FBI Fleeing Fugitive Scoots Underwater from Ponzi to Pond w/ Kyle Gordon

Summary

Scam Goddess Podcast: "FBI Fleeing Fugitive Scoots Underwater from Ponzi to Pond" with Kyle Gordon

Release Date: July 22, 2025

In this captivating episode of Scam Goddess, host Laci Mosley, also known as the Scam Goddess, delves deep into the intriguing world of financial fraud and audacious getaways. Joined by the multifaceted comedian and social media sensation Kyle Gordon, the episode masterfully blends humor with insightful analysis of some of the most bizarre and cunning scams in recent history.

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1. Welcoming the Guest: Kyle Gordon

Timestamp: [00:52] – [02:19]

The episode kicks off with Laci introducing Kyle Gordon, a New Yorker with a vast online presence and a knack for musical comedy. With over six million followers across various platforms, Kyle brings a fresh and humorous perspective to the discussion on scams.

• Laci Mosley: “He has 6 million followers and over a billion views across TikTok, Instagram, YouTube, Twitter, and Facebook. So you have probably seen him.”

2. Personal Encounters with Scams

Timestamp: [02:25] – [05:57]

Laci and Kyle dive into their personal experiences with scams. While Kyle shares his inadvertent encounters with scams and even admits to running minor, harmless cons in his early career, Laci reminisces about the notorious "bringer shows" in New York, where aspiring comedians would manipulate friends and family to attend their performances.

• Kyle Gordon: “I may be subject to multiple scams that I don't even realize that are currently happening to me.”
• Laci Mosley: “One of the ultimate scams. It's still going on today.”

They humorously discuss the lengths they've gone to avoid or engage in scams, highlighting the pervasive nature of fraud in everyday life.

3. Historic Hoodwinks: The Matthew Piercey Ponzi Scheme

Timestamp: [11:22] – [44:48]

The heart of the episode lies in the Historic Hoodwinks segment, where Laci narrates the elaborate Ponzi scheme orchestrated by Matthew Piercey from Palo Cedro, California. Piercey defrauded investors out of $35 million through his companies, Family Wealth Legacy and Zola Financial, by promising fixed returns from securities, cryptocurrency mining, and life insurance investments.

• Laci Mosley: “Matthew Piercey ran a $35 million Ponzi scheme, then fled the FBI on an underwater scooter.”
• Kyle Gordon: “Ponzi scheme. Yeah, there we go. Tale as old as time.”

Piercey's audacious escape attempt is a focal point of their discussion. When confronted by FBI agents, he fled into Lake Shasta using a Yamaha 350L underwater submersive device, hiding underwater for 25 minutes before surrendering. Laci and Kyle humorously critique his escape strategy, questioning the efficacy of using such equipment in an enclosed lake environment.

• Laci Mosley: “He was putting his flippers on.”
• Kyle Gordon: “You can't even go that deep underwater with this. What were you thinking?”

The conversation highlights the blend of desperation and misplaced ingenuity in Piercey's actions, underscored by their comedic banter.

4. Affinity Fraud and Scams in Religious Communities

Timestamp: [21:52] – [27:40]

Laci sheds light on how Piercey exploited his position within the Bethel Church, an evangelical mega-church known for preaching prosperity gospel—a doctrine that promises wealth in return for faith and donations. This strategy made the congregation ripe for exploitation, allowing Piercey to solicit investments under the guise of divine favor.

• Laci Mosley: “Prosperity gospel is the idea that God rewards faith and wealth, which makes it an easy mark for Ponzi schemers.”
• Kyle Gordon: “They know people hate him. They only went for 50 signatures. They didn't even try.”

The discussion extends to past incidents within the church, emphasizing a pattern of financial deceit masquerading as spiritual guidance. Their analysis underscores the vulnerability of tight-knit communities to such fraudulent schemes.

5. Scootering Away: The Downfall of Matthew Piercey

Timestamp: [32:08] – [43:08]

As the story unfolds, Laci details Piercey's failed escape attempt. Utilizing a sea scooter, Piercey attempted to evade capture but was ultimately unsuccessful due to the limited speed and visibility of his device. The duo mocks the impracticality of his method, likening it to cartoonish scenarios.

