Podcast Summary

Hot Money: Agent of Chaos
Episode: Introducing Deep Cover Presents: Snowball
Date: November 10, 2025
Host: Ollie Wards (of Unravel and Pushkin Industries)
Featured: Wards Family and friends, Deep Cover's Jake Halpern

Overview

This episode is a crossover feature: "Hot Money: Agent of Chaos" introduces listeners to "Deep Cover Presents: Snowball," an investigative podcast series spearheaded by Ollie Wards. The story pivots from the international drama of financial fraud (Wirecard) to the deeply personal account of Ollie’s own family, who fell victim to a masterful conwoman, Leslie Mnookian. This episode serves as a gripping preview, drawing listeners into a journey of financial ruin, family trust shattered, and the pursuit of a cunning grifter across continents.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. The Spark of Suspicion (03:23–04:21)

• Ollie Wards reflects on his role as MC at his brother Greg's wedding, battling a private discomfort about the bride, Leslie.
• Foreshadowing: His unease becomes warranted when Leslie leaves, derailing not just a marriage, but devastating the entire family financially and emotionally.
• Quote: “It wasn’t just my brother’s marriage that fell apart. My whole family went down with it and none of us ever saw her again.” — Ollie Wards (04:08)

2. First Impressions of Leslie (04:21–07:00)

• Family and friends describe Leslie’s allure—a “dark, vivacious” Californian charisma, quick intimacy with people, and a mysterious ability to draw people into her orbit.
• Greg (Brother): “When you marry someone, you feel like you really know them.” (04:33)
• The family nicknames her "The Black Widow," foreshadowing the devastation ahead.

3. The Catastrophic Loss (05:02–06:36)

• David (Dad) recounts the moment he is informed in his café that the family business is being liquidated. The shock is visceral: “I almost fainted. I went blank. I could feel the draining of blood from my face.” (05:31)
• The family soon learns they lost their home and over a million dollars in savings—becoming homeless in their 60s.

4. The Anatomy of the Con (07:49–13:00)

• Family conversations reveal little red flags—from Leslie’s extravagant, sometimes inexplicable generosity to odd tales about her past.
• Simon (Oldest Brother): “They kind of knew there was some fuckery.” (08:16)
• Ollie sets up the central investigative question: Who did Leslie Mnookian say she was, and who was she really?

5. Greg and Leslie: Whirlwind Romance (09:59–21:12)

• Greg’s background: Americanophile, trusting, and perhaps a little naive.
• Leslie’s seduction of Greg: Their relationship escalates rapidly from a London house party, spurred by her stories of escape from Hawaiian gangsters.
• Key Anecdote: Leslie claims she ran a glamorous bar in Maui, escaped drug dealers, and fled to Europe with family aid—a story full of drama and likely fabrication.
• Greg: “It was more like the concept of America as, you know, it’s the biggest economy in the world. What they do matters...” (12:23)
• The proposal: Christmas, snow, Disneyland Paris—a fairy-tale setting masking mounting deception.

6. Meet the Mnookians: California & the Courthouse Wedding (20:02–23:46)

• Greg’s first U.S. visit: Reality does not match Leslie’s tales of privilege—her family and home are strikingly ordinary.
• Leslie’s parents appear strict, conservative, and emotionally distant. Greg and Leslie marry quietly, in a separate-bed situation even post-wedding, before moving to New Zealand.

7. Fact vs. Fiction: Leslie’s Web of Lies (23:46–27:43)

• Family confusion: Even Leslie’s age, identity and background are inconsistent. Claims of a “trust fund” evaporate under scrutiny. She has two birthdays, two passports, stories of Armenian backstories, and invented parentage.
• Greg: “None of that’s true.” (24:15)
• Revealed: Leslie was adopted, her “dad” made water tanks (not armaments) for the US Army, and her trust fund was a fantasy.

8. Social Chameleon: Winning Over Friends and Family (28:08–34:27)

• Simon and friends are swept up in Leslie’s dynamic presence—but her quick generosity and extravagance (“always showering us in gifts, free alcohol, this is amazing”) begin to seem suspicious (30:16).
• Julie (Mum) is taken in too: “Personality, bubbly. She was rather lovely...very American.” (32:20)
• Leslie identifies the Dragonfly Cafe as her business destiny—based, dubiously, on her own dragonfly tattoo.

