Bankruptcy, Boobs & Baywatch

This week JJ & Tonio welcome special guest John Liu and the group discuss topics including a couple heavy hitters in the scam industry such as Robert Shapiro and Tom Girardi!

They continue to expand on their list of what NOT to do if you happen into a large sum of illegal money.

Tonio self reflects on a few of his own crimes?!?!

Thank you for listening and as always if you'd like to put faces to the names head on over to their YouTube channel @noonegetshurtpod! 

Transcript

SPEAKER_02 0:00

I don't know. I don't have a problem being watched.

SPEAKER_00 0:06

Anywho.

SPEAKER_02 0:09

Okay, we know the scam telling you other. Welcome back to TMI. Listen up and no one gets hurt.

SPEAKER_05 0:16

This is a podcast that focuses on crimes and scams where no one physically is harmed. This is a podcast for information and entertainment focuses only. Nothing in this podcast can be taken as legal advice.

SPEAKER_02 0:29

So listen up and no one gets hurt. You already said that. Alright, well, don't forget to like and subscribe. And in the comments, tell us which game you'd like us to cover. Thank you.

SPEAKER_05 0:40

Welcome to this episode. We have one of the biggest producers in Orange County. Lou Gotta Be Kidding Me. John Lou.

SPEAKER_01 0:48

Thank you. Thank you very much. You're very kind to say that. Welcome, welcome. Oh, I just realized. No, you're right. I am one of the biggest weight-wise.

SPEAKER_05 0:54

I can't say No, that's not what I meant.

SPEAKER_01 0:58

You're very kind.

SPEAKER_05 1:00

Well, what's your Instagram handle and all that?

SPEAKER_01 1:02

Oh, my Instagram handle is my last name. Liu Gotta Be Kidd Me. L I U Gotta Be Kidding Me. Uh, it's also YouTube face Facebook. So what a great name, dude. I I I try. Thank you.

SPEAKER_05 1:12

I I love I love the handle. It's a good handle.

SPEAKER_01 1:14

Absolutely. It's convenient for sure.

SPEAKER_05 1:17

And unique. So instead of, you know, I I was like, I tried to do JJ Jorgensen or someone already had it. So it's like Really? Yes. Well, I mean, not for comedy, just for regular Instagram, but yeah. So, but I was like, I don't want to be like JJ Jorgensen 073772. So, yeah. But anyway, so you got to do Netflix as a joke?

SPEAKER_01 1:39

Yeah, I yeah, that was a lot of fun. I was at the ice house with Joe Wong. Um, very, very lucky, very privileged to do it. I'm grateful. And it was a lot of fun. It's a the ice house, one of those classic venues. It's just end of one of the first tier clubs in LA in terms of history and all that fun stuff. So that was a fun experience. I don't know if I'll ever be able to do it again, but I'm grateful. I'm happy it happened.

SPEAKER_05 2:01

I think the ice house is a great spot. I've got I took a class there and got to uh perform a showcase there. And it's a it's a really cool room. And this the main room, the green room is awesome too, you know.

SPEAKER_01 2:13

Yeah. On both of on both of them. Yeah, the big room and the small room have different feels, different vibes. Very fun place. Yeah. And if I recall correctly, they do an open mic there every now and then.

SPEAKER_05 2:23

Yeah, I'm not familiar with the open mic. It's a little bit of a trek for Orange County to go to Pasadena.

SPEAKER_01 2:29

For sure.

SPEAKER_05 2:30

Yeah, but there's an and you know, good thing is there's a lot of good restaurants around there, so you know, if you go early enough, you can grab some some treats. There's actually like a I think a chocolate croissant place really close by, and every time I drove past it, the line was out the door. So yeah, but anyway. How fun. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 2:47

That sounds gross.

SPEAKER_05 2:48

Chocolate croissant?

SPEAKER_02 2:50

Yeah, that sounds absolutely horrible.

SPEAKER_05 2:52

You're you're joking, clearly.

SPEAKER_02 2:53

No, I am so serious. Really? You don't like chocolate or you don't like croissants? No.

SPEAKER_05 2:57

You don't like either.

SPEAKER_02 2:58

Yeah, I'm not a huge fan of either.

SPEAKER_01 3:00

Okay. Interesting. Yeah. What is your thing then?

SPEAKER_02 3:04

Uh not chocolate. Yeah, lattes. Yeah, whatever the fuck this thing is. This shit is delicious. How fun. Yeah, it's like got like vanilla and honey and fucking I don't know, it's so good.

SPEAKER_01 3:20

All the classic stuff. Yeah. Just missing the pumpkin spice and hell yeah.

SPEAKER_02 3:24

All the white girl shit. Exactly.

SPEAKER_05 3:27

Do you do you like a chocolate croissant?

SPEAKER_01 3:30

Yeah. Yeah, I do. Oh my god. There are tons of good places. But even here in Orange County, there's a bunch of good bakeries. For sure. And just pastry shops and all that stuff. We're very lucky to be here. It's just a nice place to live. Can't complain too much.

SPEAKER_02 3:46

Yeah. You know? I can complain. I live an hour from here. Oh my god. Yeah. It only took me 30 minutes to get here this morning. Nice.

SPEAKER_05 3:55

Any any travel time, you just divide by two, and that's his uh his UTA.

SPEAKER_02 4:02

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 4:02

Don't tell the CHP. We're good.

SPEAKER_02 4:04

No, please don't. My license, my license is good. My insurance ain't no good. My fucking registration ain't no good. Oh no. Oh, yeah. I'm cooked if I get pulled over. Allegedly. No. I can't even allegedly that one. You can see the sticker on the back. Oh man. Oh man. And I've already gotten a ticket for it. Really? Yeah. Hopefully it's just a fix-it ticket. It was.

SPEAKER_03 4:33

It was. That's ominous. Good lord.

SPEAKER_02 4:38

It was a $25 fix-it ticket, and then they sent me a $270 one in the mail. Oh my goodness. Assholes.

SPEAKER_05 4:46

But you paid it, right? Oh no. If you don't do that, they can put a bench warrant out for you.

SPEAKER_02 4:51

Bro, I got 48 cents in my bank account. They can get fucked.

SPEAKER_05 4:54

Oh.

unknown 4:55

Okay.

SPEAKER_02 4:56

Bail it is. All right. You feel me?

SPEAKER_05 4:59

So this episode, we're talking about true crime of Tonyo.

SPEAKER_02 5:02

And hey, I mean, sometimes you gotta just commit a crime.

SPEAKER_05 5:07

And nobody got hurt, so there you go.

SPEAKER_02 5:09

And we're on brand. Look at that. Oh, good lord. Somebody was about to get hurt this morning if I had to drive back home. I can promise you that. I'd have been there in 20 minutes.

SPEAKER_05 5:19

Yeah. Well, you're okay now. Everything's fine. This is a safe space.

SPEAKER_01 5:25

I wouldn't go that far. Well, they don't know you're in here, so it's a safe space for now.

SPEAKER_05 5:34

Yes. Um, have you done anything comedy-wise this week, Tonio?

SPEAKER_02 5:38

Uh yeah, did uh did harp on Monday. Uh that was cool. Cast Man did uh 40 minutes for his birthday. Nice. His birthday was on Wednesday, but he headlined harp and did 40 minutes. He did 40 minutes.

SPEAKER_05 5:54

Oh wow.

SPEAKER_02 5:55

Yeah. Yeah, and he fucking killed it. Oh, that's awesome. He's so funny.

SPEAKER_05 5:59

He is very funny.

SPEAKER_02 6:00

Yeah.