• Laci Mosley: “He was bobbing for scam apples. He was like, did they get me? Oh, they still out there. Let's go back down.”
• Kyle Gordon: “He was right about one thing. The cops really didn't wanna get wet.”

Despite his creative effort, Piercey's plan fell apart when FBI agents, unable to match his underwater agility, eventually apprehended him. The aftermath saw him facing severe legal consequences, with charges including fraud, money laundering, and witness tampering, potentially leading to 20 years in prison.

• Laci Mosley: “Matthew pleaded guilty to fraud, money laundering, and witness tampering. He faces a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison for each count.”

6. Scammer of the Week: The $25,000 LEGO Heist

Timestamp: [51:00] – [59:21]

Transitioning to a lighter yet equally intriguing topic, Laci and Kyle introduce the Scammer of the Week segment, spotlighting Michael Ivory Fletcher—a 32-year-old from California charged with stealing $25,000 worth of LEGO sets from Target stores over several months. The thefts, centered around rare and high-value LEGO editions, highlight the unique niches that modern scams can occupy.

• Laci Mosley: “LEGO thefts have become more frequent in the Los Angeles area with thieves targeting a specific kind of LEGO.”
• Kyle Gordon: “Legos are not cheap. Genuinely, that's like one Star Wars Death Star.”

Their playful exploration into the motives behind such thefts—ranging from investment resale values to sheer nostalgia—adds a whimsical layer to the episode, showcasing the diverse spectrum of scams.

7. Concluding Remarks and Final Thoughts

Timestamp: [59:21] – [60:41]

As the episode winds down, Laci and Kyle reflect on the absurdity and complexity of scams, emphasizing the importance of vigilance and skepticism in financial dealings. They blend humor with cautionary tales, leaving listeners both entertained and informed.

• Laci Mosley: “Stay scheming.”
• Kyle Gordon: “Free Matthew.”

The episode concludes with acknowledgments and a brief mention of upcoming content, but stays true to the user’s request by focusing on the substantive discussions and key insights.

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Notable Quotes

• Laci Mosley [12:00]: “Matthew Piercey ran a $35 million Ponzi scheme, then fled the FBI on an underwater scooter.”
• Kyle Gordon [19:00]: “The algorithm is my third cousin. If you just let me know what you need, I will call Algorithm up and be like, hey, Algorithm, this is my homeboy Kyle. Can y'all help him out?”
• Laci Mosley [27:03]: “The church's disclaimer wasn't enough to prevent Matthew from hitting it big time at the same church with another scheme.”
• Kyle Gordon [36:18]: “He was right about one thing. The cops really didn't wanna get wet.”

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Key Takeaways

• Matthew Piercey's Scheme: A sophisticated Ponzi operation intertwined with religious community manipulation, culminating in a failed and comical underwater escape.
• Affinity Fraud: Harnessing the trust within tight-knit communities to perpetrate large-scale financial scams.
• Diverse Nature of Scams: From high-stakes financial fraud to niche thefts like expensive LEGO sets, scams continue to evolve and adapt to various societal niches.
• Humor as a Lens: Laci and Kyle use humor to dissect and discuss complex fraud mechanisms, making the content both engaging and informative.

This episode of Scam Goddess offers a blend of humor, storytelling, and investigative insight, making it a must-listen for enthusiasts of true crime, financial fraud, and comedic analysis.

Transcript

[Lacy Mosley]

Y' all know I got too many jobs and sometimes I get tired and I have a lot of hair, so we might not have time to get it washed before we have to go show up somewhere cute. Introducing Batiste Lite, the lightest dry shampoo from Batiste. I love it because you can remove crease from your hair, get that bounce back, get that movement back without having to spend so much time cleaning it. New Batiste Lite dry shampoo is lightweight, non gritty, leaves no white residue. It's great on your hair, easy on your wallet, and giving you that blowout look without the blowout price. Buy Batiste dry shampoo online or in store at your nearest retailer.

[Unknown McDonald's Voiceover]

The McDonald's Snack Wrap is back. You brought it back. Ranch snack wrap. Spicy snack wrap. You broke the Internet for a snack? Snack wrap is back.

