In total, there are six episodes and the first one aired on Sky Documentaries on Wednesday, May 27th 2020. Now they just had to trap the winners. And can you guess who was right in the centre of it all? He stole a whopping $24 million. For those of you with Sky, you . By clicking Sign up, you agree to receive marketing emails from Insider The odds of winning big prizes like Jamaican vacations, boats, new cars and even the ever elusive $1 million are very very low. The trial began on September 10, 2001a day before the 9/11 terrorist attacksand the media quickly forgot about the McDonald's Monopoly scandal. The kingpin had been taken down, but if it hadnt been for that one anonymous tip to the FBI his scam could have kept running for years. The FBI set up a surveillance team to tail Baker and Jacobson and they all ended up in a town called Fair Play, South Carolina. They started by planning to leave South Carolina, and on May 7, 1998 they drove to Georgia to look for a place to build a dream home. That's FBI Special Agent Doug Mathews's assessment of the $24 million fraud scheme that's the focus of HBO's new documentary McMillions. The McDonalds Monopoly was the fast food giants best marketing campaign since they introduced the Happy Meal and after the contest began in 1987, it quickly became clear that it waswella winner. Jacobson convinced Baker to take a $1 million game piece in exchange for $100,000, the biggest payout hed asked for yet. In 2001, more than 50 people were convicted of mail fraud and conspiracy in connection with the Monopoly scheme. Unfortunately for Uncle Jerry, those all-knowing-back-cracking psychics missed that the FBI had gotten a tip about the McSwindling that had been going on for years. McDonald's Monopoly game launched in 1987. Brazil and Argentina were . "I didn't know what was going on," one winner named Erika Mendez told The Oklahoman at the time. Two weeks after the attorney general revealed the game had been rigged, the chain gave away $10 million to 55 random customers. It's about a scam involving the McDonald's Monopoly and the company that printed the monopoly cards. Baker traded a plot of land to Uncle Jerry for a few game pieces. The FBI was listening to all their conversations and when they heard Texas, Special Agent Dent looked at the list of numbers recently dialled by Hughey. As the McDonald's film crew and spokespeople listened to Hoover's account, they sensed that he was lying due to his inconsistent details and body language. However, it has historically run once per year and the last start date was 25th August 2021. "We made a commitment to return this money to our customers that should have been part of the prize pools,'' Douglas Freeland, then the US marketing director for McDonald's, told the New York Times in 2004. He would check workers shoes for stolen game pieces and made sure that truck drivers transporting pieces were even accompanied in the bathroom. Jacobson agreed to a scheme that had one of the butchers distant friends claiming a $10,000 prize and then giving Jacobson $2,000 for the stolen ticket. Their director of security? Market data provided by Factset. And in hopes of creating a get out of jail free card for himself, he also stole documents that he said proved the Canada conspiracy. You've successfully subscribed to this newsletter! The McDonald's Monopoly game is a sweepstakes advertising promotion of McDonald's and Hasbro, which uses the theme of the latter's board game Monopoly. McDonald's was not implicated in the scheme, but it pledged it would hold a new giveaway to return money claimed by Jacobson's network back to customers who had tried to win the Monopoly giveaway fair and square. "Yeah, I mean, it was one of those days where I had heard about it on the news when it was happening and then something else happens and all the attention shifts to that," Wahlberg said. Baker warned Chandler not to participate in any promotions for the win, but when Chandler was called to do a giant check ceremony with Ronald McDonald, he couldnt refuse. The story of how former police officer Jerry Jacobson masterminded a scheme to defraudMcDonald's out of more than $24 million through its Monopoly promotion has been making the rounds after The Daily Beast ran an in-depth report on the incident. This documentary series chronicles the stranger-than-fiction story of an ex-cop turned security auditor who rigged the McDonald's Monopoly game . Since it launched last month, "McMillions" has become must-see TV. The game was invented to warn players about the destructive greed of capitalism. 