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Nancy Moscatello
Get the Angel REEF Special at McDonald's. Now let's break it down. My favorite barbecue sauce, American cheese, crispy bacon, pickles, onions and a sesame seed bun of course. And don't forget the fries and the drinks. Sound good?
Unknown Restaurant Employee
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Ashlee Banfield
Hi everybody, I'm Ashlee Banfield. Welcome to Drop Dead Serious and we're doing something a little crazy to kick off our weekly series. We are dropping a bonus episode if you checked out our episode about Scamanda with the host of the incredible podcast and Hulu and ABC docu series. Charlie Webster was one of my initial guests to kick off this interview portion of Drop Dead Serious. It was a fantastic, far reaching conversation on everything that host, that dogged host and creator of Scamanda has sort of gone through, been through and all this new information that she had in a jailhouse phone call with Amanda C. Reilly. If you have not yet seen or heard about Scamanda, Run, Don't Walk. It is one of the most popular podcasts of all time and it is a fantastic four part ABC and Hulu docu series. It's it's the story of a woman who is just the most exquisite liar in the world and stole so much money, time, effort and people's souls.
Nancy Moscatello
She's just a soul crusher.
Ashlee Banfield
Anyway, it's great, great story. You got to do it. If you have seen Scamander then you're going to absolute love the guest I have today. So, without further ado, I bring to you now the executive producer and creator of the podcast Scamanda, and producer of the Hulu ABC documentary Scamanda, Nancy Moscatello. Nancy Moscatello. Oh, I already told you this a million times, but I'm a big, big fan. It just. It's so rare to find someone who's so incredibly dogged as an investigator and so persistent for so long. I want to. I want to start even before that, though. How did you end up getting a cancer scam story in the first place?
Nancy Moscatello
Yeah, it's one of those types of stories that I think I've always been intrigued by. And I think a lot of folks working in television production and producing, it's like one of those, like, you want to find and you want to be able to out someone, but you just have to really have the time and the patience. And a lot of times productions don't really afford the time to take what you need to do in order to get to that end result. So, you know, when I started at the show, at the time I was working on, that was one of the things we were like, we. We want to go after scammers, cancer scammers in particular. I think a lot of us had been touched by cancer in our life, and we just found it so egregious that people were doing that and just wanted to be able to pursue that if possible. That's why I posted on Facebook this group that I saw that was a group about scammers and people faking illnesses or different things and just said, hey, here's. Here's what I'm looking for. Anybody, you know, want to talk to me or give me information to kind of get that jumping off point.
Ashlee Banfield
And I know Amanda's friends got back to you, but didn't you get like a mountain of responses? I feel like this is. It's horribly easy to do, you know?
Nancy Moscatello
Yeah, I did not get a mountain. I got, you know, a handful of ones that were different, you know, maybe like Ponzi schemes or financial crimes that people were kind of caught up in and that they were upset about. And we pursued some of those also that we ended up doing on the show. But cancer wise, I think, because again, this was back in 2015, it's the Internet, the way, like, social media and all that stuff was kind of just taking off or getting to be the point where people were putting themselves out there more publicly. Maybe it was Going on in small towns all over the place, where maybe the local sheriff or somebody would say, hey, Susie, knock it off. Like, we know you're not. You have whatever. It didn't really grow beyond or on a bigger level.
Ashlee Banfield
They couldn't scale it. They could do it, but they couldn't scale it. Yeah, but, yeah, like any business, which.
Nancy Moscatello
That was kind of the start of blogging, and it started. I mean, she was new to it, but it was something that, I mean, I wasn't into. It wasn't something I was on my radar that I, I, you know, would participate in a lot. So it was just, I think, that perfect storm of just getting out there, putting out a lot of information, you know, and she also had Instagram, she had Facebook. She was doing this on multiple platforms because it was her life, you know, that it was sharing everything.
Ashlee Banfield
So you still had a job to do. You still had to produce television. It's not as though you could spend your entire bandwidth on Amanda. And I think that's why I'm so fascinated with you. We feed the beast every night, an hour television every night. I can barely see straight. But to stay on a story for that many years, half a decade before the payoff, how, A, did you do it mentally, and then B, how did your bosses allow it? You know, because they're usually the ones that they cut.
Nancy Moscatello
Bait. Yeah, no, that. My, Listen, my. My bosses were great at the, at the, like, we. That store show that I was on. It was up and running for about three years, and this kept going beyond that. So that was part of the thing of why, you know, I, I, I shot stuff, and I went in, we got some undercover, we went to the raid. Like, we went and did stuff in preparation to someday bring that story to the show I was on. And the, you know, the show went away, but the story kept going because it just. Federal investigations can take a. A super long time, and it's really a long game of patience. I kept up with, you know, part of what the first hurdle was once I got involved, and it was like, okay, we just got to get her to stop, and that that wasn't going to happen. And also just wanting to get justice for Alita, because at that point, when I got involved, Jessa was already in custody of Corey and Amanda. And I just felt like after going through all of her court transcripts and stuff from family court like this, this is even worse than cancer. Right? It's cruelty on another level for the.
Ashlee Banfield
Listeners and viewers who may not be all in on Amanda Yeah. So Corey is Amanda's husband. I think he's in on it. At least it sure feels like it. He's not been charged, he's not been convict. Alita was Cory's ex wife. And Corey and Alita, while married, had a babysitter named Amanda. Corey packs up, moves out, and suddenly he's taken up and married to the. To the babysitter. So it's all ugly on a number of levels. And then Cory and Amanda went after young Jessa and they tried to, you know, they went after custody and got it and took Jessa out of Alita's house. So that when we throw these names out, there's the.
Nancy Moscatello
The tree.
Ashlee Banfield
The tree chart. Yeah. So again, I keep coming back to in your gut, it. It feels very deflating as weeks go on and months go on when you're doing these investigations. Was there a point, Nancy, where you said, this is not going to happen, I need to cut bait, I need to move on?
Nancy Moscatello
No, I don't think so. Only because I was in touch, not often, but, you know, periodically with Agent Lee, just because if something came my way, another person that I discovered because I was always keeping up on her blog, I was always keeping up on her Facebook and different places, and the few. The small community of friends that actually talked with me were like, okay, if we hear stuff, we'll let you know. And I was able to pass that information along to Agent Lee. And she was always very receptive, like, great, thank you.
Ashlee Banfield
And Agent Lee, catching some people up. That's the IRS agent who was on this long investigation with you. There was also a local Detective Martinez. Detective Martinez, the financial. The one man band in the. In the division where he. Where he worked.
Nancy Moscatello
I think that shocked me. Yeah, that shocked me when I finally got through to someone there. By the way, thank you for.
Ashlee Banfield
Thank you for informing the public about the limitation that police departments actually have to chase down these kinds of bad guys. I mean, there's bad guys out on the streets with guns and knives and punches, and then there are bad guys like Amanda who are ripping your soul out from you and stealing from you blind and destroying your faith in humanity, which are pretty horrible crimes as well. And we have very little staffing in most departments around the country for this. And Moskowitz was alone in that. What, San Jose?
