- 7/5/2025
Power and influence can shield the worst among us from justice. Join us as we examine the notorious figures who committed terrible acts yet faced little to no consequences. From political leaders to entertainment icons, these individuals manipulated systems and used their status to escape accountability for their heinous deeds.
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00:00Here, he conducted barbaric experiments on innocent victims.
00:05Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we're looking at powerful and influential figures who got away with committing awful acts of evil.
00:13Blessed with so much talent, so much success, but guilty of shocking acts for which he has never held to account.
00:22Jimmy Sovel
00:24He was like a conjurer. He mesmerized people.
00:30We trusted him.
00:31Considered one of the most beloved celebrities in Britain, the extent of Jimmy Sovel's crimes didn't come to light until after he passed away.
00:39His celebrity status and charitable work created a protective public image that shielded him from allegations of sexual misbehavior, however serious they were.
00:48Organizations, including the BBC and NHS hospitals, failed to properly investigate reports of inappropriate behavior, often dismissing the allegations without conducting follow-ups.
00:59These revelations, Sam describes them as the dark side of Britain's top DJ.
01:08These protections allowed Saville to become one of the most prolific sex offenders in British history, with police identifying over 400 victims over a period of five decades.
01:17Tragically, Saville died peacefully in his sleep at the age of 84, having completely gotten away with his rampant abuse.
01:25His is one of the most familiar faces in Britain.
01:27But there is another side, a dark side.
01:32It is of a ruthless, calculating Jimmy Saville.
01:36Ted Kennedy
01:36We flew down low over the, what is the dyke bridge, and I saw the car and the commotion down there and everything, and I thought, oh my God, there goes Ted's presidency right there.
01:47It's amazing what being rich and powerful can get you.
01:50On July 18th, 1969, Senator Ted Kennedy was driving on Chappaquiddick Island with 28-year-old Mary Jo Kopechny, when he accidentally drove his car off a bridge.
02:01The car overturned in the water, trapping and slowly killing Kopechny.
02:05Kennedy walked away from the scene, and it wasn't until 10 hours had elapsed that he contacted the authorities.
02:11With that, Kennedy dove into the water and swam across the channel to Edgartown.
02:18Neglecting to report the accident, he returned to his hotel room for the night.
02:22During this time, Kennedy returned to his hotel, consulted with his personal and legal advisors, and appeared publicly, as if nothing had happened.
02:30This type of incident would usually involve felony charges and substantial prison time.
02:34Instead, Kennedy was given a suspended sentence and probation, with analysts blaming the light sentence on his wealth and political privilege.
02:42I regard as indefensible the fact that I did not report the accident to the police immediately.
02:51John Ruffo.
02:53A breakthrough in the more than 20-year-long manhunt for one of America's most wanted, or at least the U.S. Marshals thought they might have a clue.
03:01One of the largest bank fraud schemes in American history was orchestrated by business executive John Ruffo, and he completely got away with it.
03:09Well, sort of.
03:10Through an elaborate financial conspiracy, Ruffo defrauded the United States and foreign banks of millions of dollars.
03:17John Ruffo, now 66 years old, convicted of a $350 million bank fraud scheme back in 1998, and then he disappeared.
03:26He was eventually caught in 1996 and faced a 150-count indictment, with charges including fraud, money laundering, and conspiracy.
03:35He was ultimately convicted and sentenced to 17 years in prison.
03:38He was ordered to turn himself in to the U.S. Marshals Service on November 9, 1998, but he never showed up.
03:45Ruffo bailed and fled the country, his abandoned car found at JFK Airport.
03:50He never served a day in prison, and remains at large.
03:53But, you know, look, look, you're looking for a short, you know, balding man.
03:57I mean, you're looking for George Costanza, in fact, and he could be anywhere.
04:01He could.
04:01It's going to be hard to find him.
04:02Saw Boonwatt.
04:04Diplomatic immunity.
04:06Diplomatic immunity provides foreign diplomats with legal protection from prosecution and civil lawsuits in their host countries.