2022 FOX News Network, LLC. Born Jerome Paul Jacobson in 1943, in Youngstown, Ohio, Jacobson always wanted to be a police officer. It all goes back to Jerry Jacobson (aka Uncle Jerry), an ex-cop who set up a . And, do yourself a favour and watch the McMillions documentary, if for no other reason than to watch Colombos wife Robins interviews. She didnt want him raised in the mob and tried to cut herself off from the family, and the family if you know what we mean. And what about the man, the myth, the legend, Uncle Jerome Jerry Jaconson? It sure was. Market data provided by Factset. Over the following years, Jacobsons crime network encompassed a sprawling network of mobsters, psychics, strip club owners, convicts, drug traffickers, and even a family of Mormons, who had falsely claimed more than $24 million in cash and prizes, according to the Daily Beast. The documentary is great because every single person involved in this case from the culprits to the FBI agents to the trial attorneys are all fantastically entertaining to watch and it helps to put faces to people in the story and there are a lot of people involved. He offered to sell the piece to Chandler for $100,000. He was facing 104 years in jail, but took a plea deal and in exchange for his testimony in court and pled guilty to three counts of mail fraud and conspiracy for a total sentence of 15 years. Wahlburgers is the family business, but Mark Wahlberg couldn't help but sink his teeth into a supersized McDonald's Monopoly game scandal. Blending elements of the Ocean's films, Argo, and . You've probably come across a cheater or two playing board games - but no one has pulled off a Monopoly heist as big as this. This change lasted until 1995 when McDonalds ramped up the size of the promotion and Jacobson was once again put in charge of seeding the winning pieces. Hoover had called the prize hotline and claimed to find a $1 million game piece. After the birth of their son, Frankie, they fought constantly and Colombo seemed to spend all his time at his strip clubs. How an Ex-Cop Rigged McDonalds Monopoly Game and Stole Millions, McDonalds Monopoly game rigged, scamming chain of $24 million: report, McMillions: the bizarre story of how one man stole $24m from McDonalds, McDonalds Monopoly Scandal: The Story of HBOs McMillions, McMillions: Official Website for the HBO Documentary Series, The McMillions Monopoly Scheme, Explained. The new documentary series called "McMillions" explores how Uncle Jerry got away with . Access your favorite topics in a personalized feed while you're on the go. McDonald's Monopoly Canada 2021 has plenty of prizes worth over 80 million dollars to be won including over 21.6 million "Instant Win" food prizes, 1.5 million "Instant Win" non-food prizes and 216 "Collect and Win" prizes. The first lucky winner they visited was Michael Hoover, a casino pit boss who lived in Westerly, Rhode Island. The promotion has been offered in the United States, New Zealand, Canada, Germany, Hong Kong, United Kingdom, France, Portugal, Spain, the Netherlands, Australia, Singapore, Austria, Poland, and Switzerland since 1987. Tim Boyle/Getty Images. The FBIs investigation ultimately led to scores of arrests, and resulted in 51 people being indicted in connection with the scheme. A former cop reportedly rigged McDonald's Monopoly game to win almost every prize for 12 years in a $24 million scheme. HBO's docuseries McMillions investigates a massive conspiracy that involved criminals rigging the McDonalds Monopoly promotion; however, the series leaves out some key aspects of the story. More specifically, HBO unveiled their latest documentary, McMillions, which follows the infamous McDonald's Monopoly fraud scandal which took . McDonald's was forced to quietly give 15 random people $1 million each after an ex-cop rigged the chain's Monopoly giveaway. In 1989, Jacobson made his first slip, giving his stepbrother a game piece worth $25,000, the report says. I didn't take it too seriously. He taught them how to set up fake lives in other states and how to claim their prizes. March 9, 2020 8 PM PT. ( 2020-03-09) McMillions (stylized as McMillion$) is a documentary miniseries about the McDonald's Monopoly promotion scam that occurred between 1989 and 2001. Chandler only came up with half that, but they cashed it in anyway, and on June 6, 2000 they sent in the redemption forms. Not only does the doc make sure . By clicking Sign up, you agree to receive marketing emails from Insider Episode 1. Fond memories of McDonald's Monopoly giveaway may have soured with the news that the game was rigged. Fox won the bid on rights to the story, according to Deadline. By the time