Former stockbroker Shaun Attwood has opened up about his unexpected transformation from aspiring Wall Street financier to notorious drug kingpin.
Shaun Attwood was once an ambitious young man who set his sights on the world of finance. In his teenage years, he sold candy for profit and developed an interest in the stock market.
But little did he know that his dreams of financial success would take a dark turn, transforming him from a stockbroker to a drug kingpin.
In a recent interview on NQI's Talking True Cases podcast, Mr Attwood detailed his journey from Wall Street aspirations to running a drug empire.
"I set my sights on the States because that was like the Mecca of finance, you know, New York. I'd seen the movie, Wall Street. Gordon Gekko. Greed is good. But my value system was warped," Attwood said in the podcast interview.
Instead of the Big Apple, Attwood ended up in Arizona as a stockbroker at a penny stock outfit, which he described as being run by a boss who resembled a mafia Don.
The work environment was intense, with power sales meetings and the belief that "lunches are for wimps". Brokers were encouraged to always be on their feet, smiling, and making calls.
In this high-pressure environment, Attwood found himself surrounded by the party lifestyle fueled by drugs and alcohol.
"I was fresh out of uni in my early 20s and I'm in this office full of feisty New York Italians, biker gangs are delivering crystal meth and cocaine," he recalled.
Embracing the lifestyle, Attwood began throwing raves and investing in ecstasy and the burgeoning technology market.
He experienced rapid financial success, living in a $1,000,000 house and enjoying the luxuries of his newfound wealth.
However, Attwood lacked the emotional maturity and common sense to understand the consequences of his actions.
"We think we're above the law, but it always comes to an end and that's what I tell the kids," Attwood said.
Over time, the pleasure of drug use gave way to pain, and his once-promising career in finance turned into a life of crime.
Shaun Attwood is now a renowned YouTuber, speaker, activist and author.
To hear the full account of Shaun Attwood's rise and fall, watch the Talking True Cases podcast above.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules here