Pod Insights Scamfluencers Jan Lewan: From Polka Dreams to Ponzi Schemes | 176 About this episode When Jan Lewan escapes to the United States from Poland in the 1970s, he uses his musical talent to become a larger than life polka star and pursue the American dream. Fueled by his charm and charisma, he performs for presidents, gets nominated for a Grammy, and attracts a devoted following. But like any good showbiz story, there’s a dark underbelly to Jan’s world: he uses his fanbase to fuel a Ponzi scheme. But when his wife’s pageant competition gets mired in a mysterious scandal, Jan’s shady dealings come to light, and his career unravels in bitterness and tragedy. Until, that is, a legit Hollywood star steps in to give him an unlikely third act.
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0:00 Scaachi Koul? Audible subscribers can listen to all our episodes of Scamfluencers ad-free right now. Join Audible today by downloading the Audible app. A heads up to our listeners. This story includes a brief mention of suicide. Please listen with care.
0:19 Scaachi Koul? Sarah, is there any musician who could trick you into a Ponzi scheme?
0:23 Sarah Hagi? Yeah, I feel like it would be someone who would be really unlikely to need something from me, like Kate Bush or something.
0:32 Scaachi Koul? Oh, that's a good one.
0:34 Sarah Hagi? Like, one of these gentle, beautiful women that makes people cry. I'd be like, yeah, of course, I'll do whatever you want, Kate.
0:41 Scaachi Koul? This is what I like about us. We have such different answers to these sorts of questions.
0:44 Sarah Hagi? And I know what your answer's gonna be.
0:45 Scaachi Koul? What is it gonna be?
0:46 Sarah Hagi? It's gonna be 50 Cent.
0:47 Scaachi Koul? Yeah, 100% it's gonna be 50 Cent. I love him. He is evil, and I love him. But if he asked me for any amount of money, I would offer it to him alongside my spirit and soul and perhaps other things that we can't talk about on the podcast. Well, I ask because today, we have our very first stan scammer. Someone who used the parasocial relationship his audience had with him for financial evil.
1:12 Scaachi Koul? It's April 1992, and Pete Chacho is in Italy with his band. Pete is a slim, middle-aged accordion player with curly hair and a well-groomed mustache. He's been partying his way through Europe as part of a big group trip with their fans. But when they reach Sorrento, Pete's boss pulls him aside and says he needs Pete's help. Pete is part of a popular American polka band led by Jan Lewan. Jan is a charismatic, 50-something Polish-American man with an angelic, round face and a twinkle in his eye. Jan is so beloved, he actually has a side business arranging trips like this one for some of his biggest fans. Basically, they're paying for their favorite artist to take them on a tour through Europe. Things have been going really well so far. Jan has taken them through places like London,
1:56 Scaachi Koul? Vienna, and his home country of Poland. But now, Jan needs Pete's help to make good-on-the-trip's big-ticket item: a personal meeting with Pope John Paul II. The Pope is Polish, like most of Jan's fans, and lots of people on this trip. And Jan apparently knows the big guy, though Pete isn't sure how. Jan says he met him back in the '70s, when he was living in Canada, and the Pope was just a cardinal on a tour of the country. He says they hit it off, spending an evening drinking and speaking in Polish.
2:26 Sarah Hagi? You know, name dropping the Pope must feel so powerful. Like, oh yeah, the Pope and I go way back. We were in Canada, we used to get drunk, you know, hanging out on Ronsea.
2:39 Scaachi Koul? Oh, yeah, God's not on Ronsea, Sarah, and you know that. Well, however they know each other, Jan and the Pope have stayed in touch. But Jan hasn't been able to confirm this meeting. So he takes Pete to Rome with a suitcase of money in hand. When they get to St. Peter's Square, Jan takes the suitcase and heads into the building alone. What happens next and where the suitcase ended up is shrouded in conclave-level secrecy. But Jan's tactic works. When the fans arrive, they get an exclusive audience with John Paul II. And when they walk into the room, the Pope greets Jan by name. After they get back on the tour bus, Jan stands and addresses the group.
3:21 Scaachi Koul? He's just shown them he can seemingly work miracles. And now, he has a proposition. Jan tells his fans that he's looking for investors to expand his businesses. His touring polka band, a travel agency, and a Polish import shop. And he says he can guarantee them a huge return. Pete doesn't put in his own money, but he's not surprised that the tourists are interested. Unfortunately for these wide-eyed, polka-loving travelers, Jan's golden investment opportunity is a classic con. And when it comes time for him to pay up, he'll orchestrate one of the biggest Ponzi schemes polka has ever seen.
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4:51 Scaachi Koul? From Wondery, I'm Sachi Cole.
4:52 Sarah Hagi? And I'm Sarah Hagee.
4:54 Scaachi Koul? And this is Scamfluencers.
5:04 Scaachi Koul? Jan Lewan was an immigrant who used his musical talent to become a larger-than-life polka star. He had charisma, a beautiful singing voice, and a sparkly wardrobe directly inspired by Liberace. He performed for US presidents, got nominated for a Grammy, and attracted a devoted following. But the size of his music dreams soon outgrows his cash flow, so he turns his fans into marks, crossing ethical and legal lines. And as the money runs out, the lies pile up. Millions of dollars are lost, lives are upended, and one family's life is tragically changed forever. When Jan's scheme is finally exposed, his victims will be left wondering how someone they admired so deeply could betray them so
5:45 Scaachi Koul? completely. This is Jan Lewan, from polka dreams to Ponzi schemes.
