Infamous Recommends: Catch Me If You Ken

Summary

Infamous: Catch Me If You Ken – Episode Summary

In the gripping first episode of "Catch Me If You Ken," hosted by Natalie Robomed of Campside Media and Sony Music Entertainment, listeners are introduced to a compelling tale of deception, ambition, and the high-stakes world of financial scams. This episode delves deep into the intricate web woven by Ken, a man who masquerades as a wealthy entrepreneur, ultimately leaving a trail of financial devastation in his wake.

---

1. Introduction to the Sable Family and Ken's Arrival

The story begins on a cloudy evening in Columbus, Ohio, where Steve and Crystal Sable arrive at their brother-in-law's home for a Christmas gathering in 2017. They are eager to meet their niece Becca’s new boyfriend, Ken, whom they believe to be a wealthy heir.

• Crystal Sable expresses her anticipation:
  "By the time we got to the Christmas gathering, it was like, oh my goodness, we're gonna meet this guy. Let's see what he's all about."
  (02:04)

Ken is portrayed as a charismatic but reserved individual. Standing at about five foot six, with a round face and mismatched tattoos, he initially presents himself as sophisticated and affluent. His generosity is evident through lavish gifts, such as 150 roses for Becca's birthday and expensive cigars.

• Crystal observes Ken's demeanor:
  "The thing that I noticed right away about him is he wouldn't look you in the eye. At least wouldn't look me in the eye."
  (05:31)

Despite his reserved nature, Ken impresses Becca's family with tales of international travel and grandiose business ventures, setting the stage for deeper involvement with the Sables.

---

2. Ken and Becca’s Lavish Life in Los Angeles

Shortly after their meeting, Becca and Ken move to Los Angeles, settling into a $7 million Hollywood Hills home adorned with luxury cars and upscale amenities. Their life appears picture-perfect, with Becca actively pursuing her fashion line and Ken ostensibly contributing to their joint business endeavors.

• Rita, their housekeeper, describes their life: "They were young and rich and really nice and didn't expect a lot."
  (15:04)

Rita becomes intimately familiar with their lifestyle, highlighting the allure of Ken and Becca’s seemingly flawless existence. Their relationship is portrayed as passionate and harmonious, with shared interests and mutual support.

---

3. Financial Strain on the Sable Family

Back in Ohio, the Sable family faces significant financial stress due to their aging parents’ health issues. Becca’s grandfather requires costly heart surgery and dementia care for his wife, leading him to seek financial solutions.

• Crystal Sable shares their predicament:
  "We're trying to figure out why, you know, we're really the only ones helping the parents and they're bringing the new guy in."
  (09:50)

Amidst this turmoil, Ken presents a lucrative business opportunity—Your Sky Investments, an upscale Airbnb platform promising substantial returns. Ken pitches the idea as a golden investment chance, suggesting that an initial investment of $100,000 could yield exponential profits.

• Steve acknowledges Ken’s persuasion:
  "He doesn't pry. He just takes you at your face value and leaves it at that."
  (22:15)

Despite reservations, the Sables decide to invest, motivated by the desperate need to cover medical expenses and the enticing promise of financial security. They invest a combined total of $150,000—$50,000 from Becca’s grandfather and $100,000 from Becca’s father.

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4. The Unraveling of Ken’s Deception

As the Sables commit their funds, the first signs of trouble emerge. Ken and Becca’s lifestyle begins to unravel, revealing inconsistencies and shady dealings. Their housekeeper, Rita, becomes one of Ken’s alleged victims when he disappears with a significant sum of money, leaving no trace behind.

• Natalie Robomed narrates the fallout:
  "Ken's arrival is going to precipitate a mess so extreme it costs them more than $100,000, rips their family apart, and causes two brothers to stop speaking to each other."
  (03:51)

The Sables realize that Ken's promises were hollow, and the investment is nothing more than a sophisticated scam. Their trust in Ken leads to substantial financial loss and familial discord, deeply affecting their lives.

---

5. Rita’s Betrayal and the Final Scam

Rita, who had grown close to Ken and Becca through her role as housekeeper and pet sitter, also falls victim to their deceit. Ken’s disappearance leaves Rita without compensation for her services, embodying the broader impact of his fraudulent activities.