04:13And one of the most notorious examples is that of Saw Boonwatt, who served as the Burmese ambassador to Ceylon, which is now Sri Lanka.
04:22Owing to significant gaps in documentation, the exact details of the crime are not known and may be embellished, but according to reports, Boonwatt shot and killed his wife over an alleged affair inside their diplomatic residence.
04:34Sri Lankan police were legally prevented from intervening or entering the compound, and Boonwatt fled the country just a few days later.
04:42There is no official record that a trial ever took place back in Myanmar, which suggests that Boonwatt got away with the crime.
04:49How did you get that peace through customs?
04:53Diplomatic immunity.
04:55Great.
04:56That restores my faith in airport security.
04:59Roman Polanski.
05:00This is a case, seemingly, that will never die.
05:02Going on 40 years now, Roman Polanski's name still being bantered about in superior court.
05:07A powerful figure in Hollywood, Roman Polanski was an Oscar-nominated director behind acclaimed movies like Rosemary's Baby and Chinatown.
05:15His career should have ended in 1977, when he pleaded guilty to unlawful sexual intercourse with a minor.
05:21I don't blame myself.
05:23See, Mr. Gitz, most people never have to face the fact that at the right time and the right place, they're capable of anything.
05:33Polanski had initially been charged with multiple serious offenses, but he struck a plea agreement that would have resulted in time served plus probation.
05:41However, Polanski learned that a judge was likely going to impose a harsher sentence, likely sending him to state prison.
05:48So, he fled to France, and has never returned.
05:52Not only has he lived the rest of his life as a fugitive, but he continued to be awarded by Hollywood, even winning the Best Director Oscar in 2003 for The Pianist.
06:00If you prick us, do we not bleed?
06:03If you tickle us, do we not laugh?
06:05If you poison us, do we not die?
06:08And if you wrong us, shall we not revenge?
06:19Very appropriate.
06:20Carl Malone.
06:22Meets the kid 17 years later, 17 years old.
06:26Says, listen, dog, it's too late for me to be a dad to you.
06:30You gotta go get it out the mud, get it on your own.
06:33Considered one of the best basketball players of the 90s, Carl Malone was a 14-time All-Star and two-time MVP.
06:39He was clearly very talented, and the parents of Gloria Bell knew it.
06:43Back in 1983, Malone was 20 years old and playing for Louisiana Tech.
06:48It was during this period that he impregnated 13-year-old Gloria Bell.
06:53This constitutes carnal knowledge of a juvenile under Louisiana law, and could have seen Malone find significant money and imprisoned for up to 10 years.
07:02However, Bell's family declined to press charges.
07:05So Malone walked free, enjoyed a prosperous career in the NBA, and even received a statue outside of Louisiana Tech and the Delta Center.
07:13So there's a statue of Carl Malone outside of Utah?
07:16Mm-hmm.
07:18Now.
07:19That was where I was going with that.
07:22Y'all can look up Carl Malone and what happened with him.
07:27Werner von Braun.
07:28He claims that he was forced to do so, in the sense that if he had not done it, it would have been the end of his career.
07:37I think that's utter nonsense.
07:39Operation Paperclip is a controversial program which saw Nazi scientists coming to America after World War II.
07:46And few benefited more than Werner von Braun.
07:48Von Braun was deeply complicit in Nazi war crimes through his work on the V-2 rocket program, which relied heavily on forced labor.
07:55An estimated 20,000 prisoners died producing his V-2 rockets under horrific conditions, often succumbing to starvation, disease, and exhaustion.
08:04Countless tens of thousands of these slaves are literally worked to death, deprived of food, sleep, and sanitation.
08:12They are expected to live just a few weeks.
08:15When they die, their emaciated corpses are simply piled up at the edges of the tunnels.
08:21However, the U.S. prioritized his rocket expertise over justice.
08:25So they suppressed information about his wartime activities and brought him over to help develop rockets during the space race.