Nancy Moscatello
Yeah. Which I was surprised by when I reached out to the office a few times, and the woman that was taking my call, she was great. She was like, he's the only guy, our only detective. Detective Martinez. He's the only one here. It's gonna take time, I said. And I would just check in. Like, I really think he's going to find this interesting. It's just. Just so bad. And so we, you know, every now. And I'd call up and say, hey, so this is what I'm noticing now. And she'd say, I'll tell him, but I don't know when he'll get back to you. And eventually he did. He had. I had sent over a lot of information for him to digest and kind of wrap his head around. And I think because it was such a unique situation, it kind of piqued his interest as how it piqued mine. Right. I was like, whoa, if this is.
Ashlee Banfield
What'S going on, that's where I want to drill down. Can I just get in there and pull on that thread for a second? Because something really endeared you to this mystery, to this woman, to this story, to the psychosis, to this, like, pervasive awfulness. And clearly the same kind of something got him because he had files on either side of his desk that were miles high of cases that he was supposed to get to, needed to get to, had to solve. He's never gonna be able to solve even a fraction of them. But something hooked him. What is it about Amanda that hooked you? Martinez, Agent Lee, and me and every other one of the multimillion people around the world who can't get enough of the story.
Nancy Moscatello
I think for. For me, on a personal level, I had lost my sister at a young age. She was in her early 40s, had two little kids, to cancer, to lung cancer. And so I went through that with her. I knew what cancer looked like. I. I was. I live on the west coast, she was on the east. Because I was flying back and forth every month, like, you know, it devastated not just her immediate family, but her friends, her, my mom, everyone. So just knowing what that was like to try and do everything you can. You know, she did the clinical trials, she did immunotherapy. In fact, my sister was one of the first folks to receive Keytruda, the drug that Amanda was.
Ashlee Banfield
Amanda lied about.
Nancy Moscatello
Yeah. So when that popped up, I was like, oh, I know all about this. Let's. Let's get into it. Let me look at this.
Ashlee Banfield
Thank God, right? Thank God you had that, because that would have been a whole other multi month project for you to get your head into what really does go on in cancer treatment.
Nancy Moscatello
Yeah. And again, it's not. Every treatment's different, and every person Going through it responds differently. You see all types of stuff. I just. I think just knowing what my sister went through and then looking at what Amanda was supposedly going through at stage three, at stage four, telling everyone she was terminal, like, it was night and day. Like, you know, so that's. That's kind of what it was. Just. It just got so. It left such a crappy feeling in me to know that somebody could be out there doing that. And then once talking with Detective Martinez, the same thing. He had been touched in his family with someone going through it. And again, Agent Lee, she had her twin sister at the time I called, literally just had an operation for cancer, and she has ultimately passed as well. So we were just kind of on the same. Coming from the same place. Like, why would someone choose this? Like, it's hell. And just thinking, taking so many resources away from all the plate. I remember, like, maybe she wasn't seeing cancer doctors. She did that very little. Like, got in to see consultation. But the ERs, the hospitals, like, she was using them to take photos and wasting people's time, you know, wasting everything. Resources in a hospital.
Ashlee Banfield
Because there's so much thievery that went on. And I always call it, you know, thievery of the wallet, but also of the soul. She stole a lot of people's souls. We haven't really even drilled down on that, like, how much she took from hospitals and from medical assets and from other patients in the ER who needed treatment. And there she is fudging her way in to get pictures when maybe a kid, you know, was out there with a broken arm, in pain in the waiting room for another three, four hours. Because Amanda needed her photos for her scam.
Nancy Moscatello
She needed to keep this up. It needed to look very real. And, you know, she was able to pull it off. It's amazing.
Ashlee Banfield
I don't know if I'm addicted to this story, because I also have this. And it's very recent, just a few weeks. My brother was diagnosed with stage four lymphoma, and he's undergoing treatment right now. So I'm angry af, right, like you are with your sister, who you lost, and my husband lost his mother. And I don't know if it's anger that has me addicted to this story, because I feel like my other brain is on just the tragic loss of all those friends, church members, strangers who wanted to do good by her. Just that, again, their souls were stolen. And that's an anger, too. Is that what's driving us all to gobble up every last minute of whatever content you're putting out, any bonus episodes. And tell me more about Amanda. What is it?
Nancy Moscatello
Yeah, well, I mean, it's. I look at it, you know, and maybe this is the proper term, but like a stolen valor, Right? You're taking the stories of true cancer survivors and fighters. She's. She's taking bits and pieces. I mean, she. She was involved in cancer support groups. I mean, in the indictment when they. When they indicted her, a. One of the support groups folks said what was so horrific to them was that she spent time and was counseled by a man that was dying in the group, like a weekend or so before he passed. She took. She came there to seek counseling of, like, what she was going through to learn about whatever people go through at this phase in their treatment, and took that time away from his family. Oh, how about like, three or four hours with her. Since we're talking about. Yeah.
Ashlee Banfield
Since we're talking about stealing from other cancer patients, which she did just by virtue of the fact that she was even in a cancer center looking to get, you know, some questions answered and photos taken, et cetera. That's time taken away from the experts who needed to be with real. Real people who were suffering. She. One of the stories in the. In the. In the podcast, in the series and ABC Hulu docu series that just. Just get God in my craw was the school, like, when she became the school principal on lies, because she did not have the, you know, the CV that would allow her to get a school principal job. She would hold, you know, a fundraiser for this other teacher who was really suffering and dying from cancer, took a disproportionate amount of the money for herself because I have kids and a husband, etc. And. And. And stole that time and energy away from that teacher who died. She literally died of cancer.
Nancy Moscatello
Yeah.
Ashlee Banfield
And.
Nancy Moscatello
And with that situation, a couple things that was. So the monies that were raised through the wire fraud that is, you know, doesn't seem like ton, you know, 106,000. That money that she took when she became principal is outside of that scope. It wasn't. It did not count because it was not through the wires. And it was after the time frame. Right.
Ashlee Banfield
Oh, so. So after the time, really, there was a window.
Nancy Moscatello
Yeah. Because when they opened their investigation, it was 2012 to 2016. So they. They focus on a set time when she's actively posting and actively soliciting money. 2017 is when she became principal. So that. And it was also. She did this after her home was raided. By federal agents, which is amazing.
David Tennant
Hi, Georgia.
Ashlee Banfield
Hi, David.
Nancy Moscatello
What do you think the world needs more of?
David Tennant
Well, the world always needs more podcasts.
Ashlee Banfield
Didn't you used to have a podcast?
David Tennant
Not only did I used to have a podcast, Georgia, it's coming back. David Tennant does a podcast with season three. It's coming at you.
Nancy Moscatello
Okay.
Ashlee Banfield
And who are your guests?
David Tennant
Who are my guests? What about Russell T. Davis? What about Jamila Jamil? What about Stanley the Tooch Tucci?
Ashlee Banfield
So it's really just you hanging out with your mates?
Nancy Moscatello
Yeah.
David Tennant
Come join me. David Tennant does a podcast with. Bye.
Nancy Moscatello
So this is not like. Oh, boy, I should be careful.
Ashlee Banfield
I better watch my tracks. They're on to me.
Nancy Moscatello
Yeah, yeah, no doubling down. You know, I need more. You know, she was. She was working. She was employed.