[Lacy Mosley]

Ba da ba ba ba. Scams ca. Robbery and fraud scam. Cause robbery and fraud scam Goddess. What's poppin, Congregation? It's your girl, Lacy Mosley, AKA Scam Goddess, back with you, with all of you. How are y'?

[Kyle Gordon]

All?

[Lacy Mosley]

Okay, that's crazy. You know, that's crazy works for any situation. You could be like, oh, I just got a promotion. I can say that's crazy. You can say, oh, I just ran my car off the bridge. But we. That's crazy. You know, good or bad, that's crazy, y'.

[Kyle Gordon]

All.

[Lacy Mosley]

I am very. What? Yes. Excited, Elated for today's guest. Today we have a New Yorker gracing us in the LA studio. Okay, I already just had a bacon, egg, and cheese that just appeared when he arrives. He's a comedian, actor, musician, songwriter, and improviser. He has 6 million followers and over a billion views across TikTok, Instagram, YouTube, Twitter, and Facebook. So you have probably seen him. He's known for his unique and varied charact as well as his pitch perfect musical comedy songs. He's appeared on the Simpsons, Comedy Central, Adult Swim, and even Fortnite. Okay, give me the skin. Congregation, please welcome Kyle Gordon to the show. Hi, Kyle.

[Kyle Gordon]

Hi. That's crazy. That is crazy. Thank you for having me. I'm very excited.

[Lacy Mosley]

No, that's you. That's you. Now, Kyle, I have to know, what is your relationship with Scams? Do you love him? Do you hate him? Have you run some that are past the statute of limitations or had some run on you? It could literally be anything.

[Kyle Gordon]

Yeah, I don't. I, you know, try to avoid them, but I think. I don't think. I can't think of any particular time that I'VE been scammed. Although I may be subject to multiple scams that I don't even realize that are currently happening to me. Yeah, that's kind of. Yeah, yeah. That's kind of the nature of scams. If they're really good or the person is really stupid like me, then they may just be kind of currently having.

[Lacy Mosley]

Like, all the people shaking us down and not helping us. Like, there's so many scams being run on us.

[Kyle Gordon]

Yes.

[Lacy Mosley]

Is there anything in the news that you saw that was particular, regularly titillating or.

[Kyle Gordon]

I don't know. I mean, I. I was thinking too. You asked if I had run any scams. I think I'd. I. Over the years, I feel like I've run more little scams than I have been recipient of. Scam. Yeah, exactly.

[Lacy Mosley]

Can you tell us one little harmless one?

[Kyle Gordon]

I had a bunch of terrible jobs when I was first starting out. We all do, of course. And one of them was like, I was an assistant at a PR company and I was trying to promote my own little shows in New York. So I would take the letterhead from the PR company and pretend to be my own publicist and I would, I would send out, you know, press releases, like this incredible new up and coming talent. And I was trying to promote, like a show. Yeah, exactly. And it just goes to show, like, it still didn't really work. I got, I think I got one article from like an Australian blog, and that didn't really help me sell tickets to, like, my 50 seat theater in New York. But I don't know, it was fun to, like, try to.

[Lacy Mosley]

I was like, hey, you never know, it might have been some shrimp on at that show. You never know.

[Kyle Gordon]

Exactly.

[Lacy Mosley]

Like, yeah, especially like in New York where I feel like, okay, did you ever have to do this? One of the biggest scams in New York. When I first started doing standup, there was like bringer shows.

[Kyle Gordon]

Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Lacy Mosley]

Where you had to like, basically Ponzi scheme your whole friends and family into coming to your comedy show so you could get time.

[Kyle Gordon]

One of the ultimate scams. It's. Yeah, it's still. Still going on today.

[Lacy Mosley]

Oh, it is, for sure.

[Kyle Gordon]

Yeah.

[Lacy Mosley]

But they do it in Times Square too. They'll be like, oh, this is in Timeout magazine. You know, it's timeout magazine. Ain't nothing but a scam. A scam rag. And I love it. I love it for us, I love it for the tourists. But timeout magazine is like, this is the helicopter you should ride. And it's like, who paid them to say that?

