I expose how right-wing news influencers earn lucrative fees for ads for “gold IRAs” that regulators, whistleblowers and customers allege are a massive fraud.

This investigation (which won a SABEW honorable mention for business journalism) showed how right-wing influencers promote gold investment companies that authorities and whistleblowers say are a massive fraud. I found a whistleblower – one firm’s ex-CFO – interviewed regulators, victims and ex-employees, and filed dozens of FOIAs, as I traced this industry back to its roots in the 2008 financial crisis. My prior investigation into one firm led to an FBI investigation and a criminal prosecution of the firm’s leaders – and, an ex-employee says the FBI questioned him about information revealed in my investigation in particular, about how that prior firm explicitly targeted seniors in their advertising.