08:31Von Braun lived comfortably in America and became a celebrity scientist, even receiving the National Medal of Science from President Gerald Ford.
08:39The second stage has eight motors and carries 155 tons of fuel.
08:44It will be dropped when its speed has reached 14,300 miles per hour.
08:49Leopold II of Belgium.
08:51Before the clashes, peaceful protesters climbed the statue to Belgium's colonial king, Leopold II, waving the flag of the Democratic Republic of Congo.
09:00One of history's most devastating colonial atrocities was overseen by Leopold II of Belgium, who established the Congo Free State as his personal colony in 1885.
09:10The population was forced to harvest rubber and ivory, the depraved system enforced through the likes of systemic mutilations, mass killing, and the deliberate restriction of food.
09:21The mural comes at a moment of unrest and change for Belgium, as it confronts uncomfortable truths about its past.
09:28As such, the human cost was staggering, complete with millions of deaths.
09:33However, the rubber boom made the Congo enormously valuable, so the regime was basically ignored.
09:38Furthermore, there was no international criminal court at the time to handle such crimes.
09:43So, while he faced criticism in his final years, Leopold was never prosecuted or held legally accountable, and he died in 1909, with a good chunk of his fortune still intact.
09:53The streets of Brussels are sometimes described as an open-air gallery, with street art found right across the city.
10:00But sitting often right alongside is the memorialization of Belgium's history, namely its brutal and controversial colonial king.
10:09Josef Mengele has become the poster boy for Nazi medical experiments.
10:16What is it about Mengele that makes him so notorious?
10:19With the horrifying nickname, the Angel of Death, Josef Mengele was one of Nazi Germany's most unhinged officers.
10:27Mengele served as the camp director at Auschwitz, where he often conducted nightmarish medical experiments on prisoners.
10:33Mengele kept her from feeding her newborn child.
10:38In order to see what would happen to the child, how long it could live until it starved.
10:45These experiments included injecting chemicals into eyes, deliberately infecting people with diseases, and performing surgeries without anesthesia.
10:54He also chose who would be sent to the gas chambers, often with an unemotional wave of his hand.
10:59Mengele also represents one of the most frustrating failures of post-war justice.
11:04He managed to escape the liberation, and fled to South America, where he lived comfortably for the rest of his life.
11:10Despite decades of international efforts, Mengele was never captured, and he died in 1979 while swimming in Brazil.
11:18Mengele was not the only Nazi doctor carrying out this kind of work, quote-unquote.
11:22And the reason why we think about him is because he got away with it.
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11:42Joseph Stalin
11:43In terms of ruthlessness, bloodlust, Stalin remains one of the greatest villains of the 20th century.
11:51Leader of the Soviet Union from 1924 to 1953, Joseph Stalin was responsible for some of the 20th century's most heinous crimes against humanity.
12:01His policies led to an infamous famine known as the Holodomor, which led to millions of deaths, and which is now considered a genocide.
12:09He also oversaw the Great Purge, a systemic effort to eliminate who Stalin perceived as national enemies.
12:15Mass executions became routine, and a further one million or so died through executions and forced labor camps.
12:22Under Stalin, Russia became the second largest industrial economy in the world.
12:26It was all planned economies, five-year plans, and if you didn't play by his rules, you went off to a labor camp, or you were summarily executed in some fashion.
12:35And because Stalin controlled the entire Soviet apparatus, opposition was virtually impossible, and restricted foreign access helped control the flow of information.
12:44Stalin died of natural causes in 1953 while still in power, never facing trial or external judgment for his actions.
12:52There was a time after his death when all the Stalin statues in Russia were removed, were knocked down.
12:59When Stalin's cult of personality and his crimes against the people were officially condemned.
13:06The Great Terror, the millions sent to the Gulag, the hundreds of thousands of people executed.
13:11What do you make of these injustices? Let us know in the comments below.
13:15That's when Polanski got on a plane, fled to Europe, and has been gone ever since.
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