[Kyle Gordon]

Yeah, well, literally, when I was doing my scam, pretending to be my own publicist, I did it in order to get in, like, a publication, like in timeout.

[Lacy Mosley]

And that was like, people's guide. If they didn't know anything about the city, you could definitely clean up there. I love that you use the letterhead and it's like all you did was use the name of the company you work for. And technically you were employed there.

[Kyle Gordon]

I was, yeah, exactly. Yeah. And I mean, technically are expensive.

[Lacy Mosley]

They started like three. No, they started like 4,000 to 8,000 to 10,000amonth, depending on who you are. Like, it's very expensive to have a publicist. So it's like you got to have a little bit. You went to the office and you were like, I'm going to take a stapler.

[Kyle Gordon]

Oh, my God. If we're talking about statue of limitations are expired. I the amount of printing, I would just, like, print out flyers. The ink is so expensive, it's ridiculous.

[Lacy Mosley]

And it always seems to run out at a time that I'm like, I don't think y' all gave me enough.

[Kyle Gordon]

Yeah, exactly.

[Lacy Mosley]

Like, I'm like, I just popped this bitch into the Epson. What do you mean low on ink?

[Kyle Gordon]

Exactly. Right? Yeah.

[Lacy Mosley]

I print on low on ink now. Like, it'll be like, low on ink. And I'm printing out size and I'm like, no, go ahead and do it. Cause I know you got the ink.

[Kyle Gordon]

Oh, yeah, yeah. You gotta just milk every drop of ink out of that. Otherwise, yeah, that stuff expensive.

[Lacy Mosley]

Expensive as hell. I'm like, do I need to get my quill out? This is really what ink costs. But also, I started going. Going on Amazon to get my ink that was compatible with my laptop. And I knew it. Or laptop of my printer. And I knew it was a scam because I would get the printer ink. It looked like it was like, comparable. Like, comparable with this or whatever, and it was cheaper. And then I would install it and nothing would happen. And then I read the box, and on the back it said you might have to install it a couple times before it works. You might have to blow on it a little bit.

[Kyle Gordon]

Really?

[Lacy Mosley]

Yeah, it was like, just blow Nintendo it and then put it back. And I did it. I was like, fuck it. I did it. I blew on it. I stuck it back in two times. And then it was like, really?

[Kyle Gordon]

That's good. I also love that you bought something that admits on the box. Like, this is kind of fun. I curse by the way.

[Lacy Mosley]

Yeah, okay.

[Kyle Gordon]

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Lacy Mosley]

It was like, girl, we kind of sketchy, but we did send you the product.

[Kyle Gordon]

Okay, Exactly.

[Lacy Mosley]

So you going to have to blow on it a couple times. Put it in the microwave real quick.

[Kyle Gordon]

Exactly.

[Lacy Mosley]

On. On 15 seconds. If you go past 15. Went too far.

[Kyle Gordon]

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Lacy Mosley]

And then put it in.

[Kyle Gordon]

Right, right. We're like, we don't really know why it does that, but, you know, as long as you just give it a second. Yeah. Like, just smack it a few times. Yeah.

[Lacy Mosley]

Did you whack? You call customer service. Did you whack it?

[Kyle Gordon]

Yeah, yeah, exactly.

[Lacy Mosley]

Okay, we're gonna need you to take it out and blow. Can you blow? Okay, yeah, let me hear it. That was strong enough. That was strong enough. Okay, now I want you to take the palm of your hand and rub the bottom. Get that heat going.

[Kyle Gordon]

Yeah. Kiss it. Apologize. Apologize to it. Yeah, yeah.

[Lacy Mosley]

All right, now slide it back in there. And then it starts working. They're like, thank you so much. Calling scam customer service.

[Kyle Gordon]

Exactly. Yeah. Please leave us a review.

[Lacy Mosley]

Right. Not too many reviews, though. We don't want people knowing what we're doing.

[Kyle Gordon]

Yeah, yeah, exactly. If it's a bad review, we just will delete it anyway.

