The McDonald’s monopoly heist

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:01):
For today's fraud story, we're going to look at the
McDonald's monopoly heist. In the world of white collar crime,
there are a few schemes that blend corporate promotion with
outright theft. So we'll look at McDonald's monopoly fraud, which
is a multimillion dollar scam that turn a beloved fast
food game into a rigged lottery. What began as a
marketing trinamph customers collecting those monopoly style game pieces remember

(00:25):
those from fries, drinks, and burgers, to win prizes ranging
from free food to a whopping one million dollars, devolved
into a conspiracy orchestrated by Jerome Jacobson, the head of
security at the Simon Marketing, the firm handling McDonald's promotions. Jacobson,
a former cop nicknamed Uncle Jerry, exploited his trusted position

(00:46):
overseeing the secured distribution of game pieces printed in a
high security facility. The valuable pieces, like the rare boardwalk
or park place for big wins, were sealed in envelopes
and transported by Jerome Jacobson himself to the plants. However,
en route, he detoured to airport bathrooms slid open the
envelopes and pocket the winners cars, cash, and million dollar tickets,

(01:10):
replacing them with duds. He then recruited a network of
accomplices through friends, family, and shady connections, selling the stolen
pieces for kickbacks. Winners often instructed a claim they found
the pieces. Legitimately included a mix of ordinary folks who
mortgage homes to buy in, ensuring the scheme secrecy. In
a bizarre twist, though, Jacobson anonymously donated a million dollar

(01:34):
piece to Saint Jude Children's Hospital in nineteen ninety five,
perhaps as a misguided active charity. The fraud unraveled in
two thousand when an anonymous tip about a rigged Dodge
viper wind reached the FBI, sparking operation Final Answer. Agents
collaborating with McDonald's let the game continue while wire tapping
suspects and tracing patterns like winners from Jacson, Jacobson's circles

(01:57):
or those subdenly flush with cash. The valance captured meetings,
including one in South Carolina where Jacobson handed off pieces.
By two thousand and one, the net closed. Jacobson and
fifty one others were indicted for mail fraud and conspiracy
Jacobson pleaded guilty, receiving three years in prison and forfeiting
one million dollars in profits. He apologized in court cite

(02:18):
and greed. Most accomplices got light sentences or probation, with
some convictions overturned on appeal. McDonalds, of course, severed ties
with Simon Marketing, losing them a five hundred million dollar contract,
and ran a ten million dollar giveaway to restore trust. Remarkably,
the Monomopoly game persists today. The Insider Heist highlights how

(02:39):
white collar crimes exploit trust and corporate systems.