they got to the hospital, Colombos blood pressure had dropped severely. The McDonald's Monopoly board of the '90s and the . He gave his father-in-law a $1 Million game piece. "I completely forgot I was in there for food. O n Aug. 3, 2001, a McDonald's film crew arrived in the bustling beach town of Westerly, Rhode Island. But as with all things involving free money, McDonalds realised that the game would be the target of thieves and fraudsters. Baker had been dealing with a long string of bad luck and had recently been in an accident that had damaged his spine in a tractor crash. According to Hoover, he had fallen asleep on the beach and when he woke up, he gathered his belongings and went to the water to wash off the sand. as well as other partner offers and accept our. At her sentencing she tried to make a break for the door and even made it to the hallway before she was nabbed by US Marshalls. In the 1990s, a former police officer working for a McDonald's vendor managed to steal more than $24 million worth of cash and prizes from the fast-food giant's promotional games, including Monopoly. With these three winners, the FBI was able to create the classic crime map with pushpins and all. Robin was driving when they merged onto the highway and a speeding pickup truck slammed into them. They had cracked the game piece pipeline. Braun reached the point where he claimed he didnt want any more money and started giving away pieces to places like the salvation army. A man named Jerry Jacobson. Sign up her. The game pieces were also intentionally made with imperfections and watermarks that could only be seen under a black light. McDonalds usually give very little notice as to when McDonalds monopoly is due to start. The jaw-dropping series premiering Monday looks back at how the fast-food chain's 1990s sweepstakes was hijacked to the tune of $24 million. He tried to build a career in law enforcement in Florida but . The common prizes for McDonald's were either chicken nuggets, drinks, or ice cream. Powered and implemented by FactSet Digital Solutions. However, many customers may not have realized they missed out on another chance to be a millionaire in the aftermath of the scam. Glomb then went on to recruit several, shall we say, less than savoury characters, including one million dollar winner who had previously pled guilty to distributing 400 pounds of cocaine. Jacobson bought lavish houses, scenic plots of land, expensive cruises and more cars that could be kept count of. Therefore, we might expect that McDonalds Monopoly will start again in August 2022. The story of the scandal and arrests made national news at the time. Now Fox will make it into a movie. This discovery lead McDonald's to assist the FBI in apprehending the con artists. These game pieces were made by Los Angeles based production company Simon Marketing. Jacobson reportedly worked at the company that printed the game pieces and came up with a scheme in which he would provide people with the winning Monopoly pieces in exchange for a cut of the money. Winners could buy stolen game pieces from Jerry in cash before they had even won the prizes, sometimes paying upward of $50,000 upfront. McDonalds hasn't yet announced when McDonalds Monopoly 2022 will start. Tim Boyle/Getty Images Over the course of 12 years, ex-cop Jerome Jacobson built a complex network of scammers to rig the McDonald's Monopoly game. "He inspected workers' shoes to check they weren't stealing McDonald's game pieces," one former colleague of Jacobson's told Maysh. So how did Uncle Jerry hamburgle nearly $25 million from the worlds largest fast food chain? So with that in mind, they hired Dittler Brothers Printing, a secure printing firm who were already printing U.S. postage stamps and lottery tickets. He travelled with friends from South Carolina, Atlanta, and Jacksonville Florida to other parts of the country to claim their winning tickets in an attempt to keep the winners spread out. 11 Changing the Game. There was only one number from Texas, and it belonged to Hugheys brother-in-law, John Davis. Robin thinks that it was the Colombos who tipped off the FBI that her father, cousin, and friend Gloria Brown had illegally won their Monopoly prizes. View McDonald's Monopoly scandal - Kareena M. Patterson.docx from HISTORY 4A077X0 at Marvin Ridge High. As part of the settlement for a class-action lawsuit against the chain, related to the Monopoly scam, McDonald's agreed to give away another $15 million to random customers $1 million per winner. The investigation lasted well over 10 years..even the FBI were called. In an article published by The Daily