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- [00:00]
Mr. Ballin
Hey prime members, you can binge eight new episodes of the Mr. Ballin podcast one month early and all episodes ad free on Amazon Music. Download the Amazon Music app today. Several years ago, prank videos were huge on YouTube. Basically a prank YouTube channel would go out in public and they would do something crazy to some unsuspecting person and they'd film their reaction and that reaction video would get tons of views on YouTube. Well, during this prank heyday on YouTube, there was one YouTube channel that pulled off a prank that really stood out amongst the thousands and thousands of other pranks that were getting pumped out around this time. And the reason this particular prank stood out so much was because one, it was masterfully planned, two, it was brilliantly executed, and three, most memorably, it had massive intended and unintended consequences. We're talking international scandal level consequences. And amazingly, this story has yet to be converted into a major motion picture. And so I would imagine that most of you have actually never heard of it. But before we get into today's story, if you're a fan of the strange, dark and mysterious delivered in story format, then you've come to the right podcast.
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James
Because that's all we do.
- [01:12]
Mr. Ballin
And we upload twice a week, once on Monday and once on Thursday. So if that's of interest to you, please go into the follow button's cell phone and change their emergency contact to Papa John's. Okay, let's get into today's story. Hey prime members, have you heard you can listen to your favorite podcasts ad free. Good news. With Amazon Music you have access to the largest catalog of ad free top podcasts included with your prime membership. To start listening, download the Amazon Music app for free or go to Amazon.com adfreepodcast that's Amazon.com adfreepodcast to catch up on the latest episodes without the ads.
- [02:11]
Narrator
They say Hollywood is where dreams are made. A seductive city where many flock to get rich, be adored and capture America's heart. But when the spotlight turns off, fame, fortune and lives can disappear in an instant. Follow Hollywood and Crime, the Cotton Club, Murder on the Wondery app, or wherever you get your podcasts.
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James
On the night of February 12, 2017, a young woman named Siti Aisha saw something coming over to her that surprised her so much that she gasped and she put her drink down on the bar. The bar she was at was called the Hard Rock Cafe in Kuala Lumpur, which is the capital city of Malaysia. This night for city had already been one of the best in recent memory, but now it was getting Even better, because a waitress was walking over to her carrying a birthday cake with a candle lit in the middle, and City knew it was for her. So she stepped forward kind of bashfully and all of City's friends who were there with her kind of formed up around her. And as the waitress came over to City, the friends all immediately began singing Happy Birthday to City. It was City's 25th birthday and she could not believe how far she had come. Here she was in this beautiful American styled restaurant surrounded by her friends who were these big TV show producers. And tonight they were throwing a party for her. Something that did not happen often in City's life to this point. After Siti's friends finished singing Happy Birthday, City leaned forward and she blew out her candle. But she didn't even make a wish before she blew it out, because to her, she felt like she had everything she had ever wanted. And so instead, as she blew that candle out, she just made a point to feel incredibly grateful for the life that she now had. Because not long ago, Siti's life looked very different. Siti had grown up in a tiny town inside of a jungle in Indonesia. She was the youngest of three children, and her parents were very poor farmers that barely made enough money to provide shelter and food for their kids. In fact, Siti's parents were so poor that they couldn't afford to send her to high school. They needed her to stay home and go to work to help support the family. Siti would end up getting married and she would have a son with her husband, but her husband would divorce her and not provide any support for their kid. And. And so suddenly, Siti was the single mother trying to look out for her son while also trying to provide for her parents and her other siblings. And eventually it became so difficult to find enough work to provide for all these people that Siti was forced to go abroad and look for work elsewhere outside of Indonesia, which meant she had to leave behind not only her parents and siblings, but also her son. Her son had to stay with her parents. Siti would ultimately find work as a masseuse in a hotel in Malaysia called the Flamingo. Now, Siti really did not like this work at all, but it paid well enough and she needed the money badly enough that she decided to just keep on doing it. Sometimes City, like a lot of the other girls that she worked with at the hotel, would daydream about being discovered as a model or a singer or an actress and getting taken away from this life to a life of luxury and wealth and Leisure. But Siti never really expected