5:54 Scaachi Koul? Jan Lewan grows up in Poland in the 1940s. The country is a war zone and under Nazi occupation for the first few years of his life. And after World War II, it's controlled by the USSR. It's a rough environment for a kid, but when Jan's around 10 years old, he starts listening to Radio Free Europe, the pro-American station that broadcasts news reports from the West to combat communist propaganda. Through these stories, Jan starts to dream of living in America one day. And he knows just how he'll get there: by becoming a musician. This is kind of a rebellious choice for Jan. His parents want him to do something more practical, like his father's job of teaching sailors how to build model ships. So they aren't thrilled when Jan decides to study singing at a Polish music conservatory.
6:40 Scaachi Koul? But Jan is a natural. He has his first public performance when he's just 16, playing Cupid in a comedic opera. He's talented and handsome, with an expressive face and hair so blonde it's almost white. Sarah, take a look at a photo of young Jan.
6:56 Sarah Hagi? He looks really happy. It's like an old timey, black and white photo. And he's wearing what looks like traditional, maybe Polish clothes. And he looks pretty thrilled to be onstage. He's a little cutie.
7:07 Scaachi Koul? Well, eventually, Jan passes his exams and becomes a professional performer. This gives him new opportunities and the chance to perform on TV. The Polish government even sends him to festivals in Germany, Austria, Russia, and Mongolia. Jan's music is pretty traditional, mostly gentle opera stuff and upbeat Polish songs. In 1965, Jan records his first album at a vinyl factory run by communists. It should be a thrilling experience, but Jan wants more artistic freedom. During this time, the government decides who gets to record music and what they get to perform. A few years later, when Jan is at his late twenties, he finally gets a chance to break free. A promoter from Chicago visits him backstage after a performance and promises to get Jan
7:52 Scaachi Koul? a visa to tour his music. In 1972, the promoter comes through, and Jan heads to North America as a part of a musical review. Jan dreads going home to Poland when the review is over. So as the tour drives from the United States to Canada, he sneaks away from his group and seeks asylum in Canada. He's made it to North America, and sure, he's still dreaming of the United States. But he's willing to start somewhere with a little less competition: Ontario. It's the early 70s, and Jan's struggling with a giant bag of garbage filled with old meat. In the short time since he's defected, Jan's music hasn't caught on with audiences in Ontario.
8:34 Scaachi Koul? So for now, he's working as a janitor at a meat processing plant in Toronto. It's one of a few odd jobs he works after arriving in Canada. And after a few months of hustling and improving his English, he saves enough money to buy instruments and equipment. He performs at piano lounges, churches, and Polish cultural clubs, selling cassettes at every show. At this point, Jan's style is sort of romantic adult contemporary. One of his future bandmates later compares his music at the time to Julio Iglesias. Things are tough, but Jan keeps plugging away, booking gigs mostly in major Canadian cities. In 1979, after more than six years of hustling, Jan plays a show that changes his life. It's at a Polish Heritage Festival in New Jersey.
9:18 Scaachi Koul? It's a pretty big event with about 5,000 people in attendance. The organizers have billed Jan as the, "number one Polish-Canadian entertainer." And they push Jan to pep up his music by adding a polka beat. Sarah, how much do you know about polka music?
9:35 Sarah Hagi? I know next to nothing about it, but I feel like if I heard it, I would know it's polka. And if I saw people playing it without hearing it, I'd be like, "Polka?"
9:46 Scaachi Koul? Well, we're gonna spend a lot of time talking about polka, so here is some background. Polka originated in the 1800s as Eastern European dance music. It has Czech roots, and it's not super popular in Poland. The version of polka that they want Jan to perform was actually created in the US after World War II, and it took off with Polish-American communities in Chicago and Pittsburgh. Here's what modern American polka sounds like. This is "Pennsylvania Polka" by one of the genre's stars, the Jimmy Stur Orchestra.
10:21 Sarah Hagi? You know what? That sounds to me kind of American. Not just because it's in English, but it's upbeat music that's well done.
10:30 Scaachi Koul? Yeah.
10:31 Sarah Hagi? It's good.
10:31 Scaachi Koul? Yeah, it's fun as hell.
10:33 Sarah Hagi? It's fun and it's good, and I get why it has an audience.
10:36 Scaachi Koul? Yeah. Well, Jan agrees to change his music. And when he debuts his polka-influenced set, the crowd goes crazy. Audiences love Jan's polka. And Jan loves an audience. He fully commits to this new, niche community and starts doing a lot of regional events, including a cancer research telethon in Pennsylvania in the early 80s. Jan appears alongside local celebrities like Rhonda Mahalik. Rhonda was a state finalist in the Miss Teenage America Pageant and won the Pennsylvania Organ Queen Title, an event sponsored by the Pennsylvania Accordion Teachers Association. Here's a picture of Rhonda accepting her crown. Sarah, can you describe it?
11:16 Sarah Hagi? So she is an obviously very pretty girl. It's like a classic pageant photo. Her hair is done, she's wearing a tiara, sash, flowers. I am aware that she is a teenager. And I would like Yon to stay very far away from her because I do not believe he and this beautiful young woman should fall in love.
11:40 Scaachi Koul? Well, Sarah, they do fall in love. According to Yon, it's love at first sight, even though Rhonda is in high school and he is pushing 40. And Rhonda apparently feels the same way. Although their age gap is questionable, she later says she was infatuated with his charm and sophistication. And as far as I can tell, no one has expressed their issue with the age gap on record. Rhonda and Yon date long distance for a while and then get married the following year and settle down in Rhonda's hometown of Hazleton, Pennsylvania. Now that Yon has moved to Pennsylvania, he's in the heart of American polka. So he gets back on his grind, just like in Canada. And it pays off.
