Unraveling the Financial Schemes

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WeatherTech is built for all of those summer things, allowing you the freedom to go all in. WeatherTech is an American made premium product built to last and easy to clean. If you're going all out this summer, you need WeatherTech. Visit weatherteech dot com today Goodbye When a charming neurosurgeon rode into Frontier town selling a persona of confidence and care, patients trusted him. He wore cowboy boots in the operating room and became sought after by patients. He promised to heal them, instead, he left a trail of broken bodies. This is a story of greed, betrayal, and a fight for justice. Listen to Doror Death The Cowboy wherever you get your podcast or binge the entire series right now only with Audible Goodbye Where does summer take you? Maybe it's a coastal road trip or a quiet morning with the windows wide open. Summer smells like bright citrus, warm sand and endless possibilities.ith Pura's smart diffusers and the new summer collection, you can restore your sense of place and bring those unforgettable moments right into your living room. Find your summer escape today. Visit pura dot com to learn more Goodbye Hell and welcome to my favorite murder. That's birthday Girl Georgia Heartstar. That's Garn Kilgara.. And we're here to birthday podcast.. If you're watching us on Netflix, there's a gorgeous and I mean gorgeous set decoration by our set decorator. Really. Coreory, it's so beautiful. It's purple themed, which is just my color. Th are gus sweet ies What is that? Sweet peas? I don't know. Correct.ow. flower. Beautiful. And I asked Molly, because I Vinince the other day really casually goes, So what is your favorite flower anyway? teen years. Youaking small talk after thirteen years. come. So I was like someone asked him and I'm not gonna ask him who it is, but what if he just wanted to know? Yeah, what if he was actually curious about you? Oh, well, I guess it's just content Everything is content. Is it weird that if I were and I kind of was born when this podcast started, I'd be eleven years old today Oh my god, that's the best age to be. Yeah, eleven, Oh my go. I think when I was around nine, I really started coming into my prime. Yeah. And then it sunseted around the age of twelve. And when I was thirteen, it was absolutely a disaster. 'cause you're not a girl and you're not yet one.. As everyone knows. Everyone, but only me and Brittney Spears really understood really can talk about it I thought these were fake. they're so beautiful. They are No are No, no, they are beautiful. Yeah, they're not ye Let's toast this so I can drink this. Happy birthday, Georgia. Thank you. You are eleven years old today, congratulations. You too. Live there U book recommendation for your birthday. If that's what you want for your birthday, you get one thing. Okay, that's what I want. You're gonna love it. This is a book that's more your style. I loved it so much So it kept me in because much like pride and prejudice. Right. Exactly. It's called When Winter Comes. It's about this teenage girl from Cincinnati in the mid eighteen hundreds. She has to flee town. Shes lives a rough and tumble life. Pspects are not good for her, steals some money, gets the buck out of town, finds the first way out, which is a wagon train that she pays her way on with this like German family. So they're going across to the west like to make their life in California, and she's gonna fucking likeike change her life And so the donner party moves on. And there they go Donner P partarty story perspective angry seventeen, fifteen fifteen. fif smart, plucky ang, but not give it naive immediately. Wary. It is so fucking good and it just it's totally, you know, of course fiction, but it's based on so much fact. And I can tell you, nothing will make you like stop feeling bad for yourself for the fact that you have to clean your house or whatever the fuck than listening to a girl getting through her the fucking donner party winter. L I'm all okay, wait, who wrote it? Okay, so it's called When Winter Comes by a woman named VA. Shannon. And I think this was her first novel and man. It's not gonna get. Yeah. Amazing Yeah Do you think she picked VA Shannon in honor of VC. Andrews? Oh, possibly. It's a cool initial combination. It is. It seems mysterious. It's so mysterious. It's great. I mean, I'm so excited. Like yeah, historical fiction is like, oh, that's the way my weird school damaged brain can learn. It's likes so exciting. I mean, it's immersive and that's what makes people able to identify with what's going on. Yeah. J just read it. It's great. Well, I'd like to give you a birthday present. Oh, okay. I thought that was my birthday present. Just me listening to that recommendation and not turning my back So we recorded when it was my birthday episode and you were like, I have something for you coming. R. And then I think the next day I had a day off and we were recording again that week and we were doing something ahead of time So I got it into my head. I had to give you a birthday present immediately. Like I had to hurry up and do it. And also, especially with uss where literally it's been like, I'm going to get something to. You've handed me things that are some of my favorite presents like months after my actual birthday. Hey, look at the hot dog phone you gave me. Look at the corn doog portrait hanging in my office. It's just all hot dog theme, which I love. It really is. Well, you know, that's how we know each other. Yeah. It's pretty superficial, but it works. And I'm eleven. And so of course hot dogs are my favorite thing So also cats are your favorite thing. L loveve cats. And doing what you want is your favorite thing. Oh my God, it's a tote that says, I do what I want with like a cat drawing on it. So I found that and just the second I saw I grabbed it ' because I was like, I have to get her a present. So it's not like I searched and searched. Yeah, but then. Okay. What I did was include inside a fifteen step Korean skincare routine for you that I'm happy to walk you through at any period of time. Oh, did you go to the new store in Pasadena that just opened? Olive Young? Yeah yet. I went to my bathroom, sink and under the counter ye. Oh my God. We' got some so Mura, we've got skin one hundredzo four, we've got Rl ditor. Heartleaf spot pad. Oh, you got some redness. That shit is tru That's what I used on the road when my skin would get super dry. and it would bounce my skin up before so I could put makeup on it. That's my six peptide. I love that shit. I like this a lot. Yeah. If you wantna see what she got me and see these purple decorations too, you can go to we're on Netflix. check out Netflix. We could do video me telling you about how to do that that skincare routine. Sure. If that's something that you would wantan to hear after the fan C callult Yeah. So join the fan Cult if you want to see that, but just watch Netflix, if you want to see this. People have been asking for me to drop my skincare routine, and essentially, it is a version of this because these are all the products I like. I love it. Thank you so much. Fine, you're welcome. I'm gonna to bring this toat to Italy Let them know they're gonna love it. You gotta let them know. They're gonna hate me. Thank you. You're welcome. Oh also this is not has nothing to do with the present. but I follow so many Italian creators that do TikToks There's a guy that just stands, I think I've said this to you. There's a guy that just stands on the street in Florence and he's like, Forenze, Forenza. and he just goes like this and shows you different areas that day. There's a guy that one of the first ones I started following walks around Milan Oh, send it to me. I'm going to send it to you, but then I'm also going to just watch that live stream and look for you. I'm going to find him. send it to me so I know what he looks like. He looks like an taller Italian or like an older Italian Brent Weinbach. Okay. And he's very kind of like Milana, Milana It's always like, don't you love it here? And always like, yes. Oh, I want to see that. I to see that. I just love the idea that one day I'd be like that, You invince her crossing Oh my go I'm gonna to message him now. I'm going gonna get my people, my reps. Yes to message this Italy influencer. What would be fun for me is if you went around and tried to find, I think his name is Yugi, who's the guy that speaks almost every language. so he walks up and goes exxcuse me where are you from? And then they say, you wouldn't know where it is and then he starts speaking in the language and you want to cry becausecause it's so touching and they love it's like, they're suddenly like They are best friends totally. So good. That and the guy who's like, what's your people's dance And then he learns their dance Like whatever, you know, customary dance. Yes. And he does a little dance on the street. He does it with them. They teach him and we're all friends and there's world peace. That's right. Through dance. Through D of language and language and streets and past strees in Europe Do you have some words of wisdom here on your birthday this year? Oh Oh man Stop it. no o. Look at Listener, Georgia has just started poking the flowers to try to thank you I guess that your forties are so much better. Don't be scared of them. It's the chill not give a fuck comes with aging is incredible and also to remember that aging is a privilege and not everyone gets to do it. So shut the fuck up and get in the photo and live your life. Yeah No that was good, No no Now I'd say it again, but go live your life and act like you believed it. Okay, I'll say it in Italian. N your own life and I guess live. We have a podcast network. Here we go. Exactly right, media Here are some highlights. Nice. This week on brief recess, Michael and Melissa celebrate Pride Month with an important conversation about protecting LGBTQ youth. They also break down the Supreme Court's recent ruling and what it means for the future of conversion therapy laws. That's still happening. It's going backwards at a rate that is, of course alarming For most people, For most human beings that care about other human beings, it is insane. No. If something was a joke in the nineties, you can't bring it back. It just