that to happen. Next to City at the bar was her producer, whose name was James. And James had his arm around her, and he suddenly flashed her his cell phone. And he kind of pointed to the screen. And City looked at it, and she saw there was a text message from someone, but it was in a language that she didn't recognize. And she asked James, you know, what is that? And James grinned at her and said, this is my boss telling me that you are already a superstar in Korea. And when Sidi heard this, she was totally embarrassed, but also really excited. City had met James about a month ago in January of 2017, when City and some of her friends from the hotel had decided to go out for the night. Now, Citi very rarely went out. She basically worked and slept and then sent home her money to her family. But for whatever reason, she had been convinced by her friends to go out and have a good time. And so she was all dolled up. And she and her friends were standing in line to get into a bar when a very handsome man wearing a suit, James, walked up to Siti and said, have you done any acting? And City, wearing her best clothes with her friends, she suddenly felt bold. And she told this guy, who she didn't know, that, no, I haven't, but I'd like to try. And so James asked her if she'd come with him, and she said, okay. And they went to this cafe and they sat down, got coffees, and James explained to Siti who he was, and he told her he was a Japanese television producer who specialized in hidden camera prank videos, and he needed actresses to put on pretty clothes and pull pranks on unsuspecting people on camera. City had initially been very skeptical of James and this proposition, but at the same time, back then, prank videos were all the rage on YouTube. They were on mainstream TV. They were everywhere. And City knew that. But she had never thought about being in one. She just sometimes liked to watch them. But James would tell her, this is really easy work, and you'll get paid well for it. And so City had ultimately said, okay, yeah, I'll do it with you. And after she said yes, her life had been a whirlwind. No longer was she a masseuse at a hotel, but instead, she was like a celebrity flying all over the country filming all these prank videos. And James bosses were so pumped, they kept messaging him, telling him how amazing she was and how every video she was doing was outperforming anything they hoped it could do, mean everything. Was going perfectly. City took a few more bites of her birthday cake, and then she checked her watch and saw it was almost 10pm which for James and her other friends might be early, but for City, that was pretty late. Plus, she had already had a lot of alcohol that night, and so that was making her more tired. And so she told James and the others she was going to leave. She thanked them for the party, and then she headed out and went to her hotel. As soon as City was in her room, she immediately called her mother. City and her mom talked all the time, sometimes multiple times a day. And this night, City just really missed her mom and she really missed her son. And as soon as she called her mom, her mom picked up and they chatted for a bit. And City told her all about how she'd had this amazing birthday party and how excited she was about the next day because they were shooting a really big prank. It was going to be their biggest one yet, and it would have the biggest payout of any of the videos she had done so far. This one tomorrow was going to pay her US$100. And Siti told her mom, don't worry, I'm sending all of it back home to you all. Siti's mother was so thankful and so excited for her daughter, and she said, that's wonderful. Get a good night's sleep and I'll be thinking of you tomorrow. And after that, City talked to her son for a couple of seconds and. And then they hung up and City crawled into bed. She turned off the light and she tried to sleep, but she couldn't. She was too excited about tomorrow's shoot. She and James had been talking about this particular prank for the last week, and they'd been rehearsing it over and over again. And now here she was on the precipice of actually doing it in real life. The pranks that City did were all pretty similar and pretty simple. She and James would go to some train station or some hotel or some other public area, and they would identify an unsuspecting older man. And then City, all dressed up, would go up to the sky while she was being filmed at a distance, and she would either kiss the man on the cheek or spray him with perfume or rub chili oil on his hand, and then she would giggle and run away. And then the camera crew would zoom in on the man's face as he's kind of bewildered and trying to figure out why that had just happened. But tomorrow's prank, even though it was pretty similar to the ones she had done it would be the first time she'd be working with another actor, in fact, two other actors. One of the actors was a woman who would be doing the pranking with City. And then their target, the unsuspecting man, was also an actor. James. And the Japanese television production company had insisted that for this prank to work, this guy really did need to be in on it. City had already met and rehearsed a couple of times with the other woman who she'd be doing this prank with. But she had not met the third actor, the unsuspecting