This is the American Greed Podcast presented by CNBC. I'm Stacy Kich.

In this episode of American Greed, Darren Berg promises big returns investing in real estate but

he's running a $140 million fraud. It's a massive crime that ensnares even a

best-selling crime writer.

How dare you?

How could you be such a low life scum?

Berg's lies and clever sleight of hand fund the purchase of a mansion, two private jets, and two yachts.

But when Bernie Madoff falls, Berg falls too.

Everybody's getting nervous. People want their money back. He doesn't have it though because he's spending on buses, he's spending on yachts, he's spending on planes. Inside a gleaming granite and glass tower in downtown Seattle, real estate fund manager Darren

Berg gives a sales pitch to his well-heeled investors.

For those of you who are in our various mortgage funds, just a little history, who we are, what we do,

and most importantly, how we find the deals that we do.

Some people in the audience are impressed that Berg lives in a lavish mansion on Lake Washington

and keeps not one but two yachts.

He was well dressed, he had a spacious office.

He just wanted you to feel

when you walked into his office

that you were dealing with somebody who was extremely successful.

If you look like you're rolling in money, people think you know how to make money.

And so they're more inclined to trust your statements that I can

invest your money and get you a good return. The promise of a good return

even in the wake of the financial crisis. Somebody asked me here tonight how I was doing.

...