his parents, Barry Minkow had big dreams of money and success early on.
At the age of 16, Minkow started a carpet cleaning company called ZZZZ Best, which rocketed him into the limelight and set him up to be one of the youngest self-made entrepreneurs in the nation.
But not all was as it seemed – shortly after Minkow took the company public on the New York Stock Exchange (before he could even legally drink) he found himself in hot water when ZZZZ Best was revealed to be the front for a massive Ponzi scheme with ties to the mob. Minkow was quickly thrown from his pedestal of success into a lengthy prison sentence.
Following his release in 1995, it seemed Minkow was on the right track: he became a pastor of the San Diego Community Bible Church, got married, published a best selling book on his crimes, used his criminal background to help identify other cases of potential fraud, and was even in the works on a movie about his life story.
However, Minkow’s new life abruptly came crumbling down when it was revealed he was back to his old ways: using his fraud detection work to insider trade while also bilking his congregation of millions of dollars.
Now out of prison and attempting to rebuild his life yet again, Minkow shares his story.
Series Cast
With a colorful cast of characters and dripped in iconic 80s flair and funky 90s pop, the series catapults Minkow’s inconceivable story of deception. Sami Abdou, Jedd Thomas, James Macnab, Steve Michaels and Jodi Flynn as Executive Producers. All Three-Parts Available to Stream Beginning Friday, January 14 on discovery+.
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