man, yet. She'd be meeting him the next day. Actually, during the prank, City would eventually fall asleep that night, and then her alarm would go off fairly early the next morning. And when it did, City immediately got out of bed and she got dressed in a dark form fitting outfit. She put on some red lipstick, and then she hustled out of her room, downstairs and out of the hotel to meet James, the woman actress she'd be working with that day, and the other producers who were involved in the production. Then as a big group, they hopped in a cab and went to the international airport where this big prank was going to take place. And when they got there, they made their way to a restaurant in the departures area to wait for the third actor, the unsuspecting man, to show up so they could begin the shoot. And while they waited, City and the other actress she'd be working with struck up a conversation. The other actress's name was Duan Ti Huang, and she was a 28 year old woman from Vietnam. And just like City, she had come from a poor family and she had gone abroad to find work to help support her family. And it was during this time that she was abroad that she was recruited to star in these prank videos. But unlike Siti, who daydreamed about maybe being a singer or a model or an actress or something someday, for Doan, acting was the only thing she ever thought of. Her whole life, the only thing she ever wanted, was to be an actress. In fact, Do Won had left school to pursue a career in show business. She had been on a show called Vietnam Idol, but unfortunately did not make it past the first round. And she had actually done a few other prank videos with a different production company, but neither of those two ventures had ever really panned out. It wasn't until she was recruited by James and his team to be a part of these videos that Dowon finally felt like she was on the right track. And as they talked, City couldn't help but feel like Doan was just a little bit weird. She did like Doan. She had no issues with her. But Do Won had chose to wear for this big shoot today a very childish outfit. Instead of wearing something similar to what City had on which City imagined she would be, Dowon was wearing this weird childish looking T shirt that just said LOL on it. And she was carrying around with her everywhere this huge oversized teddy bear. But City just chalked it up to, you know, maybe James and the other producers told Doan to dress this way. And that's why the group took their time at breakfast inside of this restaurant just waiting for this third actor to show up. And finally at 9am so after an hour of just sitting there, one of the producers actually said, hey, there he is right there. And so City and Dowon and James, they looked out into the very crowded area and and sure enough, where the producer was pointing was this guy who looked exactly like all of their other victims. He was this middle aged, stocky guy carrying a briefcase who totally blended in with the hundreds of other people out there. And the producers told City and Dowon that it looked like this actor had already begun the scene. He was already heading over to the self check in kiosk, which was like the start of this prank. And so they told City and Dowan like go, go start the prank. And so City grabbed the perfume that she was given to spray in this guy's face and the producers rushed to rub this oil on Doan's hands along with give her a wet cloth because that was what she was going to need for her side of this prank. And then City and Dowan stood up and began making their way out into the very crowded terminal. And as she walked, City couldn't help but feel very nervous because she knew this was her big chance to show James and the other producers that she could work well with other actors and and that she could do a fairly complex prank.
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Mr. Ballin
If you're listening to this podcast, then chances are good you are a fan of the strange, dark and mysterious. And if that's the case, then I've got some good news. We just launched a brand new strange, dark and mysterious podcast called Mr. Ballin's Medical Mysteries. And as the name suggests, it's a show about medical mysteries, a genre that many fans have been asking us to dive into for years. And we finally decided to take the plunge. And the show is awesome. In this free weekly show, we explore bizarre unheard of diseases, strange medical mishaps, unexplainable deaths and everything in between. Each story is totally true and totally terrifying. Go follow Mr. Ballin's medical mysteries wherever you get your podcasts and if you're a Prime member, you can listen early and ad free on Amazon Music. Hey listeners, Big news for true crime lovers. You can now enjoy this podcast ad free on Amazon Music with your prime membership. Listen to all episodes of my podcasts, Mr. Ballin's Medical Mysteries and Mr. Ballin's Strange, Dark and Mysterious Stories along with a huge collection of top true crime podcasts. Completely ad free. No more wading through cliffhangers or dealing with ads. Because let's be honest, ads shouldn't be the most nerve wracking part of true crime. To start your ad free listening journey, download the Amazon Music app for free or head to Amazon.com ballin that's Amazon.com B A L L E N Dive into uninterrupted true crime stories today.
