MERIDIAN
The Ponzi Scheme That Emptied a TownBy Mohamed Aslam
Length1h 25m
About this audiobook
For nearly thirty years, Walter Renquist managed the retirement savings of roughly four hundred families in a small Iowa town — right up until the morning it all collapsed, and investigators discovered the money had never actually been invested at all. What followed was a whistleblower accountant nobody believed at first, a regulator juggling too many cases, a town forced to reckon with what unquestioning trust had cost it, and one family's devastating, irreversible loss.
Meridian: The Ponzi Scheme That Emptied a Town traces one of the longest-running Ponzi schemes ever uncovered — not through Wall Street, but through the quiet, trust-built fabric of a town where everybody thought they knew each other. A story about what happens when the person you trust most completely turns out to have been lying the whole time, and what a community owes itself once the truth finally comes out.
Audiobook details
GenreTrue Crime
Length1 hr 25 mins
Narrated byListen with 1,000+ voices
FormateBook with Audio
Publish dateJul 24, 2026
LanguageEnglish
Table of contents
1Introduction
2Prologue: The Advisor Everyone Trusted
3Chapter One: How the Scheme Worked
4Chapter Fifteen: How It Began
5Chapter Sixteen: Two Times It Almost Ended
Show all chaptersShow less
6Chapter Twenty-Seven: A Familiar Shape
7Chapter Two: The First Red Flag
8Chapter Three: What Priya Chandrasekaran Found
9Chapter Four: The Regulator Who Almost Missed It
10Chapter Twenty-Four: Dorothy Kessinger's Forty Years
11Chapter Twenty-Three: When the FBI Joined
12Chapter Five: The Collapse
13Chapter Six: What Was Actually Left
14Chapter Twenty-One: Net Winners and Net Losers
15Chapter Seven: Frank Larson
16Chapter Eight: A Town Reckons With Itself
17Chapter Nineteen: The Congregation's Loss
18Chapter Nine: Building the Case
19Chapter Seventeen: The Defense's Dilemma
20Chapter Ten: The Sentencing Hearing
21Chapter Eleven: What Renquist Said
22Chapter Twenty-Two: The Family Renquist Left Behind
23Chapter Twelve: Four Hundred Families
24Chapter Twenty-Five: Building Support From Nothing
25Chapter Thirteen: What Regulators Changed
26Chapter Eighteen: A Story Bigger Than One Town
27Chapter Twenty-Six: What It Cost the Accountant
28Chapter Fourteen: Meridian, After
29Chapter Twenty: What Meridian Wants Remembered
30Chapter Twenty-Eight: Four Towns, One Country
31Chapter Twenty-Nine: What Remains
32Author's Note
33Epilogue: What Trust Costs, and What It's Worth
THE KING OF BROKEN VOWSMohamed Aslam2h 5m Only with Ultra
THE GIRL IN THE WINTER GARDENMohamed Aslam1h 35m Only with Ultra
THE LAST CALL FROM ASHCROFTMohamed Aslam4h 41m Only with Ultra
THE WOMAN IN ROOM 317Mohamed Aslam4h 30m Only with Ultra
THE HOUSE BEYOND THE TIDEMohamed Aslam1h 46m Only with Ultra
THE LAST LIGHT AT BRIAR COVEMohamed Aslam1h 28m Only with Ultra
THE LIGHTHOUSE BETWEEN USMohamed Aslam1h 39m Only with Ultra
THE WIDOW'S LAST LETTERMohamed Aslam1h 10m Only with Ultra
Provenance Mohamed Aslam54m Only with Ultra