SPEAKER_05 6:01

So uh so did he open it or did he close it? Like how did it work? Uh he closed it.

SPEAKER_02 6:06

Okay. Yeah. Uh who did he have? I forget who else was on the show. Ben Dwang was there. Yep. Uh I think Neil was there. Neil Lockwood was the host. I guess that guy's funny.

SPEAKER_05 6:21

Yeah, he's funny.

SPEAKER_02 6:22

He's funny.

SPEAKER_05 6:22

Um it's so neat because it's he has his own like um Jeff Boxworthy, like kind of saying, you know, like if you you're you're redneck if or whatever, like you might be redneck if he has like not to be political. I've had a political comment.

SPEAKER_03 6:39

He's like, all right, all right. It's pretty good.

SPEAKER_02 6:43

He does have a very distinct, unique uh cadence in delivery. Yeah, yes, that's truly. Yes, that's true. Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_05 6:52

Um you were at Provisions, did you? You didn't do you didn't do an open.

SPEAKER_02 6:56

I did go to Provisions uh just to hang out, did the music. Um I did not do a set.

SPEAKER_05 7:01

Have you been to Provisions yet?

SPEAKER_02 7:03

No, I have not.

SPEAKER_05 7:04

You should check it out. It's a it's a great spot, honestly. Um, it's indoors and it is a mix of not just comics but other uh locals.

SPEAKER_01 7:14

Oh, mixed mics are so much fun.

SPEAKER_05 7:15

No, no, no. I don't sorry, not mixed mic, I meant like mix of audience.

SPEAKER_01 7:19

Oh, okay. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_05 7:20

So it's like it's because it's really close to Chapman. So you get some younger kids from the school, you get some locals that come in because it's a really good little restaurant.

SPEAKER_02 7:28

Oh wonderful. Yeah, it's usually pretty packed, standing room only in there. Nice, yeah.

SPEAKER_05 7:32

They're they're changing it, I think, or you guys are changing it, it seems a little bit because it was um like six minutes, and now I feel like you guys are going to four minutes.

SPEAKER_02 7:40

Uh it just varies depending on the amount of people that sign up because we want to give everybody the opportunity to to get their stage time in, you know what I mean? Right. That's wonderful.

SPEAKER_05 7:50

Yeah, yeah, it it was packed. It can it and it tends to the it's every two weeks, so it's every it's on Tuesday, every other Tuesday.

SPEAKER_02 7:58

So we dropped the list at like 6 30 and like 6 35 is damn near full, if not full, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 8:05

So no offense to the vultures out there, but um no, please by all means offend.

SPEAKER_05 8:12

So so literally, um, I get there, there's like four comics there before me, and we're and so we're all waiting. It's like you you said it drops at 6 30, right? Yeah, okay. So I'm there, it's like 6 20. Uh, there's already other comics there, and we're chatting, whatever. And someone comes in with the list. I don't remember. Oh, I think it was you know, I don't remember who it was this week, but um he brings in the list, puts it down, and literally as he puts it down, people that are walking through the door. Yeah, go and grab the list and start signing up, and I'm like, yo, and I'm like, I don't want to be mean, uh-huh, but in my mind, I'm like, this is not cool, you know, because like Alex Osuna is one of the people that was there like probably at six o'clock.

SPEAKER_02 8:53

He was there when I got there. I got there at like six oh five.

SPEAKER_05 8:56

And he ended up signing up after me, you know. So I mean that's that's a bummer.

SPEAKER_01 8:59

That's kind of the difficulty with a list type mic, really. You know, it's it's you you want people to come, you want them to know that they can show up and have a spot, but then how do you control it without being too much of a stickler, I guess, for lack of a better word. You just kinda gotta be a stickler, I guess. Yeah. At that point. It's yeah, just kind of draw the line between open and not.

SPEAKER_02 9:23

You just want it to be fair for everybody.

SPEAKER_01 9:25

Yeah. I don't know. It's that's the God bless and I've said it before, I'll say it again. God bless you guys, God bless anyone that hosts an open mic, you know. You guys are saints.

SPEAKER_05 9:35

It's a uh well it's hard too because then even like using slotted sometimes, like like this, uh I think it was Noble Ale, like man, they get so popular. I didn't I wasn't signing up this Friday, but I've had it before where it's like you're refreshing, it's good drops at noon and you're refreshing at 1158, 1159, 12 o'clock, it's already it's already sold out.

SPEAKER_02 9:56

That was that was me yesterday.

SPEAKER_05 9:58

I mean, which is great, you know, obviously, but it's also frustrating because it's like, whoa, how come, you know, yeah, I didn't get a spot, or now I'm and now I'm number, you know, 28 out of 30. Right.

SPEAKER_02 10:10

Right, and I I gotta I already got to drive an hour, so that means I'm gonna be out for like fucking five hours.

SPEAKER_01 10:17

Yeah, yeah for it's a slot.

SPEAKER_02 10:19

Three, four minutes, and I'm like, right, I'm not gonna do that. Yeah. I went to uh CKT house on Thursday, bomb my ass off. Uh uh in my defense though, everybody bombed. Uh there was a guy there that was headlining uh Ice House actually, and he fucking bombed, so I attribute it to the room. Yeah, it wasn't me.

SPEAKER_01 10:48

Some places you just can't gauge how well you're really doing. You just gotta go do it and just get the reps in. Yeah, that's all I was trying to do. Yeah.

SPEAKER_05 10:57

I think there might be a new spot opening on Friday nights. I I DM'd the person um I think that's hosting it. I'm not sure. It's uh birth 55 in Long Beach. And I didn't yeah, I didn't go last night because I I had other plans last night. Um non-comedy related, but um, but yeah, so it look and I've been there actually for lunch, birth 55. It's a really good little seafood spot. Uh it's right kind of in between Long Beach and San Pedro, it's on the Long Beach side, uh, and on the water. So I'm I'm kind of hopeful that that's a spot because that would be kind of cool. Cause I mean, to get a good dinner too while you're there. You know, so yeah, hopefully that's gonna be something that continues. So yeah, no, I so I did provisions um Tuesday night. Thanks for asking. And we were getting there, and then I did Mamba Thursday night, which is actually interesting because you're um you as you're doing it, there's like people playing pool and making out in front of you, and you just have to like drown it out. Yeah, but it's a good spot, you know. I I like it, and Robin runs a good ship there, so yeah, it's uh it's fun.

SPEAKER_02 12:05

But I've been there once, I had a good time.

SPEAKER_05 12:07

Yeah, yeah, yeah. No, it's it's cool. It's it is cool, yeah, for sure. There it was funny. Um, I was sitting at the bar waiting to sign up, and this uh patron was there, and and I my husband usually comes with me and he was with me too, and and the guy like goes like uh is random and he's like, Oh yeah, like how's it going? I'm like, good. And he's like good talk. I'm like, what do you think?

SPEAKER_01 12:29

What do you want me to say?

SPEAKER_05 12:31

Like, what do you do? Like, I'm like, sorry, I'm not too friendly. I don't know, like weird, you know.

SPEAKER_01 12:36

It's just people are very weird. God, God bless you. And the the reality, I don't part of me is like, okay, this is gonna lead to some creepy discussion, like creepy dude hitting on JJ. No, and somehow this is kind of just as bad. It's like, oh the hell.

SPEAKER_05 12:54

Well, he was like, Oh, you're here for the or he's like, Are you here to watch the comedy? I'm like, Yeah. He's like, Oh, and and then I'd I'd already overheard him talking to another comic. And so like I already knew kind of what was going on. And so he had said, like, oh, I've always wanted to do that, but I've never had you know, I've never done it.

