Evelyn De Morgan’s 1909 painting The Worship of Mammon could be considered a portrait of a great number of today’s celebrities.

Excessive amounts of money, large vehicle collections, dresses that could go for a mortgage down payment, wrist watches that could feed an entire third-world country (well almost) and jewelry that cost as much as a 401K plan.

Celebrity greed has become accepted by our society to the extent that it is now the status quo for a couple to own seven cars, or a mansion with 19 rooms, even if they have no children. It has actually gone so far that if a certain famous person does not associate themselves with this type of lifestyle, they are considered a cheapskate or their career has tanked.

Is it wrong to enjoy life? Is it wrong to be successful at your career and generate exorbitant amounts of money? Is it wrong to buy the best “stuff” for yourself and your loved ones? This article will not even try to make such a statement. Most people would agree that good things in life are a blessing, especially if you work hard for them. But there are always extremes.

In 2006, the attention of all attendees of a wedding was not the bride or groom, not even the band, but the bride’s dress! The dress cost 8.5 million dollars. How about a car that costs 1.25 million dollars? Could somebody justify driving that Bugatti? Or how about a Blancpain’s Apotheosis Temporis wrist watch that was purchased for $489,000? Would you ask the owner for the time? Would they charge you for it? The list can go on and on.

Well-off celebrities, purchasing items they don’t really need, in a world where millions are going to bed hungry or naked. Can you see anything wrong with that picture? This pursuit after unlimited wealth, the worship of “stuff”, is unfortunately the picture we see when we look at many of today’s celebrities. It reflects an inner thirst for never enough, for always more and our desire to live vicariously through their obsessions.

While greed seems to abound everywhere, surely there are some acts that are below the purview of even the greediest of cads? Think again.

Over and over, greedy people abuse the trust of vulnerable people. One popular choice? Defrauding charities that help people in need, and other worthy causes, in order to make off with whopping great wads of cash.

Some of the world’s greediest people willingly lead people to believe that they are collecting for a charity, when in fact they intend to pocket the cash for themselves.

Just this summer, an out-of-work Indiana man was arrested for raising money, supposedly for a local food bank, but instead, kept it for himself.

You might think that defrauding charities would only be the act of a desperate man who was out of work, however, we found a well-to-do architect and two surveyors in the United Kingdom who stole from a charity trust.

An entire family plotted to steal 1.7 million pounds from the United Synagogue (a Jewish charity) in London (possible proof that greed might be hereditary).

Even the wealthiest people can show astounding greed; a Texas insurance heir was convicted of defrauding his own company’s charitable wing and absconded with $1.5 million.

These are just a few samples of greed at its lowest form. Some people really will do just about anything for money.