December 5, 2022

EP. 167 — The Liar in Literature w/ Atsuko Okatsuka

What’s poppin’ Con-gregation? This week, Atsuko Okatsuka joins the show to discuss how Dan Mallory, the author of the best-selling novel “The Woman in the Window,” took many of the plot points from deception and fraud in his own life of publishing. Plus, Elizabeth Holmes, the founder of Theranos, was sentenced to more than 11 years in prison. Stay Schemin’!

Research by Kaelyn Brandt

Sources: 

https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2019/02/11/a-suspense-novelists-trail-of-deceptions#main-content

https://www.nj.com/news/2022/05/nj-man-stole-150k-in-10-state-unemployment-fraud-feds-say.html

https://www.nj.com/news/2022/11/unemployment-scammer-who-stole-400k-bragged-on-instagram-pleads-guilty.html?outputType=amp

https://www.thecut.com/2019/02/the-best-character-in-the-dan-mallory-scammer-story.html#:~:text=Mallory%2C%20the%20author%20of%20the,to%20faking%20a%20British%20accent.

https://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-47144368

Recent Episodes

See All

June 12, 2025

In this week’s Fraud Friday, Laci is joined by AJ Gibson and Emile Ennis Jr. (Confess Your Mess Pod) to discuss the Australian identity thief who had a clear obsession with conning cops.

June 9, 2025

This week, Laci welcomes Ira Madison III (Pop Culture Writer for GQ, Keep It! Podcast) to discuss Sean Kingston and his mom, accused of defrauding vendors out of 1 million dollars.

June 5, 2025

In this week’s Fraud Friday, Laci is joined by Eliot Glazer (Broad City, An American Pickle) to discuss Lee Israel, a well-known writer who turned to forgery fighting to survive after her declining career as an author.