SPEAKER_02 13:10

And then I'd heard him to grow some balls.

SPEAKER_05 13:14

Well, I heard him tell the guy that he was a fireman, so then he he was like, Oh, um, I said something like, Oh, so are you a fireman? He's like, No. I go, I literally just heard you told tell that guy that you're a fireman. He's like, I just was saying it to be funny, and I'm like, okay, and then like he starts saying something else. He's like, Well, I uh I actually am a fireman. So then my husband's like, What are you doing? You know, like yeah, I know. So, anyways, it was so so it was a I'm just saying be cautious of the patrons there, but other than that, it's a great spot.

SPEAKER_01 13:45

So it's an interesting place, it's it it really is, and Robin, God bless her. Like I said, you host an open mic, you're a saint, and she's good people, yeah. And but yeah, I mean they're there to drink the mamba, the mamba, and it's a I like the place, I do. Um, but yeah, some of those people are there to drink, and God bless them, let them be.

SPEAKER_02 14:04

Yeah, I may or may not have been offered myth the last time I was there.

SPEAKER_05 14:08

Stop it.

SPEAKER_02 14:09

I am so fucking serious. It doesn't surprise me, honestly, but I said something about it jokingly to uh one of the other comics, and this guy in the bar still next to us turns around and he's like, You guys want to turn this party up? Yo, don't fuck no, get out of my face, dude.

SPEAKER_01 14:29

Maybe he just wanted to sell you some essential oils. Yeah. For my fucking oil burner.

SPEAKER_02 14:37

That's what they call them. When you go into the smoke shop and they got all the pookies on display, they call them oil burners. Yeah. Everyone knows what they're for. Yeah, right.

SPEAKER_01 14:47

That's what I'm saying. But plausible deniability is a wonderful thing.

SPEAKER_02 14:51

And then a motherfucker will walk in there and be like, uh, it's not for me. You're not gonna tell a crack man it ain't for you.

SPEAKER_05 14:58

I mean, now you I assume you go into smoke shops in California. Yeah. Okay, so do they sell whippets in California with smoke shops?

SPEAKER_02 15:05

Uh, I don't know. Okay. I don't even look for that kind of stuff. I know what I'm going next. Yeah.

SPEAKER_05 15:11

No, so so they sell them in other states, right? I know that we can discuss off the record, but um why I know this, but um not for nefarious reasons. But uh, but they sell them in other states, and you know what they do when they sell whippets? So they sell them in like cases, I think, of like 30. But then they sell cream because technically you have to have cream available because the whippets are like, I guess, uh made available so you can make whipped cream. So in order to make it seem as though you're selling them legitimately, uh, you you you sell it with cream. But the but it's like a hot dog bun situation because you know how like hot dogs are sold in like packs of like nine, and then the hot dog buns are like 12, and so then there's uh you know, miss you you have more than one than the other. So I think that's the same thing with the with the whippets. It's like they sell like it's like two tablespoons of curry.

SPEAKER_03 16:10

Yeah, exactly.

SPEAKER_02 16:12

It's very whipped cream. But I love a good legal loophole. I can uh I I don't condone using whippets, but I do love a good legal loophole.

SPEAKER_05 16:22

Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 16:23

If nothing else, you have to admire the creativity. Absolutely.

SPEAKER_05 16:26

There's always a workaround.

SPEAKER_02 16:28

Yeah, for sure.

SPEAKER_05 16:29

Yeah, so well, speaking of legal workarounds, um, and also speaking of comedy, I enjoy one of your well, I enjoy many of your jokes, but one of the jokes I enjoy is how you talk about your um your dad is in commercial real estate, I believe. Right? Yeah. So I wanted to try to find a crime that had something to do with real estate. It's not an easy thing to do, but I found I found one, and this is an individual named Robert Shapiro.

SPEAKER_01 16:56

Oh.

SPEAKER_05 16:57

Are you familiar with this?

SPEAKER_01 16:58

That the lawyer guy, Robert Shapiro, a different lawyer guy. Turns out there's a different guy, actually.

SPEAKER_05 17:02

Yeah, it turns out there's more than one Robert Shapiro. But uh, yeah, so this Robert Shapiro is not that Robert Shapiro with OJ Simpson. Um, but uh yeah, no, so this is Robert Shapiro who is based out of Florida and California, and he created a company called Woodbridge Group, and they were basically a Ponzi scheme. Have you heard of this one?

SPEAKER_06 17:25

No.

SPEAKER_05 17:26

No, okay. So this guy uh it's hard because even though he's been convicted, I've read multiple reports, listened to different, you know, uh videos on this uh crime, and there's the numbers vary just a little bit, but it's something like over 8,400 people were affected by this Ponzi scheme.

SPEAKER_02 17:48

Yeah, that's a lot.

SPEAKER_05 17:50

That's a lot, and uh it was something over $1.2 billion.

SPEAKER_02 17:54

Oh, I fucking yeah, absolutely.

SPEAKER_05 17:56

And it was over five years, it started in 2012 and then it ended in 2017. And how the real estate aspect is is that he was um and oh he had like 130 salespeople working for him too. So basically the idea is that he was selling um, if you invest with us, we take your money, hard money lending, and we we lend it to real estate developers. Uh and then they uh we charge them an interest rate and then uh we give you a cut of the money that we get from the interest rate and then we pay you monthly, right? But what they were actually doing was it was a uh uh Rob Peter to Pay Paul situation. So um he it's one of the largest uh Ponzi schemes in American history, and he uh wasn't so what he was doing is he's taking the money and he had something like over 230 LLCs. So then it looked like if you had invested and you were like, I want to see the paper trail, it would look legitimate.

SPEAKER_06 19:00

Right.

SPEAKER_05 19:00

And he was also only offering, and again, this is I've seen different uh percentages, but anywhere from five to ten percent returns. So it's not one of those red flag right away, like I'm gonna give you 20% returns.

SPEAKER_06 19:11

Right.

SPEAKER_05 19:12

Right. So it was it was fairly reasonable um in terms of real estate investments. So uh yeah, and then finally uh he couldn't pay people back and he started you know getting in trouble. So he had to file bankruptcy.

SPEAKER_02 19:29

Mm-hmm. And what exactly does that mean?

SPEAKER_05 19:32

What do you mean?

SPEAKER_02 19:33

Bankruptcy. Like when you have to file bankruptcy at all.

SPEAKER_01 19:37

There's a couple of different ways to do it. Different, like you've heard chapter 11, chapter 13. Like chapter 11 is listen, we're out of money, let us get our house in order, give us some time to pay you guys back. And I think chapter 13 is just straight up, hey, we don't have the money, you know, pound sand kind of thing, take whatever you want, that kind of stuff. Like they are chapter 13 is there coming to your house, like repo men. That's my understanding. I could be wrong.

SPEAKER_05 20:03

I I believe that's right. And then also it can sometimes protect different things, like because you are able to protect like depending on which one you file. Like, for instance, um here's an interesting situation. I I once knew someone whose father dealt in bankruptcy law. Okay, I don't do that area, so that's not my area of expertise.

SPEAKER_02 20:24

But and law stuff, lawyer things. Uh huh. I said you do law stuff.

SPEAKER_05 20:29

I do, but I don't do bankruptcy. And it it and bankruptcy a lot of times tends to to go with um divorce. Like a lot of times when people are going through divorce, they also file bankruptcy. So it's a very sad, not just like you lost money sad, but like it can be very, a very sad area of law to practice in, you know. Um if you're a receiver though on bankruptcy, it can be lucrative. So because you're um basically helping to recover assets to then pay off creditors, right? So then, but you get a percentage as a receiver. So that can be a very lucrative. So you I think you can buy off your sadness. I don't know. But um, yeah, so uh it but in terms of like um it I think it helps to protect yourself from creditors if you're uh business, I think, versus being a personal person, a person like a not a corporation.