doesn't fuck it work that way Then over on Dear Movies, I love you, Millie and Casey continued Gunnasty with a deep dive into Lucio Fc's The Beyond from nineteen eighty one. Good pronunciation. Thank you. Plus, they present yet another installment of film Eetiquette tackling the proper way to behave during movie previews. Very specific. ye. since the previews itself. love it Wear a clap. And scream where not to. I don't know these things. Okay, then over on Disgraceeland, Jake Brennan tells the story of the Hillsborough disaster. You covered that. This special World Cup episode examines the tragedy, the massive cover upp that followed, and the fight for justice that changed sports forever. That is one of the most riveting stories I've ever heard. riveting and horrifying Over on ghosted Raw's Wlcomes Drag icon Ginger Mine, they discuss psychic intuition, a haunted community theater and ginger's encounter with a ghost hand. Forehand massage. Just a single hand, is that scarier or less scary than a full ghost? Less. More. Yeah. Just a creepy hand. Bick one. What if Ginger was just on the Adams familyily set and didn't know it. This week on a said No Gifts, Bridger is joined by both Beck Bennett and Kyle Mooney of SNL fame. T for over there. They discuss Lamborghini posters You know all the stuff boys like. Lamborghini posters, cigar theft, and the best way to park at Disneyland. Wow. Goofy. And then finally on trust me, Lola and Meghgan sit down with comedian Maria Bamford to chat about her new book, sureure, I'll join your cult That's the book. They discussed the cultishness of twelve step programs, the Suzuki method, and how OCD can make people more susceptible to high control groups. Interesting. I saw Maria on her way out after she recorded that and I was like, What are you doing it or whatever? She is just the funniest I know, most fascinating person. I adore her. Yeah. Everything that comes out of her mouth is just like She's so fun. Yeah. Okay. And then also just over in the merch corner, we're celebrating George's birthday by supporting all of her artistic endeavors. including this is what we call the Spped mug and that's the Spped czzie. This is when Georgia went to art school. She came back and she said, I've got a project. It's so disappointing. Like I know that's my handwriting and I can spot it from a million miles away because it's just so like it's like a teenage boy's handwriting. Yeah. What is the Spped reference again? I thought the guy's first name was Spped, the cop, but actually superintendent is what that stands for It kind of is like a teenage boy. Also, I wrote that when we were in a meeting like joking about what merch we wanted. so I didn't write that with the handwriting that I safe for public consumption, right? Which is I mean, better way,? It's like a great trick. So get your Spped merch today. If you are friends with anyone in law enforcement or any teenage boys, this is the merch for them. Great call Dads and grads. You can get that on exactlywrightstore d. comot And stay tuned after this episode because we will be showing you a brand new honking horay. We just made it. Just made a bunch of them and we really like them. Very fun. Yeah. All right 'cause it's my birthday you go first. Okay, let me get just a a little bit of ist about your. Hm, notothing worse than a champagne drunk and then you have acid stomach and o no. It so fun just took you somewhere. It really did. Like you just went away. L little pololaroids that drop out of a filing cabinet and I find them inside my mind and go Thank God, there weren't actual photos taken of the time because we didn't have to deal with that again. So lucky. Whoever's in charge. I appreciate you just sliding my timeline back a little bit So that eleven year old me doesn't go like, the world needs to see me sing Annie or whatever stupid bullshit I was always doing. Hence this podcast. Hence this is what happens. This is the answer to not posting yourself is then you just make a whole fucking podcast about yourself. Exactly Summers for adventures, road trips and adding a whole lot of miles to your car. That's why it's worth stopping at Valvalinee Instant Oil change first. If you need an oil change, make the smart stop at Valvalinee Instant Oil change before you hit the highway. Their trained techs can help you get road trip ready with an oil change and an eighteen point maintenance check included with every oil change, checking your tire pressure, wipers, lights, and more. That means they're checking important things before you're halfway to your aunt's house with no cell service. And these aren't just any techs. Valvaline Instant oil change techs complete over two hundred seventy hours of training So your car's in capable hands. The best part, you can stay in your car and you're in and out in about fifteen minutes. So before your next long summer ride, pull into Valaline inststant oil change. Valvaline Instant oil change, change wisely. G Be. Summer is all about saying yes, going out and bringing the mess home in your car. Sand, grass, and melting snacks will inevitably hitch a ride. But with weather teech, you can live life to the fullest WeatherTech floor liners, cargo liner, and seat protectors allow you to keep up with your summer adventures without the worry. Weather Tech is built for all of those summer things, allowing you the freedom to go all in. Weather Tech is an American made premium product built to last and easy to clean. If you're going all out this summer, you need WeatherTech. Visit WeatherTech dot com today. Goodbye While the world watches the stars at the FVver World Cup this summer, Hyundai has its eyes on the next generation of talent. The future soccer stars who are already turning heads at age fourteen, making plays that end up on everyone's feed, scoring for angles that don't make sense, rewriting record books that barely had time to gather dust. Because Next doesn't wait for an invitation, and Hyundai doesn't either. Hyundai has always moved the future within reach. Hyundai did it by making advanced safety standard on every vehicle. Hyundai did it by engineering EVs with ultra fast charging capability. And Hyundai continues doing it every day. From robotics that change how people live to young athletes changing the game The future isn't some far off concept, it's already here. Next starts now. Hyundae, an official partner of VivA. Goodbye. Pandora jewelry brings the sparkle to summer now with even better prices. Shop now for up to fifty percent off select jewelry, featuring personalized pieces to must have summer favorites. Timeless jewelry made to move with you through every moment. Shop in store or online now through july fifth term and conditions apply see Pandora. net for more details. Goodbye. Goodbye My story begins in the summer of two thousand four when you were peeking George W. Bushish was president. You you remember him. Final season of Friends had just wrapped up. The song This Love by Maroon F was the only song they would play on the radio legally. And the steadily growing popularity of a new concept called online retailers was changing the way people were shopping We were still in the era where big box stores reigned supreme. And for kids in the early two thousands, of course, there was nothing better than a trip to your local toys RS. Hell ye. And although the Tys R us in Charlotte North Carolina was just like all the other toys arreresses around the nation, something weird had been happening at this particular store lately. When staffers would arrive to open up in the morning, they'd see like bike tire marks on the laminate flooring that were not there when they left the night before. Alarms would get tripped overnight, but when the police would show up, no one would be there and nothing would have been taken So the staff starts to joke they're dealing with a ghost A ghost hand it after a few months An employee notices near a display, I would love to actually be able to watch how this person actually did this. But there was a display And someone notices a Spider Man sheet sticking out of the back of the display. And they're like, what is that And then they pull on the sheet and they basically expose that there is like a little space behind this display thing, like in the wall. Yeah. And so when they look into this space, they find an inflatable pool float that looks like it's being used as a bed.. They find a Spider Man II movie poster from the store's own shelves and they see a couple other personal touches here or there. This is the moment that the Tys R us staff realize their store ghost is actually a real man. They assume it's someone homeless. And what I love about the store staff, they don't call the cops, they don't do anything. They just are like, well, that's none of our business. Yeah. They should have, though, because in truth, this man was a fugitive from the law A criminal known for repelling down from ceilings into stores to commit his robberies. kind of like Spider Man. This is the story of the criminal known as Roofman. Wow. Was this made into a movie recently? Yes, it was starring none other than Channing Tatum. Oh my God, okay. So sources for this story are several deep dive articles from the Charlotte Observer by reporters Theodon Janes and Julia Coyin, and then a twenty twenty four SF Gate article by reporter Katie Dowd. And the rest of the sources are in our show notes This truly begins in nineteen ninety eight, when a string of robberies are reported basically in a very short amount of time back to back, mostly in Northern California although Cimes with very similar MO's are also reported on the east Coast too. More than forty businesses, often a McDonald's are hit by what investigators will come to believe is the same person They have no idea who this guy is. Witnesses describe their robber as being somewhere between eighteen and thirty years old anywhere from five foot seven to six foot three and having an athletic build So Channing Tatum. Channing Tatum, but real vague. Yeah. These are usually armed robberies. In some cases, the perp fires his weapon to maintain control. In one case he actually did pistol whip someone. Then usually the MO is he locks the employees into the walk in cooler, Th he goes and bags up all the cash that he can find and escapes But