Ashlee Banfield
Can I ask you, Does. Does. Does Agent Lee with the IRS have any explanation for why they had to stop the scope of the investigation at 2017? Because clearly this woman went right. Right through until the day of probably being locked up. I'll bet even during her sentencing, she was sending out text messages for money.
Nancy Moscatello
I. I'm guessing, but it's the charging purposes, like when they end up. That's the time frame that she was actively soliciting. And then at. After the raid, the one thing she did take, she then took down the support page where the money was coming in. So I think they just. They went for the range that they knew she was actively soliciting money.
Ashlee Banfield
Yeah. Yeah. For those, again, who aren't really steeped in Amanda yet, and you should be run, don't walk. You know, when the IRS does an investigation, a financial fraud investigation, they have to have a literal money trail. And it is digital. So anytime you make any kinds of. Any kind of transaction, even if you send a check to someone, if you send Zell, or if you wire money or if you do a purchase over the Internet, though, that's a. That's literally a wire. It may be a digital wire, but it is a wire. And every one of those can actually be, you know, printed out, put on a stack. And that's what the IRS did with this case. They had to have a literal digital track of every one of these transactions where she got money, and they added it up to about $106,000 or so for the case. However, Amanda, I mean, I would say it's tenfold the. In kind that she took from people. The free babysitting, the childcare, the. The. Fly me your points. I need to go to New York for treatment. Boy, I have a bucket list. Give me shows, give me concerts. Right. Like, just so much went her way.
Nancy Moscatello
I mean, I tracked just on what she was thanking people. So outside of the wires. But they did like individual fundraisers, right? They. One was about 4, 800. Another one was about 3, 800. Another, a smaller version of her church group, gave 12,000. Like, all of that is above and beyond as well. So there's.
Ashlee Banfield
How much. How much did you get to.
Nancy Moscatello
I got to about between another 80 to 100,000 that I could. That. I mean, and that I still felt was low in the sense that because there was a lot more people giving checks and stuff that like family members that gave checks that also wouldn't be considered the wire fraud. So, you know, there's a larger amounts out there too.
Ashlee Banfield
Or if it's outside the scope, you know, anybody who gave outside the scope, that's it as well. And then let's just talk about the cash. I mean, cash came flying at her. And when I say that, I mean it literally. Like, you have this great story in the series of the megachurch, and there's like 2,000 members in this megachurch, right, where they call people to the stage, and there's Amanda and Corey standing on the stage. Poor me. And up come all of these congregants throwing cash literally at their feet. There was a name for it. There was some kind of church name.
Nancy Moscatello
Oh, yeah, what did they like?
Ashlee Banfield
A giving or.
Nancy Moscatello
A giving. Yeah, I forget what they call it.
Ashlee Banfield
Something like that. And they came forward and threw cash down.
Nancy Moscatello
An offering. An offering.
Ashlee Banfield
Okay, an offering. Threw cash down on the stage at Amanda and Cory's feet. And they just, you know, collect that all up in their umbrella and take it home. That's not part of it. Any cash transactions. And again, all the childcare, the nanny that they scammed for years and years, who would drive two hours in the middle of the. To pick up Amanda from the hospital. Baloney. Look, after the kids do this, do that, everybody did things because they felt so bad for them and wanted to help. And they gave them. They gave them their time, their professional efforts, their professional time, their airline points, their hotel rooms, their experiences, their Broadway shows, their concerts. There had to be hundreds of.
Nancy Moscatello
There was a meal lessons. There was a meal train. That was two years of food that the church and the community kept going.
Ashlee Banfield
They were fed for two years by friends and neighbors, literally dropping food.
Nancy Moscatello
And then she would say, she would post, thank you so much. Oh, there's so much food you guys are bringing. But you Know what would be great, too? We could really use gift cards. So then the gift cards started coming in.
Ashlee Banfield
Not traceable. That's not a wire, right?
Nancy Moscatello
Yeah, yeah.
Ashlee Banfield
So not a wire transaction.
Nancy Moscatello
This. This idea that it's not about money or what, you know, it's like when someone's doing this, they know they're asking for. Any time Amanda put out, you know, this changed in my health or that I need this money so that I don't die. You know, it was always the ask for money. I mean, it's not about money. Don't put up a support page to donate money. Right.
Ashlee Banfield
So it was about money. I mean, look, I think. And let's go back here, because I think everybody who listens and watches the series is thinking, how why does someone turn out like this? Like, we all have a little gut feeling if we tell a little white lie. It's not that we don't. Many of us do tell little white lies, but usually for the better. We tell our kids, oh, don't eat that candy. Your teeth will fall out. You know? But with her, it started really early. Like, you interviewed friends of hers, like, even a best friend from childhood who said it was just the way she was. We didn't think it was a big deal because it was inconsequential. The lies that she told didn't really matter. But she was a liar for attention back then, correct?
Nancy Moscatello
Yeah. Yes. It was always a. It was always something. You know, one thing I discovered, people would tell me about this connection she had with. With Lindsay Lohan, which, you know, some of the. I think when Lisa first talked with me, she mentioned it to me about. Amanda would say she would grew up and was best friends with Lindsay Lohan, and they would audition for different things together. And Lisa was like, oh, okay. You know, she talked about it in the podcast. And then she. When Lisa finally started figuring out, like, wait, this is. This is too much. She's full of shit. Oh, sorry. That. That was one of the things she confronted her about. She's like, Lindsay Lohan grew up on the East Coast. You're on the way. Like, that's not true. Like, there's no way. And then I found, since then, talking with people over the years, that came up a lot. That was that oddity of a lie. She would have Lindsay Lohan call young kids for their birthdays and say, oh, it's. I'm a friend, Lindsay, and happy birthday. She know. Yeah. So.
Ashlee Banfield
But how did she get. How she do that? How did she get her.
Nancy Moscatello
It was her calling.
Ashlee Banfield
She was faking herself as Lindsay Lohan.
Nancy Moscatello
Yes. That's what, that's the only thing I could, I could surmise because.
Ashlee Banfield
Because Cameo wasn't around back then.
Nancy Moscatello
Yeah. And it was, you know, Alita's sister for her daughters. Another family I met a couple of years later. Like, everyone I'm talking to, like, that's so funny you bring up that thing that. She told us that too. So it's. It, I get it. It makes you special. It makes you whatever, you know, that that feeling is you. You get off of that. I saw someone refer to it as like Duper's delight. You know, there must be some, some. Something you get out of that. But then to keep going with it, you know, I think it builds upon itself and just, I don't want to say gets out of control because I think she was well in control of what the money aspect of it.
Ashlee Banfield
It's one thing. It's one thing to tell your, you know, sixth grade friends, I'm friends with Lindsay Lohan and that can never be checked. And it's not, it doesn't hurt anybody either. And she gets loads of lauding and attention. It's another thing to move into. What I feel like was a progression in this psychosis. Was the boyfriend in college that I think you interviewed who said she faked breaking her leg. Is that. Was that correct?