12:21 Scaachi Koul? In 1984, he gets invited to perform and emcee a Ronald Reagan campaign rally in Pennsylvania. This is a huge moment for Yon, but he dreams of more than just rallies. He wants a global polka empire. And to make this happen, he doesn't just need an audience, he needs cash.
12:42 Scaachi Koul? In 1986, a couple of years after emceeing the Ronald Reagan rally, Yon starts his own band, the Yon Lewan Orchestra. The band is comprised of eight core musicians, and it puts a polka spin on the big band sound. Take a listen to some of their music.
13:03 Sarah Hagi? You can tell he is someone who is putting a lot into his music and wants to truly be a performer, just by his sound alone. And it sounds like the crowd is loving it, and he knows how to get a response. Like, it sounds like he is very different from most of the people we cover who've ever made music.
13:22 Scaachi Koul? Yeah, I mean, a Jan Lewan Orchestra concert isn't just about the music. Jan is putting on a show. He wears sequined suits and barely stands still, dancing from one side of the stage to the other. He leads the crowd in call and response and takes time between songs to tell heartfelt stories. He goes out into the audience and dances with his fans, who are mostly senior citizens. He kisses ladies on the lips and his charisma is undeniable. And in 1987, Jan achieves a major part of his American dream. He becomes a US citizen. But even though he's officially an American with a legion of loyal fans, he's not exactly rolling in the dough. The band's gigs don't bring in much, and once you split it up between all the members,
14:06 Scaachi Koul? it's even less. So around this time, Jan decides to expand into new ventures. He creates a new company called JRD Productions, Inc. A big part of the business is buying and selling Polish merchandise. With the USSR's grip on Poland weakening, the country's factories are liquidating their inventory. And Jan sees this as an opportunity. He buys thousands of dollars of Polish cultural merchandise for dirt cheap, and then he sells those same items at an insane markup back at his shows in the US. This is a legit business, but he still needs cash to build up his inventory. Luckily, he has access to a large group of people who love, and, most importantly, trust him.
14:47 Scaachi Koul? So he reaches out to fans and says that he has an investment opportunity for them. He claims that if they give him a small investment, but no less than $1,000, he'll give them a promissory note, basically guaranteeing a 12% return. That is an insane return. And as Jan says, Wall Street only gives you a 10% return if you're lucky. Jan is a smooth talker, and his celebrity persona is built on a rags-to-riches story. His fans see him as successful and smart, so they're probably inclined to believe him when he says that this is a good investment. Many give him tens of thousands of dollars. Some give up to six figures.
15:27 Sarah Hagi? Wow, I mean, it's such a crazy jump to do this from like, just being a normal legitimate artist. And it makes sense that his fans would jump at this opportunity because, think about it, at this time, like, what are the ways a fan could be close to an artist? It's not like now where you can follow them, blah, blah, blah. It makes total sense to me.
15:49 Scaachi Koul? Well, for what it's worth, it really does seem like Jan thinks this will be a win-win situation for everyone. He's already come so far in life, he's got total faith in his own potential, and by 1990, two years after starting JRD Productions, Jan is doing well enough to open his very own storefront in Hazleton. It's called Jan Lewan Show Gifts, and they sell Polish souvenirs, dolls, costumes, and Baltic amber set in gold and silver jewelry. Things are going so well that Jan even starts paying dividends to his investors. But he pays these dividends with money from new investors, making this a classic Ponzi scheme.
16:27 Sarah Hagi? It is so crazy thinking of how quickly it turned into a Ponzi scheme.
16:32 Scaachi Koul? Yeah.
16:33 Sarah Hagi? It really just naturally went there. I understand he wants to grow, but it seems like he's so successful, like, it feels like a very unnecessary scam.
16:42 Scaachi Koul? Well, Jan does it anyway. He rakes in the investments for a couple of years, and then, in 1992, he gets a call from the Pennsylvania Securities Commission. They've heard that Jan is selling promissory notes, but he hasn't registered with the state or filed a business plan. This call comes as a surprise to him. He claims in a later interview, with Glenn Beck of all people, that he ran his plan by an accountant who gave him the legal all-clear before it even began. But either way, this is an illegal investment scheme, so the Pennsylvania Securities Commission gives him a warning. Jan agrees to cancel the promissory notes, pay a $1,300 fine, and not sell any more unregistered securities. But this is just a slap on the wrist, and Jan takes it that way. He starts a new company and goes right
17:27 Scaachi Koul? back to selling unlicensed securities. But he's about to walk into a very public controversy, because Jan has made a mistake that's unusual for our scammers: he really loves his wife.
17:41 Scaachi Koul? It's March 1995 and Rhonda is at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles for the Grammys. This is the biggest night of Jan's career. He's been nominated for Best Polka Album. Rhonda is by her husband's side, hobnobbing with 90s icons like Boyz II Men and Amy Grant. Here's a picture of them with Tom Jones. Sarah, can you describe it?
18:02 Sarah Hagi? Yeah, I mean, there's a lot to say here for such a straightforward photo. Tom Jones is between Rhonda and Jan, and they're all quite tanned.
18:13 Scaachi Koul? So orange.
18:14 Sarah Hagi? Very orange. You know, this is so of the time. Like, everything to me, when I'm looking at this, is like mid 90s. And they just look really happy. And again, like, Tom Jones, he's a big deal. And, wait, before I continue, Best Polka Album was a Grammy?
18:31 Scaachi Koul? I think it still is.
18:32 Sarah Hagi? Is it still? Okay.
18:32 Scaachi Koul? I think it's just not televised anymore.