• Rita laments her situation:
  "I'm like, am I fucked?"
  (30:22)

Her realization that Ken and Becca have vanished without a trace serves as a stark reminder of the far-reaching consequences of Ken's manipulations.

---

6. Conclusion and Foreshadowing Future Episodes

The episode concludes by highlighting the extensive nature of Ken’s scams, which span three continents and two decades, targeting individuals across various socioeconomic backgrounds. Natalie Robomed teases future developments, promising to uncover the true identity of Ken and the full extent of his fraudulent empire.

• Natalie Robomed emphasizes the scope:
  "These are sophisticated, ever-evolving scams targeting the rich and glamorous to the working class and humble."
  (28:44)

Listeners are left anticipating the unraveling of Ken’s intricate web of deceit in upcoming episodes, as the investigation deepens and more victims come forward.

---

Notable Quotes with Timestamps

• Crystal Sable on Meeting Ken:
  "By the time we got to the Christmas gathering, it was like, oh my goodness, we're gonna meet this guy. Let's see what he's all about."
  (02:04)

• Steve Sable on Ken's Appearance:
  "He did have a nice car, if I remember."
  (05:14)

• Crystal on Ken’s Generosity:
  "He's really showering her with all of these gifts."
  (06:32)

• Steve Expressing Concern:
  "This is so odd."
  (26:44)

• Rita's Realization:
  "I'm like, am I fucked?"
  (30:22)

---

Key Takeaways

• The Allure of Wealth: Ken's ability to project wealth and success captivates those around him, demonstrating how financial allure can cloud judgment and foster trust in deceptive individuals.

• Vulnerability in Financial Strain: The Sables' desperate need to support their aging parents makes them susceptible to high-risk investments, highlighting how financial desperation can lead to poor decision-making.

• Impact on Relationships: Ken’s scam not only results in financial loss but also strains familial relationships, showcasing how deceit can have multifaceted repercussions.

• Sophistication of Modern Scams: The episode underscores the complexity and reach of contemporary scams, emphasizing the need for vigilance and critical evaluation of seemingly lucrative opportunities.

---

"Catch Me If You Ken" sets the stage for an enthralling exploration of deception and its consequences, inviting listeners to delve deeper into the mechanisms of fraud and the human stories behind them.

Transcript

[Sponsor Voice]

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[Natalie Robomed]

Hi everyone. Welcome back to Infamous. I'm Natalie Robomed. So if you're an eagle eared listener, you might have noticed I was a bit quieter than usual this spring. That's because I was working on a new series called Catch Me if youf Can. It's the crazy story of a guy named Ken who pretended to be a billionaire's heir, the founder of a real estate startup backed by LeBron James, a weed farm mogul and a crypto wunderkind, but instead allegedly scammed his victims out of hundreds of thousands of dollars. This is a story that's never been told before and I'm so excited to share the first episode with you right now. If you like what you hear, you can listen to the first two episodes of Catch Me if youf Can Spelled K E N for free right now. Wherever you get your podcasts, a new episode drops every week. But if you want to hear it all at once ad free, you can subscribe to the binge. You can. And if you want to listen to Infamous ad free, you can also get that by subscribing to the binge. Okay, here's the episode. Hope you enjoy.

[Campsite Media]

Campsite Media.

[Natalie Robomed]

It's a cloudy evening in Columbus, Ohio, as Steve and Crystal Sable pull up to Steve's brother and sister in law's house. They're here for a Christmas get together to celebrate the 2017 holiday season, and they're excited because they're about to meet their niece's mysterious new boyfriend.

[Crystal Sable]

By the time we got to the 17 Christmas gathering, it was like, oh my goodness, we're gonna meet this guy. Let's see what he's all about.

[Natalie Robomed]

That's Crystal. She's blonde with tousled waves and bright blue eyes and a lot of enthusiasm for everything. She works in fundraising for the Coast Guard and has two kids with her husband, Steve.

[Steve Sable]

It was all four of us, my parents, their family, so it was a full household.