Witnesses tend to describe him as very polite Except for those couple examples, most of the time, the witnesses say that in all of these crimes. He uses words like please and ma'am. One time while forcing employees to walk into the walk in cooler. he told them all to grab their jackets first. In one robbery fitting this Mmo at a McDonald's in Belmont, North Carolina in the year two thousand, witnesses say the robber tells the staff, quote You're the good people. I'm the bad guy. I'm sorry for doing this to you. Wow. And quote Aside from all that, one thing that really makes these crimes feel connected is how the perpetrator breaks in at each scene cuts a two foot by two foot hole into the roof And then he lowers himself through that hole and then repels himself down to the floor. Hence the nickname roofman that he eventually earns by doing this over and over. I think we have a picture of one of those. Oh, that's a hole. Fitting himself through that in the roof.. Okay. That's smart. withith like climbing guy gear on Patagonia style He always did it crampons. Can he borrow a cramp pon from you? He always did it when businesses were closed, no customers were ever present. He would just ambush the staff as they were either opening or closing the store, which made me laugh. Thinking about when we used to work at the Gap And when we closed the store and we would have to fold everything down and get the store together. Yeah. me and my friend Don Fraasier would sing So like someone else would be like, sing a song Dawn or sing a song Karen. and we so obnoxiously was like blah blah blah. And the idea of that and then a guy just busts through the roof and like holds a gun on everybody was like how I was picturing that we' like, it's the least ready you can be in your twenties working retail. Well, I was thinking like what a bummer it would be if you came at close rather than at opening when you could go home for the rest of the day. L I have to work a whole shif and then I have to fuck in and I'm not scheduled again until Wednesday, so I can't be like, I'm traumatized and not come in true. Like do it in the morning so I can go home Now counterpoint if you do it at night, The cops come, the firemen maybe come, maybe an ambulance comes, then You could go out with those guys after. Sure. Everybody's like, is everyone okay? Sure blah blah. cllose it down. We got our report Win win. Let's go to TJI Fridays Basically, these robberies go on for about a year and a half. and then in May of the year two thousand, he robs the Belmont, North Carolina McDonald's, the one where he tells them, he's the bad guy and they're the good ones. At that one, he grabs several thousand dollars in cash and he flees the scene, almost as soon as he's gone, the employees break back out of the walk in cooler and call the police from How many times have you guys gotten stuck in the walking cooler? Wh sure. They were just like. Okay, did you know there's a latch? Waitil he's g We always just put the broom in that. That's why we broke the door on purpose. Right. So they call the police not long after. a policeman in the area notices a lone car parked in a church parking lot But it's Saturday. So of course, it's not a busy morning for the church, even in the south. So it stands out that this car's just sitting there. And so he's kind of watching the car and like assessing. And as he does, a man comes sprinting out of the nearby woods towards the car, thenen sees the cop, turns around, darts over a tall fence, turns and runs and jumps over a fence and runs back into the woods. No darting when you're try to avoid the copsarting like Dead give away. you're fuck You got a stroll. Yeah. whistling wouldn't hurt. But no, you can't just immediately turn and run somewhere. You're not a cat. Really quick. My favorite story of being at a party and the cops came in San Francisco. And then how'd you get out? It wasasn't us. The two girls next to us turn and scale at ten foot fence And we're watching them do it. And then a guy that's standing on our side, like we watch them both go over. Yeah. I was like, holy shit, did they have fucking warrants or something, what's going on? And then this guy just reaches up and opens the fence and it was a fucking door right there And they could have like killed themselves. Yeah. That's impressive that they just park horr over the fence. They drunk. They like panic parkour themselves That's for that fuckking. Drinking does is it makes you thinkink that you can just I can park hor. Yes. it's like the confidence, like, oh no, this is real, I'm really in danger. Sond this hear stories of park horing out of trouble. I have my favorite murder read j mail. Especially if they involve high school parties Yeah A man haunt ensues, of course. They call in a bunch more officers. they quickly track him down. He's taken into custody, and he's identified as twenty nine year old Army serergeant, Jeffrey Manchester. Oh, he's not a superintendent? No, he's notpped. He's not He's in the army now He admits to robbing two separate North Carolina McDonald's within the last twenty four hours. Wow. J hours before he robbed the Belmont location, he had already targeted one in Gastonia, North Carolina. the roof. born Jeffyanchester in Sacramento, California in nineteen seventy one.. According to reporter Katie Dowd for SF Gate By all indications, he had a typically sunny California childhood. E quote. After graduating high school, he gets married, he has kids, He enlists in the military. He's trained as a paratrooper In that training, he is taught how to climb up to and jump from and repel off of Nerve racking heights. All right and from. It's all adding up So by nineteen ninety nine, a year into the Rofman Robbery series, Jeffrey and his family are stationed in Concord, California, which is in thearria November of that same year, police responded to a domestic disturbance at. Jeffrey's home, we don't know what that involved. What we know is that soon after his wife files for divorce and gets custody of the kids So for the next few months, Jeffrey's life is the details are spotty. Less than a year after the domestic incident, he's arrested in North Carolina for robbery And then he tells police the locations are incidental. He's only been to North Carolina for a couple days, being dispatched here for work, and the work was over. He's supposed to go back to California, but instead he decided he is going to drive his rental car west through North Carolina and as he did, hit one McDonald's after another. So wow. sounds to me like he's like the man who's lost everything that mattered to him. Yeah. And now he's just kind of, that's a fucket move. A true fucket move Coincidentally or not, Jeffrey used to work at a California McDonald's. Yeah, that makes sense. peopleople do that. you have to look at your ex employees first, right? when something like that happens. Well, because there's this automatic familiarity. L if you drop in, you know what they do this and what happens here and how to get Yeah, exactly What you can't get into andon't matter has keys to what Yeah, we could go on and on And we will on the vancults. That's what we do H list other options. And then he could have kept his uniform and just strolled on in like he fucking worked there. He could have loved frozen french fries and just ate him out of the bag. Yeah Okay, so motive wise, he tells police it was to, quote, pay bills and buy things for my kids. E quote. He also says, quote, I will do everything I can to fix this situation. I still have a lot to give the community and the army. I thought it was going to be quick cash, and I ended up scaring people and wasting the police's time as well. And I am sorry for that, littleittle police ass kissing and there at the end It's nice to hear In total, the amount stolen in all of these roofman robberies is somewhere around one hundred thousand dollars. which would be two thousand four? Birthday style. one hundred thousand do in today's money is two hundred ten thousandars. It's one hundred ninety thousandars. You're within twenty thousandars. That means you win a birthday. Thank you Would you have changed that number if you' hadd known that nineteen ninety nine was really the era we were talking about kindind of five years ago. wouldly. That would have taken it down by. Yeah I would have It's kind of on you. Then you win, Yup, it's all my fault. So ultimately, it doesn't really matter that amount because he's charged with several felonies and he ends up being sentenced to thirty five years in prison. Wha. The police are confident Jeffrey is behind the forty plus almost identical robberies committed across the country. Many of the businesses hit are located in areas Jeffrey has either lived in or visited because of work, he maintains that it was a different guy It' not a parat trooper or whatever the. Yeah it was a different guy that cut a two by two hole in the ceiling, repelled down into the store, politely forced employees to walk into a cooler at the same restaurant that he used to work at A his old job overver and over again. have athletic builds.. It's a different guy C couldould be a copycat, C could be a fan. I think we have a picture of Jeffrey. There's an arrest picture, yeah Oh, that's not a good picture Well I disagree. First of all, if you're gonna to go to Italy, they all look like this. He does look like an Italian. He looks like a real. Yeah Mamaah Okay So how do we get from this to Channing Tatum is my question. Well, later on, he will say when he is told that they're making this movie and they tell him they cast Channing Tatum, he said, you need to get someone ugliier He's got a Jason Biggs Is that his name is? Oh, yeah. F Jason Biggs, but also who's the guy? I actually went to see this guy live when he was in the Lena Dunham movie a couple years ago. Molly, who's the guy W theon? John Bernhal? Yeahes. John Bernhal. Totally I wish I could have pulled that name. That was good. Yeah. yeah. o. Here's the thing. Jeffrey does not go quietly and just serve his prison time In January of two thousand four, which is four years into his sentence, he escapes prison our core. tootal parkour. Cut up, but he does a kind of reverse. He clings to the undercarriage of a delivery truck until it gets outside the gates. Man, they should have