18:34 Sarah Hagi? Okay, you know what? Mad respect to the polka community. Okay. I'm scared they're gonna come for us.
18:41 Scaachi Koul? They probably will. Well, Jan and Rhonda have gotten used to being around famous people. Jan has become a regular at Donald Trump's Taj Mahal, sometimes riding into the hall on a horse. Rhonda is happy for Jan, but she feels like she's living in the shadow of her husband. When Rhonda was younger, she played the accordion. She was on her high school student council, and she studied X-ray technology at a local hospital. And now, she spends most of her life helping Jan achieve his dreams. And while she loves him and their two children, it doesn't feel like enough. So now, in her 30s, she decides she needs to have her own goals outside of being Mrs. Lewan, like returning to her pageant queen roots.
19:21 Sarah Hagi? Yeah, she gets with an adult man as a teenager, and clearly, everything will stop in her life in order to fulfill his dreams. She's in her 30s, at the prime of her life, and I guess it's good that she feels like she can restart and get back into the world of pageantry, though I fear for her because as a woman in her 30s right now, I don't think pageants would be too kind to me.
19:46 Scaachi Koul? Well, Rhonda jumps into it. In 1998, she signs up for a competition for married women called the Mrs. Pennsylvania Pageant. And Rhonda takes it very seriously. She takes dance classes, gets a personal trainer, and goes to speech and modeling classes. She travels to Florida to get a competition bathing suit, and Jan is behind her the entire way. When the pageant arrives, Rhonda feels pretty good. Jan buses in dozens of his fans and bandmates to cheer her on. She shows up wearing a jean jacket Jan bought for her, embroidered with the title "Mrs. Pennsylvania '98." Here she is in her pageant look. Can you describe her?
20:25 Sarah Hagi? You know, she looks very happy, I will say. And it's nice that at least her husband is supportive of her in this way, where he's like trying to drum up support, bringing fans along. It's like she's just a very 90s-looking woman. She has short hair and like, you know, that 90s pixie cut style thing. Her eyebrows are insane.
20:47 Scaachi Koul? They look like they're doing long division.
20:48 Sarah Hagi? But I would like to say, is there just a pageant for anything?
20:52 Scaachi Koul? Yeah.
20:53 Sarah Hagi? A pageant for married women?
20:55 Scaachi Koul? Yeah, there's like a million of them. All of the Mrs. pageants, Sarah, you have to be married. You know that, right? Like Mrs. Universe, like you have to be a married woman for that.
21:03 Sarah Hagi? Oh, my God. There should be a pageant for girls like me.
21:07 Scaachi Koul? Yeah, I'm sure we can find a pageant for like bitter bitches in their 30s. You and I would both tie for first place.
21:13 Sarah Hagi? Yeah, that's true.
21:14 Scaachi Koul? We would kiss on the podium, and then we would take our $200 prize and go to Olive Garden.
21:19 Sarah Hagi? Wow.
21:22 Scaachi Koul? Well, when it comes time to announce the winner, Rhonda is delighted to hear her name. And there's audible surprise in the room, because no one really expected her to win. She was up against some pretty tough competition. But there are tons of cheers of support as well. And Rhonda finally feels like she has her own place in the spotlight, separate from her famous husband. She's overwhelmed and starts crying. But Rhonda's elation won't last long, because her title is about to be challenged. And the ensuing controversy won't just undermine her burgeoning pageant career, it'll kickstart the fall of her husband's empire.
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23:10 Scaachi Koul? It's the same night as Rhonda's big win in the Mrs. Pennsylvania pageant, and Rita Rowley is licking her wounds at the after-party. Rita is a 46-year-old blonde, beautiful mom, who has been doing well in the pageant these past couple of years. She was just named runner-up, but she is not happy because she was positive this was going to be her year. Instead, the wife of a celebrity swooped in and stole her crown. Plus, the buses of fans in a very arrogant jean jacket didn't exactly endear Rhonda to Rita and her competitors.
23:41 Sarah Hagi? Wow, this is really fascinating because I was seeing this completely differently when I was getting it from Rhonda's perspective.
23:49 Scaachi Koul? Mm-hmm.
23:50 Sarah Hagi? But I do understand, like, yeah, if I was a regular woman in a pageant and this woman with a famous husband busted people and gave her a jean jacket, I'd be like, what the hell? Where'd she come from?
24:00 Scaachi Koul? Yeah, I'd be mad, too. The mood in the room isn't especially festive. And when Rita looks over at the judges, she sees that they're cuddled in the corner. Here's Rita later describing what happened on the American Greed podcast. They came to us and said, there has been an error. We need to get the scorecards back because... All the judges are saying she wasn't even near the top of their tabulations. Apparently, some of the judges did not pick Rhonda as the winner. So, over the next few months, Rita and some of the other contestants publicly dispute the outcome. Their claims make news nationwide, and the attention forces state authorities to open a case against the pageant organizers, since it's a crime in Pennsylvania to rig a public contest.
24:43 Scaachi Koul? Detectives start looking into the allegations against Rhonda, and her and Jan's reputation takes a major hit. But, ever the supportive wife guy, Jan releases a song to celebrate Rhonda and puts up a poster in the window of their gift shop that says, "The Home of Mrs. Pennsylvania." Rita is furious. She's even more upset when the couple goes on a local talk show to discuss the scandal. And Jan jokes that he called in a favor with the Pope to get Rhonda the win. And Rita is positively fuming in July, when Rhonda gets to go to Las Vegas to compete in the Mrs. United States National Pageant. But Rhonda doesn't win.