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James
City and Dowon made their way right behind the third actor and as he continued to punch the screen of the self serve kiosk, the two women split up just like they had rehearsed. City walked around the man and got on the backside of this kiosk, basically looking at the man who was looking down at the computer screen, and Doan stayed where she was and then Doan looked up at City and nodded, which was the signal at which point City rushed forward right in front of this guy who looked up and acted surprised and then Dowan ran up behind him and grabbed his face and rubbed her hands in that wet cloth all over his face, and then City, as soon as that was happening, sprayed the perfume on the guy's face as well. And then the two women kind of giggled and said sorry and then walked away in separate directions. As City walked to the bathroom to wash the perfume off her hands, she was very conscious of the fact that she was still very likely being filmed and so she checked her hair a couple of times and made sure her clothes were just right and then she disappeared into the bathroom. She washed her hands and then she looked up at the mirror and she smiled behind because she knew she had nailed this prank and she was going to be a star. After City had finished washing up, she left the bathroom and made her way over to the meetup point kind of on the other side of the airport where Doan, James and the other producers were going to meet up, but no one was there and she thought that was weird because they had totally planned to meet at this point after the prank, but after a Little while, City told herself that, you know, maybe they had already headed down to the taxi waiting area, and that's where they are and they're waiting for me. So City left the airport and went to the taxi waiting area. But when she got there, she found herself alone again. And so City would stand there looking around, waiting for about 15 minutes. And when still she didn't see anybody, she texted James and said, you know, where are you? But she didn't get a response. And so, feeling kind of annoyed, City finally just flagged down a taxi on her own, hopped in and told the driver she just wanted to go back to her hotel. And then on the drive to the hotel, City started to get car sick and kind of nauseous. And she figured it didn't help that she had drank a bunch the night before, so she was still a little bit hungover. And at some point she actually had to tell the driver to pull over so she could vomit outside. And so finally, when City got back to her hotel and got back to her room, she felt so crappy. And she was so upset with how everything was going that she didn't even bother to get undressed. She just jumped into her bed and fell asleep. Citi would sleep for several hours, and when she woke up again, she still felt totally hungover and gross. And she rolled over and checked her phone, expecting to see a message from James explaining why they had ditched her after the prank. But there was no messages or phone calls from anyone. And so City was totally annoyed and frustrated, but just couldn't deal with this right now. And so she put her phone down and fell asleep for the rest of the night. The next morning when Citi woke up, she felt like a brand new person. She was not hungover anymore. She rolled over and grabbed her phone again, expecting to see a message from James or someone. There wasn't anything. And so she called James, but as soon as she called him, she could tell his phone was now off. And so suddenly City thought to herself, wait a minute, did the prank go badly? Did I do something wrong? Is that why they're ignoring me? And then also City thought to herself, am I still going to get paid for this prank? I told my family I was sending them US$100. All day that day, Sidi would sit on her bed in the hotel and call and text James. But James never got back to her. And City did not have the contact info for the other actors or the other producers. And so she was just totally stuck, not really sure what to do. And she Just couldn't understand it. I mean, even if it had gone really badly, if she had blown that prank, for some reason, she had spent the past four weeks with these people, specifically James, flying all over the country with him, going to dinners with him. He had thrown her a birthday party. They had all these long conversations about life. What could she have possibly done that would warrant this kind of treatment? And so by the end of that day, when still City had heard nothing, she just felt totally heartbroken and embarrassed and decided, you know what? I'm done with those people. Tomorrow. I'm going home to my family. And sure enough, the next day, City got up. She grabbed her things, she checked out of the hotel. She headed to the airport to fly back home. But as she was going through security, she heard all this commotion behind her, and she turned, and she saw six heavily armed police officers sprinting in her direction. And so, instinctively, City tried to get out of the way to let them run past her. But instead of the men running past her, they ran right up to her, grabbed her, flipped her around, and put her under arrest. And immediately City's like, oh, my goodness, this is what's been going on. They've been ghosting me for two days here because they were setting me up for another prank. I'm part of the prank now. James must be nearby filming, and they've sent these fake police officers to arrest me. And so this is all gonna be on the show. And so, feeling totally relieved, City began to laugh and said to one of the officers, oh, so this is a prank, huh? And the officer was like, no, this is real. You are under arrest. And when he told her what she was being arrested for, Siti nearly fainted. Here's what really happened during City's last big prank. After City and Dowan had run up on the third actor, and Dowan rubbed that towel on his face, and then City sprayed him with perfume. The two women had then disappeared into the crowd. And then the third actor just stood there staring blankly. And then he had kind of stumbled away from the kiosk over to a receptionist, where he told her that he was feeling really dizzy. The receptionist could tell this guy definitely needed help. He was unsteady on his feet. His face was all wet, and he was speaking kind of frantically. And so she grabbed a few employees of the airport, and they clustered around him and began walking him to the medical clinic that was in the airport. And as they escorted him to this clinic, the man began saying he was in so much pain. And he kept walking slower and Slower. And then finally, when they actually got him inside this clinic, just a couple of minutes