given him that one. I don't know like, well, yeah, dude, we should have caught that. If you're gonna Indiana Jones this thing Very few people can do that. They' bad. So I couldn't do it. Yeah, like Finder keers, I guess. So somehow he's able to hang on underneath the goddamn truck until it gets far enough away then he lets go. I assume he rolls off into a ditch or stands up, dusts himself off Cs his own neck And then he waves down the next car and they pick him up have the signs that are like, don't pick up hitchhikers. is what I'm say prison right there, y'all. And on top of which, the driver turns out to be an employee of the prison. F For real. need to not. And is he wearing like prison fucking m garb? I can't imagine He must have planned ahead enough because right? I think that would be a huge unless you' gotot c' on they call it, right? Yeah somehow, I wish I knew. He worked in the laundry. I borrowed some clothes. Tld the warden that he had a wonderful way of pressing jackets. He said you're wearing that wrong. Let me show you how to wear that correctly. Girl, give me that and sit down. And then the Garden was like, I'm gonna let you keep it 'cause it looks so good on you. You know what? So pretty in that jacket. You it. And then cut two, that same warden being like, get in this car. Would that be amazing if it was all the one super stupid employee Yeah, that was my thing and I wrote in all caps. What world are hitchhikers outside of a prison, given the benefit of the doubt And then dot dot dot by a prison employee. It truly. Maybe this was a situation that then brought us to the signs. Yeah, maybe. They had to put up signs that say, Hey, you're driving by a prison. Hitchhikers would be a bad direction to take. Hey, you put two and two together. If you don't mind the answers is no. He then from the gas station finds another ride hitches about fifty miles down the highway to Charlotte, North Carolina. and then he sees a Tys RS store, the one I was talking about in the beginning.ot it. He sees that in a distance and he starts to get. Okay, we're back to the beginning. We've come back, yes The roofman knows that any big box store is going to have plenty of nooks and crannies for him to hide in So he stakes out the building, he goes during normal business hours and walks around. He spots a small opening behind a store display. And he's like, this is it, this is my big chance. Zoo. zooops right in. and waits until the store closes and then zoops back out. Kind of brilliant And also I don't like the fact that he has an athletic build, but he he's shimming in and out of things that are very small. He's shimming, he's what was he doing earlier?arkouring? Parkouring, but also zoo, zooing. But then what was the other one where he was not whistling and being whatever. Darting, darting. Darting Yeah, he's got a lot of speeds Yeah and they're all effective. Yeah. It is my nightmare to be like, hey, can you get behind that display really quick? and be like, I won able I won't be able to. D't donon't make me go back there. He doesn't. Then when he comes out When the store is closed, this is all twelve year old' fantasies. whichich it seemed like he was living in every way.. He raids the candy aisle. Hell yeah. He raids the baby food aisle. That makes sense because he needs some protein. He needs the protein he needs, and it's like, oh, I love apricots all blended up.. It' So organic. It's so smart. Then he starts shooting nerf basketballs into basketball hoops He watches DVDs. He can watch any DVD he wants. They have them all. He plays video games, he drives remote controlled cars. And he in his version of the story, he's doing it for exercise. He cruises around on the children's bikes, and that's how they see the tire marks in the morning when the employees come in.. But then it's more diabolical than just a man playing with toys He actually figures out how to turn off certain security cameras and how to access the software that manages the staff schedules He starts to pick and choose Who shows up for work? when Based on like his convenience or he's like, well, I wantan to ride my bike till seven AM. So Maureen's not coming until late. Oh my go. tyype of thing. Yeah. is how I imagined it or Mae. She's like, I just need to manage this fucking toys RS. He then rigs a bunch of baby monitors to make his own little security system. Dude. So he's able to, with these baby monitors, keep tabs on every corner of this store while he's eating baby food in a nook. I'm sorry, but He would win traitors so fucking hard. likeike he Would win traders or what's the one where they all live on an island? Love Island? No, no, no. Not the survivor. The one when they survive, not love. Survivor. He'd win. Yes. becausecause he's gonna figure out a way. Let's make this happen. Come on. Okay. He lives like this for a while, but then he somehow discovers the Tys RS shares a wall with the closed circuit city next door And then he discovers there's the reporting is unclear. It's either a doorway or a tunnel that's connecting the two stores. Right. So he basically makes his second living area for himself over in the abandoned circuit City in the combinations of circuit City Ts arst It's abandon. It's closed. Oh closed. Okay. got it. Abandon would be weird for circuit City. It's like just not. J just run Yeah. And actually in two thousand four, I think it'd be really creepy to have seen a closed circuit city. Yeah, that's like give us three years. Yeah. And we'll close everything. That's why when the bed bath and Beyond on Ventura closed, it truly I'd stayed in for the day because I was like, Is not good? Yeah, not good No. So scary Yeah, all the bed bath and beyondons. Yeah Okay, so over at Circuit City stairwell headquarters, Jeffrey is now upgraded from the old pool float to a children's mattress that he brought over from Tys RS, along with another set of Spider Man sheets A bunch of sort. telling that that's what he picks as his sheets. Yeah. Yout just grab a pair of sheets No, he shopped. And he also had the poster of Spider Man too. He's got a complex.s I mean, it would be really fun to live in a toy store. We've sure agreed that in third grade. There's also Yoda figurines, different ones, and of course, a stack of DVDs among them, Spiderm Man too. So a couple more months pass and his little setup leads him to get over confonfident about his ability to evade detection. He starts going out in public during the day not playing it cool. So he literally talks to anyone and everyone he comes across introducing himself as John Zorne He claims to work in a secretive capacity for the government Which is what you tell everyone when you're working for in a secretive capacity for the government. Yeah of course. That you lead with it. Yeah, you can say that, but then you just can't say what it is. I'm going start a conversation by telling you I can't talk during this conversation. Talk about this. Yeah. Very normal So a Charlotte police captain tells reporters, quote, if you draw a donoughnut around that circuit city, I bet he talk to everyone within a mile. So here's the other thing. It's like, you can go in and ride your bikes and eat your candy all you want, But if you're alone, you're going to get busted. Yeah. You can have all of it, and if you're alone, you'll go crazy Yeah Yeah you needet some people, you need some interaction. Totally I'm saying this to myself. Leave the house, Karen. He joins a gym. Okay. He doesn't just talk to people. He joins a gym. He goes to the dentist I think that was because of all the candy on the baby. Oh no. He gave himself cabities He also starts attending service at the local Presbyterian church developing a close relationship with his new pastor and other pishioners In fact, he starts dating ne of those parishioners, a woman named Lee She later describes him as, quote, funny, romantic, the most sensitive man I've ever met guy that every girl would want Okay, except he lives in a toys arus andideran fucking villain O villain. Heues himself to be Spider Man too It's me that's real Spideran I'mpidererman too. That's right It's the sad lens through which all women look at everything now, where it's just likely. What are you? some burglar that drops through the roof? Fine. The better you seem, the more you're like a burglar. You don't tell women a smile? fine. We can date. Great. Take me to Circuit City. Okay, so Jeffrey goes out every day and really carp is the DM. I wrote that. Yeah, That's funny. embarrassed At night, he quietly returns to his lair like the Phantom of the Toyas arrests. dash circuit city in half a spideran mask. So it's been six months now since he's broken out of prison or escaped from. As a fugitive, it's very hard for him to actually make money. And he has things to pay for. He has his teeth to pay for. He has the gym to pay for. He has his girlfriend Lee, who he's literally falling in love with to pay for. Can't imagine part of that is his alimony that he's paying for and the child support that is probably needed Yes by very bad wife. Yeah. Yeah. while he's fucking around riding bike. That's such a great point. Maybe there is a real mental breakdown that was like I will get away from everything and start all over again. Be a child. Yeah. a child who can repel off of walls. So as these costs are adding up, he's realizing, I need money So he returns to his passion robbery and on december twenty sixth, two thousand four, one of the busiest shopping days of the year day after Christmas. When he knows the registers will be filled with cash, he hits the toys's arrest that he has actually been hiding out next to he's living in the circuit city, but still doing fun stuff at the Tys Rus. He robbs that toys Rre. his vacation home Yes. But it's so clear like so you rob the toys or us, the cops come We don't know how much he actually stole.. Cops come and then thoroughly search the toys R us. And then of course, find the connection to the circuit. Yeah, they find all of it.. They find the stairwell living area. they take fingerprints there, and then those fingerprints trace right back to our own Jeffrey Manchester, who's the fugitive. Cught it. and the roofman They circulate Jeffrey's mugshot on the news and newspapers and it spooks him. He goes to the dentists office and sets it on