2022 is officially the year of the scam artist story. From the buzz surrounding Netflix’s new documentary The Tinder Swindler to the ongoing interest in Anna Sorokin of Inventing Anna fame, the true crime genre has moved on from tales of grisly murders and cold cases to stories about fraudulent schemes and emotional trickery.

So, we weren’t surprised to hear that Netflix was adding another scam-related docuseries to its upcoming line-up – this time, following the story of the so-called ‘Crocodile of Wall Street’ Heather Morgan and her husband Ilya “Dutch” Lichenstein, who were arrested in New York earlier this month and charged with conspiring to launder around $4.5 billion worth of cryptocurrency.

The pair allegedly tried to liquidate the funds – which were stolen during a massive hack that took place in 2016 – “through a labyrinth of cryptocurrency transactions” designed to obscure their identities.  

Indeed, as the show’s official description explains: “As the value of the stolen Bitcoin soared from $71 million at the time of the hack to nearly $5 billion, the couple allegedly tried to liquidate their digital money by creating fake identities and online accounts, and buying physical gold, NFTs, and more – all while investigators raced to track the money’s movement on the blockchain.”

But the allegations against the couple – which are thought to constitute the biggest criminal financial case in history – aren’t even the wildest part of their story.

Alongside being a regular Forbes contributor, Morgan – who gave herself the aforementioned nickname ‘The Crocodile of Wall Street’ – possessed an extraordinary multi-hyphenate career, with titles ranging from an investor, marketing guru and ‘persuasion expert’ to a streetwear designer and rapper known as Razzlekhan. 

And while Morgan’s husband has a more reserved presence online, it’s clear he still had his quirks – in a 2018 blog post, he described himself as a “tech entrepreneur, explorer and occasional musician”.

While the documentary – which is being directed and executive produced by Chris Smith, the man behind Fyre: The Greatest Party That Never Happened and Tiger King – is still in its very early stages, if the personalities at its core are anything to go by, it’s going to be one hell of a ride.

We’ll update this space with the latest news about the series as and when we get it, so stay tuned for more information. 

Image: Getty