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Lunch Break Reads: January 23
Happy Friday, Lunch Club!
I am looking forward to the big winter storm headed our way this weekend. For those of you in the U.S. about to buried in snow, I hope you get to enjoy the winter fun.
In today’s edition you will find our top stories of the week, a look at scammers, and organized crime in Batumi, Georgia. I closed the email with an essay from author and professor Dr. Arthur Brooks on 10 ways to improve your happiness.
Happy Reading,
Brett
The Dial
In the shadow of India's rapid economic growth lies a booming industry built on deception. In "The Scammer Next Door," Snigdha Poonam recounts her journey into the heart of the country's fraud empire after receiving a call claiming she’d won a lottery. Rather than hanging up, Poonam goes undercover as a job seeker, uncovering a world where scamming is no longer an outlier but a pragmatic career choice for millions of unemployed youths.
From makeshift call centers to village-based rackets, the narrative explores how glaring inequality and the digital revolution have combined to create a "golden age of fraud." These workers, often earning triple the average wage, view their work not as a moral failing but as a survival tactic in a system that offers few legitimate paths to prosperity. As trust erodes, the distinction between the "hustle" and the "heist" disappears, revealing a society where a scammer is seemingly born every minute.
Read here.
Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project
In 2021, a man named Thomas Xu arrived in the Georgian city of Batumi, promising a billion-lari investment and a future of architectural marvels. He was hailed as a philanthropic savior, eventually becoming the honorary president of a top-tier football club. But an OCCRP investigation has unmasked Xu as Hsu Ming-chin, a convicted methamphetamine manufacturer who fled Taiwan in 2014 to escape a 12-year prison sentence.
Beneath his tailored suits lay a web of fake identities and links to the Sam Gor syndicate, one of the world's most powerful drug trafficking networks. Authorities believe Xu helped finance a staggering $364-million methamphetamine shipment while building a real estate empire under the banner of the Cambodia-based Lixin Group. A 2025 UN report recently labeled the organization a "major Mekong-based criminal enterprise" involved in cyber-fraud and money laundering. As international scrutiny intensifies, Xu’s name has vanished from corporate records, with his multi-million dollar assets quietly transferred to his brother. Today, his ambitious "Halcyon" skyscraper project remains a vacant lot—a stark reminder of how easily criminal capital can exploit emerging markets to hide fugitive fortunes.
Read here.
Here’s an un-boring way to invest that billionaires have quietly leveraged for decades
If you have enough money that you think about buckets for your capital…
Ever invest in something you know will have low returns—just for the sake of diversifying?
CDs… Bonds… REITs… :(
Sure, these “boring” investments have some merits. But you probably overlooked one historically exclusive asset class:
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Investing involves risk. Past performance not indicative of future returns. Reg A disclosures at masterworks.com/cd
Arthur Brooks has dedicated his life to the science of happiness and finding meaning and enjoyment in life. His 2022 essay provides 10 ways to bring a little more happiness into your life.
Invest in family and friends.
Join a club.
Be active both mentally and physically.
Practice your religion.
Get physical exercise.
Act nicely.
Be generous.
Check your health.
Experience nature.
Socialize with colleagues outside of work.
Read here, free for LBR Readers.
The internet gives you everything and helps you understand nothing. The Lunch Break Reads Weekend Edition solves that problem. Every week we pick one theme that actually matters and build you a curated reading list that goes deep instead of wide. Underground book markets. Deep-sea mining's geopolitical consequences. The kind of stuff that makes you dangerous at dinner parties.
Want to help support the Lunch Club? Consider buying me a cup of coffee.
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