25:19 Sarah Hagi? You know, when we do stories where there's one person who just can't let go because they were personally harmed, and they're like, "I'm gonna topple down all of this because I deserve justice and so does everyone else," I feel like that's Rita for me right now.
25:33 Scaachi Koul? Yeah, Rita's a G. And she gets her first taste of victory in August 1998, when four of the pageant organizers are charged with rigging a public contest, theft by deception, and criminal conspiracy. Rhonda isn't charged with anything, but she steps down as Mrs. Pennsylvania just before a group of pageant officials vote on whether to dethrone her. Rita is thrilled, not just because Rhonda has gone down, but this means that she's the winner. However, the national pageant organizers say that the title of Mrs. Pennsylvania will remain vacant the rest of the year, because the votes were, quote, "so messed up." Can you read what Rita told the Hazleton Standard Speaker about that choice?
26:12 Sarah Hagi? Yes, she said, "I'm gonna take it to court if that's the case. I feel like I'm being screwed twice." I mean, yeah, I get it because they determined she had won and it was their mistake. I don't know why she wouldn't just get the title instead of them pretending it was a wash and never happened at all.
26:32 Scaachi Koul? While eventually, the local district attorney confirms that Rita would have been the rightful winner, and in October, she finally gets her crown. When the case goes to trial in 1999, Rita follows it closely. The prosecutor suggests the competition was rigged as a favor to Jan. And the trial reveals that Rhonda brought in $3,000 in advertising revenue to the pageant, the most of any contestant. But Rhonda says she sold those ads to show she was a well-respected entrepreneurial woman, not to buy her crown. The whole trial feels a bit like a show itself, as if the local authorities are just reacting to the bad press. The jurors are puzzled that the pageant organizers' financial records were never collected during
27:14 Scaachi Koul? the investigation to see if they'd been paid off. And they wonder why Rhonda was never charged or even called as a witness since she was the person allegedly benefiting from the fraud. When the verdict comes in, the pageant director and her husband are acquitted. The jury foreman says that the contest was clearly rigged, but the prosecutors hadn't done enough to prove their case against the couple. And the charges against the other two pageant organizers are dropped the next day, likely because the prosecution's case against the first two was pretty weak. Rita is glad to see the Levans' reputation has taken a hit, even if they didn't face real legal consequences. For her, the scandal has come to a close, but the spotlight on Rhonda's questionable
27:54 Scaachi Koul? win will spook Jan's investors, exposing cracks in his business and in one of his closest friendships. It's the late 90s, and Pete Chacho is having a difficult conversation with his boss. Pete is Jan's accordion player and the guy who joined Jan in Rome with a suitcase full of cash. That wild trip didn't scare Pete off. He's very loyal. And Jan has been a good friend to Pete, too. Like, he normally pays for Pete's wife, Harriet, to join them on their international travels. But since the Mrs. Pennsylvania pageant scandal, Jan's investors have been pulling their money, which has really put the squeeze on his businesses. So Jan has bad news for Pete. He can't afford to pay for Harriet to come on their next trip.
28:38 Scaachi Koul? This is a problem for Pete, who is just as big a wife guy as Jan. He's so pissed that, after a big fight, he decides to leave the band.
28:47 Sarah Hagi? What universe is this where these musicians are obsessed with their wives being around them? Like, is this the world of poker?
28:54 Scaachi Koul? Do you think these poker players have lots of other options in terms of like women to cheat on their wives with?
28:59 Sarah Hagi? Yes, of course they do.
29:01 Scaachi Koul? Maybe the female poker groupies have more self-respect than that.
29:04 Sarah Hagi? Yeah, maybe they do. Maybe it's just, you know, a pretty legit fandom.
29:08 Scaachi Koul? Mm-hmm. Well, Pete feels betrayed, and he's a dangerous enemy for Yon to have because he knows a lot about Yon's investment scheme. Yon once told Pete that people had invested half a million dollars, which would mean he owes $60,000 a year in interest alone. But that was a while ago, and Pete has no idea how much more money Yon has coaxed away from their fans. Around this time, someone starts making anonymous calls to Yon's investors, warning them that the promissory notes are illegal. And when the investors bring their concerns to Yon, he says the anonymous caller is actually Pete, who's just mad about being kicked out of the band. There are even rumors that Pete's been working with another snitch, Rhonda's mother, who wants her daughter to be free of Yon.
29:54 Scaachi Koul? For what it's worth, Pete denies that he's the one making the calls, and no one ever proves a connection between him and Rhonda's mother. But either way, he's pretty blunt in his opinion of Yon's scheme. When people ask him about their investments, he tells them to take their money and get out. People start taking his advice, and between Rhonda's pageant scandal, scary anonymous phone calls, and Pete straight up telling people Yon is screwing them over, the whole scheme begins to fall apart. And soon, a tragedy in Yon's life will push his financial situation to its limit.
