In 1988, a man named Patrick Quinn appeared on the TV game
show Super Password and won $58,600 – close to $150,00 in today’s money – over
the course of four days. Impressive, except “Patrick Quinn” was really Kerry
Ketchum, a wanted fugitive with several outstanding warrants for fraud,
including staging his wife’s death to collect $100,000 in insurance. Kerry
planned to use his winnings to fund a new life under another assumed name, but
it was NBC’s policy to cut a check after the program had aired. Sure enough,
some of the people who watched the show had been conned by Ketchum, and
recognized his face. When he showed up to collect his money, the FBI was waiting
for him. While serving time for fraud, Kerry sued NBC for his winnings, plus a
million in damages. His case was thrown out. While he HAD actually won the game
honestly, he’d voided his contract by doing so with a fake name.
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