later, he was on the ground having a seizure. Immediately, the medical staff rushed to the man's aid and they injected him with the medicine to stop the seizure. And then with the help of airport staff, they lifted him up, put him on a stretcher, and then rushed him to an ambulance that was supposed to take him to the hospital, but he would die on the way there. City and Dowan had no idea this had happened to the third actor. After the prank, the two women had gone into separate bathrooms and then basically just missed each other. They came out, staggered to the meeting point and they didn't see anyone. They both went down to the taxi waiting area thinking that's where everyone had gone. And again, City and Doan just didn't see each other, and they both got in their own taxis and went back to their own hotels. As for James and the other producers, the reason they were absent after this prank had ended is because they planned to be absent after this prank. As soon as they saw City and Dowon pulling off this prank successfully, they all got up from that restaurant and promptly rushed to board planes that would take them out of the country. Because James and these other producers were not really producers. They didn't have a prank show. It was all a charade. In reality, they worked for the North Korean government, and James, whose real name was Ri Jiu, had been tasked by the North Korean government to recruit gullible women, AKA Siti and Dowon, to participate in a top secret mission that could easily get them killed. In fact, this mission was so sensitive and so dangerous that James and his other TV producers had to live undercover for weeks with Doan and City kind of slowly convincing them that this was all legitimate and that what they were going to do was just a prank, not a top secret mission. City and Dowan had both been recruited by James because they both were vulnerable and poor. City was also known to be very naive and believed anything she was told. And Dowon was very immature and childlike and overly trusting. All the prank videos that City and Dowan had been independently filming with James and their crew in the weeks leading up to this big final prank had not been episodes of a prank show. They were actually doing pranks on actual unsuspecting people. But it was all rehearsals. James and his crew wanted to make sure that City and Dowon one, thought this really was a prank show, and two, that they were able to actually do the prank, that they wouldn't chicken out at the end. And on the morning of February 12, 2017, the day of the big prank, which in reality was the big secret mission, the perfume that City was given was not really perfume, and the oil that was rubbed on Dowan's hands was not really oil. They were the ingredients for a deadly nerve gas called vx. Now, separately, these ingredients would not have harmed either of these two women. But when you combine those ingredients, that's when it turns into a deadly poison. And so that was why City and Dowan had been told to do this prank together. Because James and his crew needed them to mix the VX gas on their target's face. And the target was not an actor. His name was Kim Jong Nam, and he had no idea what was going on when City and Dowon touched his face and sprayed him with perfume. But he was dead within 20 minutes. And his death would have been exceptionally painful. It would turn out City and Dowon had been tricked into participating in one of the biggest political assassinations in recent history. Because Kim Jong Nam, the target, was actually the exiled brother of the leader of North Korea, Kim Jong Un. And it's widely believed that Kim Jong Un is the one who actually authorized this assassination. Both Siti and Dowon were initially charged with murder in Malaysia, which comes with an automatic death sentence. But those charges were quickly dropped when it was discovered that these two women were clearly victims as well. Surveillance video at the airport shows Siti and Dowon handling the extremely deadly nerve agent ingredients so casually. And then after they pulled off their prank, which meant they now had VX gas on their hands, they casually were touching their hair and touching their clothes. It's obvious they have no idea what they're doing. The sickness that City started to feel after the prank was not a hangover. Those were symptoms of VX gas poisoning. It just wasn't enough to kill her. Neither James nor any of the other TV producers has ever been arrested. And to this day, North Korea still says they had nothing to do with this assassination. A quick note about our stories. They are all based on true events.
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Mr. Ballin
But we sometimes use pseudonyms to protect the people involved. And some details are fictionalized for dramatic purposes.
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James
Foreign.
- [28:03]
Mr. Ballin
Thank you for listening to the Mr. Ballin podcast. If you enjoyed today's story and you're looking for more bone chilling content, be sure to check out all of our studio's podcasts. Not just this one, but also Mr. Ballin's medical mysteries. Bedtime Stories. Run fool and Wartime Stories. To find them, all you have to do is look up Ballin Studios on any podcast platform and boom, you'll find them all. If you want to watch hundreds more stories just like the one you heard today, head over to our YouTube channel, which is just called Mr. Ballin. So that's going to do it. I really appreciate your support. Until next time. See ya. Hey prime members, you can binge eight new episodes of the Mr. Ballin podcast one month early and all episodes ad free on Amazon Music. Download the Amazon Music app today. And before you go, please tell us about yourself by completing a short survey@wondry.com.
- [29:09]
Narrator
Survey they say Hollywood is where dreams are made, a seductive city where many flock to get rich, be adored and capture America's heart. But when the spotlight turns off, fame, fortune and lives can disappear in an instant. When TV producer Roy Raiden was found dead in a Canyon near LA in 1983, there were many questions surrounding his death. The last person seen with him was Lainey Jacobs, a seductive cocaine dealer who desperately wanted to be part of the Hollywood elite. Together, they were trying to break into the movie industry, but things took a dark turn when a million dollars worth of cocaine and cash went missing. From Wondery comes a new season of the hit show Hollywood and Crime, the Cotton Club Murder. Follow Hollywood and the Cotton Club Murder on the Wondery app or wherever you get your podcasts. You can binge all episodes of the Cotton Club Murder early and ad free right now by joining Wondery Plus.