9. Buying the Dream: The Dragonfly Café Catastrophe (34:27–39:25)

• Mum and Dad guarantee a $1.5 million loan for Leslie to buy the café property and business, based on trust, family lawyer recommendations, and supposedly ironclad U.S. trust fund backing. They sign as guarantors despite not being part-owners.
• David (Dad): “We did stick our necks out.” (37:27)

10. The ‘Event’: The Wedding and Doubts Surface (39:39–44:44)

• The wedding, aka “The Event”, is lavish but odd: nearly all guests are from Greg’s side, Leslie’s family is aloof, and bridesmaid positions are filled by recent acquaintances, not lifelong friends.
• Guests joke about whether Leslie’s parents are real or “hired actors”: “Like I didn’t like honestly like to this day I have no idea if that’s her parents.” — Simon (Oldest Brother) (43:03)
• Early signs of Leslie’s fraudulency: faking government documents, lying about legal troubles, and manipulating those around her.

11. Unravelling: Trouble at the Café & Breakdown of Trust (44:44–47:42)

• Operational chaos: staff unpaid, bills accumulating, basic utilities running dry. Leslie is evasive and secretive.
• Greg’s tipping point: Milk supplier never paid; Leslie brushes concerns aside. The family is blocked at every effort to see financial records, despite risking their livelihood for her.
• David (Dad): “You guys had put money on the line, but not signed up to be able to see anything. Isn’t that weird?” (47:00)

12. The Final Confrontation and The "Snowball" Warning (47:42–49:33)

• Greg sends Leslie back to the U.S., hoping to investigate undisturbed. Their relationship is now “frosty, just completely untrusting on both sides.” (48:07)
• Leslie’s parting words: “The snowball is about to hit you.” (48:40)
  This moment becomes the season’s central metaphor—the rolling consequences of Leslie’s deceit are about to bury the family.

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• Greg: “When you marry someone, you feel like you really know them.” (04:33)
• Phil (Bar Owner): “She was kind of quite engaging, very chatty, she knew how to sort of work people.” (15:37)
• Greg: “Well, I guess that’s how naive I was.” (12:50)
• Greg: “None of that’s true.” (24:15) — upon reflection, acknowledging the falsehood of Leslie’s saga.
• Narrator/Ollie: “We joked that they were hired actors because...they definitely didn’t fit the profile of who you’d think her parents would be.” (42:39)
• Greg (parting with Leslie): “The snowball is about to hit you.” (48:40)

Structure & Flow

• Intimate and conversational — Family members recount memories with candor, humor, and visible hurt.
• Investigative tone — Ollie assembles a documentary mosaic of interviews, family tapes, and personal narrative.
• Sharp humor and Kiwi candor give weight and nuance to the tragic undertones.

Important Timestamps

• 03:23–04:21: Ollie’s initial suspicions and the wedding setup.
• 05:02–06:36: The family's financial collapse is revealed.
• 09:59–13:00: How Greg and Leslie met and the beginnings of her con.
• 20:02–23:46: Meeting Leslie’s parents and the courthouse wedding.
• 28:08–34:27: Early days in New Zealand, family and friends get swept up.
• 34:27–39:25: The family invests in the Dragonfly Café.
• 39:39–44:44: The wedding (“The Event”)—red flags everywhere.
• 44:44–47:42: Trouble at the café—unpaid bills, mounting stress.
• 47:42–49:33: Leslie leaves for the U.S., drops the “snowball” warning.

Final Thoughts

This episode sets up "Snowball" as a true crime saga layered with family pain, cultural naivety, and the manipulation of trust. It’s both a thriller and a cautionary tale about how a con unfolds—not just through financial trickery, but by weaponizing personal relationships and vulnerabilities.

Listeners are left on a razor’s edge, awaiting the crash of the “snowball”—the full fallout of Leslie’s deception and what it reveals about the nature of trust, identity, and family.