fire. What? That's not the next step I was assuming. Yeah. He'll keep you guessing He's a true paratrooper that way. The police theorize he was trying to destroy any record of John Zorn existing. But the dentist office does not burn down. Yeah They rarely do. Yeah. They can't, it's all like R Porcelain, cement and pain, but now Persioners are coming forward from his new church. They f gonna do that man. They are such fucking narks. Why we know John. Wh John? He's in Concord, California, and I'm giving him that accent. When police talk to his girlfriend Lee, she is of course shell shocked, but agrees to help lure him out of hiding by asking him to hang out R right She man Yeah,'s like you. told me that you were a children's baby food salesman. That's why your breath always smelled like baby food Children's baby food s. Children's baby food. Well, I bet there is adult baby food. I'm sure there were say there's adult diapvers Yes. Put that away for now.one. So on january fifth, two thousand five, Jeffrey shows up at Lee's apartment with a bouquet of flowers. He is promptly arrested by police. Yeah that. And also sadder still, it all happens on Lee's fortieth birthday. Oh. Lee. She needs to listen to me. It's just gonna to get better This episode is dedicated to Yuli. She's like, ladies, it's twenty years from now. I'm doing right Jeffrey Manchester is incarcerated in Raleigh, North Carolina. As far as we know, he is still in jail there to the day.. He isn't set to be released until twenty thirty six when he is sixty five years old. Oh man. Yeah. Reporter Katie Dowd notes the irony here, even though Jeffrey is California born and raised This means he'll have, quote, accidentally spent over half his life in North Carolina. Wow. That's a beautiful place, Asashville. Have youve seen it Charlotte? Gorgeous. Yes, very gorgeous. And very close to Pidgeon Forge, Tennessee, where Dollywood is. Oh. That's why he went there. probably. He's like, I'm getting there, but first some toys. Of course, he has been given the folk hero treatment over the years because of the kind of wackiness of his crimes. And then I told you the story about him telling the director of that movie that Channing Tatum is in from last year his name is Derek C in France, and he says that You need to cast someone uglier But he says, then he started talking to Channing. And he was like, you know, Channing and I have a lot in common and we both have a very high motor We both played defensive end and were both extremely good looking So maybe this guy contains every possible multitude. Tuly. There can be. So many people of course point out the very important fact that Jeffrey's crimes were not victimless. Politeness aside. He traumatized innocent people, showing up with guns at their work when they're just trying to close or open. This podcast has actually taught me that from comments we've gone way in the past of like Don't what's the word when you idealize? Idalize this, even though nobody, you know was hurt, That's a fucking lasting wound to be held up at gunpoint. So Oh, absolutely. know. I remember when we had like four guys shoplifted at the same time and ran out and pushed our security guard up against the wall as they ran out. Oh my God. And there's nothing directly threatening or violent about it at all. They just grabbed bags and ran. and it still was like We were all for days, like freaked out. So yes, introducing the idea that I could die over like g geneans Insane. Right. Yeah Especially at a toy store where everyone's having fun. Except the guy in the Jeffrey costume. Oh, I didn't even think about that Jeoffrey, the Rof fan has the same name as the giraffe from Tyser Wow. Get into that costume. Okay, What if you had hidden in plain sight in that costume Hi, he's just pick pick po. But children Stop giving children wallets Okay, so that's Karen's flatforms. I'm so sick of it. Okay We don't know. And we maybe can't know if Jeffrey has learned his lesson from any of this. It's been reported he's tried to break out of prison two more times since being rearrested in two thousand four, though. W. He attempted an escape in two thousand nine and again in twenty seventeen So there may come a day when we have to give an update to the Rofan saga. but until that time That's the story of the roof manan, Jeffrey Manchester. Wow. This is part of the segment we should call We don'teed Another Hero. whereere we just tell the story of some fucking dude We fucking does all these things. He doesn't have to be terrible and we don't have to love him. Yeah. But Channing Tatum has to play him. But Channing Tatum has to play every dude we talk about from here from here on out, including Paul Giamati. Oh ye That' perfect incredible Um, that was great for your birthday. Thank you. It never even crossed my mind to do that one. That's yeah, wow. I had no idea. And I will say this, I did it without watching the Channing Katen movie Because sometimes that I'm like just retelling the movie. Yeah, I gotta say I made V stop playing it because of that you're holding people up at gunpoint and we're making this guy this fucking hot. You know, he's hot and great, hot and great and just down on his luck and it's like, well, I made him turn it off. I'm sure I'm so much fun to be married to. Well, listen There's other things to watch. Trly. He doesn't give a shit. You watched itit alone. He's like fry. Yeah. That was great. Thank you Summers for adventures, road trips, and adding a whole lot of miles to your car. That's why it's worth stopping at Valvalinee Instant Oil change first. If you need an oil change, make the smart stop at Valvalinee inststant oil change before you hit the highway. Their trained techs can help you get road trip ready with an oil change and an eighteen point maintenance check included with every oil change, checking your tire pressure, wipers, lights, and more. 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If you're going all out this summer, you need WeatherTech. Visit WeatherTech dot com today. Goodbye While the world watches the stars at the FVver World Cup this summer, Hyundai has its eyes on the next generation of talent. The future soccer stars who are already turning heads at age fourteen, making plays that end up on everyone's feed, scoring for angles that don't make sense, rewriting record books that barely had time to gather dust. Because Next doesn't wait for an invitation, and Hyundai doesn't either. Hyundai has always moved the future within reach. Hyundai did it by making advanced safety standard on every vehicle. Hyundai did it by engineering EVs with ultra fast charging capability. And Hyundai continues doing it every day. From robotics that change how people live to young athletes changing the game The future isn't some far off concept, it's already here. Next starts now. Hyundaei, an official partner at VivA. Goodbye. Pandora jewelry brings the sparkle to summer now with even better prices. Shop now for up to fifty percent off select jewelry, featuring personalized pieces to must have summer favorites. Timeless jewelry made to move with you through every moment. Shop in store or online now through july fifth term and conditions apply see Pandora. net for more details. Goodbye. Goodbye Do you wanna do one? I'll do one. I have a fun, special birthday one. Yay! It's my birthday. I can do what I want to. Go shorty. Let's do this. early twenty sixteen Sorry. Hm. J early twenty sixteen Yes, or're in New York City Yeah, Manhattan Oh, the main one. A Vanity Fair phhoto editor in her mid twenties named Rachel Williams at a small basement club on the lower east side, it's called Happy ending. Oh, o, casual, clever. Yeah. She was with a group of young people. They're all kind of adjacent to the fashion industry. You know, friends the kind you go out after work with in New York City. You're Coch friends. Yeah. exxactly, but you never speak to after. That's right. You get a good job. You said it all. R When a girl about her age materializes at their table and with her is the wait staff bring in along bottle service. So an immediate Wow, who's she? Yes. Who's that girl? Rachel has seen this girl at distance before. They go to the same parties, they were in the same circles. She's seen her on Instagram. This girl woman speaks with a vague European accent. And Rachel gets the sense that she's some kind of heiress, but Rachel will soon find out. She's not. And more than that, Rachel's taken on a wild ride along with several major financial institutions and New York luxury hotels. This is the story of scam artist Anna Delvey Can I just tell you Oh The reason I'm so excited about this is because heard about that happening But I've never I read an article. I didn't watch the tit I tried to watch the beginning. and whatever was going on, this has been the story of me in enttertertainment for the past five years. Yeah. It has to turn my brain off entirely or I can't get involved. Did the accent bother you? I felt like I'd already missed the train. So it seemed like a thing that everyone already knew what the story was and I was like, hh, and I hate that feeling. So then I just go, I'll revisit this later And good That day is today. Yeah. I'm gonna tell you everything. Okay, good. Okay. the main sources for this story are a article in New York magazine and Vanity Fair You know why I want to do that? Georgia loves these flowers. The rest of the sources can be found in the show notes I'm so glad you don't know about this Do you might if I have a h flash really quick before I turn first. That was your turn. Jesus Keep it in, it's real. So shortly after that fateful night at Happy Ending, Rachel goes out to dinner with this chick, Anna and a group of other people. They go to a steakhouse in the financial district called Harry's. It's real highigh end. And so in this biopic called Inventing Anna, Anna is played by Julia Garner from what was that amazing show she was on that was she so good at Ozark Oh yeah, Ozark She's such a terrific actress acc in it is annoying, but it's real. It's so She's not bad at it. She's accurately portraying. Yes, this woman's accent. Well, and also I guess I'll say this, it wasn't about the acting for me. It was the idea that I had to go into a world with this person who in real life, if I was around that person I would