[Natalie Robomed]

Steve's tall, over six foot, with a bald head and a cropped beard. He's a detective at the Akan Police Department. Not the kind of guy who is easily impressed, but Right away, he notices something.

[Steve Sable]

He did have a nice car, if I remember.

[Crystal Sable]

Oh, he had a lot of nice cars.

[Natalie Robomed]

Because their niece's new boyfriend is apparently really rich. He's the son of the guy who founded Uniqlo and heir to a multi billion dollar fortune.

[Crystal Sable]

When we walked in, I just remember seeing the table set for the holiday dinner and then over on, like, a buffet, there was this huge. I've never seen so many roses in all of my life. Like, I don't know how many dozen. There had to be 150, maybe, roses in this vase.

[Natalie Robomed]

The flowers are for their niece Becca's recent birthday, a present from the boyfriend.

[Crystal Sable]

And it was like, wow, he really is taking good care of her. And he's really showering her with all of these gifts.

[Natalie Robomed]

Becca's in her early twenties, tall, brunette, and athletic. She has the big, dark eyes and long, long hair of Kendall Jenner. Honestly, she almost looks like a wax statue of Kendall Jenner or all her characteristics are very similar, but she's also very sporty. She's on her college volleyball team, plays outside hitter, and was varsity captain in high school.

[Crystal Sable]

She's lovely also. She's fun and smiling and just a lot of fun to be around.

[Natalie Robomed]

Today's not game day, but I imagine Beck is feeling nervous. The holidays are hard enough. Every small disagreement over how to cook the turkey layered with the unspoken resentments of family dynamics. Who feels like they've been doing more for their parents? Who's still jealous that the other sibling is dad's favorite? Plus, Becca's bringing a new boyfriend around. On top of all this, Becca's probably wondering, are Uncle Steve and Aunt Crystal going to get on well with him? It matters what everyone thinks because Becca's serious about him. She allegedly dropped out of college in New Jersey to be with him. They've been traveling the world.

[Crystal Sable]

Africa, Taiwan, Japan, Dubai.

[Steve Sable]

In the deserts.

[Natalie Robomed]

It's magical, what money can do. It can fill a room with the sweet scent of red roses, take you to places you never dreamed of, make things you've never imagined. A reality. That certainly seems to be what's happening for Becca. Her whole world is opening up in front of her, filling with possibilities that stretch way beyond Cleveland, Ohio. Steven Crystal can't wait to meet this guy.

[Crystal Sable]

On the left, there's a formal living room and a dining room where the roses were. On the right, there's the kitchen. Food is being prepared where all the girls are hugging each other. You know, we're all greeting one another and just waiting to meet Ken. He was out in the garage. And so finally he comes in.

[Natalie Robomed]

Ken, Becca's boyfriend. He's in his late 20s, Asian and short, about five foot six. Shorter than Becca, who's nearly six foot. He's got a round face, cropped black hair, and a stubbly black beard. His left arm is peppered with mismatched tattoos.

[Crystal Sable]

They introduced Ken to all of us. And the thing that I noticed right away about him is he wouldn't look you in the eye. At least wouldn't look me in the eye.

[Natalie Robomed]

Ken's shy. Maybe he's being deferential to Crystal, a more senior member of the family. He doesn't talk much, but his gifts say a lot.

[Crystal Sable]

Ken pulls out these big, fancy, expensive cigars.

[Steve Sable]

We went to the garage and had cigars. This is a 50 or $100 cigar there.

[Natalie Robomed]

Hanging out with the guys, Steve talks to Ken. When he speaks, Ken has an accent. He says he's Japanese.

[Steve Sable]

It was kind of hard to understand him.

[Natalie Robomed]

Meanwhile, Crystal chats with Becca and her mom. She hears all about the amazing things Becca and Ken have been up to. He took her to Paris Fashion Week. She got to see the John Galliano show. He's even going to help Becca start her own fashion line.

[Crystal Sable]

He's wining and dining her. She's showing all of these, you know, fancy excursions and gift.