SPEAKER_06 21:20

Right, right.

SPEAKER_05 21:21

And then also, so so going back to the interesting story. So so this individual I knew was working for his dad at the time, like kind of as like a law clerk or representative essentially for his dad's legal corporation. And this I don't rem know who the lady is, and I shouldn't know anyways, because you know, possibly attorney client privilege for me or whatever. But allegedly, this lady comes in and she's like, I'm gonna need a file for bankruptcy. Um, but I need to know like what is recoverable, what is not. And then they're like, Well, yeah, like if you have a car, they could repossess the car. They have if you have like this, they can repossess that, you know, all these different types of material items. And she's like, What if I Max out my credit card and get plastic surgery. And they're like, Well, they can't repossess like your implants, they can't repossess your whatever, your nose drops or shit. Okay.

SPEAKER_02 22:10

I fucking love a legal, a legal loophole.

SPEAKER_05 22:14

Yeah. So she goes and maxes out her credit card and gets all sorts of plastic surgery done. She had been an actress. This was in Hollywood. And then she booked a gig on Baywatch. Didn't need to go bankrupt. So you know what I mean? There's always a workaround.

SPEAKER_02 22:33

You're finding a way how to work around?

SPEAKER_05 22:36

Uh, I don't believe so. I think she might have been out of his league. So post-surgery, pre-surgery, I don't know.

SPEAKER_02 22:44

But uh that's fucking funny.

SPEAKER_05 22:47

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. So, anyways, but um uh yeah, so this individual he goes bank, he's gonna file bankruptcy, but it's also interesting because he was actually investing in real estate, so it's not like one of those situations where he wasn't invite in investing in real estate and was just blowing it, right? So he still had some real estate, but he wasn't exactly doing what he said he was going to do, and so he wasn't actually getting the percentage of returns that he promised. And so he was being more his salespeople were being very aggressive in getting new investors so they could pay off the new and or the old investors, right? And it was mostly retirees, so yeah, but the good news is is that in that and it's not like great news, I'm just saying it's good news that um something like uh they were they were able to recover like 50 to 60 percent of the investments. So the people some of the people were able to get um money back. But this individual though, Robert Shapiro, he um he had this was operating over uh Florida, I believe Tennessee, Colorado, and California. So he had um yeah, so it was over, but he was actually charged in Florida. Yeah, and he pled guilty. He was sentenced to 25 years in prison, and some of the charges were I guess it was a billion dollars. Yeah, and he's six he's in his sixties, so it's basically a life sentence.

SPEAKER_02 24:06

Yeah, that's it.

SPEAKER_05 24:07

Right. But some of the things that he was charged with um was uh money laundering. I'm sorry, no, sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry, not money laundering. Um wire fraud.

SPEAKER_02 24:16

Uh that seems to be a common theme amongst uh financial crimes.

SPEAKER_01 24:20

Yeah, it's an easy thing to tack on because you know anytime you cross state lines, now you're dealing with a different issue, right? Right.

SPEAKER_05 24:28

So so wire fraud, mail fraud, conspiracy to commit fraud, and tax evasion. So they get you. Yeah, exactly. Every time that's we always that's our that's our like little inside joke is that like if you don't pay your taxes, they're definitely coming after you. So um, yeah, but um some of the things I have to read from my list, but some of the things that he purchased, so or for for excitement, you know, like that he actually was able to acquire. Oh, and one of the things, sorry, I keep bouncing all over the place. Um, he was able to basically facilitate the fraud because he seemed as he acted like he was this big, big shot, right? So he he had a house, I guess, in Aspen, would hold fundraisers there. So people thought like he was this, you know, in in the know, in the circle. So people trusted that he knew what he was doing, right? So he uh he had a artworks by Pablo Picasso, uh Gio Cometti, Chigal, Renoir. He had over 600 bottles of wine, though I guess was pretty um worth a lot of money. Had a 1969 Mercury convertible, luxury jewelry, including a pair of 14 karat white gold earrings with black diamonds, 61.81 carats, two gray diamonds, 23.92 carats.

SPEAKER_02 25:51

Rule number three, man.

SPEAKER_05 25:53

You're right, right, right, right. Rose cut. One of the rules we said is like don't live beyond your means, because that's a red flag as well.

SPEAKER_02 26:00

Yeah, like don't immediately upgrade your lifestyle after you come into some illegal money.

unknown 26:05

Right.

SPEAKER_02 26:06

Yeah.

SPEAKER_05 26:07

Um had something over $600,000 worth in cars and so uh numerous other jewelry and a mansion in uh in LA that was a very expensive upkeep. Sure.

SPEAKER_02 26:18

And then you also set a home in Aspen.

SPEAKER_05 26:19

Home in Aspen, and I believe a home in in uh in Florida as well.

SPEAKER_02 26:23

Get all that seized. Rule number three, bro. Rule number one is pay your taxes, rule number two is clean that shit. Rule number three is do not do the with that.

SPEAKER_05 26:37

Right. So, but yeah, so he was he was ordered to pay back something like want to say 900 million dollars, and then he also had penalties um similar, similar type penalties. So yeah, pretty wild. And that was only in 2017, so this is 2012 to 2017, right? So that's after uh after uh Madoff, right? I feel like that's after Madoff. So I mean it's still happening, it's wild.

SPEAKER_01 27:05

There's always there's always gonna be like what did PT Barnum say? Or was it Mark Twain? I forget who a fool in his money or soon par he's soon parted. Yeah, I've heard that before. No, P. T. Barnum was uh there's a sucker born every minute. That's what it was. Yeah. Both apply really.

SPEAKER_02 27:23

Oh, absolutely. Because like imagine getting scammed in this day and age. Like, you're just dumb at this point.

SPEAKER_05 27:29

I mean, to be fair, think about the people that they were going after, though. They're going after elderly people, they're going for maybe a conservative, they're not looking to make extremes amount of money, they're not going for the 20% return. Offering five to ten percent is still like pretty conservative, right? So it's it it I it's one of those things where like you see someone who looks like they're in the right circles, they are making the right moves, they look like you know, they're confidence man, right? That's that's where the term con man came from is confidence man. But yeah, I mean you have a you have a Picasso, you know, you you're driving these beautiful cars. So here's an interesting thing. I'm one of my brothers is a doctor. I know your mom's a doctor, uh, so I'm sure I'm sure your mom probably could can relate to this. So one of my brother's friends is is an eye surgeon. Okay. And after getting done with multiple fellowships and you know, residencies and all the things, uh, he was working for a practice and he was driving, let's say it was like a a rabbit or a Jeddah, something very modest, a modest car, you know. And one of the more senior doctors in the group pulled him inside and said, Look, I know that that you mean well with this rabbit or whatever Jeddah, whatever it was, you know, and that you're trying to look humble. And I get it, and I appreciate that. I applaud it. But imagine one of our patients coming in to the parking lot and they see you getting out of a rabbit. That does not instill confidence that you are a skilled surgeon. Why not? Because they would expect a skilled surgeon to have a nicer car. That was that is what they would expect. So, you know, you don't want to be ostentatious, you don't want to drive a Ferrari. Because if you drive a Ferrari, then that means that you overcharge. So it's it's a slight psychological thing. And it's actually interesting, lawyers do the same thing. Right. My my husband worked for a my husband's an attorney also. Um he worked for a a firm in uh one of the summers of our law school. And the partner was like, hey, we're gonna take out this insurance agent or insurance examiner tomorrow for lunch. And every day this guy drove like a hot Porsche, like you know, just fancy top line, probably like a turbo or something, you know.