Nancy Moscatello
Yeah, those were just other students and stuff from. Yeah, she would be in a boot or she would be. It was always something. I, I did speak to a. She did have a long term boyfriend at one point that didn't participate. But I spoke with him off the record really early on in my investigation. And he said, you know, he, he found it when I was talking to him, he was like, wow. He said that kind of explains a lot of things over the last, you know, year or so that she, I knew her, was that she always had lupus. She was always too sick to do stuff or it would get her out of going to work or it would get her out, you know, so learning things about that, it kind of.
Ashlee Banfield
People were like, oh, wait, she told her college friends she had lupus.
Nancy Moscatello
Yeah, that was another thing that was, you know, wow.
Ashlee Banfield
I mean, I guess she's lucky that, you know, social media didn't catch up with her from back then, because it didn't exist back then. But. And faked the. Faked the boot, faked the broken limbs, faked everything because you're moving from the little white lies of childhood into the medical lies in college, right?
Nancy Moscatello
Yeah. And even Alita speaking with her when they, when she first came into the family. And of course Jamie had had cancer. I think one of the things, she had some type of. I can't pronounce some type of very long back situation. She would tell her that she had this thing wrong with her, she had that wrong with her. And it seemed again, when you look hindsight, it seemed like if something came up in discussion amongst others there, all of a sudden she had that ailment or she had something or worse or more, even more rare, you know, that type of thing. So it, the hindsight is where we kind of learn, oh, wait, this, this started even sooner and you know, earlier and earlier in her life and she.
Ashlee Banfield
Started to recognize the difference between little lies and medical lies. Because suddenly when you bring medicine into it, a, there's a lot more sympathy and B, you can't ask questions. You know, you can't go there and you can't get official record and even police, as you mentioned, can't get it. Like there's Mosque, but he can't even. Or Martinez, rather. Martinez, yeah, yeah, there's Martinez. He can't even get the records he needs to prove that she's a criminal. Right.
Nancy Moscatello
And also in the blog, she was specific about certain things like where she definitely named hospitals, named drugs and named trials or things she was involved in. And then she got a little more specific in naming like a particular clinic within Columbia in New York that she was involved in. So she kept getting a little bolder and a little bolder and to the point where she named the doctor, she would refer to him just by like doctor and then the last initial. Right. And so it gave me something to focus and focus and focus on. And then there was one picture that she posted from within this office, like a waiting room. And I could see the plaques in the background to see who it was. And I was like, okay, you know, there, now I've got something I can dive into. So, you know, she was very careful about putting. She put a lot out. But then the specific specificity was really like just dancing around it.
Ashlee Banfield
She was sloppy. And you know what? She was clearly sloppy with her Lindsay Lohan business too, because she lived on, you know, the east coast, and. And that's usually what trips people up. But it's just remarkable how long it took to trip Amanda up because I feel like a lot of her stuff was just ridiculous how she thought she could get away with it. She did, though. And again, I think a lot of it is because medical is so protected. You know, we just can't ask a lot of questions. A, we don't. We don't morally ask a lot of questions, and B, we legally can't ask the questions. Neither can employers, you know, But. But what's so astounding is that I feel like you do. You see, Don't F with Cats. I love that series so much. It's, like, in my DNA. I feel like you are, like, the embodiment of Don't F with Cats. And I feel like the rest of us who are true crime fans will look at a photograph and instantly we'll zoom past and we'll look for a detail. We'll say, I call bullshit. I see something in the background. And it's literally what you did at these. At these cancer centers. So when you were able to do that, how valuable was that stuff to Martinez and to Agent Lee, like, to the. To the authorities who were chasing her? Or they could. They said, love it. Can't do anything with it.
Nancy Moscatello
No, no, that was. It was. Yeah, it was really important to them because I had gathered a bunch of it before I even reached out. And I reached out to Martinez initially because the source, Lisa, as we know now from the document she had said, I left messages on tip lines. I contacted a district attorney's office. She was trying to get someone to listen or to be Help. Help. So that's why I reached out initially was just to say, are you already doing this? Are you all working on this? And so I had had a bunch of screenshots and everything I could gather at that point. Timelines. I did a timeline of the entire blog because she had two blogs, a family blog and a medical blog. And I would overlap them and see, you know, I'm in the hospital, I'm this and that. But then on the family block, it's like, I'm in Tahoe. It's like the. Just crisscrossing. What. What, What Made sense. And then we. I did. I also, you know, would keep all the asks for money, like, each time and why she needed the money. And that kind of just helps you look at. At the inconsistencies. Or she couldn't keep her lines straight.
Ashlee Banfield
Yeah, too many. Too many to keep straight if I keep. And by the way, she kept a lot of them straight, which is astounding, I keep thinking. And I'm sure you do, too, if she had employed her skills, her strategizing, her stamina and her resilience, you know, towards an actual job, she'd have made millions. Not Just a couple hundred thousand.
Nancy Moscatello
Oh yeah, yeah, yeah. And this, doing all of this also. She was also. They were under a bankruptcy plan. They had gone to bankruptcy court like 2013 and got a plan put in place to pay back for the bankruptcy. So that was a big motivator of why they needed money. Right. They had a payment they had to make every month for that. And that was, it was a good amount of debt. It was upwards of like 160,000 at the time.
Ashlee Banfield
So we get jobs for that, you know, we get jobs to pay off our debts. We, we do things like that, the rest of us, you know.
Nancy Moscatello
So there was, there was definitely a, a, that was to me was a very large motivating factor that, you know. And that was another reason they wanted custody. Not just to ruin Alita because I think that was a big part of it too. But Alita was paying them child support. You know, they wanted to, they wanted.
Ashlee Banfield
To cut off the money going out to child support and get child support money to come in instead, which is again just heinous when you're talking about what they did to that poor little girl.
Nancy Moscatello
There's a little bit of time when Corey was representing himself, touring the child custody stuff, early on they had 50, 50 custody and he was paying, I think it was $75 a pay period like twice a month. Okay.
Ashlee Banfield
Oh for God's sake. All that over 150 bucks a month.
Nancy Moscatello
Yeah, so that's what he said. And she, at one point, when Amanda got diagnosed in 2012, she said, don't even pay me. Don't worry about it. You guys said you have a lot on your hands.
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Nancy Moscatello
Wow.
Ashlee Banfield
So yet again this is an in kind donation that's just evil to its core that they would accept that and then they went further and then they.
Nancy Moscatello
Just flipped the script and went full force for it wasn't enough.
Ashlee Banfield
I want more.
Nancy Moscatello
Yeah. And, and the custody also figured in a medical hardship that he, and this is why you say, you know, allegedly was he involved? He submitted medical records of some sort. I have them that, you know, this was for all this cancer stuff, thousands and thousands of dollars a month.
Ashlee Banfield
And I think what the authorities say is that there was no way, look, we all have our spidey senses that he knew all along, how couldn't he have but that they would say there's no way to prove it to a jury that he knew she could have been duping him too. I mean that's literally what his story is. And you've got to have the goods if you're going to bring a prosecution against someone. And although it looks like a diagn and walk like a duck, couldn't find that.
Nancy Moscatello
Yeah, you have to have everything lined up. And so, you know, that was always, I was always kind of pushing back saying, well, you know, he testified in my court case, he testified in bankruptcy, he tested like it's, it's there. It's just, you know, the cost to have that all come together and she.