[Natalie Robomed]

I mean, this sounds really incredible. Imagine meeting someone you really love who can also change your life materially. And money does change things. It makes people act differently, strangely. And it can split families apart. The sables are about to find this out firsthand, because Ken's arrival is going to precipitate a mess so extreme it costs them more than $100,000, rips their family apart, and causes two brothers to stop speaking to each other. From Sony Music Entertainment and Campside Media, this is Catch Me if youf Can Episode one, Boyfriend in the Garage.

[Crystal Sable]

Catch me if you can.

[Natalie Robomed]

My name is Natalie Ropamet. I'm a journalist living in la, but I'm English and Lebanese and grew up in Dubai. In other words, I'm an international person with a vague accent that's hard to pin down. I know firsthand how people project all sorts of meanings onto accents. They can create the illusion of wealth, mystery, and genius. I've had people think I'm much richer than I am because of my accent or. Or much smarter than I am because of the way I pronounce my T's. It's given me a smokescreen of sorts, one I may have occasionally taken advantage of. This Is a story all about these kinds of smokescreens and the things we use to our advantage. It's set in a world of scenesters and posers of social media where the very glamorous fashion filled life someone projects can completely fool people. And where everything is, is not as it seems. We're going to go around the world from Beverly Hills to Singapore, Italy to Germany to track down the true identity of a person who has allegedly stolen hundreds of thousands of dollars from victims. But more than that has left them unable to trust again. Back in Ohio, the Sables have dinner with Ken, Becca and the rest of their family. Even though he's quiet, Ken seems like a big shot, A major player on the global stage. He's got the watch the car and the jet set lifestyle. The sort of person who takes international flights like they're his daily commute. And their niece certainly seems happy. She can't stop talking about how great he is and, and how excited she is about their fancy life together. When Crystal and Steve get home, back to their house in Cleveland, two hours drive away from Becca and her family, they discuss the night and Becca's new relationship. They have the sort of private conversation that we only really have with our significant other, where we air our unvarnished judgments. The kind that aren't the most generous.

[Crystal Sable]

It was a little awkward that Christmas for one.

[Natalie Robomed]

Crystal and Steve have some resentments that Becca's parents aren't helping out enough with the family's sick grandparents.

[Crystal Sable]

My in laws were very ill at that point. We're trying to figure out why, you know, we're really the only ones helping the parents and they're bringing the new guy in.

[Natalie Robomed]

Plus, Crystal doesn't approve of the fact that Becca seemingly quit school to be with this new guy.

[Crystal Sable]

As a mother of teenage girls, you want your daughter to drop out of college and go around the world with this person that we don't know.

[Natalie Robomed]

Crystal might think this, but it's not her place to say anything. Becca is Crystal's niece, not her daughter. And Becca's own mom seems really happy with Ken.

[Crystal Sable]

Becca's mom would say, oh, Becca, so you know, found this her man. She's found her person in this world and he is, you know, he's just so wonderful to her.

[Natalie Robomed]

Who could blame them? It's huge to not have to worry about money, especially if you don't come from a ton of money, which I actually don't. Were you thinking that I did? That's part of what an accent does. And Becca's parents don't come from money either.

[Crystal Sable]

Very, very middle class family.

[Steve Sable]

He worked for JCPenney, which my dad worked for until they downsized and they let him go.

[Crystal Sable]

His job at that time was he was a buyer for big Lots.

[Natalie Robomed]

We all want our kids to have better lives than us. And the relief of not having to worry about where the next car payment is coming from, how you're going to afford rent, or what happens when you get a medical bill. It's monumental. So it makes a lot of sense that Becca's own parents are supportive of her relationship.

[Crystal Sable]

I think that they thought this could be her, her ticket in life.

[Natalie Robomed]

And maybe that ticket was about to get stamped because a few weeks after meeting Crystal and Steve, 21 year old Becca would marry 29 year old Kenny. And according to Crystal, they do it in secret.

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[Natalie Robomed]

So Ken and Becca go home from Ohio, flying over the middle of the country to the coast. They settle into their place in LA's Hollywood Hills. Now as a married couple. It's a $7 million home with five bedrooms, a pool and a fish tank in the wall. Out front are six luxury cars you including a Lamborghini, two Rolls Royces, a Range Rover and a G wagon. Rent here is $29,000 a month according to their landlord. And this is the new home of Ken and Becca.