SPEAKER_06 29:51

Right.

SPEAKER_05 29:51

And then the day that they were taking out the insurance examiner, he brought his beat up truck. And my husband's like, What truck is like where where what whose car is this? Like, oh no, this is my car too. So why are we taking this car? He's like, Well, because he's like, I don't want my client to think I overcharge him. So I want him to think that like I'm just you know, humble. So it's it's a psychological thing. Same thing with like jury trials, right? Jury jury, like a defense attorney, criminal defense attorney, may drive a more moderate car during a trial because they don't want a juror to see them pulling into the the you know the court parking lot in a fancy Rolls Royce because they're gonna be like, oh, even though that's not you're not supposed to consider that, right? But if they if a juror sees the defense attorney in a Rolls Royce, they're gonna be like, oh, this guy's wealthy. He's you know he's a hired gun.

SPEAKER_03 30:47

Yeah.

SPEAKER_05 30:48

So I I'm gonna now not trust his clients. You it's all it's it's you know, some smoke and mirrors going on for sure. Sure.

SPEAKER_02 30:54

I had never considered that at all.

SPEAKER_05 30:56

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 30:56

Everything everything just everything is context clues. Now, if they're correct, that's a different issue. But in it's it's all it's everything you have to do. That's that's what we have to do. Everything's recorded, everything's seen. Right. So what you do, how you carry yourself just matters. You know? It it's it's a very scary time.

SPEAKER_05 31:16

Yeah, for sure.

SPEAKER_01 31:17

And like you're saying, these senior citizens that got scammed out, they were trying they weren't trying to maybe maybe they weren't trying to get rich quick, but you know, he still has to play the part. The guy still had to play the part that caught up to him, thank goodness.

SPEAKER_05 31:29

But yeah, I mean they were just probably trying to be responsible. Right. Like, hey, I want a res reasonable rate of return that I can live off of, you know, and maybe maybe gain a little bit of interest to to pass on to my you know ch children and grandchildren. Right.

SPEAKER_02 31:44

Right, exactly. Kind of just an investment. It seems like almost the same thing as investing in stocks.

SPEAKER_05 31:50

Right. Yeah. It's actually similar, right? The same similar kind of um gains, but yeah. So yeah. Pretty crazy.

SPEAKER_01 32:00

Well, glad he was convicted. That's that's the thing.

SPEAKER_05 32:02

And he pled guilty, which is interesting too, since he pled guilty and he still is charged or still um sentenced to 25 years.

SPEAKER_02 32:08

Yeah, imagine if he would have fought it and lost. I know.

SPEAKER_05 32:11

It might have been something similar.

SPEAKER_02 32:12

But I mean, you said he was in his 60s, so like I guess it he was like, Well, they're gonna fucking give it to me anyways.

SPEAKER_05 32:19

Right. So I have to imagine though, uh it would I maybe not, but I would think that um a white-collar crime, maybe you get time served like quicker than a violent crime. I don't know.

SPEAKER_02 32:33

Uh no, I think at least in Virginia where I was at, like a felony is a felony. If you get a felony, you're doing 85%. Okay. Um, and I think it was like uh 65 for a misdemeanor.

SPEAKER_04 32:46

Okay.

SPEAKER_02 32:47

Um I don't know how the feds works. So I feel like that's Fed, no? Uh yeah. Is he charged Fed?

SPEAKER_05 32:54

Uh but yeah, well, the SEC was involved, so yeah. Oh yeah, absolutely.

SPEAKER_02 32:57

Then yeah, I'm not 100% uh how it works at the federal level, but at least in the state where I was at, uh that that was the I was a good noodle, so I only had to do 85%.

SPEAKER_05 33:09

So so it was interesting is we covered uh a uh the actual Ponzi case before and uh Charles Ponzi was his name. Yeah and he actually created before the SEC came into play, he his company name was the SEC. And then it wasn't the same, like it wasn't the same, but it was like securities exchange company or something like that, right? So then yeah, it's funny, and then subsequent the government, you know, they're they're you know, they have the branch of the SEC, so it's kind of funny.

SPEAKER_02 33:40

They walked in like nice place, right?

SPEAKER_01 33:43

It's like World Wrestling Federation versus World Wildlife Fund. Oh my god, I remember that whole thing.

SPEAKER_02 33:50

I still say WWF, I don't care.

SPEAKER_01 33:54

I just want to say pandas wrestling for a championship. Is that fair?

SPEAKER_05 33:59

Okay. Speaking of pandas, have you seen the fraud that the there was a I believe it was zoo in China?

SPEAKER_01 34:06

You know what I'm talking about?

SPEAKER_05 34:08

I do, I do they didn't have a panda, so they had a big dog, and then they spray painted it to look like a panda.

SPEAKER_01 34:16

He just spray painted a chow chow. That's hilarious. What the fuck? They don't even well, you know, actually.

SPEAKER_05 34:24

Do you know Dylan White? He's a comedian. Yeah, he has a joke about the pandas because he was like, I guess they don't mate in um captivity. I guess it's really hard for them to mate in captivity, like they don't yeah.

SPEAKER_01 34:37

I mean, to be fair, if everybody was watching us, I don't think I could either. The gorillas don't have a problem doing it.

SPEAKER_02 34:45

That's fair.

SPEAKER_05 34:46

Gorillas also throw poo, right? Isn't that?

SPEAKER_01 34:50

I guess that's fair, but like, I don't know. I'm not a panda. I don't know. I don't know if this is a supermodel panda or if it's like plastic surgery panda. I don't know.

SPEAKER_02 35:04

Oh, that's funny.

SPEAKER_05 35:06

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 35:07

I don't know. I don't have a problem being watched.

SPEAKER_00 35:14

Anywho.

SPEAKER_01 35:17

Okay, we know the scam telling you then. Welcome back to TMI.

SPEAKER_05 35:24

Oh my goodness. So uh what do you have for us this week, Tonyo?

SPEAKER_02 35:28

Uh I actually have a pretty famous case right after I because y'all almost had me dying in here.

SPEAKER_05 35:35

This asthma break brought to you by Albuterol.

SPEAKER_02 35:42

Um I actually have a pretty famous case. Uh have you ever heard the name Tom Girardi?

SPEAKER_05 35:48

Yes, of course.

SPEAKER_02 35:49

I bet. Yeah, so uh I did a little deep diving and I mean i everything seems pretty straightforward about the case. Like uh he was basically had a Ponzi scheme as well. So he would be I guess like the lawyer facilitates the the settlements um for whatever the case may be. Uh and generally it was people who are going through some pretty bad shit. Um he had a case against uh Pacific Electric and Gas that inspired the movie Aaron Brokovich. Um but what he was doing was he was taking the money and not paying the the people. And it's it's like I said, it's usually people that are in a really vulnerable place, like uh their family members just passed, or or they were in a really bad accident, now they're paralyzed, you know what I mean? Just tragic shit. And this guy's fucking taking advantage of it, and he he was giving them excuses like oh the judge is holding it up for this reason, or the the fucking the taxes haven't been paid, or or just uh stupid shit. The bank's still processing it. Uh, and obviously these are generally people who are grieving, so they're not really, you know what I mean? Yeah, like the money, like I don't know. I guess if you're like super money hungry, the money's on the forefront of your mind, but like if I just lost a family member, the fuck you in that fucking however much money it is. Yeah, you know what I mean? I'll see it when it gets there. Um, but he was like I said, it was pretty much a Ponzi scheme, so he was taking that money and using it for himself, buying himself, you know, all kinds of lavish shit, buying his wife all kinds of lavish shit.