immediately confront and insult and then despise have a problem with A scammer. Right. And that's what's so hard to like wrap your head around these kinds of stories is you're like, you don't really feel bad for the victim because you're. How did you not know? So we'll get into that. Which we love to do. That's kind of I think. Most people who follow true crime, you're always like, oh, I'm the wise person. R. That could never happen to me. But here's the thing, maybe you just don't know yet. The scammers are so good and you're so dumb that you haven't figured out what scammers are in your life. Absolutely. I'm sure. There's gotta be one. There's absolutely This hasn't been recording the whole time. It just slowly but surely money is falling out of my purse for some reason. In so fake componey. This hasn't been recording. The scam is that we've never ever recorded a podcast. you've somehow tricked me into all of this. That's right. Okay, well, what are you gonna get out of that? Well, over oysters and espresso martinis. Your favorite Yeah Rachel learns that Anna had first come to New York to intern for the French fashion magazine Purple after having worked in their Paris office, but she quit and now she's focusing on creating the Anna Delvey Foundation, which she describes as a quote, dynamic visual art center dedicated to contemporary art so she has these big dreams of opening this. It's a young person who dreams of opening her own museum. Art gallery museum slash Soho house, like members only Cub for rich as fuck people. Sure She often alludes to having significant family money, which would generally track for someone in their early twenties who's an intern at a fashion magazine It's not something that you just do for fun. You don't wait tables and then switch over to that Yeah. But while the name, the Anna Delvey Foundation suggests that she's trying to establish some sort of nonprofit It actually is looking more like she's trying to start a social club. Over the course of that winter, twenty sixteen to twenty seventeen, Anna and Rachel hang out a lot sometimes in groups and sometimes one on one, they get really close really fast, which is always, you know, a red flag. But that's what girls do in their twenties and thirties. Like you forties and fifties, you like bond quickly. You especially if you have ose Similar interests simimilar like I've seen you at other clubs. know you all the time. I'm alone in this big city and it's kind of scary and isn't this so exciting and cool? Yeah. In Vanity Fair, Rachel says about Anna, quote, Anna was a character. Her default setting was haughty, but she didn't take herself too seriously. She was quirky and erratic. She acted with the entitlement and impulsivity of a once spoiled, seldom disciplined child. So her personality fit this thing she was selling that she was an heiress and came for money. So kind of like if you're just willing to act like an asshole, people will believe you are rich or used to be rich. one hundred percent. Yeah Rachel has seen Anna around for a while, but what she does know is that other friends Anna has made in the past couple of years have quietly distanced themselves from her There's kind of like rumors going on. A year or two earlier, Anna had struck up a friendship with a UPN student, socialite and art collector named Michael Sufu Wong And Anna had suggested that they go together to the Venice B andlli. What the fuck is that? What that iani? Well, you better learn to say it because it's in What is it? Like the biannual, it sounds like something. That's it. It's a festivelle. Yeah. But so she asked that he book the flights in hotel and his credit card because she had some minor issues with her bank. and so he did They go on the trip and Michael notices that Anna pays for everything in cash And then when they get home, it seems like Anna forgets to pay him back and kind of ghosts him a little on that. But Michael's family is actually extremely wealthy, and the amount in question is quote, only three thousand dollars Which to Michael is not a lot of money, so he kind of just forgets about it. Must nine. Yeah. He's like, she's flaky. I don't want to like chase her for three grand. That's all I wanted is to find a person like that in my twenties. I was like just. Where are the high rollers de that I'm like, I will be the personality memberly sixth member at the table I'll just bring that. I'll spend your money. I'll gester it up. Yeah. I'll keep it cracking here for. be weird and walk away in the middle of a conversation. I don't care ' you're rich and you do that.ay for me So that's kind of what happens to Rachel. Anna is vague about her background, but she explains to Rachel that she's originally from Germany and she doesn't have a permanent residence in New York because she isn't able to stay long periods of time. So she stays at hotels, nice hotels. Bea there's so many bianales she has to go to? Exactly, o. In february twenty seventeen, Anna checks into a boutique luxury hotel in Soho called Eleven Howard where you'd love to stay. I go there sometimes seasonally. And what's super fancy about this hotel, Eleven Howard, is that it's celebrated an eyeewingly expensive French restaurant on the ground floor called L Cu Have you ever been to L Coo? No. you that right I don't know, let's what. Wouldn't you go Absolutely we look at their menu really quickly I don't know why I didn't this before. It's just basic. I think everyone knows this, but Georgia is a foodie. Yeah. She's obsessed with going to restaurant. She's obsessed with looking at the menu. I am. Okay, guess let's see. they'll probably have french onion soups. so let's guess how much it is. twenty nine dollars That's not eyeewwingly expensive, but it is sit is for soup. There lots of tiny food, menus, lunch, dinner, thirty two dollars va va baa. I can't read any of this. It's all in French. hold on. I took French one and two. so hand me the phone They're so fensid they don't even have f French onion soup What do they have? Let see let me just see if a diamond soup. So the tartar. is ninety eight dollars. Whoa, That's an appetizer? Yeah The asparagus, grilled asparagus. It's twenty eight dollars Does it have salt pepper on? It has crab Oh, it does. Yeah. Oh. And then let's just go here. Well, this is actually a bargain. They must have I don't know any of other s Apologies. Can I just see it for one second? So French Full on French. invvite us, Lu Cucku. Please we're believers. We'll record from your restaurant. We'll edit out all those praces. They go there a lot and guests of Howard, like Anna can charge their meals to the room. So it's kind of a winter life. So Anna quickly becomes known around the hotel for being a very generous tipper Anytime anyone does anything for her, they're gonna to get a hundred bucks Wow yeah And she can get our tires. No, it's not. It's one. It's just one. Whenever a package arrives for Anna and it seems like she does a lot of online shopping, the staff fight over who gets to take it up to her room 'cause they're gonna get a fuckking hundred bucks. and it does like she's a really good tipper and really generous with like the regular workers, not management.oni sch. They love her. Yeah.. Anna quickly develops another intense friendship with the hotel's concierge, a twenty five year old filmmaker named Nefatari Davis, who everyone calls N. And she's played by Alexis Floyd in the Biopic. So Anna starts doing the same thing, taking Nh out to fancy dinners, sometimes one on one, sometimes in groups always paying, being like, I'm gonna to pay for everything. And Anna sometimes seems to rally groups of investors and actual celebrities for dinner. Like she does enough little things to seem legit to everyone. Yeah. And they often go to L Cucku for dinner. Oh, that's their spot. Yeah. And on one occasion, Nath is seated directly next to McCully Culkin So she's like, this woman has to be But Jed. This is a whole world I don't know. It's exciting. You have to think of it from terms of like if you were in your twenties again, you could barely pay rent. This woman comes along and starts taking you to fancy dinners. You know, paying for things and it's just exciting. Yes. And it's like a more adult version of being a sester. Right. Because when you're younger you do go to clubs and bars or whatever. Yeah. But then yeah, as you get older, if you have the money, there's other worlds available. R. Like beautiful food. So and then why would these women question her Be like, this isn't real, He's paying for that beef tartar? Exactly sitting next to McCauly. McCauly's in on the scam. No, he's not. Just kidding. He was just sitting at their restaurant one time. Yeah. In the Vanity Fair article, it says, quote, The world was charmed when she was around. The normal rules didn't seem to apply. Her lifestyle was full of convenience, and its easy materialism was seductive M. I mean, and I do credit the kind of personalities that can actually keep that whole scam train moving forward.. Like the energy and the kind of the real Charisma takes to do that is valid. you're dazzling. Yeahly One day Anna asked Nff to come along with her for a session with the celebrity personal trainer and life coach One and one named Casey Duke, who's played by Laurene Cox. She's so great. At the end of the session, Anna buys a package of, you know, coach training sessions and pays four thousand five hundred dollars in cash. So some money is there and they're seeing it. So it's believable. Yes, except for that no one pays anything in cash. For thousands and thousands of dollars. Wh it's like so did it take a while for her to count out twies or does she carry around thousand dollars bills? Exactly. Or just like pis in beef tartar From her b pounds. you want five pounds That's hurt. Got my birken full of beef tartar. Full of raw meat To trade and barter at well So Nev sees Anna all the time on calls and taking meetings with finance types. She's fucking izzy and you know, she's a business lady. Anna has told Nef that she's fundraising to open that art focused social club and she implies that she may be buying the property from the eleven Howard owner. a New York real estate mogul named Abby Rosen, and that's why she's staying there. and like it's that's why it's K kind of being comped and she knows