[Rita]

It was an older house, but super nice, modern with kind of a mid century feel, sunken living room, you know, lots of light colored walls. This house had downstairs movie theater and everything.

[Natalie Robomed]

Yeah, that's Rita, Ken and Becca's housekeeper. I'm using an alias for reasons that will become clear later on.

[Rita]

I met them through them renting an Airbnb that was one of my clients and I became their cleaner and the relationship grew from there.

[Natalie Robomed]

Rita first met Ken and Becca about a year earlier in 2017 when they initially moved to LA.

[Rita]

They were young and rich and really nice and didn't expect a lot. You know, as far as the service, they were always really appreciative. I would charge them 225, I believe was the fee for the cleaning. And I mean the tip would be anywhere from like 50 to $100 each time. 99% of clients don't even tip to begin with. So to be tipped 50 to $100 every time was kind of like, wow, thank you. So I started coming twice a week and they still tipped every single time. And they were also generous with whoever was with me that day, like, do you guys want coffee, lunch, you know, whatever, things like that, Marijuana. So they were just really generous people.

[Natalie Robomed]

Even though they're a world away from Rita, she likes them. They're good clients, kind people. And surprisingly enough, Becca and Rita have some things in common. Both of them have two dogs. Rita's around Becca's dogs a lot.

[Rita]

Bully was a pit bull. He was just the sweetest dog ever.

[Natalie Robomed]

Bully is chunky and gray with a stubby tail. A breed of dog found all over LA's overflowing shelters.

[Rita]

And then Guac was a French bulldog.

[Natalie Robomed]

Guac, named after Guacamole, is a squish nosed, brown colored, squat little thing with those funny triangle ears that stick straight up. He's a very expensive pedigree. Dog. And these dogs were Ken and Becca to a T. An adorable combination of high and low. The kind of people to love both a designer dog and an unwanted pit bull.

[Rita]

I ended up being becoming like their pet sitter and house sitter every time they would leave town. So I was really close with their dogs.

[Natalie Robomed]

In la, dogs are basically like people's children. So being close to somebody's dog is as intimate as it gets. And Rita becomes close to Ken and Becca in the way wealthy LA people often do with their help. Where celebrities live in these big mansions on hills that are so isolated and unwalkable that the only people they see every day are their staff. Rita learns all sorts of things about Ken and Becca, like the cute way they met.

[Rita]

She lived outside of New York, and so her and her girlfriends used to love to go to the city on the weekends. And they were in a library and they were being goofballs, and she was sitting on the floor with a book, reading it upside down. And Ken walks by and says, you know that book's upside down, right? And she giggles and whatnot. And they have, like, little bit of banter. And then he asks for her number, and she was hesitant because he's short. And then she ends up giving it to him for some reason. And then they went on their first date, and he, like, picked her up in a Maybach.

[Natalie Robomed]

Rita figures they're a lovely young couple from different. Different sides of the track, but very much in love. And they seem to be building a great life together. Becca's working on her clothing line, and Ken's helping her build the business.

[Rita]

It always seemed like they were going to New York, and Becca was traveling separately to other places to check out fabrics for her clothing line and stuff like this.

[Natalie Robomed]

Things are on the up for them. Amrita's excited to be along for the ride. Back in Ohio, it's been seven months since Crystal and Steve met their niece Becca's boyfriend, Ken. They've been busy with their own kids, going to volleyball practice and working on college applications. You know how life can be just busy all day. The to do list, never ending. But they've been getting periodic updates about Becca, including that she's working on a fashion line, which. Which sounds cool. She's always had a thing for fashion. Here's Crystal.

[Crystal Sable]

Even as, like, a teenager, she was in, like, a couple of modeling competitions, and she won one. We really always thought that she was going to be, you know, a famous model.

[Natalie Robomed]

So a fashion business is a little different, but not completely.

[Crystal Sable]

And we're like, okay, let's see how this goes. Because people can make a career out of just being a hard worker and creative.