30:30 Scaachi Koul? By the end of 2000, things are looking pretty bad for Yon. The net profit of all of his companies combined comes out to 16 grand. He desperately needs more money to keep his store, his music career, and his travel business going. Yon sends letters to his established investors, promising them a jaw-dropping 20% return if they give him more money. And while some people actually buy in, the Pennsylvania Securities Commission finds out what he's doing. By the middle of January 2001, they sanction Yon again for selling unlicensed securities and bar him from selling securities in Pennsylvania for five years. Yon decides there's only one way he can get out of the hole: by doing his actual job. He books a sold-out, six-night run of shows in Florida
31:14 Scaachi Koul? in the hopes that the money will help tide things over until he can find a solution. So, on January 25, 2001, the Jan Livon Orchestra loads into a Ford minibus. The band now includes Jan's grown-up son, Daniel, who plays the trumpet. Jan takes the first driving shift, but around 3 a.m., he gets tired, and another band member takes over. Around 6 a.m., as the van crosses into South Carolina, the driver falls asleep at the wheel, and the bus crashes into a concrete bridge column. When Jan comes to, he finds a tragic scene. Two of his band members are dead, the others are badly injured, and his son is unresponsive. They rush to the hospital, where Jan learns that Daniel's injuries are so severe,
31:59 Scaachi Koul? he might not survive. Jan is devastated. He tells Rhonda that if Daniel doesn't make it, he is going to kill himself. But luckily, after about a week in the hospital, Daniel's condition stabilizes, and he's able to fly home with Rhonda and Jan. At home, Jan is fully focused on his son's recovery, which is understandable, but it means he isn't bringing any money in from gigs or new investors. And he's putting whatever does come in towards Daniel's medical bills. Jan's investors get spooked. Many ask to take their money out, but Jan says they can't. When one investor confronts him, Jan claims all of his financial records were destroyed in the bus crash. Understandably, people are skeptical.
32:43 Scaachi Koul? Why would someone take boxes of financial records with them on tour?
32:47 Sarah Hagi? Wow, this is insane. The tragedy of the crash, mixed in with his own woes and his son. It's a tragedy in itself, but that is such a lie of desperation because it's so stupid.
33:02 Scaachi Koul? Yeah, he's trapped. And Jan's friends are getting worried. One fellow polka musician suggests Jan take a permanent vacation to Poland, where no one can find him. But Jan says if he has to pay the price, he will pay the price. Jan has no choice but to file for bankruptcy and close his businesses. Jan seems to be realizing that the good times may be over. And now, it's time for him to take his final bow.
33:28 Scaachi Koul? More than a year after the tragic bus crash, Kathryn Demavandie is assigned to investigate Jan Lewan. Kathryn is 28 years old with raven hair and a professional sense of style. She's a deputy attorney general in the state of Delaware, and she's looking into calls from investors who claimed that Jan was soliciting Delaware fans into his scheme after he was banned from selling securities in Pennsylvania. A lot of victims come forward, including an elderly Polish-American couple who started investing in 1999. They didn't have much cash, so they sold a trailer they used as a vacation property and invested 30 grand with Jan. They trusted Jan, so much so that they told him to take any interest they earned and reinvest it.
34:11 Scaachi Koul? Kathryn starts digging into the case and notices that Jan's businesses were losing money. In one recent year, they lost more than $200,000. All of his alleged profits were just coming from other investors. And on top of that, he ignored the Pennsylvania Securities Commission's warning. That's enough to prove that he didn't just make a mistake. This is criminal intent.
34:32 Sarah Hagi? It is so sad when the victims of the Ponzi scheme are just totally regular people.
34:40 Scaachi Koul? Yeah.
34:40 Sarah Hagi? It's not like these high-powered businessmen who have millions and millions of dollars. These are just his fans.
34:46 Scaachi Koul? Yeah.
34:47 Sarah Hagi? Sweet Polish couples who don't have that much money and are like, "We believe in you and we love your music and you bring us together culturally." It's just so cruel.
34:57 Scaachi Koul? Yeah, it's really unfair. Well, the following year, Kathryn brings her case to a grand jury. They indict Jan on 57 felony counts, including racketeering, securities fraud, theft, and the sale of unregistered securities. Within hours, Kathryn's office gets a flood of calls from other victims. When they had asked Jan how many investors he had, he said eight to 12. But in reality, there were more than 400 investors in 21 states who gave Jan close to $5 million in total.
35:28 Scaachi Koul? Kathryn never sees the case go to trial because by December 2003, Jan pleads guilty to six charges for racketeering, theft from the elderly, and sale of unregistered securities.
35:39 Scaachi Koul? Catherine is satisfied when he gets sentenced to five years alongside an order to pay $87,000 in restitution to the Delaware families. Catherine might be done with Jan, but many other victims aren't. That flood of calls opens a new federal case, and Jan's American dream is about to turn into an American nightmare.
36:05 Speaker 04 Journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia spent her life exposing powerful people. Then, in 2017, she was killed in a car bombing. I'm Stephen Gray, and for the past nine years, I've been trying to find out who wanted her dead. That search took me to Malta through secret companies, organized crime, and eventually to one of the island's richest and most powerful men. Now, after years of waiting, his trial has finally happened. But when the verdict came in, the case took a turn that almost no one had expected. In a brand-new update to the multi-award-winning podcast, Who Killed Daphne?, I'm returning to Malta to find out how we got there and where the search for the truth goes next. Listen to the new episode of Who Killed Daphne? wherever you get your podcasts, and you
36:50 Speaker 04 can hear the full six-part investigation from the beginning, ad-free with Audible. Join Audible today by downloading the Audible app and by subscribing on Apple Podcasts.
37:04 Speaker 05 Hey, I'm Cassie DePecce, the host of Against the Odds from Audible Originals. In each episode, we share thrilling true stories of survival, putting you in the shoes of the people who lived to tell the tale. In our latest series, we track the story of Hugh Glass, the real-life revenant that inspired the 2015 film starring Leonardo DiCaprio. In 1823, Glass was brutally mauled by a grizzly bear in present-day South Dakota and left for dead. His survival depended on trekking through 350 miles of wilderness alone with grave injuries. But he was driven by his thirst for revenge. Follow Against the Odds wherever you get your podcasts. Audible subscribers can binge all episodes of Against the Odds early and ad-free right now. Join Audible in the Audible app or by subscribing on Apple Podcasts.