SPEAKER_05 37:58

Now, do you know who his wife is? Yes. And do you know who his wife is? I do not. So you're not a Real Housewives of Beverly Hills fan. I am not. So Erica is uh featured on Real Housewives of Beverly Hills, and uh so she's Erica Girardi, but she had an alter ego ego, uh Erica Jane. And so she was becoming uh pretty successful on like the gay circuit uh pop star. Uh so she would perform at places like the Abbey or like uh Gay Pride or whatever. And she's she's actually very talented, I would say. She's she's played in Broadway, you know, she's she's a she's a force. But let me, if I can. So I since I am a lawyer, one of the things that's interesting is that recently, since his whole debacle, um, we have to every year we have to well, actually, it's every three years, I believe I have to certify with the state of California um that I've done my continuing education. So I have to do a continuing education courses. But now they've actually tied in a new thing where we have to, and it's also I believe stem from Girardi. Uh, it's basically swearing that our accounting is in order. So, like my area, we don't usually hold money um from clients because we're on the insurance side. I mean, there are occasions, but for the most part, we don't.

SPEAKER_06 39:14

Right.

SPEAKER_05 39:14

But as an attorney, when you have a client that's getting money, you have to have a separate bank account. Yeah. And and yeah, and you cannot commingle. And if you commingle, you get in a lot of trouble.

SPEAKER_01 39:25

Yeah, you gotta keep that escrow separate.

SPEAKER_05 39:27

Right. So, like, for instance, let's say Tom Jardi got a $10 million settlement, right? So, in the world of personal injury, which is the type of lawyer that he is, um, he would have to, and let me just back up too. So, successful per personal injury attorneys have to have what's we call a war chest, or I would call a war chest, meaning you have to have funds and you have to be able to uh front a lot of money. Because if your person is injured, assuming it's a legitimate case, because newsflash, not all of them are, but most of them are, but a lot of them, you know, yeah, maybe you're exaggerated. But, anyways, um, but let's say you have someone like so Tom Drady had a case with the guy, there was a someone who died in a burn victim in Northern California. And um, let's say the burn victim needs all this treatment, right? Well, right, they have to treat on um maybe on lean or they have to front a lot of costs, and then also you need experts. So the experts cost a lot of money. So the Girardi firm would be paying the experts, but all of that is accounted for so that when you get that $10 million verdict, you're not you as the per person who's injured, isn't you're not getting $10 million, right? You're getting a percentage, usually 60% approximately, depending on what your agreement is, right? So if you're getting 60% of that, but the attorney's fee is 40% is over here. That's their percentage, right?

SPEAKER_03 40:43

Right.

SPEAKER_05 40:43

But out of your 60%, you're gonna get itemized deductions for the experts for the medical treatment. And then that gets cut down. So so your 60% now maybe is like you know, 40%, uh like let's say 55% or 50%, depending on how extensive the experts are.

SPEAKER_02 40:59

That's crazy, yeah. Right.

SPEAKER_05 41:01

And but you want the best experts because you want to get the most you can, right?

SPEAKER_02 41:04

And you want to win.

SPEAKER_05 41:05

Right. So that's why, and then also the attorneys have to hold the fees in trust, like they are the um your they the because the insurance company cuts a check to the attorney. Because if let's say the insurance company were to cut you the check directly, it's gonna be a lot harder for the attorney to clob back the expert fees. So the money goes to the attorney, the attorney holds it in trust, and then you negotiate with the attorney basically. The attorney is also to be fair, they're negotiating with the medical providers because they're like, oh, you know, was it really a hundred thousand dollars or could it be ninety thousand dollars? You know, so they're they're working to try to get you the most money possible, right? So they're still working for you, right? Um, but so so once that's all the dust is settled, then they cut you the check. So that's one of the ways he was able to um hold on to the money because like, oh, we're still working on this.

SPEAKER_01 41:56

Yeah, like you were saying, he's still the taxes, the bank, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah.

SPEAKER_05 42:00

Yeah, or like we're still we're still resolving this issue, whatever, or the money hasn't come in yet, which is a lie because the money did come in. And then the other thing, too, is um, they get investors. So, because if you don't have that war chest, you need an investor. So the bank comes in, or whoever you're getting loans, right? And so then they're saying it and that I think that is how the situation could be too, where it's like, okay, I'm guaranteeing that you know, I get this many verdicts a year that are are averaging this much money. So that's how much money you're gonna get back. And and I don't understand that aspect because I don't do that area of law, but it is it is it is complicated for sure.

SPEAKER_01 42:37

It's very weird. It's it's very interesting. That's like investing in human misery.

SPEAKER_02 42:42

That's that's exactly like that. That's the best way I've heard it put, and it's fucking disgusting, man.

SPEAKER_05 42:48

But to be fair, okay, although I know it sounds like that, but like let's say the person who's injured, right? Like, yeah, you're going up against an insurance company who has unlimited pockets. Right. So you need it to be a fair fight, sometimes you need to have someone that's investing you. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 43:05

So it's it's it's it's it's a tragic necessity. And it I don't know what's worse that we're monetizing human suffering or that there are people taking advantage of it.

SPEAKER_02 43:14

So that's uh well, I think they're about here and here, if you ask me.

SPEAKER_05 43:18

Well, also think about this. Like, okay, so if you're a lot of times people, when they get in a car accident, they're like, Oh, I'm gonna be a millionaire now, right? Because I got injured, right? But like if you hit them, they're not gonna be a millionaire because you don't have insurance, right?

SPEAKER_02 43:31

So or money or anything for them to take. Right.

SPEAKER_05 43:34

So then then the person who got injured, they have to sue their own insurance for under insurance because the person who hit them had no insurance, right? So that's why you want to have under insurance, so that way you can protect against someone like Tonyo hitting you. But no offense.

SPEAKER_02 43:48

In my defense, I'm not gonna hit nobody.

SPEAKER_05 43:51

But if you got hit by a corporation and that who has insurance, damn, right. Then sue them, then you sue them and you have a better chance of making money.

SPEAKER_01 44:00

Yeah, yeah, and that's usually the guideline, isn't it? So the person with the deepest pockets. Right. Cast the wide net and catch whatever you can.

SPEAKER_05 44:08

Well, and that's also true because what happens sometimes is like um like for instance uh a case that my husband has. Uh I'm gonna speak in big generalities here, but the case so so someone got in a car accident, and the person who got in a car accident had purchased something that may or may not have been illegal or like or maybe it was illegal to use but not illegal to sell. Okay. And then the item remember what we were talking about earlier with Webcrame? Yeah, yeah. Okay. So yes. So anyway, so um the the the entity that sold the item and the item manufacturer, so the person who was injured in the car accident sues the person you drive was driving the car, right? Now they may or may not have money, they may or may not have good insurance because if they have minimal insurance, you're only gonna get the 1530 policy or whatever the policy is in the state that you got insured that you were insured in.

SPEAKER_06 45:08

Right.

SPEAKER_05 45:08

And if you don't have any assets to go after, then that's it, you're done. If he owns a home, and you could go after that, right? But then so if that person doesn't have enough money to you cast the net and then you go after the business who sold the item to the person that caught that they that you believe caused the accident.

SPEAKER_03 45:27

Right.

SPEAKER_05 45:27

And then you also go after the product and say the product should not have been or whatever the theory of the case is, right? So and you're just hoping that the more people you sue, the more likely it is that they're gonna forfeit money over to not go to court because it's very expensive to go to court. Sure. Attorney's fees, you know. So yeah.