[Natalie Robomed]

Becca's parents must be so proud. And FYI, we reached out to Becker and her parents, but they did not respond to requests for an interview. Their daughter is becoming an entrepreneur, starting a business in a highfalutin industry like fashion. But according to Crystal, Becca's hard work and resourcefulness didn't always go towards a valuable goal. Sometimes there was a lot of effort that just went into keeping up appearances or even selling the world. A false version of what Becca's life was really like. Crystal remembers this one particular time when Becca and her sister wanted to see the boy band One Direction.

[Crystal Sable]

They didn't have the money to go to the One Direction concert. They would go outside of the concert where you could overhear the music and take pictures and put it on their Instagram to make it look like they went to the concert. They like to be in that top spot in life. Or even if it wasn't true, they wanted to project that it was true. Like, we're this beautiful family. We've got it all together.

[Natalie Robomed]

Becca having this rich boyfriend seems to fit right in with this image. But what if Becca was so used to only seeing the good in people or the image they projected that she missed who they really were? Around this time in the summer, as humidity begins to prickle back sweat and fireflies dance over evening lawns, Ken comes to Becca's father with a business opportunity. Not Becca's fashion line. Ken starting a new business.

[Crystal Sable]

Essentially, it was an upscale Airbnb and it was called your Sky.

[Natalie Robomed]

Your Sky Investments. The idea was it would be a platform for short term premium rentals. Nice homes like the one Ken and Becca first stayed in when they moved to LA mansions like the one Rita their housekeeper, took care of for them. Ken knew a thing or two about luxury homes. He traveled a lot and always stayed in nice digs. Now he wanted to put his expertise to work work starting his own business, a company that could one day rival his father's. And this could be a huge opportunity. Today, Airbnb is worth $80 billion. Imagine if you could have gotten in on the ground floor, given the founder a small amount of money, only for it to be returned 100 fold. That wouldn't just change your children's life, it would change your children's children's children's life. Create generational wealth. The real American dream. It's such an enticing offer. The chance to go into business With a guy who comes from such a big business family, who knows how these sorts of deals work, who already has other great investors on board. According to Steve, Becca's dad is immediately interested.

[Steve Sable]

He just takes you at your face value and leaves it at that. He doesn't pry.

[Natalie Robomed]

But Becca's dad has reason to trust Ken. I mean, he trusts his daughter. And she and Ken are married. Ken's family now. This relationship couldn't get more serious. And what Ken's allegedly asking for is serious too.

[Steve Sable]

I think they wanted like a couple.

[Natalie Robomed]

Hundred thousand dollars big bucks, which makes sense for such a big opportunity. According to the Sables, Becca's dad doesn't have that kind of money lying around. But he decides it's too good a chance to pass up.

[Crystal Sable]

He got a loan to invest in Ken and becca's business for 100,000.

[Natalie Robomed]

Ken has one Sable family member on board, and soon he'd be setting his sights on other relatives too.

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[Natalie Robomed]

So as Ken is talking to Becca's dad about investing in Ken's new company, things are going downhill for Becca's grandparents. The grandmother has dementia and needs special care. Meanwhile, the grandfather has to have heart surgery. Here's Crystal.

[Crystal Sable]

He was not recovering well from it, so he ended up going into a nursing home, and she also ended up going into the nursing home with him.

[Natalie Robomed]

Now, I don't know if you've ever spent time visiting a loved one in a nursing home or a hospital rehab facility, but I have. They're pretty depressing places. No bouquets of red roses here. When I think of the one my dad was in, I remember the linoleum floors, the strong smell of cleaning chemicals covering up incontinence, the vague plastic scent of hospital bedsheets on his skin. I'm not going to lie. It's tough and expensive.

[Crystal Sable]

Steve's entire family, they didn't come from money, but they saved their money. And they did well because of that. Well enough that they had some nest egg.

[Natalie Robomed]

But the grandfather is stressed about paying for the grandmother's care.

[Steve Sable]

He was worried about money for mom because $5,000 a month for memory care unit depletes savings funds pretty quickly.

[Natalie Robomed]

So Ken invited Becca's dad to invest in the company. And now apparently, Ken is going to her grandpa with the same opportunity.

[Crystal Sable]

You could invest $50,000, and in six months you will get a million dollars back.