Ashlee Banfield
Wasn'T willing to throw him under the bus to, you know, ease up on her, I'm assuming.
Nancy Moscatello
Well, she was charged with a bankruptcy, so she had two charges initially, a bankruptcy fraud and a wire fraud. And then when she. She originally pled not guilty, and then about a year later, she changed her plea. And with that, they. The deal was that they would drop the bankruptcy fraud charges.
Ashlee Banfield
Because she's singing like a canary now, right? Like she's had this 25 minute phone call with Charlie Webster from. From prison saying, you know, all the money that, you know, I. I don't even know if she used the words I stole, but she should have went to Corey and Corey's divorce and, and child custody and the lawyers, etc. Like, she just foisted it like she's throwing him under the bus now because Corey's divorcing her.
Nancy Moscatello
Yeah, well, listen, again, you know, the evidence shows that there's no way the divorce was first of all finalized well before Amanda married Corey. Right. So that was done and taken care of and all the, the custody stuff. Like I said, Alita even stopped them from paying because of the cancer diagnosis. And then she was paying them. Yeah, there's just no. And you also submit your legal costs when you're going through these things so you can get reimbursed here, you're like, there was none of that. So, you know, when the. When the gal from the church helped became the family court lawyer, was it free? I don't know. Was it discounted would be my guess. Like this couple was going through this cancer stuff and then this person stepped in to help, you know, but there was never.
Ashlee Banfield
She's continuing the lies full on.
Nancy Moscatello
Like, there's not even in the same breath. She's also blaming Alita. Right. She's not even taking ownership, saying, but we had to do this because of the divorce. Like, no, you didn't. This had nothing to do with any of that.
Ashlee Banfield
I don't think she should get good time if the lying continues. And speaking of the lying continuing, she went to the emergency in the prison system 24 times in 18 months. And I mean, and used an ambulance to do it. And all the while, there's testimony, witness testimony from doctors and medical attendants who said that they witnessed her malingering with the breath test, meaning holding back on the breath when she was supposed to be doing a breath test and interfering with her IVs. How is that not somehow part of her prison record? Again, if you're getting out early for Good time. This should take that away.
Nancy Moscatello
Yeah. All that came to light because they filed to get her a early release because basically saying she can't get the proper medical care here. So we want her to come out so she can get the proper care elsewhere.
Ashlee Banfield
But I mean, it's just like, thank God. I can't believe we're having this conversation. She's in there for a medical scam and she's using a medical scam to get out.
Nancy Moscatello
She's trying. Yeah. The judge shot it down originally. Like that was a no go. I mean, the judge referenced all that saying, but she's doing it anyway.
Ashlee Banfield
Like, she's doing it anyway. So how is this not. Does anybody care? Is there just not enough staff in the, you know, the, in the probationary system?
Nancy Moscatello
The facility she was at at the time was a medical facility. Right. So there's, there's. In the federal presence prison system, there's only a handful of ones that are hospital, you know, and, and equipped. Yeah. You know, the care in those, I'm sure, is not, you know, tip top care. But, you know, they have a medical facility and that is, that is the one she. It was near where they lived, moved to Texas, and it was somewhat near that area. So that's why she wanted to be in the medical one. Right. And then even they. There were like, okay, you're bogging down our system. Just send her out. Like, she. Whatever she needed to do to get sent out to an emergency room, it wasn't the prison one. She was going out beyond prison walls at that point, 24 times. So you really got to be putting up a big show if you're trying to do.
Ashlee Banfield
We know what she was because, because Charlie said that she knew that it was not a cancer demand, that that's not what they listed in the papers.
Nancy Moscatello
It was like lung, heart. And those are things I've heard all through the time. Like she, she would allude to heart and lung problems a lot in the blog because it was called caused by the. By the chemo. According to her, that, well, that wasn't happening in prison.
Ashlee Banfield
So what's her excuse for it happening in prison then?
Nancy Moscatello
Exactly. So I think that just, you know, irregular heartbeat and lung breathing issues and there's a, there was a list of them that she kind of circles back to all the time. So that, that's what's at least listed in the, in, in the paperwork that was filed.
Ashlee Banfield
You know, the only thing I can.
Nancy Moscatello
Think of, folks I've been able to talk with, folks that have been in prison with her and then have come out and some that were in. That I'm in communication with and, you know, they. They described to me that she would talk about how she couldn't breathe and she needed oxygen and, you know, falling on the floor and all of this, and then the next minute running up the three flights of stairs where they were housed like it was nothing. So.
Ashlee Banfield
Sure.
Nancy Moscatello
Yep.
Ashlee Banfield
You know, I'm only thinking that it's possible that the thousands of people she scammed had voodoo dolls and she was feeling every ounce of it at that point, you know.
Nancy Moscatello
Yeah.
Ashlee Banfield
So I do want to ask you about, like, the. The level of her ability to scam people, because usually when we're told that we've been had, we get very angry very quickly and we turn, you know, retributive. That didn't happen with a lot of people. There were people who stuck by Amanda all the way up to the plea, and there were people who stuck by her after. Help me figure this one out. Why? And who stuck by her before, during, and even after it was revealed that she was a big liar.
Nancy Moscatello
Well, I mean, I think when you're going through it, you know, I could. You know, some of the folks that spoke with us on the doc, I mean, they're very brave to come out and say, like, you know, that we fell for this, we were drawn through this, but I think it's a tough one to believe that what you saw for all those years could possibly be fake. It just doesn't. It doesn't equate. You have to remember she's walking around with oxygen tanks and fainting, supposedly fainting everywhere. And they're there helping. They're visiting her. The times that she could get admitted for heart problems and lung problems, and again, a lot of, I guess, fainting all the time.
Ashlee Banfield
It's challenging. It's challenging.
Nancy Moscatello
It's really challenging what you're. What you're seeing and hearing.
Ashlee Banfield
Your capability to be a discerning human being was in question. And rather than, you know, really questioning yourself about being sucked into something so impossible, I can understand it that in that respect. And then the ones after. What about after a court case and a prison term, that they stuck by her?
Nancy Moscatello
Yeah, I mean, I. I'm not aware of too many of those. There's a couple of family members that I've talked to that are friends that I guess for the kids sake, they're still involved with, for the. For the two boys and helping in any way they can, but for the most part, one. Because again, all during this time, it's dragging on for so long. They have no idea, you know, that feds raided her house and all this. This. This was kept. They didn't know. And so when it's slowly coming out and I'm poking my head out a little bit more and a little bit more. She had the perfect excuse with the ex wife. She's lying. She's making this up. I didn't pay my taxes because, of course, it was an IRS investigation. So it was. I didn't pay my taxes for the money everybody donated. That's what this is.
Ashlee Banfield
I just need to clear up this little detail.
Nancy Moscatello
Yeah, yeah. And so she was really good. And she had the perfect out, which was, you know, Alita and myself, and. And, you know, we went to court, and so it even made it look like I, you know, there was even a bigger issue, like, this woman's been harassing me. Look, we're going to court now. She didn't tell them that she lost, but, you know, it doesn't matter. They just know she has to deal with it.
Ashlee Banfield
Right.
Nancy Moscatello
And she asked. She's still. While she's still going through cancer, so.