the owner. I know the owner. Yeah what you say. Sure. But there are red flags One night, Neep and Anna go out to dinner, and Anna's credit card is declined. In fact, all of Anna's credit cards are declined. Have you ever had a credit card declined? This just happened to me? We went to Smoke House. We were gonna go to a party. So Allison and I went to jar first Oh, was that beautiful steakhouse on Beverly. Yeah ye. But I just lost my wallet that day So I went into my junk drawer and there's like a divider in there and one of the sections is all. credit cards. Yeah, old and new. but this fucking credit card thing, I just went in and grabbed four credit cards because I was like one of these has to not be canceled or one of these has to not be whatever. R And so when it came time to pay the bill, I gave the first one. and the guy came back and goes, I'm really sorry. I go, no, no, that's okay. hereere. This one will work. And then he comes back and he goes, I'm really sorry. This was And then I go, okay, I swear to God this one, and I give him the third one. And then he walks the machine out and he goes, Mbe there's something wrong with the machine. And then I had to tell him this story. I was like, I'm so sorry. It sounds like bullshit. It And also as he's walking back out, Allison looks at me and goes, We're going to prison. Yeah. It was ' imagine that was happening, right? And it's legit. And then you said, Allison, can you just put it on your card and I'll get you back by the morning you'll have it in your account? Y And she knows you, like you guys are good friends and so she'll do it. Yes, And the restaurant where she's talking about Andne Delvey's bringing people to, that's probably too grand, right?ight? Right. Okay So yes. crazy bill. Well, wait about it N tell you not have has to fo the bill. which comes to around three hundred and fifty dollars, but Nh is a concierge at a boutique hotel in New York City where everything is a million dollars.. She does not, and I remember this, like that was half my rent I did not I went on a date once and he said, let's split the bill. He invited me, He ordered everything. He picked the restaurant. He definitely wanted to fuck me. And he said, let's split the bill. And I was overdrawn because of that. becausecause of the like sixty dollars that I paid half of. And when this happens to you next time, this is what you do, you go Yeah, T, Ohh my God, hold on one second. Hey, hii. Hi yourself. Right Iuck out of that bell. I always flip the bell And I am not married to this man. To this day. amazing The reve That was Vince. That's how I met Vince. No. No, but especially in New York City, money goes so fast and you have to be so tactical about eating out. That was probably cocktails, the three hundred fifty dollars. That wasn't even dinner. so much money. So we know where her head's at. It is a huge deal for her. It makes her panic. But the next day, Anna pays her back in triple. Oh in cash. Yeah. So Everything's cool But then N' managers tell her there's a That reminds me of I have to fails. Shut the fuck up. Are you serious? I gotta jump on that Venmo the second this recorded s Um And then NF's managers come forward. They say when Anna had first checked in at this point more than a month earlier, can you imagine staying in a hotel in a month? That's bananas. love it. She had never provided a working credit card. Instead, she had gotten the hotel to agree to a wire transfer in the amount of thirty grand. And they had extended this courtesy to her because she was supposedly a potential client of the hotel's owner. thirty thousand dollars wire transfer does really arrive from Citibank, but then Anna leaves New York to go to Omaha to go to Warren Buffett's annual Investor Summit Okay So there's just a bunch o just the douche bags that are circling with their fucking. What do they have bapes and and' canabes. Pice vests. or beef tartar. It's like straight out of succession, I'm sure. There's a whole basement in the parking structure where they're just passing illegal beef tartar back and forth. snorting I truly I keep seeing it on TikTok where people are like, we went to this restaurant in God Washington with me and beef tartar is always at the beginning of it. like suddenly everyone's school was eating raw meat. Yeah. That's crazy. Observation This is your birthday I can say anything I want. That's my gift on your birthday. Thank you. So shees to she goes to Omaha, the most beautiful place on the planet. I don't know what it's like. No, we've been. Yes. was actually Yeah. And while she's there, she fails repeatedly to provide a working credit card to the eleven Howard Hotel for the balance of her bill and reoccurring charges. and they put her stuff in storage and tell her that they're kicking her out because she had never put a credit card down. o and never paid When Anna returns wait, can I ask a question. The wire transfer for thirty thousand dollars didn't cover her total expenses because again, she's charging all those le coo to her room. Oh, right She's apparently charging so much shit to her room. thirty thousand for a month is not gonna to cover it. They're kicking her out. They put her stuff in storage When Anna returns to New York, she makes all kinds of furious threats at the staff of Moleve and Habber. like how dare you? Do you know who I am? You know my father is? She collects her things and drops them at the Mercer Hotel, another high end hotel where my favorite I swear to God, we used to stay there for work back in the day. is the greatest It's so lovely. It's in Soho right? And they dice their eggs instead of scrambling. They're minced like Tiny, tiny, chopped up tiny L like Cke. Karen, I think that was Co Oh my God, I love Coke. You were doing Coke for breakfast. I just was the kind of place where it was the first job I ever had where I got to stay at a place like that. So I was everywhere I looked, I was like everything. meemorize this not coming back. This is how people live. Yes ming. That's why I fell in love staying in hotels and eating breakfast in hotels. Yeah I hear you. So she's moving to the Mercer next. She drops her stuff off and then embarks on a planned eight day trip to Morocco in early may twenty seventeen. Okay. So on this trip to Morocco are Anna herself, Rachel, the friend, Casey, who's the trainer, slash life coach, and also a friend of Rachel's who's a filmmaker who will be recording the entire trip This is Anna's idea because she's thinking about making a documentary about founding her social club and she wants to practice having a camera around all the time. So she's just like, I want to take all these people to Morocco I'm footing the whole bill. Well, knowing the end, this is especially bold. Yeah. where it's a mental state of I'm so in this that that I'm believing myself. I think that's what I think at some point, that's what happens is she believes it herself. She thinks she's not hurting anyone in her mind. She clearly is, but I think she's just Dulu a bit Yeah, well, she seems like She's hopped up on like clout, it sounds like. Yeah. or ambition. Yeah. Maybe she thought she would eventually get to that anyways. so she's just like living on a borrow Dime Mhm Anna had selected the legendary five star resort L Mamunia Where Villas run about seven grand a night. And she got like the fanciest place. Rachel had been very upfront that she could not afford this trip and Anna had made it clear that she would be paying. but there's already been an issue with Anna's credit card. So Rachel had to put the flights before they even left on her own credit card. and Rachel makes sixty grand a year. little girl now. Yeah Anna says she's going to reimburse her. Rachel has no reason not to believe her. just like Nh for months. She's been eating at L Cu and working out with the celebrity trainer all on Anna's dime. She thinks she's good for it. Yeah, and you don't want to be the buzzkill, you know? Like Yeahah, and you don't want to cut off a potential friends connection, everyverybody wants to be in the world of people at Lau Cku. Right. Long story short. Tw days into their trip to Morocco, two big security guards are waiting in the hotel lobby with a concierge for Anna. The concierge explains that a hotel staff member has already been fired because he didn't get a credit card upon booking for the hotel room sccammed. scammed. She dazzled him. He agreed. The guys follow the group back to the villa. while Anna makes phone calls, sends text messages like, I need to get a hold of my father. I need to get a hold of my father's you, trustees of the bank of the company. like I'll get this is going be fine But ultimately they leave empty handed. The next morning, Casey, who's the trainer who had gotten sick in Morocco, was like, fuck this shit and she goes home The security guys come back and they refuse to leave the room. Anna finally turns to Rachel and says that she needs to put down a credit card just for the security hold the hotel wants to put on before Anna smooth things over with her bank. So I'm dealing with this, but just to get them off our back and get them out of our room put down that, hold that you always get when you go to a hotel room. And again, Rachel is being told this is just for the hold and that the sixty grand bill will not be charged to her room The bill is sixty grand right now. crazy. That This is what I have made it two years in my twenty. sixty grand. This is more than Rachel's annual salary as a photo editor at Vanity Fair. The two big guys also start urging her to like put her card down. So finally she does it, knowing that she only has about four hundred dollars in her checking account Also, this is a time where in my life where they'd be like, they'd touch my credit card and be like decline. R The idea that people even have the option to do this. Yeah. I'm so glad all my friends were broke as fuck. No one was expecting anything from anyone else. Taco Bell, everybody. Yeah, That's right. They have steak tart tar there too not on purpose We love you talk about Rachel leaves in Morocco day before Anna and the filmmaker friend. and whence she lands, she gets a text from Anna saying she will wire her seventy grand in the next day or so. So that hold wasn't true. The whole thing went through for sixty grand on her