[Natalie Robomed]

A million dollars. That's a 1,900% return on investment, an absolutely astronomical sum. Steve is the executor of his father's estate, so he's helping his dad with finances. And when he hears about the youe sky business, he tells Crystal.

[Crystal Sable]

And I thought, this is so odd. And I remember going and talking to Mike.

[Natalie Robomed]

That's Becca's grandfather.

[Crystal Sable]

We both did at the nursing home. I'm like, mike, are you sure? Like, I. I don't think this is legitimate.

[Natalie Robomed]

Again, I don't know if any of you have tried to talk to an elder in failing health about what to do with their finances. It can be really tricky. They're still the adult, but they're also not. And this grandfather is worried about affording his wife's dementia care. He figures if there's any way this could help, he has to do it.

[Crystal Sable]

It was like, Ken's gonna let us in on this deal.

[Natalie Robomed]

Still, it sounds too good to be true to anyone thinking clearly. But the grandfather doesn't really seem to be thinking clearly. He asks Steve to take him out of the nursing home and drive him down to Chase Bank.

[Steve Sable]

I took my dad to the bank to get a check drawn for $50,000. Right before we go in, I remember asking him. I go, you know, easily you could lose $50,000 just after writing this check. He goes Yeah, I understand, But I trust Becca. I'm like, okay, that's your choice. I can't tell you no, you know, it's his choice.

[Natalie Robomed]

They get the check. The grandfather's handwriting is spindly in italic cursive, and it's shaky, the letters falling below their designated lines. When they leave the bank, Steve drops his dad back to the nursing home. He's worried about what his dad's just done, scared he's about to lose a ton of money, but also feels like he needs to do what he's told. So Steve brings the check back to his house. Becca and her dad come to pick it up and drop off a contract for the grandfather.

[Crystal Sable]

You know, it was legalese and, you know, saying that he was part investor. Your Sky Investments, it was very generic.

[Natalie Robomed]

I've got a copy of that alleged contract in front of me. It's a stock purchase agreement that says Steve's dad bought 30,000 shares in this company, your Sky Investments, for $50,000. He hasn't really seen proof of this company. He only has Ken's word. Now, remember, according to the Sables, Becca's dad has also taken out a loan for $100,000 and invested that in the company. So all told, the Sable family is in for $150,000, which is so much money for them. They're regular working people, not the 1%. Steve is nervous, but Ken's a rich guy. He wouldn't be so cold and relentless as to scam his girlfriend's elderly grandparents, would he? Steve doesn't know it yet, but his hard working dad would soon find himself among dozens of victims who'd lose hundreds of thousands of dollars to sophisticated, ever evolving scams. Scams that spanned three continents and two decades. Targeting the rich and glamorous to the working class and humble. And Rita, the housekeeper, she would become another one of Ken's alleged victims, only to one day realize Ken and Becca had disappeared. Gone. Moved out of their beautiful Hollywood Hills home without so much as a goodbye. And Rita's money? Who knows if she would ever get it back? This season on Catch Me if youf Can.

[Sponsor Voice]

I was just so mad. My first reaction was just anger, like, no, he's not gonna get away with this. I sent her photos of me and Ken together. I'm like, I've been dating him. Can we please talk?

[Natalie Robomed]

When you see him with this younger, attractive girl, it sort of helps sell the yes, I do have a lot of money.

[Rita]

And I'm like, am I fucked?

[Campsite Media]

I was so angry.

[Natalie Robomed]

I wanted get this guy. What did I do? Catch Me if you can.

[Unknown Host]

Thank you so much for listening to Catch Me if you can. If you want to hear the rest of the show you can wait a little while and it will be free or it is currently in the paid subscription called the binge. You know the binge if you pay for it already because you can listen to our show without ads. So please check out Catch Me if youf Can. It's another way of supporting Natalie and we really appreciate it. We will see you with a regular Infamous and a new Infamous episode next week.

[Natalie Robomed]

If you enjoy the show, please leave us a rating and review and tell your friends. If you want to follow me on Instagram you can find me at Natrobe. That's N A T R O B E. And if you want to support Vanessa's work you can buy her book Blurred Lines Rethinking Sex, Power and Consent on Campus.