[Lacy Mosley]

Leave reviews on Reddit and other, like, websites where people can't find us. Don't you dare take your ass to Yelp. We do not need those kind of lawsuits. Okay.

[Kyle Gordon]

Exactly. Yeah, yeah.

[Lacy Mosley]

Oh, I love that. And I'm on the same page. I'm an actor. I did act in New York. And the biggest scam I had acting in New York City was headshots. Yeah. And I talk about it in my book quite a bit just because it was such a racket. Like, the first time I got headshots, they were in high school, and I got them in Dallas. And the headshot photographer made me look like Michelle Obama. Now, look, Michelle Obama's a gorgeous woman. Yeah. But they made me look like current day Michelle Obama. And at the time, I was 17.

[Kyle Gordon]

Sure.

[Lacy Mosley]

So that's not what I was really.

[Kyle Gordon]

Yeah. You weren't going out for the. Yeah. The biopic wasn't even a glimmer in that anyone's eye yet.

[Lacy Mosley]

So the Photoshop was crazy. Like, I had a pearl earring on. All of a sudden it was flat. It didn't have no shine to it. Like they did crazy things. And I was like, okay, these aren't good. So then I go to New York and I'm like, in New York, I'll get better headshots for money. So I met this person who had a headshot photographer. And I looked at their headshots and I thought that they were pretty decent. So I was like, who is this guy? And he was like, oh, you have to go to him. He's photographed Denzel Washington's daughter. Like, it's gonna be amazing. And. Oh, Denzel Washington's daughter. Okay, that's close enough. That's close enough. So I went and this man had me taking photos out in the streets at brick walls. I was changing T shirts behind dumpsters.

[Kyle Gordon]

Oh, wow.

[Lacy Mosley]

And I was like, this is Hollywood. This is how you make it.

[Kyle Gordon]

Yeah, the big city, literally.

[Lacy Mosley]

Those headshots are completely unusable, too. One day I'll post the headshots on Instagram so y' all can really see the struggle. Cause when I tell you they got. And each time it was like 800 a pop.

[Kyle Gordon]

Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. Were they like. How were they posing? You? Like, were they doing weird, like, things with your hands or. It was just, like, weird.

[Lacy Mosley]

Sometimes it would be a hand thing. But a lot of it was just like, you're against the brick wall. Oh, no, a car's coming. We gotta move. And then, like, we would go back out. And then finally I met somebody else who had good headshots. And she was like, go to this guy. I go to that guy. And he's an old school New York gay. He's got a lovely apartment. But we're shooting in his apartment on living room floor. And I'm like, this is not a studio. But okay, maybe. Maybe headshots are gorilla. Maybe I. Because I haven't seen anything else. I was dodging traffic before. Like, maybe they're supposed to be this way. Oh, my God, those are horrible. I'll post all my awful headshots just so you guys can see. Cause it's a nightmare.

[Kyle Gordon]

Please. Yeah.

[Lacy Mosley]

Did you take any weird pictures?

[Kyle Gordon]

Yeah, I must have take. I mean, I also was, like, lazy and didn't want to pay for anything either. So I had one. I just had a classic of a friend who, like, bought a camera and was trying to learn how to use. Yeah, yeah, exactly. Actors.

[Lacy Mosley]

The cameras are too good these days for y' all to be paying some photographer for a headshot. I get it. For a photo shoot, that's a completely different lane. But for a headshot, if they just wanna see what you look like, baby, you can go get a Canon. If you got the latest iPhone, you Gucci, like, you don't need to spend that money. But Back in the day. Oh, honey. They would be like, yeah, $800 for these pictures that you can't use. And also watch for that truck behind you.

[Kyle Gordon]

Yeah, that's always the thing. Yeah. The worst part about headsh. Not getting run over by a semi. Yeah, that's. Yeah.

[Lacy Mosley]

And I was, like, putting the headshots on business cards. I talked about this recently. I was like. I had business cards with my email address. All this information. I was begging to get abducted. I was like, yeah, here you go. Here you go.

[Kyle Gordon]

No, nothing bad like that has ever happened in New York. So you're totally safe.