SPEAKER_02 45:49

That's interesting.

SPEAKER_05 45:50

It is for sure. But but yeah, the Girardi thing is an interesting situation because he was commingling funds and he was that's he was um and and and then you're also scared, I think, as uh as a um as a uh customer, like as a client, a client, uh, because you're like, wow, this guy's really powerful. He was tied in with everybody in California, yeah, judges, everybody. So so he never got in trouble either, which is crazy because I believe he got reported to the bar several times, but because he was like dialed in, he'd be like, Oh, let me take on my private jet since we're flying here, anyways. And then people be like, Okay, and then you're less likely to pursue it because oh, he's a good guy, he took on his private jet.

SPEAKER_02 46:32

He did end up getting disbarred.

SPEAKER_05 46:34

Right, yeah, yeah. But I think it took a long time.

SPEAKER_02 46:36

Oh, yeah, it did it happened in 2024. He was convicted in 2024, he was just sentenced last month, but not last month, last year, yeah, to over seven years.

SPEAKER_05 46:47

But then they try to say, I think I could be wrong, but I think they try to say like dementia or something. That was like Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 46:51

They tried to fucking claim some sort of I don't I don't know if it was dementia specifically. Yeah, exactly.

SPEAKER_01 46:57

Well then he won't know he's in prison. Yeah, he won't mind. And and that, and you just and you just raise a good point. The guy's well connected, the guy has connections, and that it it's it's it's always wild to me when people are like, Oh, why didn't you report earlier? Why didn't you say something when it happened? It's just nothing happens in a vacuum.

SPEAKER_02 47:16

Well, I was surprised when I found out he got prison time, right? Usually the those people with that kind of money and status, like they get a slap on the wrist and that's it. Which I mean, I guess in comparison, seven years or whatever, it's like I got fucking seven years and I stole fucking $300. Like so with a weapon. I mean, yeah, I guess that's fair.

SPEAKER_01 47:40

I guess that's fair.

SPEAKER_05 47:41

I mean, Tom used a legal weapon, I guess.

SPEAKER_01 47:43

He used the pen, but you know, I will say I will say this that you know, I think in this day and age people are really tired of that kind of thing, and you're getting things like, and not I'm not advocating to quote Chris Rock, I'm not saying he should have done it, but I understand. But that's when you're getting things like Luigi or that guy that set that warehouse on fire. Yeah, you know, yeah, part of me gets it. I'm not condoning it. Oh, yeah, but it's free the real. I condone it.

SPEAKER_05 48:09

You know what's interesting about the I haven't looked into this, but with regard to that fire, there weren't sprinklers in the warehouse or something.

SPEAKER_01 48:17

Well, I that wouldn't shock me. Just people are cutting corners everywhere. Well, no, I used to work there.

SPEAKER_05 48:22

Well, wait, wait, before you before you get there, before we get there, because I'm and now I'm now I'm on like I want to know. But I guess one of the I ideas of not having sprinklers is because it would ruin the product. Because it's toilet paper.

SPEAKER_01 48:33

So would a fire.

SPEAKER_05 48:34

I know, but if it's a small fire and you could put it out, then you probably don't damage all of it versus if you if a small fire happens, then all of the sprinklers go off. You damage all of the product, right?

SPEAKER_04 48:45

Right.

SPEAKER_05 48:46

Kind of weird, huh? I don't know. I didn't I just saw that as a headline. I don't allegedly uh, you know, I don't know. I didn't read it. Do your own research.

SPEAKER_02 48:54

Anyways, I don't know if there was a sprinkler system there or not.

SPEAKER_05 48:58

That's what I'm saying. That's what I read. I read a headline saying that they didn't have it because it could damage. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 49:04

That may I feel like I remember hearing something about that in orientation, but they had like toilet paper, paper towels, like computer paper, all that shit. And the guy didn't just set one fire, like he set multiple fires. Yeah, so the place went up quick like that. Yeah. Because I'm it's paper and cardboard. Um, and a lot of it wasn't on pallets, so there was no wood pallets to like make any sort of buffer, which like they burn obviously, but not as quick as the cardboard and the paper. So it just I used to work there, I hated that fucking place. I swear I did.

SPEAKER_05 49:38

I have to say, I was actually relieved when I found out somebody sat fire because I literally it was like literally the time that they were saying that there was gonna be like drone strikes. And then I like, oh my god, it's starting. Oh no. And then like I was like, oh, they got it.

SPEAKER_01 49:51

It's just a disgruntled employee.

SPEAKER_02 49:58

Uh my thing about the whole Girardi situation, though, is that uh his wife was never convicted of anything.

SPEAKER_05 50:04

She's like, I think she still has some stuff going on. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 50:07

They uh you know, she's playing the I didn't know card. Yeah, and like, what do y'all think? Because like she knew. In my opinion.

SPEAKER_01 50:18

It's it in the legal sense, she may not have known. In the legal sense, right? She may have been like, I don't know where this fur coat came from. Yeah, and I don't I don't care. And yeah, it's it's it's the legal world and the real world are sometimes very divorced from each other.

SPEAKER_05 50:36

Right.

SPEAKER_01 50:36

You know.

SPEAKER_05 50:37

I I think that I I don't, you know, it's a hard thing because I I see what you're saying, but I also feel like sh if she wasn't working in the office and she wasn't processing the paper, then why would she know?

SPEAKER_02 50:53

Right. At the very least, she's got plausible deniability, right? You're right, and sometimes that's enough.

SPEAKER_05 50:58

And in some respects, I feel bad because like she married him as an investment and that didn't pay off.

SPEAKER_01 51:05

No, it didn't. What do they say at the FDIC? Past performance doesn't guarantee future.

SPEAKER_05 51:13

Well, I've also heard um a gold digger, no, no one works harder than a gold digger.

SPEAKER_01 51:17

So God bless them. Hey, that's just the skills they have. No one's I'm not faulting them for that. Go for it.

SPEAKER_05 51:23

But I think she'll be fine, and you know what? She I think she is fine. And I I think you know, it's a tough spot to be in because now you have all this heat on you and for something that your spouse did.

SPEAKER_02 51:34

I mean that's a good legally though. I don't think she'll ever get convicted of anything.

SPEAKER_05 51:38

I don't I don't think so. But I do think that like there's some battles with regard to like a gift that he gave her, because he gave her like some really nice earrings or something, I feel like, and then she is that seizable, right? Well, so what's interesting about that is that he also gave gifts to a judge, he also gave financial gifts to political uh you know, um candidates. So they're not clawing the money back from the political candidates, they're not clawing the money back from the judge, right? I don't think so. So then why do they claw it back from the wife? Like that's kind of a bummer.

SPEAKER_01 52:08

Well, the pro and I think the marital assets are kind of one of those weird things, commingled, yeah. Yeah, it's one of those weird things because as you're saying, they're combing mixing the money in together, and it's you know, I mean, it's it's not an uncommon thing to say, oh, this isn't mine, this is actually my wife's. Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 52:25

Well, that that was one of the reasons uh once he got convicted, they uh filed for bankruptcy to protect, yeah. To protect the funds, exactly. My sympathy is limited. Yeah, I agree. Absolutely agree. Out of curiosity, I just looked it up actually. It was Alzheimer's they were they were uh claiming. And do you know what he wasn't charged with?

SPEAKER_05 52:47

Uh elder abuse?

SPEAKER_02 52:49

Tax evasion.

SPEAKER_05 52:50

Oh, okay.

SPEAKER_02 52:51

How funny. He did not number one.