Beast in June, writer Jeff Maysh detailed the scheme, the arrests and the overflowing lies. We know now that McDon. Today we're exploring the sensational story of how one man and a merry band of mobsters, psychics, strip-club owners . Mutual Fund and ETF data provided by Refinitiv Lipper. She travelled with Colombo to South Carolina from Jacksonville FLorida to claim her prize and listed her cousins South Carolina address as her own on her winners claim form. Quotes displayed in real-time or delayed by at least 15 minutes. He became a security auditor for Dittler Brothers in 1981 and climbed the ranks until he oversaw all production for Simon Marketing, a client of Dittler, and their McDonald's account worth $500 million. "When I first got the offer, I thought to myself that it was a blessing that came knocking at my door . And George Chandler? Bakers foster son, George Chandler was also convicted but had it overturned on appeal, successfully arguing that he had no idea that the game piece he had turned in was stolen. Mutual Fund and ETF data provided by Refinitiv Lipper. His family had lost their home in the 80s and had actually begun collecting Mcdonalds Monopoly pieces in hopes of winning a prize. The family sure didnt like that. She then issued a lawsuit against the company for it. McDonald's customers collected Monopoly game pieces attached to various food and drink items in order to win cash, food, a Jamaican vacation and other swag. Answer: In the late 1980's, as a promotion to boost sales for the stores, McDonald's partnered with Hasboro which used the Monopoly theme in order to create a giveaway game. He was eventually apprehended and charged in 2001, after the FBI received an anonymous tip about his shady dealings in 2000. He says that it was his mother, known affectionately as Ma, a Sicilian born mafia matriarch who called the FBI as revenge against Robin for her sons death. After the reveal of the McScandal, McDonalds did what they could to regain the publics trust and ran a special $10 million instant giveaway. Matt Damon and Ben Affleck are backstage during the 89th Annual Academy Awards at Hollywood & Highland Center, in Los Angeles, on February 26, 2017. Ultimately, Greenberg gave the green light and in July 2001 McDonalds launched the Pick Your Prize Monopoly game. Launched in 1987, McDonald's Monopoly game offered customers the chance to win up to $1 million if they collected the right pieces. To suspect was one thing, to know was another. He has multiple sclerosis and is 78. After Jerome Jacobson and his crime network were caught, McDonald's paid out $25 million to those who actually followed the game's rules. Episode 3. She told him someone had claimed the $1 million prize. In March 2000, Special Agent Richard Dent received an anonymous tip that someone called Uncle Jerry had been rigging the McDonalds Monopoly for years. He was a friend, I thought I could trust him. Baker then recruited his adult foster son, George Chandler to cash in the check. While this would've boosted sales by a . His escapade was chronicled in a true crime expos by Jeff Maysh in The Daily Beast, which . Afflect will direct and Damon will star in Foxs adaptation of the 2001 McDonalds Monopoly scandal. While Jerry Colombo was living large and riding the tide of the McDonalds Monopoly scam, the other Jerry was keeping his extracurricular activities largely quiet. Yep, it was Uncle Jerry, who had a lake house smack dab in the middle of the triangle. Baker told Chandler that the real winner was going through a divorce and didnt want the hassle of splitting the winnings with his soon to be ex-wife. Instead, he recruited two friends to help. As the 2021 edition of the game gets underway, we look back at what really happened with the McDonald's Monopoly fraud scandal, and whether you can actually win a prize. The investigation into Hoover's scam was led by Special Agent Richard Dent. They named it Operation Final Answer after the McDonalds game co-sponsor that year, Who Wants to Be a Millionaire. And even paid someone a $50,000 game piece for chiropractic services and fortune telling, because apparently those are two lines of work that can overlap. Gloria Brown's connection to the scheme is . Jacobson was getting paranoid. Stay up to date with what you want to know. This startled Robin, and she and Colombo decided to work on their marriage. Uncle Jerrys final major partner was an unlikely match, the devout Mormon family man, Dwight Baker. He asked her how much money she could come up with, and after mortgaging her house, she handed over $40,000 on the side of a highway. or redistributed. The