Ashlee Banfield
Still sick.
Nancy Moscatello
The narrative she was putting out there was believable, I guess. And so a layer cake of lies.
Ashlee Banfield
Hey, speaking of that, let's get into the, you know, the nitty gritty of the gaslighting. I mean, there you are, doggedly, professionally doing everything by the book to investigate a liar of this magnitude. She catches wind and she turns the tables on you and gaslights by saying you're a harasser, and she takes you to court for a restraining order, which cost you a quarter of a million dollars to defend and win. Just. Just. Just the notion that you lived that, like, outside of the difficulty of doing this investigation, just having to go through that kind of thing and knowing that you're right and you're the good guy and the bad guy is making you the bad guy. Are you over that? Like, did. Have you been scarred? Have you got PTSD from that? Has it changed you as a person?
Nancy Moscatello
No, no, no. I'm not scarred by it. I mean, the attorney that represented me, because I was represented by my company, and then they had outside counsel. So I had a very fantastic legal team. And that was the other thing. I had, like, a team going into this little civil harassment thing, and Amanda was there with whatever attorney she had hired. And. And so it was. I knew. I knew I hadn't done any of the things that she was accusing me of. So it was really A matter of being able to methodically explain that and. And show the evidence. Once we got to court, it was just. The reason it took so. Cost so much and took so long was that this was all happening up in Northern California and I was in Southern California. Each time we had a court date to go to, I would fly up there was the firm that was up there. I would meet with them a day or two before to go over everything. And then the night before court, her attorney would contact the courts and say, she's in the hospital. She's too sick to go. This happened five. This happened five times.
Ashlee Banfield
I wanted to throttle her. All that right here, you know?
Nancy Moscatello
Yeah. Flying back and forth, taking time off from work to do this, like, all of those things. And then outside, we had to. We also had to. With people I don't think are aware of. We had to mediate. We had to mediate before the bench hearing. So there was two days of mediation where this could have all gone away.
Ashlee Banfield
She kept at it.
Nancy Moscatello
All she had to do was provide. We were with the mediator for two days, provide, you know, documentation via. They were going to do it, like, just with the mediator. Provide whatever you can. And she was supposed to do it second day, no problem. Getting everything from the doctors. And then said, yeah, no, I don't want to do that.
Ashlee Banfield
I don't have it. You know, So I would be very. I would be very embittered because for anybody out there who's ever been involved in a legal process, it's like doing your taxes every day. It's literally like doing your taxes every day. Just the amount of work and discovery and just tedious work when you've already got your job, which is, you know, really heavy duty, and then you've got this massive project on the. On the side, like doing your taxes every day. So that's why I say, are you scarred? I would be very scarred from it. I'd be very bitter from it. Just knowing what a time suck and what an emotional suck all of that was. And it was all based on my.
Nancy Moscatello
Bigger issue, was my reputation. Right. So I was at the time, you know, a managing editor of a news organization going through this. And then I think that was what was important to me also was the First Amendment issue, because I don't. I don't think she realized that's what this really ultimately came about. Because because of her tactics of feigning ill, the initial hearing where I was still in Los Angeles, they never served me properly. The judge awarded a temporary restraining order Just on the surface of this poor dying woman. Right. And so that was granted, like a ten day thing. And that's a big issue. That was a, you know, for me, I was just like, wait, this is what I do. This is my job. Like, to have that against me is. It was. That was my larger concern.
Ashlee Banfield
It was, again, you're way nicer than me. I would have been for blood. I seriously, like, I would have hired a hitman.
Nancy Moscatello
Yeah.
Ashlee Banfield
So, you know, to that end, I think there is something that I heard and I want to just flesh it out with you in her. Again, just the layers of her. Her lies and deceit are just so remarkable. And I know there's a lot we don't know. Right. Just what we do know. The tip of the iceberg is so massive. But she. And correct me if I'm wrong in this narrative, she sent a letter to Columbia Hospital, to doctors at Columbia Hospital, winding them up about, I haven't been truthful about my cancer and someone's gonna be asking you about it. And I don't know if she's asking Columbia to lie for her or what the letter was. But then when it came out. Cause you subpoenaed it. She then suggested, no, I didn't send that letter. I think Nancy must have written that letter and sent it.
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Ashlee Banfield
Is that true? Is that. Did I get it right?
Nancy Moscatello
Yeah, pretty very, very close. What had happened was so she was flying back and forth these seven times to New York, and so several of them took place before I knew about her and Then the rest after. So I was watching this in real time. And so a big part of the investigation I did was fact check everything about those visits to New York. So she would say, I'm on this clinical trial, I'm taking this drug, and, oh, look, it's the holidays, the doctor's gonna ship it to me and I'm gonna self inject this chemotherapy. So all that shenanigans was going on in real time. And I was able to speak to the folks at Columbia, not about Amanda, but just about practices. Right. Hey, do you have a clinical trial? How do. Would you ever ship the drug for.
Ashlee Banfield
Someone to do it to themselves, to.
Nancy Moscatello
Do it at home? Yeah, I mean, I know it sounds, you know, you have to go through that process. Going through that process. And so they were aware of what I was looking into. I had sent them the blog, I had sent them the information, said, oh, hey, this is what I'm investigating. I'd like you to take a look. And they were like, we can't talk about anybody. You know, I said, that's fine, but I still wanted them to see it. Right. So they had, they had thought and then they had issued, from what I found out when we subpoenaed stuff, they had issued a cease and desist letter to Amanda and said, don't talk about us anymore. You basically like, knock this off. To which she did, because she clearly then was, you know, in remission and everything went great. From Columbia.
Ashlee Banfield
In remission, but in response, be clear, in remission, not at all ever having had.
Nancy Moscatello
I'm constantly doing this. So in response to that cease and desist letter, she wrote a letter to the doctors in that, that clinic and explained that she. That she's so sorry to use, you know, take up the resources and take time away, because she did, she did have a consultation, which is not hard to get. You just go in and say, I'd like to talk to you about, you know, my situation. So she had a consultation of sorts. And so she said, I'm so sorry I wasted everybody's time, but here's why I did that. I. I decided I wanted no more treatment, that I was tired of chemo and I couldn't do it anymore, and I was terminal, but I didn't want to let my family and church down. So I told them I was receiving treatment here in New York because I didn't want to let them die down, but I do have cancer. And so, you know, I'm so sorry, but, you know, I shouldn't have done that. That.
Ashlee Banfield
And then she suggested. You're the one that wrote that.
Nancy Moscatello
Right. So we had. We. When we had subpoenaed stuff, they said, oh, we can't give you any of her medical records. Right. Because she. She had, in the civil suit, accused me of certain things that allowed us to subpoena stuff. And so. But the. The. The attorney for Columbia said, we can't give you anything in the medical records, but we have this in a different.
Ashlee Banfield
File because that's not medical. That was administrative.
Nancy Moscatello
They said, you can have this. Which was just about.
Ashlee Banfield
I mean, was she or was she not a patient? You said she had a consultation to officially make her a patient, therefore all the product it becomes.
