For more than a decade, McDonald’s customers eagerly peeled Monopoly game pieces off their fries and drink cups, hoping to win a big prize. But behind the fast food’s wildly popular promotion was a secret scheme that rigged the game from the inside. The man responsible? Jerome Jacobson, a former security officer for the company that was producing the game pieces, stole winning tickets and sold them to a network of accomplices. When the FBI eventually revealed this elaborate fraud, it showed how America’s favorite marketing campaign became a multi-million dollar scandal, costing “McMillions.”
Between 1989 and 2001, Jerome, also known as “Jerry,” defrauded McDonald’s out of 24 million dollars. How did he do it? At first, Jacobson offered the game pieces to friends and family, but eventually began selling them to Gennaro Colombo, of the Colombo crime family, whom he had met by chance at the Atlanta airport. Jerry was once the director of security for Simon Marketing. In the 1990s, Simon made the games so customers could win up to 1 million dollars in prizes just by buying fries or a soda pop. According to The Daily Beast, “Securing the game pieces often meant Jacobson had to personally carry them into a case shut with a tamper-proof seal. He would take the stickers to packaging centers around the country where he would apply them himself to french fry cartoons and soda cups…” These were sealed court documents from Jacobson’s case.
The FBI began investigating in 2000 after noticing an unusually high number of winners from the same geographic areas. They used techniques such as posing as filmmakers to interview winners, tapping phones, and monitoring suspects to help build their case. Getting caught: In March 2000, the FBI received a tip about William Fisher, a $1 million winner in 1996. Fisher was the father-in-law of the man Jacobson had met in the Atlanta airport. Even though he had driven to New Hampshire, the FBI easily traced him to actually be living in Jacksonville, Florida. Fisher was then sentenced to roughly 3 years of probation and had to pay $300,000 in restitution, according to court documents. The FBI arrested Jerry and his seven accomplices in August 2001; they were all charged with felony conspiracy to commit mail fraud. They were all sentenced to 3 years in prison. “This fraud scheme denied McDonald’s customers a fair and equal chance of winning.” John Ascot said at a press conference announcing the arrests.
This story received major media coverage, but was largely overshadowed by the September 11th attacks that occurred the day after the first indictments were unsealed. Public opinion on the McDonald’s Monopoly scheme is mixed. “With such backlash from the news of the fraud, many consumers are led to question the legitimacy of such promotions,” said an article from The Daily Beast. Many are also concerned about the health benefits of such big promotions. They believe these types of games lead to encouraging bad eating habits and consuming large amounts of unhealthy processed food.
In conclusion, the McDonald’s monopoly fraud was uncovered through a thorough FBI investigation. Jerome Jacobson was caught by all the pieces of the case leading to him and his accomplices. The media played a crucial role in bringing this story to the public eye.