fucking credit card, which she doesn't have. and Anna's like, I'll give you seventy grand. L don't worry about this Back in New York, Rachel texts Anna daily and can't get the money. She spends the next month in a pure panic texting Anna and getting deflections. Anna moves from hotel to hotel. Eventually towards the end of the summer, she tells Rachel that she has a cashier's check for her, but neither the check or Anna materializes. and she's fucking freaking out Rachel spends the summer digging around and dodging Anna's request to crash at her apartment. Anna iss like now like old. Yeah. At the same time, Anna is sometimes crashing with Casey, the trainer, and then she and Rachel try to have an intervention with Anna in early August. The day before, the New York Post had run a story about the so called heiis who has been running up hotel bills all over downtown And even with this evidence, Anna keeps deflecting saying the money is there and she's making the same excuses. Here's a photo of Anna from the New York Post article . The next day, Rachael goes to the police precinct and the civil court and then finally calls in a New York attttorney genereneral's office saying she believes Anna is a con artist and they call her right back because they've already been investigating her When it all starts to unravel, this is the story that emerges. basically goes to City National Bank in a private investment company and askks for a twenty two billion dollars loan for her social club She asks this other investment company for thirty five million, and she tells both financial institutions that she can secure the loans with substantial family assets that are held in Swiss banks. Citity National turns her down and Ftress says they will do it if she can give them a hundred thousand dollars deposit while they do their due diligence. And she does this Because she somehow convinced city National bank who denied that twenty five million dollars loan to lend her that money alf through the process with this company, Anna says she's withdrawing and she doesn't want to work with them anymore and withdraws the remaining amount of money about fifty five grand. And so she puts that money into a citibank account. That's where she wired the money to the eleven Howard. so she actually had that thirty grand and uses the rest. She like takes it all out in cash and uses it to fund her lifestyle It doesn't go very far, and she had also open various other accounts with bad checks. So she'd like deposit this big check and take out as much as she could before it cleared cleared. Yeah before it bounced. Yeah And that's what the money she was paying everything with Anna, whose real name is Anna Surkin, is arrested in October of twenty seventeen outside of Passages Malibu Oh no, which as everyone knows is a rehab facility in Malibu for rich people, right? And their kid trying to go there? I think she was trying to go there. It seems like that's where she had been receiving treatment And which is such a great escape to be like. What I'm saying is, is it the perfect cover? Is it It is. Wh who can't say what can dealt It's alleged. We can't say what her deal was, but that's what happened. Okay. And she's extradited to New York. Could you imagine you're in you're in passages trying to get sober. You're in group therapy, talking about how mean your dad was tearing your fingernails off as you chew them down Wait a second, what's going on? I think she also thought she'd meet some new marks there. Yes, of. It's people at their most vulnerable. telling secrets. So and so's daughter, who's like on drugs and like they're famous and rich. and can I come stay with you after? Like I need we can be sober together Brilliant.'s Let's make a movie about that. Let's stop it. Let's go see who we can meet at rehab. Okay. At this point, information finally begins to trickle out about who Anna really is. She'd been actually born in Russia in nineteen ninety one and her family had moved to Germany. so the accent isn't fake. Okay. Maybe she puts it on a little bit, who knows Her father has a heating and cooling business, and it seems like her family does have some money, but certainly nowhere near the level that people believed. Anna starts college in London, in twenty eleven, drops out, moves to Berlin, works at a PR firm, then moves to Paris for the Purple magazine internship and then asks to work out of their New York office. and that's how she ends up in New York. In New York, Anna had stayed at some other hotels, crashed with new friends, and it seems like she was somewhat supported by her parents, even though they're not wealthy, but they do enough to support their daughter. while she builds a career The problem is that living modestly had not been in Anna's plan. I think she just had this like these grandiose ideas. Also, I feel like somewhere along the way she spent time with a scammer herself because you wouldn't know to do stulate people that way. Yeah takeake out loans and I'm going to take this money and put it over here and then bring it back over here. And shamelessly taking money from people who don't have it is not you know, like It's gross. But also the idea of like papering the staff, the low levelace to face people so that you've got these kind of like e Allies unknowingly defending you and saying, no, I know her. I mean, that's very wly. Diabolical, even. Who did she learn this from? Yeah, that's a really good point. After a trip back home in Europe in twenty sixteen is when she comes back and checks into the Eleven Howard and sets up this elaborate scheme This this new one in motion. So Rachel, her friend from Vanity Fair, writes her first person account of the story for Vanity Fair. Yeah. Good job, girl. her. yours. And then Jessica Pressler, remember her? She is a journalist. She's reported many big stories, including the one that became the basis for the movie Hustlers. Oh yeah. I know her. Yeah. She writes a big story for New York Magazine. That story is adapted into a Sonda Rimes series The inventing Anna series is in it, Jessica herself is played by Anna Klumsky. Oh yeah, which is so fun In twenty nineteen, Anna is sentenced to four to twelve years in prison. and here's a photo of her at her trial Legendary I love that picture. Yeah. That's me showing up for work where it's like Karen, we werere supposed to be recording fifteen minutes ago, and I'm like, can I just please put on some contour? Do you know what I bet she I bet she was fun in prison. Yeah I bet she made so many fucking friends in prison. We'll all judge away, judge away. Here's the thing. That's a creative inventive mind that's got an engine behind it. Yeah. There was always a girl evil It's for evil. that these are the girls that are like, let's go down to the seven hundred eleven. We've all grown We pretend to have a seizure and you put some shit in your pocket. go steal the snickers. It'll be great. Now you're in an alley giggling your ass off being like, this is what life can be like. Or even worse, Hey, I stole some pills from my sick aunt Let's do themucking snort them. which is so fun when that's what your twenties are for. It's like there's an exploratory d like here's the thing. There's a lot when you're a young woman growing up, especially in America, there's a lot that you are told to be afraid of. R. This is a person who's clearly fearless Yeah and then also able to put on the character of No fuck you I'm rich when she's actually not truly that. Yeah. That's incredible Yeah. And I bet she can cry and command. Oh easily, easy. Okay So she's actually pared, she goes into twenty nineteen, and she's actually been paroled since twenty twenty one. Rachel never gets all of her money back from Anna. Anna does payPal her five grand, which Rachel finds so odd because she says, quote, this gesture tugged at me, knowing what I know, which is that she really didn't have the money, why would she give me anything at all Surely, she would have paid me the full amount if she could have, right? so I think Rachel's where she's just like, I don't know, she's giv her the benefit of the doubt still And She's trying to go, I didn't get fucked over. I didn't get scammed. She's actually a good person.'s this whole thing iss misunderstood. Why did she give her that money? you know? It's Because that's the thing that keeps a fucking channel open Good gesture, which means good faith. No, it fucking doesn't. Yeah. That's money. And it's like what do you like? Do you like money? Here, I'll push this towards you. What do you like? Do you need to be loved? Oh, okay, well I won't stop staring at you. Like the plays are the plays. It's just different material. Gaslighting is gaslighting American Express does forgive the rest of Rachel's debt O, thank God, I know. In twenty twenty s they saw the Netflix show. They're like, Shanda Rhymes, okay, that's fine. And they probably tweeted about it. Okay. In twenty twenty four, Anna appears on Dancing with the Stars. Did you know that Cat Wearing a bedazzled ankle monitor She got out of prison, but she still has ankle. Let see that picture again, please. I can show you the dancer for the star picture with her ankle want it to run. Let's see it which so reminds me, this is magic from the last season of Euphoria, wearing a neck brace that's bedazzled is just the most fucking iconic thing I've ever seen. I bet it's a reference, don't you think? Oh maybe. Oh I dont know. Look how cute she is. Okay, yeah. she Yes. No, she is. People get upset about the fact that there's a contestant with an ankle monitor. You shouldn't do that she gets voted up the second week B of those people, She recently demonstrated to her one million plus Instagram followers how she puts tights on under said ankle monitor. Still, like, get ready with me.. Yeah, she still wears it. And she does this like so her Instagram now is like glamorous and she's fucking gorgeous. She really ises really beautiful now. Y could be played by by Claire Danes, Eclaire Danes, Ariana Maddox, Wh else? that? She's from Vanerpump Rules. So look, she's fucking beautiful Oh she's an actress. You're casting a reality star to play She's an actress. We love her. So she just kind of like But she hasn't like her whole Instagram was like just scrolling. It's just like tongue in cheek, glamorous NYC lifestyle