Nancy Moscatello
Yeah. So we could never. We wouldn't be able to see what they met about and what, you know, what all that was about. But yeah, so that when we subpoenaed records, that's what was sent to us. And not just sent like, oh, here's a letter. The legal head, legal counsel of Columbia signed off on it, you know, notarized that this came from their file. That came from Amanda. Right. So that. And we held on to that to use to impeach her. So it wasn't part of our discovery because we knew she would testify all about all those treatments that she got in. In New York, which she did. And then. So the attorney was. My attorney was able to pull that out and say, wait, you got these weight. Here's. Here's a letter that you wrote saying that you didn't get anything, that you were lying. And. Yeah, so it was great. Like, you know, great moment. It was like that. Yeah. That's when she turned it around and she said, I didn't write that. And then. What do you mean you didn't write it? It came from a Columbia. She's like, I believe Nancy wrote that.
Ashlee Banfield
Unbelievable. Well, it's trouble. They seized your computer. I don't know if they were ever, ever able to get her emails, but. Oh, yeah, they must have found that she did craft, write and send that letter.
Nancy Moscatello
Yeah, I mean, they. Yeah, there was a lot of letters and emails and things that were confiscated. Yeah.
Ashlee Banfield
Right. So let's talk a little bit about the other elephant in their family, and that's Peggy, Amanda's mom. There's another one that I keep saying spidey senses are all over this one. And it just feels like it's another case of, you know, can't prove it to a T, therefore can't waste the resources to prosecute. But I feel like Peggy had to know, and that there's proof she knew she was emailing people even after Amanda pled guilty, that something about her treatment, wasn't she?
Nancy Moscatello
Yeah. And that again, during the. The time that I was investigating, you know, I. I knew a couple things. I knew when I had to go back and forth with my court case. Some. Amanda brought in some emails as evidence of me harassing her family. Apparently. I sent two emails to the Support Amanda website, which had the brother's email on it. So I sent two emails saying, hey, there's a federal investigation and I'm investigating. Here's my questions about how the money moves around. This is what I want to know. And then after the federal investigation, I sent a second email saying, I mean, after the raid on the house, hey, there was just a raid on her house. Search warrant was served. I noticed the Support Amanda site came down. Did this have anything to do with the federal investigation? And I asked some more questions. Those were the two emails I sent. Those emails came up in my case because she brought them in as evidence and they were forwarded because. To her and her parents from the brothers. And it just said, what the f is this? So I know in 2006, they were dated and everything. I know in 2006, there was clearly a family discussion about a federal investigation and me. So they knew at that point somebody was accusing her of this. And that's kind of where I left off with the family's involvement in that sense. I know they knew of the investigation. So then when we found out and met Rebecca Kafiro and she talked with us for the podcast, that was really eye opening to me that Peggy had been telling Rebecca. Well, no, I saw that. I sat there with her while she got this.
Ashlee Banfield
And again, that was Amanda's really good friend.
Nancy Moscatello
Right. And.
Ashlee Banfield
And. And really good friends with Peggy first and then became good friends with.
Nancy Moscatello
Correct. Yeah, correct. Yeah. And so that was the first time I had that level of, like, questioning for me, also opened my eyes. I was like, whoa. Like, I didn't. I wasn't aware of that. Those conversations, obviously, so. But that was. That was really shocking to me as well.
Ashlee Banfield
Yeah, we're coming to a close here. But I just, you know, I keep asking this question of anybody who will listen and offer any wisdom, I think personally, just having followed this unbelievable saga that she is permanently afflicted with this and will never get over her desire to lie for whatever it gets her. Money, attention, you name it, even though she has served time in federal prison because of it. So do you feel the same way.
Nancy Moscatello
I do. I do feel the same way. I mean, I hope, you know, her actions when she comes out. I could only hope. I hope that for anyone that's gone through the prison system that they can learn from it, own it better themselves, figure. Figure this out. Because, I mean, that cannot. That must be an exhausting world to. To live in that you are constantly doing this, whether it's just for attention or this component of money and really destruction. She left a path of destruction. And that part to me, was. Was not just, you know, because she couldn't help it. She wanted Alita, like, wiped out. She. All of that. It's just a whole nother type of personality, I think, on top of this. So, yeah, there's a lot of. A lot of changing that has to go on in her world to see if her actions change.
Ashlee Banfield
So the next question that's natural out of this one. Are you so scarred and exhausted from the decade that you put into this that you don't want to continue or you can't wait to continue following a mother?
Nancy Moscatello
Oh, no, I haven't stopped. I mean, I've been. I work in true crime. I've been doing this for many years. It's something I enjoy, and I enjoy giving the voice the victims. And I mean, yes, there's always that fascination with the other side of it and the people that perpetrate the crimes, but for the most part, I want to give people a platform. And very early on, when in covering this, I always Talking with Alida and Lisa and Jessa, of course, and everyone involved, I said, said, we can keep this right here. I never have to make a doc. I never have to put it on tv. You know, Then we discussed doing the podcast. This is going to be up to you guys if you want the platform, if you want it out there. And that together, they. I let them decide. I said, you know, how do you want to handle this? And they really wanted a record of this because, remember, no one knew about this. Yeah, it was. I kept it quiet because I knew. I want the feds to do their thing. We want this. We want her taken care of, and then we can tell the story if everyone wants to. And they really wanted a record of it out there so that if and when she moves on in life, she starts doing this again and someone has a. Something's off. Nowadays, I think people are more apt to Google and look something up. They really wanted something there to say, you know, hey, this isn't okay, and just, hey, be wary.
Ashlee Banfield
So, well, you Gave them a voice. And, you know, that's the very least of everything that you've done. You've. You've. You've informed us all. You've. You've put Amanda's face out there. Thank God, because I feel like this is her chosen, you know, vocation in life is to lie, scam, and steal. And the only way you can get in the way of that is knowing that it's coming. So, you know, thank you for. Thank you for all the dog at work. Thank you for never giving up. Thank you for taking all the punches so that the rest of us can be A, aware that people are like this, and B, be aware that Amanda is not only like this, she's getting out.
Nancy Moscatello
Yes, she is. Yep. Thanks for having me.
Ashlee Banfield
You're the best. Thanks so much. So appreciate this.
Nancy Moscatello
Thanks.
Ashlee Banfield
That is it for this episode of Drop Dead series. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you so much for sticking through this with me. And a big thank you to Nancy Moscatello. What a dynamo. I just adore her. One of the best in the business, if you ask me. As a reminder, new episodes drop every Thursday of Drop Dead Serious. But make sure that you subscribe and turn your notifications on, because every so often, we do what we did today, and that is we drop bonus episodes. I want you to make sure that you know about them when they. When they arrive. Also, I would just love it if you would leave a review. Even if you hate it. Even if you hate me, just leave a review. It helps me out a great deal and it also is very helpful in the direction that we take the podcast. Like you matter. I really want to know what you are all about. What you think, what you like, what you hate. And that is where I will take our production choices in the future. It's very important. Please also follow me on social media. I'm on all of them. The Facebooks, the YouTube, YouTubes, the. The TikToks, the. The Instagrams, the. You name it, and all of the links, everything is. Is right here for you to. For you to check out. And we leave a lot of content on all of our platforms. And if you're watching on YouTube, I welcome your comments. Please leave a comment below again, tell me any cases you'd like us to look into, and that is where we will go. You are the driver. I really do mean it. I absolutely adore the fact that you cared enough to be here. Thank you so much. So until next time, everybody. I want you to remember one thing. The truth isn't just ser. It's drop dead serious.
