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 corporate fraud and organized scams to sports forgery, identity theft, and personal betrayals. You’ll hear the insider stories, the investigative breakthroughs, and my Lie Detector Tips: practical, field-tested ways to spot deception in business, relationships, or everyday life. Because the lies are everywhere. And once you know how to follow them, you’re never caught off guard again. New episodes drop bi-weekly. Have a fraud story of your own? Email kevin@followtheliespodcast.com — it could become the next episode. Subscribe now. Let’s uncover the truth together. #TrueCrime #Fraud #WhiteCollarCrime #Ponzi #IdentityTheft #SportsForgery #LieDetectorTips #FollowTheLies
Episodes
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 emails used real names. The rule was: don’t call the platforms.
Former FBI Special Agent Kevin Barrows follows the paper trail — 1inMM Capital, the feeder funds, the empty collection account, the Netflix cease-and-desist, the plea, and a 20-year sentence. The...
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 dugout tunnel were telling hitters what pitch was coming.
Former FBI Special Agent Kevin Barrows follows the scheme from the tunnel to Commissioner Rob Manfred’s report — the immunity deal, the vacated-title decision that never came, and the culture that treated cheati...
WeWork was once valued at $47 billion. SoftBank invested over $10 billion. Adam Neumann sold a vision of elevating human consciousness through office space.
Then the illusion collapsed.
Former FBI Special Agent Kevin Barrows breaks down how a charismatic founder used narrative power to override financial reality — and what it cost employees, investors, and the company.
Timestamps:
00:00 – The $47 Billion Fantasy
02:35 &n...
On June 12, 2022, Celsius Network froze all withdrawals without warning. Roughly $4.7 billion in customer funds—retirement savings, emergency money, and life savings belonging to ordinary people—became locked overnight.
Former FBI Special Agent Kevin Barrows breaks down how a platform that marketed itself as safer than banks and promised yields up to 18% was actually running a high-risk operation built on customer deposi...
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 $17 million from him to feed a severe gambling addiction.
In this episode, former FBI Special Agent Kevin Barrows takes you inside one of the most heartbreaking betrayals in modern sports history — from forged signatures and impersonations to federal charges...
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 people of Malaysia.
In one of the largest financial heists in modern history, over $4.5 billion vanished from Malaysia’s 1MDB sovereign wealth fund. Former FBI Special Agent Kevin Barrows breaks down how the scheme worked, the Hollywood connections, the global money...
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 Pharma and the Sackler family turned OxyContin into a blockbuster drug — while knowingly fueling widespread addiction and devastation across the country.
From deceptive marketing that downplayed addiction risks, aggressive sales tactics, and billions in profits to hea...
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 machine that fooled the entire world… until it didn’t.
In this explosive episode of Follow the Lies, former FBI Special Agent Kevin Barrows pulls back the curtain on one of the greatest lies in sports history. From Armstrong’s miraculous cancer comeb...
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 U.S. history.
$63 billion vanished. Thousands of employees lost their life savings while executives cashed out hundreds of millions.
Former FBI Special Agent Kevin Barrows breaks down the sophisticated accounting tricks, hidden debt, fake profits, and corporate greed that ...
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.” The other was the “Junk Bond King.” Together, they built a massive empire based on stolen insider information, secret payoffs, and hundreds of millions in illegal profits.
In this episode, former FBI Special Agent Kevin Barrows takes you inside one of ...
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 for organized crime.
From the explosive 2007 scandal that rocked the league to the massive 2026 international point-shaving ring involving NCAA players, Kevin reveals how game-fixing never disappeared — it evolved with sports betting and NIL deals.
In this episode, ...
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 rise and fall of Theranos. From a Stanford dropout’s garage to a $9 billion valuation, Elizabeth Holmes promised a revolutionary blood-testing machine that could run hundreds of tests from a single drop. What followed was a masterclass in how charisma, secrecy, and fear can...
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 fraud. From the promise of steady double-digit returns to the devastating 2008 collapse, Kevin reveals how one man built a house of lies that fooled investors, regulators, and Wall Street for decades. Drawing on his own work supporting the court-appointed Trustee, he shares the...
Episode Overview
In 2025, a single Indiana dealer allegedly flooded the sports memorabilia market with millions of counterfeit autographed items—forged signatures, fake holograms, bogus provenance—raking in hundreds of millions while shattering trust in the billion-dollar industry. Former FBI Special Agent Kevin Barrows takes you inside the Brett Lemieux / Mister Mancave scandal: how the scheme scaled, the devastating pe...
Episode Overview
In the early 2000s, a single help-desk worker at a credit-reporting company quietly handed over thousands of confidential access codes, enabling one of the largest identity-theft rings in U.S. history. Over 33,000 identities were stolen, triggering hundreds of millions in fraudulent losses. Former FBI Special Agent Kevin Barrows, who led the investigation, takes you inside the case: how the scheme worked, the dead-e...
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 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 ...
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 infiltration of Wall Street, rigged stocks, and the massive 120-arrest takedown.
Hear the insider stories, investigative breakthroughs, and Lie Detector Tips to spot deception in your own life.
Full Episode 1 drops soon. Subscribe now so you don't miss it.
Have a fraud story? Email k...
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