[Lacy Mosley]

Yeah, totally safe there. Totally safe there. So let's get into my favorite segment here. Historic Hoodwinks. This is where I will regale Kyle with a famous con caper group of criminals. We'll see what he thinks all throughout. And, Kyle, today we're talking about a man named Matthew Piercy. Yeah, I see you, Pierce.

[Kyle Gordon]

Yeah.

[Lacy Mosley]

So Matthew Piercy ran a $35 million Ponzi scheme, then fled the FBI on an underwater scooter.

[Kyle Gordon]

Underwater scooter. Wow. That. The fact that that's not part of the scam. That. That's a. That sounds like a way you'd be scammed is like, you. You'd be like, I got.

[Lacy Mosley]

These scooters are underwater. You're not gonna see them.

[Kyle Gordon]

Yeah, it's just razor with fins.

[Lacy Mosley]

No, he said they're under there, y'. All. He said we gotta walk into the middle of the ocean, and then we got the key, and then it's gonna work.

[Kyle Gordon]

Yeah, exactly.

[Lacy Mosley]

Yeah. So also, if you're the F, the B, and the I, and you get outran underwater, you gotta just let that go. Like, you gotta. That person won. It's cops and robbers, and y' all both robbers, honestly. So, like, spy versus spy. You gotta just let that person go.

[Kyle Gordon]

And the fact that we know about it and are talking about it. The FBI lost twice that. We now have to talk about that. They got out outrun by a guy on a makeshift.

[Lacy Mosley]

That's like me robbing a bank on one of those duck boats that, like, drive on land, and then you just can drive it into the ocean.

[Kyle Gordon]

Yeah. It's like a Diddy Kong racing hover hoverboat thing. Yeah.

[Lacy Mosley]

Has anybody thought about that? Duck boat owners, Y' all hit a lick at the bank and then drive your car into the sea. What are they gonna do?

[Kyle Gordon]

Yeah. Come on. You're tempting me now. Yeah. I'm like, I should rob a bank. It's easy. Now I have the way to get out. Yeah.

[Lacy Mosley]

There used to be an old running joke that people would take screenshots of their Uber driver saying they were close by, but the car would be spinning around in the ocean. Satellite was off.

[Kyle Gordon]

Yes.

[Lacy Mosley]

They were like, damn, I gotta go for a swim.

[Kyle Gordon]

Maybe it was a hoverboat.

[Lacy Mosley]

Hello, Majeed. Yes, me. It's me, Lacy. Okay, open the joy here. All right.

[Kyle Gordon]

He's like, I've been waiting for you. I've been calling you.

[Lacy Mosley]

I was about to cancel. You're over your five minutes. It's like, yeah, we're in the ocean, bro. Of course I'm over my five.

[Kyle Gordon]

Yeah, sorry. That's on me. My G. Yeah, sorry.

[Lacy Mosley]

Yeah, I'm so sorry. I was trying to swim faster, but I couldn't really swim.

[Kyle Gordon]

That's my bad.

[Lacy Mosley]

Yeah, they said it was shark watch. They didn't even want me to come out here. Lifeguard was, like, yanking me back, and I. No, I need to get my Uber. Okay. I gotta get to my head shots. Yeah, don't do this scams O. It is getting hot. And you know when it gets hot, your wallet starts to get hot, too. And you get that familiar urge to refresh your closet. But why waste money on pieces you'll only wear once or just for one season? That's where Quince comes in. Think 100% European linen tops starting at $30. Washable people's silk dresses and skirts and soft cotton sweaters. Now, y' all know I already have all the silk camis, and I have all the silk cami dresses. And in the winter time, you know, I like to throw a classy little woolen coat over them to really just give a moment. But in the summertime, I'm putting those shoulders out, baby. And right now, I've really been eyeing this 100 linen shirt dress. It is so cute. It is so affordable. And I can throw it over a swimsuit or I can throw it over some jeans when the weather gets chilly. Give your summer closet an upgrade with quince. Go to quince.com goddess for free shipping on your order and 365 day returns. That's Q U I-N-C-E.com goddess to get free shipping on your order and 365 Day returns.