37:58 Scaachi Koul? In January 2004, Jan reports to a state prison in Delaware to serve his five-year sentence. While behind bars, he pleads guilty to additional state charges in New Jersey for Securities fraud and money laundering, and to federal charges for mail and wire fraud. His three sentences will run simultaneously, keeping his time in jail to around five years. He's ordered to pay back nearly $5 million in restitution, but his lawyers say Jan has no assets, and the only way he'll be able to pay his victims is by restarting his singing career once he's released. Jan may have committed some serious crimes, although he isn't a hardened criminal. But Delaware places him in a maximum-security prison alongside violent offenders. With his gentle demeanor and thick accent, he does not fit in.
38:43 Scaachi Koul? And worse still, Jan later claims that rumors started to spread around the prison that he was locked up for crimes against a child, which puts a huge target on him with fellow inmates. In April, just a couple of months after starting his sentence, Jan's cellmate attacks him with a makeshift weapon. Jan's neck gets sliced open, but he manages to hold on until one of the guards finally notices. It's brutal, but somehow he survives, although the attack leaves Jan with possible nerve damage.
39:11 Sarah Hagi? Wow, I'm really shocked.
39:14 Scaachi Koul? Another time for us to talk about how we hate jails.
39:16 Sarah Hagi? Well, yeah, I mean, and usually we see people go to prison for these kinds of crimes, and they're never in maximum security.
39:24 Scaachi Koul? Very rarely.
39:25 Sarah Hagi? Very rarely, and yeah, I mean, that's super brutal. I really wasn't expecting this to happen.
39:32 Scaachi Koul? Yeah. Well, the attack isn't Jan's only health issue. In 2006, he develops a heart problem, so the state of Delaware commutes the rest of his sentence. But he still has to finish serving his federal time, which means he has three years to go. And to make things worse, Rhonda asks Jan for a divorce. He bounces around different detention centers for a few years until he finally lands at a halfway house in Pennsylvania where he finishes out his sentence. In 2009, at 67, he's finally released, but not before learning a new skill: polka rap. Here's one of the songs he wrote while he was incarcerated.
40:09 Speaker 06 The only crime I did commit was wanted to be famous. No one was hurt, and I did nothing heinous. Listen to my story, could you tell that I relate? So you and your loved ones may escape my affa-.
40:24 Sarah Hagi? Oh, my God.
40:25 Scaachi Koul? It's pretty good.
40:26 Sarah Hagi? He's back to being himself, although I guess because he was in prison, he thought, hey, why don't I do rap? Also, like, him saying that the only crime was that he wanted to be famous and that no one was hurt. You did do something. There were victims. There was a lot of money.
40:45 Scaachi Koul? Yes, exactly. Jan might claim that no one was hurt, but his victims disagree. They're still livid, especially since Jan can't pay the restitution he owes. Many of them give their side of the story in the documentary, "The Man Who Would Be Poker King", which debuts soon after Jan's release. Though Jan participates in the film, his victims' stories take center stage. Like retired couple Bill and Leona Martin, who have seven children. Bill worked at General Electric for 30 years, and Leona worked as a bus driver for 20. After Jan took their money, she was forced to go back to work. She estimates that between the two of them and a couple of their kids, they invested a million dollars in Jan. Here's what they told the filmmakers.
41:27 Speaker 05 I figure whatever he's getting, he deserves. We still have each other. We still have our family. We still have the love of everybody. But he doesn't.
41:38 Sarah Hagi? It seems like the most important thing to Jan was fame, so... Yeah, I mean, he does have that now. It's the only thing he cares about, right?
41:47 Scaachi Koul? Yes, exactly. Leona also says that she thinks that Jan's prison attacker didn't go deep enough, a feeling repeated by other victims. Though it's unlikely Leona would take things into her own hands, one of Jan's friends gets worried for Jan's safety, so he invites Jan to move to Florida to live with him and his girlfriend. Though the documentary is unequivocal about Jan's scamming ways, it's about to catch the eye of someone in Hollywood. And Jan will finally get the type of mainstream celebrity he's been chasing all along.
42:20 Scaachi Koul? It's 2017, eight years after Jan was released from prison. Jan is in Utah at the Sundance Film Festival, watching the premiere of a movie about his life. It's called "The Poker King", and Netflix is about to acquire it for seven figures. The documentary made Jan look pretty awful, but it also caught the attention of actor and musician Jack Black, who decided that he had to play Jan in a movie. And they're at Sundance today to show it off. Jenny Slate plays the character based on Rhonda, and Jason Schwartzman plays the stand-in for Pete. After the screening, Jack brings Jan up on stage to celebrate. The two men collaborated closely throughout filming, and Jack has really nailed Jan's accent and his dance moves. Let's listen to them perform a rapping polka duet onstage in Park City.
43:05 Speaker 06 ... I did not behind the walls, but still I'm standing tall. I can hear the video locker, but now I'm rapping polka!
43:16 Scaachi Koul? The crowd eats it up. Rhonda accompanies Jan, and they take photos together. Despite the fact that they divorced a long time ago, Rhonda and Jan are still friends. In a twist, she actually married Steve, Jan's former trumpet player and the man behind the wheel during the van accident.
43:33 Sarah Hagi? Okay, these people are messy.
43:36 Scaachi Koul? Yeah.
43:37 Sarah Hagi? Rhonda, just leave the polka community. They've done you...
43:41 Scaachi Koul? They've done you dirty, girl.
43:42 Sarah Hagi? They've done you dirty. They've ruined your life in some ways.
43:44 Scaachi Koul? It's just nuts that she's married to...