first black American and woman of color to claim the $1 million prize, she admitted her regret at being involved in the illicit scheme. Access your favorite topics in a personalized feed while you're on the go. He or she would then complete the winning parts on to Colombo and his other "recruiters, " who tracked down willing purchasers and coached all of them through And then Jacobson stole another $1 Million piece. Winners get to either take a heavily taxed $1 million lump sum or $50,000 every year for the next 20 years. Stay up to date with what you want to know. Colombo managed to get himself out of the wreck, but Robin and little Frankie had to be rescued with the Jaws of Life by first responders. A new trailer is released for McMillions, the forthcoming HBO documentary series that delves into the McDonald's Monopoly game fraud. The game first ran in the U.S. in 1987 and has since been used worldwide. According to Robin Colombo, Jerry Colombos family blamed her for his death and wanted revenge. All youve probably ever won is a free McFlurry. Their car was dragged 250 feet and crushed into a concrete wall. He told Jacobson he operated nightclubs, underground casinos, and a sports-betting ring in South Carolina but hed been raised in Brooklyn and was a member of the infamous New York Colombo mob family. In the process, he dropped his copy of People Magazine in the ocean. The McDonald's Monopoly Scandal Is Now Being Made Into a Movie. Advertisement. The monopoly game was developed for McDonalds by Simon Marketing, the geniuses who first put toys inside Happy Meals. Today were exploring the sensational story of how one man and a merry band of mobsters, psychics, strip-club owners, Mormons, and drug traffickers managed to win nearly all of the McDonalds top prizes for over a decade, and the undercover FBI operation that uncovered the whole damn thing. Jacobson, a former Florida cop, was eventually ordered to pay back $12.5 million, and sentenced to serve 37 months in prison, but details dug up by Business Insider indicate that McDonalds was forced to fork over even more. Jacobson's scheme was . But, obviously, Uncle Jerry wasnt just stealing and giving these pieces away for free. Jerome Paul Jacobson was an officer with Florida's Hollywood Police department for one year before he was forced to leave after an injury in 1980. Douglas Freeland, the then-marketing director of McDonalds, explained to the Times in 2004 that there wasnt much fanfare surrounding the second giveaway because of a 2001 lawsuit stemming from the first, in which two customers argued that McDonalds had benefitted from the first makeup giveaway. 2022 FOX News Network, LLC. The Founder, a 2016 biographical drama starring Michael Keaton, focused on the . When Colombo recruited her to the scheme he told her shed need to pay for the chance to be a big winner. Dent told her to hold on and asked if the winners name was John Davis. But soon the FBI knew their names. In a stranger-than-fiction new docuseries, an FBI investigation into a decade-long scheme to fix the McDonald's Monopoly game is revealed When Dent tapped Jacobson's phone, he realized he had unearthed a conspiracy network of mobsters, psychics, strip-club owners, convicts, drug traffickers and more, all who claimed to win over $24 million in Monopoly prizes. HBO's new documentary 'McMillion$' takes a look at the mastermind behind the McDonald's Monopoly scandal, including the winning game piece sent to St. Jude. Uncle Jerry was taken away in handcuffs and charged with conspiracy to commit mail fraud. He hadnt even told his wife, Linda, what was going on. And in the early hours of the morning, FBI agents surrounded Jerome Jacobsons house and knocked on his door. Thats when they came up with their fake interview scheme and ended up on the beach in Rhode Island with Michael Hoover, AJ Glombs final million-dollar winner pick. But Simon Marketing re-ran the programme until it chose a factory in the US. Why the recent announcement of HBO's McMillions Documentary I thought it would be fun to a quick video on the McDonalds Monopoly scam. Jacobson said he was told to make sure none of the games high level prizes ended up in Canada. McDonald's and Simon Marketing settled the matter outside of court and McDonald's agreed to pay the marketing company $16.6million, according to CNBC. HBO put out a great documentary on McDonald's Monopoly called McMillions. HBO's six-part . So lets touch on those odds of winning the $1 million prize: theyre 1 in 250 million. Powered and implemented by FactSet Digital Solutions.
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