Persona: The French Deception

Where to find Episodes 2-8 of Persona

In the first episode of Persona, a French banker took the strangest call of her life. On the other end was her boss relaying bizarre orders from a secret agent. Her mission was to wait in a bathroom stall before handing off a bag full of cash. But behind the scheme was no secret agent, rather Gilbert Chikli, one of the greatest con men the world has ever seen. Unlike most fraudsters, Chikli preyed upon the most powerful amongst us. And with that call, he just started in motion the greatest scam of the century. If you want to hear the rest of Persona, you can binge all eight episodes exclusively on Wondery Plus or on Amazon Music. On Wondery Plus, you can listen to all your favorite podcasts early and ad-free. With a library featuring over 50 #1 Apple Podcast hits and 45,000 binge worthy episodes, there’s something for everyone. Join Wondery Plus in the Wondery app or an Apple Podcasts.See Privacy Policy at <a href="https://art19.com/privacy" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">https://art19.com/privacy</a> and California Privacy Notice at <a href="https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info</a>.

What does it feel like to pick up the phone and scam someone out of $50 million? This is the story of Gilbert Chikli, one of the greatest con artists of all time. Host and award-winning journalist Evan Ratliff investigates how Chikli duped some of the world’s most powerful people into handing over their fortunes. He explores how Chikli evaded the law for years and became a Robin Hood-like hero. More than just a tale of criminal genius, this is a show about the moment we’re living in right now — the golden age of scammers — and the power of seduction. But what happens when the fantasy we’ve been lured into finally crumbles away?