SPEAKER_05 52:53

Why did I say elder abuse?

SPEAKER_02 52:55

He broke all the rest of the rules, but he didn't break number fucking one. So he paid his taxes. Yeah, absolutely. He was charging waterprop. That that yeah, I'm telling you.

SPEAKER_05 53:04

And it's probably why he got seven years versus 25 years.

SPEAKER_02 53:07

Because he paid them motherfucking taxes. Better believe it. Yeah. Gotta get that pound of flesh. Yeah. Damn, right.

SPEAKER_05 53:13

The interesting thing too, though, is like with the real housewives, like this isn't this isn't the only real housewife that has had uh white uh white-collar crime associated with them. And what's interesting is it's like, you know, like Icarus, the Greek mythology, the guy who flew too close to the sun and melted his w melted his wings, you know, it's like how these people I'm talking about Girardi, not Erica, divorcing Erica from this conversation. But I'm saying, how does a person like Girardi be like, you know what? This sounds like a good idea. Because you're gonna once you bring the cameras into your home and you're seeing that you have a Shigal and they're like, wait, this doesn't make sense. Like I know you made a lot of money last year, but like that's a lot of money, you know what I mean? Like, that's crazy money. And if you're not doing other investments, like you don't have other like side, you know, property investments or whatever, like it starts to get a little like if you're not cleaning it, right?

SPEAKER_01 54:05

World number two. Yeah, it's all yeah. And and I think it's edging into rule three, too, like you're saying, just don't live beyond your means, right? Yep, but absolutely that kind of power, that kind of wealth, that kind of fame insulates you someone. I mean, just talking really recently, look what happened to Eric Swalwell.

SPEAKER_05 54:22

Oh, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 54:22

Yeah, that dude was thinking he could run for governor and not have this stuff come up. You know?

SPEAKER_02 54:29

Oh, they'll if you're trying to run for any office, they'll dig it up. It will open your life.

SPEAKER_05 54:34

Well, I I think maybe what happened with Eric, I could be wrong, but like I think that they were like willing to cover it up because they thought he was a rising star and like he was going to be somebody. And then I think when they started to realize that it's possible that a conservative might be facing off in the runoff, you know what I mean? Like that then they're like, uh-oh. Because that then if a if a conservative is involved and they know, then then he's gonna get knocked out. So we might as well just knock out him now and then put our um uh you know investment in somebody else, you know.

SPEAKER_02 55:08

So our government doesn't do cover-ups.

SPEAKER_05 55:11

No, it it's it's I know. Oh, oh. Isn't that I mean, yeah, I we don't gotta go there. No, I know. I'm just saying, like, just to think about all the different sure.

SPEAKER_01 55:25

It doesn't even need to be malicious. It's like just the more the opportunity for you know mistakes of omission or anything, it's just there. But when you're talking about your guys, you know, Ponzi schemes, investment schemes, those are clearly with intent.

SPEAKER_02 55:43

Yeah, malicious intent for sure.

SPEAKER_05 55:46

I I think I think it's but I also wonder if some of it's delusion because I wonder if some people think like, oh, I've figured out how to make it work. You know what I'm saying? Like this one's gonna work, and like it never works.

SPEAKER_01 56:00

That's true. No one's gonna try if they think they're gonna fail. Yeah, to be fair.

SPEAKER_02 56:04

And then like the caliber of lawyer that Girardi was for just a specific example, he knew what the fuck he was doing was illegal. A hundred percent.

SPEAKER_05 56:13

So in the Aaron Brockovich movie, which is I think a great movie.

SPEAKER_02 56:17

Oh, absolutely.

SPEAKER_05 56:18

My understanding though is is the character George in the movie that she like her boss, that's not Girardi. Girardi is the group that comes in later when Aaron is very upset that they brought in a big time attorney. Do you kind of remember the movie? So when they bring in the bigger attorney, that's Girardi. So so they brought in Girardi at toward the end when they were gonna go against the whatever whoever the entity was at the time for the hexa hexachrome or whatever it was called. So that is such a good movie.

SPEAKER_02 56:51

Absolutely. I love that movie.

SPEAKER_05 56:52

I've actually seen the real Aaron Brockovic speak. She's a she's a force. For sure, she's a force, so but anyways, um, so that is that the conclusion of your story?

SPEAKER_02 57:05

Uh yeah.

unknown 57:06

Okay.

SPEAKER_05 57:07

Um, do you have any gigs coming up?

SPEAKER_02 57:10

Uh I'm actually booked for like four or five shows right now. Wow, look at you. Um I have one on the twenty-sixth that's uh Russ and Friends in LA. And then I'm booked on the twenty-ninth for uh provision showcase. Um and then I'm booked on the third. I should write this shit down. I did write it down actually, and I still don't remember.

SPEAKER_05 57:40

Wait, aren't you on the one and twenty grams?

SPEAKER_02 57:43

Uh so that one, the remix room, was supposed to be on the 27th. Uh-huh. Um, but it got pushed back to the second. Oh. So I'm booked for the remix room on June 2nd.

SPEAKER_05 57:55

Just you got moved or the whole show got moved?

SPEAKER_02 57:58

The whole show.

SPEAKER_05 57:58

Oh, because I'm supposed to be on the show too.

SPEAKER_02 58:00

Oh. Oh. Yeah, he What a way to find out. Okay. I have to double check. Yeah, there's a group chat between the three of us, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 58:06

Okay.

SPEAKER_02 58:07

Um and then uh yeah, so remix room on the second, the one I can't remember on the third, uh Cesar Alvarado hit me up about it.

SPEAKER_05 58:16

Oh, Rod.

SPEAKER_02 58:17

Um and then potentially again on the remix room at the end of the month.

SPEAKER_05 58:22

Oh, that's nice.

SPEAKER_02 58:23

Yeah.

SPEAKER_05 58:24

Yeah, so I have well the remix room, and then I have your show coming up in June, I believe. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 58:29

So looking forward to that.

SPEAKER_05 58:31

Very cool. I'm very very excited to do that show. So what about you?

SPEAKER_01 58:34

What you got going on? Oh tomorrow, uh the mama.

SPEAKER_05 58:38

Oh, fun.

SPEAKER_01 58:38

Yeah, Joe Wong is back in town in Huntington Beach. That'll be a lot of fun. Um I'm holding uh next and then on Thursday in Long Beach, uh the Fourth Horseman. Okay. Yeah, it it's that's a fun show over there too. Um West Side Comedy Theater in on the 29th, the permissions of comedy. It's it's so much fun to go around and do different things and see different things. It's the best part of all this.

SPEAKER_05 59:02

Is the West Side the Crow or is it separate?

SPEAKER_01 59:04

Oh, that's a separate one. Okay. Yeah. That one is interesting too. I haven't made my way down there too often.

SPEAKER_05 59:10

To the crow?

SPEAKER_01 59:11

Oh, to the Westside Comedy Theater.

SPEAKER_05 59:13

I wanted to go there. I haven't been there yet.

SPEAKER_01 59:15

So it's an interesting setup.

SPEAKER_05 59:17

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 59:17

I won't go into it since we're wrapping up, but check it out. It's it's it's something worth checking out if you don't mind making the drive.

SPEAKER_05 59:24

Yeah. Oh, yeah. No, I love I love going to the to the west side of LA. So I haven't been to West Side Comedy, but yeah. So well, anyways, well, thank you so much for joining us today. We'll have to have you come back. And uh thanks for joining us today. Like and subscribe, comment. You have a crime for us to cover. We're very interested in hearing from you.

SPEAKER_01 59:43

Cheese. See ya. Cheers, thank you.