THE LAST TENANTMohamed Aslam1h Only with Ultra
Fatal ExitMohamed Aslam52m Only with Ultra
The Girl Who Never Left Cedar LakeMohamed Aslam50m Only with Ultra
THE HOLLOW HOURMohamed Aslam 1h 3m Only with Ultra
Drowned HarborMohamed Aslam49m Only with Ultra
BRAEBURNMohamed Aslam 54m Only with Ultra
THE LAST VOICE ON BLACKWOOD...Mohamed Aslam 1h 27m Only with Ultra
MARSHFIELDMohamed Aslam57m Only with Ultra
BROOKHAVENMohamed Aslam 51m Only with Ultra
MILLHAVENMohamed Aslam52m Only with Ultra
HAVENWOODMohamed Aslam54m Only with Ultra
A Thousand Miles From Care: A hunt for a brother's killer - a new compelling Australian true crime story about murder & corruption, WINNER of the Ned Kelly Awards Best True Crime 2025Steve Johnson10h 14m4.6 (242)$29 · $0.00
Killer TriggersJoe Kenda8h 31m4.4 (6K)$20 · $0.00
BoundlessNick Kostov, Sean McLain9h 17m4.5 (1.1K)$29 · $0.00
Nine LivesAimen Dean15h 23m4.4 (3.2K)$23
Deadly ForceLawrence O'Donnell17h 18m4.5 (342)$40 · $0.00
Walking the BowlChris Lockhart, Daniel Mulilo Chama9h 7m4.4 (1.5K)$29 · $0.00
Trial by FireScott James13h 31m4.4 (1.4K)$23
PapillonHenri Charriere18h 19m4.3 (90.2K)$40 · $0.00
The SuspectKent Alexander, Kevin Salwen14h 12m4.4 (3K)$23 · $0.00
The Cause of DeathCynric Temple-Camp8h 59m4.4 (1.4K)$29 · $0.00
GanglandJared Savage9h 21m4.4 (1.4K)$29 · $0.00
Riding with EvilKen Croke, Dave Wedge9h 42m4.3 (3.4K)$29 · $0.00
Raven 23Gina Keating8h 16m4.7 (55)$26 · $0.00
The Two FBIsNicole Parker10h 8m4.4 (499)$29 · $0.00
I Catch KillersGary Jubelin15h 32m4.3 (6.6K)$33 · $0.00
The Redemption Of Bobby LoveBobby Love, Cheryl Love9h 13m4.4 (956)$29 · $0.00
The Life We ChoseMatt Birkbeck8h 57m4.4 (1K)$29 · $0.00
The Truth About AaronJonathan Hernandez5h 15m4.3 (2.5K)$24 · $0.00
No Ordinary BirdArtis Henderson6h 23m4.4 (597)$24 · $0.00
I'll Be Gone in the DarkMichelle McNamara10h 7m4.3 (302.5K)$29 · $0.00
You may also like
Where They Found HerKimberly McCreight11h3.9 (44.3K)$29 · $0.00
The Out-of-Town LawyerRobert Rotstein8h 42m4.4 (295)$23
CutworkMonica Ferris8h 51m4.0 (2.5K)$26
Magpie MurdersAnthony Horowitz15h 48m4.1 (228K)$33 · $0.00
Stitched in CrimeEmmie Caldwell8h 8m4.1 (535)$20
WordhunterStella Sands7h 50m3.7 (4.3K)$26 · $0.00
The Scent of Rain and LightningNancy Pickard10h 11m3.9 (20.3K)$20
A Deadly ÉclairDaryl Wood Gerber9h 56m4.0 (1.7K)$23
How Secrets DieMarta Perry10h 3m4.1 (1.1K)$29 · $0.00
Agatha Raisin and the Day the Floods CameM. C. Beaton6h 8m3.9 (15.9K)$20
The Seven Dials MysteryAgatha Christie8h 26m3.9 (57.5K)$23
Outlaw MountainJ. A. Jance12h 56m4.1 (10.9K)$33 · $0.00
Detective AuntyUzma Jalaluddin11h3.9 (8.5K)$29 · $0.00
Stranger in the LakeKimberly Belle9h 39m3.7 (25.7K)$29 · $0.00
Skeleton CanyonJ. A. Jance12h 22m4.1 (9.1K)$29 · $0.00
KisscutKarin Slaughter5h 55m4.2 (102K)$24 · $0.00
Holiday GrindCleo Coyle9h 8m4.1 (7.1K)$26
Last DitchNgaio Marsh8h 6m3.9 (3.9K)$17
The Framed Women of Ardemore HouseBrandy Schillace11h 39m3.7 (7.1K)$28 · $0.00
The Murder of Roger AckroydAgatha Christie6h 54m4.3 (361.3K)$24 · $0.00