43:46 Sarah Hagi? It's nuts that she's married to this guy, and also, it's so weird to imagine these two being amicable in any sense.
43:54 Scaachi Koul? Yeah, it's very bizarre. Well, this screening is a serious culmination of Jan's redemption journey. He comes out of the event looking like a misguided dreamer instead of an evil villain, which doesn't sit well with some of his victims. These days, Jan is still living in Florida. He's a piano teacher and now a grandfather. There's a musical in the works based on his life called Big Famous, written by Jan's former musical director. And according to Jan's Instagram, it started rehearsals earlier this year. Jan still plays polka music at festivals from time to time to help pay some of the restitution he owes. But now, he's got a whole new band.
44:32 Scaachi Koul? Sarah, this is one of my least favorite scams, because, you know, it is really funny and weird, but we can't even laugh at it because the people he was ripping off were just, like, overly trusting polka fans.
44:43 Sarah Hagi? Yeah, the circumstances around it are, let's not lie, you're quite funny. But yeah, it is so evil when it is just a bunch of regular people who just love your music and your work.
44:58 Scaachi Koul? I mean, I guess like the lesson, if there is one to pull from this is like, why should you trust like some artist you like with your money?
45:06 Sarah Hagi? Yes, exactly. It's like you just kind of believe that enjoying their work and connecting to it means that they're good people or trust you or appreciative of you, but it's transactional to a certain level.
45:19 Scaachi Koul? I think he also benefited from ripping people off within his own community.
45:23 Sarah Hagi? Yes, yes.
45:24 Scaachi Koul? Obviously, if you are a Polish-American and you really like polka, then you're more inclined to trust this guy. If he had tried to set up this Ponzi scheme in any other community, it wouldn't have worked because why would you trust him?
45:36 Sarah Hagi? Yeah, I mean, I think it makes it even more painful because I feel like there's a deeper level of kinship here. I do think it's crazy, though, that he legitimately did know the Pope. Like, that wasn't a scam. Like, in my mind, I'm like, oh, this is the beginning of the scam. He's one of those people that lies about knowing the Pope.
45:51 Scaachi Koul? I guess he just knew how to buy his way into St. Peter's.
45:55 Sarah Hagi? But if someone told me they knew the Pope and the Pope knew them by name, I would trust them a little bit more because I'd be like, well, you know the Pope.
46:05 Scaachi Koul? I really love that all of this fell apart because he just loved his wife too dang much and he frauded his way into her good graces, too.
46:14 Sarah Hagi? Yeah, in my mind, I'm like, he clearly had an image he was trying to uphold of his life and marriage. And he went so far for a pageant. Maybe she could have won on her own. You could make the case that if there was robust arts funding, Polka King wouldn't need to have scammed, you know?
46:33 Scaachi Koul? Everything goes back to an arts council grant.
46:35 Sarah Hagi? Yep, if he just got to apply for some grants and got his bag.
46:39 Scaachi Koul? If somebody liked Hitler's paintings, things would have been different.
46:42 Sarah Hagi? You know, I'm just scared of how much fame corrupts, you know? And this guy was talented. We've had so many people who've dipped their toes into entertainment. And anytime they do, they're always bad. We haven't had one scammer who's been really, really good at what they're doing. And I could tell this guy was good at polka.
47:01 Scaachi Koul? You know what, again, just do the thing you're good at. Don't do fraud. Just be good at the thing.
47:06 Sarah Hagi? If I was there, if I was his manager, it wouldn't have happened.
47:09 Scaachi Koul? Well, that's why you're mine.
47:10 Sarah Hagi? Yep, yep. And that's why you're out of jail.
47:13 Scaachi Koul? For now.
47:20 Scaachi Koul? Follow Scamfluencers on the Audible app or wherever you get your podcasts. You can listen to all episodes of Scamfluencers ad-free by joining Audible. This is Yon Lewan. From polka dreams to Ponzi schemes, I'm Sachi Cole.
47:34 Sarah Hagi? And I'm Sarah Haggie. If you have a tip for us on a story that you think we should cover, please email us at [email protected] . We use many sources in our research. A few that were particularly helpful were the documentary The Man Who Would Be Polka King, the American greed podcast Polka King, When An American Dream Turns Into An American Tragedy, Yon Lewan Strives For Redemption by Vince Chesney and Cosmopolitan Review, Beauty Queen Resigns: Cheating Alleged by The Associated Press, The Polka King's Empire Crumbles by Jerry Lanott and The Times Leader, and Rise and Fall of a King by Kelly Monitz in The Standard Speaker.
48:11 Scaachi Koul? Jessica Ford wrote this episode. Additional writing by us, Sachi Cole and Sarah Haggie. Eric Thurm is our story editor. Fact checking by Gabriel Drolle. Sound design by James Morgan. Additional audio assistance provided by Augustine Lim. Our music supervisor is Scott Velazquez for Freeze on Sync. Our managing producer is Desi Blaylock. Our senior managing producer is Callum Pluse. Janine Cornolo and Stephanie Jens are development producers. Our associate producer is Charlotte Miller. Our producer is Julie McGruder. Our senior producers are Sarah Enney and Ginny Bloom. Our executive producers are Jenny Lauer Beckman, Marshall Louis, and Erin O'Flaherty. For Wondery.
48:55 Sarah Hagi? Journalist Tristan Redman goes where no son-in-law should ever go, deep into his wife's family history, digging up the cold case of who murdered her great-grandmother. Because, I should mention, he thinks the murderer might actually be the beloved family patriarch. For the best binge-watch series like Ghost Story, listen to the Audible True Crime Podcast wherever you get your podcasts.
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