David Tennant
Hi, Georgia.
Ashlee Banfield
Hi, David.
David Tennant
What do you think the world needs more of? Well, the world always needs more podcasts.
Ashlee Banfield
Didn't you used to have a podcast?
David Tennant
Not only did I used to have a podcast, Georgia, it's coming back. David Tennant does a podcast with season three. It's coming at you.
Ashlee Banfield
Okay. And who are your guests?
David Tennant
Who are my guests? What about Russell T. Davis? What about Jamila Jamil? What about Stanley the tooch Tuchy?
Ashlee Banfield
So it's really just you hanging out.
Nancy Moscatello
With your mates then? Yeah.
David Tennant
Come join me. David Tennant does a podcast with.
Nancy Moscatello
Bye.
Drop Dead Serious With Ashleigh Banfield Episode: Scamanda: The Insane Fake Cancer Con That Shook the World with Nancy Moscatiello Release Date: February 27, 2025
In this gripping bonus episode of Drop Dead Serious With Ashleigh Banfield, host Ashleigh Banfield delves deep into one of the most audacious frauds in recent history: the Scamanda case. Joining her is Nancy Moscatiello, the executive producer and creator of the Scamanda podcast, as well as the producer of the Hulu and ABC documentary series based on the same story. Together, they unravel the intricate web spun by Amanda C. Reilly, a woman who meticulously faked cancer to manipulate, steal, and destroy lives.
Ashleigh begins by lauding Nancy’s relentless dedication to uncovering the truth behind Amanda’s elaborate scam. Nancy shares her motivation, driven by a personal connection to cancer. “[03:06]Nancy Moscatiello: I lost my sister to lung cancer at a young age, and witnessing Amanda’s deceit felt like a second blow to everything I understood about this disease.”
Nancy recounts how her interest in cancer scams was piqued by the growing trend of individuals exploiting serious illnesses for personal gain. “[04:06]Nancy Moscatiello: We wanted to out scammers, especially those manipulating cancer narratives, because it’s not just financial theft—it’s stealing hope and draining critical resources from genuine patients.”
Amanda Reilly’s strategy was multifaceted. Initially, she engaged in minor fabrications, such as claiming to be friends with celebrities like Lindsay Lohan. As her schemes evolved, she escalated to more significant deceptions, including falsifying medical treatments and leveraging social media to build a convincing persona. “[11:29]Ashleigh Banfield: Amanda lied about receiving Keytruda, a cutting-edge immunotherapy drug, claiming she was among the first to use it. This drew sympathy and financial support from well-meaning donors.”
Nancy details the arduous process of piecing together Amanda’s lies, emphasizing the importance of digital evidence. “[28:20]Nancy Moscatiello: Amanda was meticulous, but she made mistakes. She would mention specific clinics and doctors, allowing us to cross-reference and identify inconsistencies in her stories.”
Despite limited resources, Nancy collaborated with Detective Martinez and IRS Agent Lee to build a case. “[08:00]Ashleigh Banfield: How did you maintain the investigation over years without burning out or losing support from your team?”
Nancy responds, “[08:30]Nancy Moscatiello: It was a long game of patience. Regular communication with Agent Lee and incremental discoveries kept the momentum alive.”
Amanda’s deceit had far-reaching consequences. She not only defrauded individuals financially but also drained medical resources, causing genuine patients to wait longer for care. “[13:06]Ashleigh Banfield: Amanda was faking her way into hospitals to take photos, wasting valuable time and resources meant for real patients.”
Furthermore, her fraudulent activities strained personal relationships and shattered trust within her community. “[22:09]Ashleigh Banfield: Friends and family were left devastated, feeling betrayed not just financially but emotionally.”
Amanda faced multiple charges, including wire fraud and bankruptcy fraud. Nancy explains the legal intricacies, highlighting how Amanda tried to manipulate the system even while incarcerated. “[37:26]Nancy Moscatiello: Amanda initially pled not guilty but later changed her plea to drop some charges, possibly to mitigate her situation.”
She also sheds light on Amanda’s attempts to gaslight and intimidate her investigators, leading to costly legal battles for Nancy. “[48:32]Ashleigh Banfield: How did Amanda’s tactics extend beyond financial deceit?”
Nancy elaborates, “[48:32]Nancy Moscatiello: She filed harassment lawsuits, forcing me to defend my reputation and invest significant time and resources into proving my innocence.”
The episode delves into Amanda’s psychological makeup, exploring her compulsive need for attention and control. Nancy reflects, “[43:18]Nancy Moscatiello: Amanda’s lies were a way to garner attention and manipulate those around her. It wasn’t just about money—it was about control and emotional domination.”
Ashleigh adds her insights, “[43:57]Ashleigh Banfield: It’s fascinating how someone can convincingly present themselves as a victim, manipulating the goodwill of so many.”
Nancy discusses how Amanda’s actions prompted institutions to tighten their verification processes. “[52:32]Ashleigh Banfield: How did organizations like Columbia Hospital respond to Amanda’s deceit?”
Nancy explains, “[52:32]Nancy Moscatiello: Columbia issued cease and desist letters to Amanda after discovering discrepancies in her claims. This was crucial in dismantling her network of lies.”
Throughout the episode, Nancy emphasizes the importance of perseverance and dedication in uncovering such sophisticated frauds. “[59:02]Nancy Moscatiello: Despite the challenges, I continue to pursue truth and give a voice to the victims. It’s exhausting yet fulfilling.”
Ashleigh commends Nancy’s resilience, “[62:09]Ashleigh Banfield: Thank you for never giving up and for safeguarding others from Amanda’s manipulation.”
Ashleigh and Nancy conclude by discussing the broader implications of such scams, urging listeners to remain vigilant and informed. Nancy hopes her work serves as a deterrent to future perpetrators and a beacon of support for victims. “[60:04]Nancy Moscatiello: I hope that anyone who comes across similar deceit can recognize the signs early and take action to protect themselves and their loved ones.”
Ashleigh reinforces this message, “[62:10]Ashleigh Banfield: Awareness is our best defense. Thanks to Nancy, we’re better equipped to identify and prevent such elaborate scams.”
This episode of Drop Dead Serious offers an in-depth exploration of Amanda Reilly’s elaborate cancer scam, highlighting the relentless pursuit of truth by Nancy Moscatiello. Through meticulous investigation and unwavering dedication, Nancy uncovers the layers of deception that led to widespread emotional and financial devastation. Listeners are left with a profound understanding of the complexities involved in such frauds and the critical importance of vigilance and integrity in combating deceit.
For those intrigued by true crime and the intricacies of uncovering sophisticated scams, this episode serves as both a cautionary tale and an inspiring account of perseverance in the face of overwhelming odds.
Subscribe to Drop Dead Serious With Ashleigh Banfield and join Ashleigh every Thursday for more riveting true crime stories. Don’t forget to follow on social media and leave a review to support the podcast’s mission to unveil the truth behind the most perplexing mysteries.