New Series Kingdom Of Fraud

Co-produced by Novel and iHeartPodcasts, episodes release weekly from May 12th 2026, wherever you get your podcasts.

Listen to the official audio trailer now, here.

Preview episodes now, here.

LONDON and NEW YORK – 5th May, 2026 – What do a devout polygamist from an insular Utah sect and a shadowy Armenian tycoon from Los Angeles have in common? More than you'd think. Together, they defrauded the American government out of nearly one billion dollars.

“Kingdom of Fraud,” a brand new series co-produced by Novel and iHeartPodcasts, launches May 12th 2026. Listeners can hear the official series trailer now, here.

Over seven episodes, Emmy-nominated journalist, investigative reporter and host Michele McPhee traces the extraordinary and unlikely criminal partnership between Jacob Kingston and Levon Termendzhyan, a reputed Armenian crime figure known to those around him as “The Lion.” Together, they built a billion dollar fraud conspiracy out of a biofuel subsidy program, and triggered the largest tax investigation in American history.

McPhee travels from Salt Lake City and its outskirts where Mormon fundamentalist groups laid roots, to gritty neighborhoods in Los Angeles and beyond to understand how Jacob Kingston, one of his father's more than 100 children and a man desperate to prove his worth to his powerful polygamist clan, The Order, ended up in business with one of LA's most feared operators. And how, once their scheme started generating tens of millions of dollars, they needed to find somewhere far from Utah to hide it all.

But this story isn't just about two men and their money. Around Jacob and Levon sits a web of dirty cops, political connections and transnational money launderers that reaches further than the federal agents investigating the case could have imagined.

Jacob Kingston was put under unimaginable pressure as law enforcement started circling, but Levon assured him that a shadowy network known only as ‘The Boys” - paid badges from the highest levels of federal law enforcement who sold their access to the highest bidder would spring into action to keep the cops at bay.

Was Jacob right to put his life in The Lion’s hands, or will their billion dollar biofuel empire go up in smoke?

“Kingdom of Fraud” is a story about what happens when the most unlikely of alliances is corroded by greed and selfishness - a story of rampant corruption in which every American citizen was a victim.

“Kingdom of Fraud” launches everywhere you get your podcasts on May 12th, with new episodes published weekly on Mondays.

Listen completely ad-free and one week early with an iHeart True Crime+ subscription, available exclusively on Apple Podcasts.

For further information, images, audio or interview opportunities, please contact: Novel - production.management@novel.audio

“Kingdom of Fraud” is distributed by iHeartPodcasts.

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About Michele McPhee

Michele McPhee is a Senior Editor at Los Angeles magazine and the author of seven investigative true crime books. She was a five-time Emmy-nominated producer in the ABC News Investigative Unit and was nominated as the Police Bureau Chief of the New York Daily News for a Pulitzer Prize for 9/11 coverage before returning to her native city where she went on to become an award-winning Boston Herald columnist. She is also Writers Guild of America screenwriter, including on the Showtime series City on a Hill and has sold multiple pilots as potential scripted series. She has worked as documentary producer, developed a podcast based on her two books that investigate the federal government's connection to the Boston Marathon bombers called Mayhem with Michele McPhee and is a frequent guest on television news programs including Dateline and 20/20. Her investigative work has garnered multiple national and local press awards. She began reporting on the story "The Mobster and the Mormon" in 2022 for Los Angeles magazine.

@Michele McPhee

https://www.linkedin.com/in/michelemcphee/

@Michele.McPhee

About Novel

Novel is a leading independent premium podcast company. Its stack of chart-topping, award-winning podcasts includes The Girlfriends, which reached the global number one spot, won the Ambie for Best True Crime Podcast in 2024.

The worldwide chart-topping hit true crime series Kill List was the winner of the Edward R Murrow Award for Journalism, the Best Podcast Award at the 2025 Broadcast Press Guild (BPG) Awards, as well as winner of the Signal Award for Best True Crime and Best Sound Design, and Podcast of the Year at the British Podcast Awards and True Crime Awards 2025.

Further chart-topping, critically acclaimed and award-winning podcasts include Harsh Reality: The Story of Miriam Rivera, Stolen Hearts, Come by Chance, Superhero Complex and Filthy Ritual.