This series documents various stories about exposing the greed and crime spreading through the global economy. Filmmaker Alex Gibney tells stories of corporate corruption, securities fraud and creative accounting. In the first episode, Gibney reveals shocking new details about Volkswagen's corporate deceit, and exposes the unholy alliance between governments and automakers that allowed the automaker to put tens of thousands of lives at risk - all for the sake of a $500 part.
Targeting unsuspecting Americans, a group of payday lenders made millions off small loans with undisclosed charges, inflated interest rates and incomprehensible rules. But the way the laws are written, is that a crime or just business?
Valeant Pharmaceuticals was a multinational specialty pharmaceutical company based in Canada. It grew rapidly through a series of mergers and acquisitions under the leadership of J. Michael Pearson. The company was involved in a number of controversies surrounding drug price hikes and the use of a specialty pharmacy for the distribution of its drugs, which led to an investigation by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and caused its stock price to plummet more than 90 percent from its peak while its debt surpassed $30 billion. Wall Street short-sellers exposed a scam that regulators overlook: how Big Pharma gouges patients in need of life-saving drugs.
For decades, HSBC, one of the world's largest banks, laundered hundreds of millions of dollars for Mexican drug cartels. Senator Elizabeth Warren, dogged journalists and prosecutors try to hold the bankers to account.
In Canada, maple syrup is worth more than oil. When $20 million of syrup goes missing, the trail leads back to an epic battle between cartels and the little guy.
In the first episode, Gibney reveals shocking new details about Volkswagen's corporate deceit, and exposes the unholy alliance between governments and automakers that allowed the automaker to put tens of thousands of lives at risk - all for the sake of a $500 part.