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[Lacy Mosley]

So the crime between 2015 and 2021, lawyer Matthew Piercey of Palo Cedro, California, collected $35 million in investor funds for two companies that he helped run. Family Wealth Legacy. So the companies were Family Wealth Legacy and Zola Financial. Those are where he 35 mil from. Okay, I will be calling him Matthew from here out because I don't know why my brain doesn't want to say Piercy. So, Family Wealth Legacy. That company solicited investments in securities, cryptocurrency mining, and life insurance. Sounds legit to me.

[Kyle Gordon]

Yeah, there was. There's one of those three things that sounds less legit than the others.

[Lacy Mosley]

I don't know. You don't want a death coin.

[Kyle Gordon]

Yeah, maybe not. Maybe. Yeah. Or maybe I should. I don't know.

[Lacy Mosley]

Yeah, like, oh, my God, I'm dead by my coin. Yeah, No, I don't think a death coin is popping.

[Kyle Gordon]

Wait, what is a death coin?

[Lacy Mosley]

Oh, that's where you die and they make a coin after you or something.

[Kyle Gordon]

Oh, really?

[Lacy Mosley]

They just said they were soliciting investments in securities, cryptocurrency, mining, and life insurance. So when I hear life insurance, I'm like, yeah, yeah. How many coins can I get when I die? Or my grandpapa died.

[Kyle Gordon]

Yeah.

[Lacy Mosley]

And then they're like, you got 60? Yeah, that would be family coins.

[Kyle Gordon]

That would be a big bummer if. If I was the. What do you call it? The inheritor of a life insurance policy, and I was given. Yeah, like, you know, SpongeBob coin or whatever.

[Lacy Mosley]

Beneficiary.

[Kyle Gordon]

Yes.

[Lacy Mosley]

Scam coin.

[Kyle Gordon]

Yes, exactly. Yeah.

[Lacy Mosley]

Not a way to go.

[Kyle Gordon]

No.

[Lacy Mosley]

So Zola Financial offered loans promising a fixed return with the company's returns supposedly generating through algorithmic training. So a fixed return basically is saying, like, put this loan out and forever in perpetuity, you gonna get 5% off of it. That's kind of rare and risky investment. Like, the only people who are giving you a fixed return pretty much is the bank, and it's super low.

[Kyle Gordon]

And Bernie Madoff. And that worked out really well.

[Lacy Mosley]

Yeah, listen, he fixed himself up, which was.

[Kyle Gordon]

Yeah, 20% returns forever. Yeah.

[Lacy Mosley]

He said, you ain't fixing to get this return. Y' all didn't read the typo? I said, fix. I said, you aren't fixing to get the return. That's what I said. I don't know where y' all heard fixed return.

[Kyle Gordon]

That's crazy. Right? Right, Right.

[Lacy Mosley]

But they're also saying that the returns were generated through algorithmic training. And what a spicy word algorithm is. We all know what the algorithm is, right? It's why if you post something on Instagram, you haven't posted In a while, it gets pushed down. Or if you post something on Instagram that's from TikTok, the Instagram pushes it down the algorithm. Like, if, like, it's like, we all know about the. The mysterious. I feel like Algorithm and the cloud are cousins. It's like, you do, but we don't know how you do it, and we don't know when you do it right.

[Kyle Gordon]

And then you hear someone say, like, we'll use the algorithm. It's like, yeah, you. You. You want to try? They're like, oh, you have it figured out. I want to use the algorithm to benefit me.

[Lacy Mosley]

The algorithm is my third cousin. If you just let me know what you need, I will call Algorithm up and be like, hey, Algorithm, this is my homeboy Kyle. Can y' all help him out?

[Kyle Gordon]

Yeah, exactly. If you want the hookup. I know Algorithm really, really well. Really well. We went to high school together. Like, yeah. So a lot of people are Promise you a lot of stuff. I know he's a really good guy. Once you get to know him, he can really help you out.

[Lacy Mosley]

I see Algorithm on the scene all the time. He's out and about and a time that I haven't gone to, like, the club, and Algorithm wasn't there, and he was like, come into my section. Let's get bottle service. I was like, okay, Algo. I don't even call him Algorithm. I call him Algo. That's when you know him.

[Kyle Gordon]

Now I trust you. Yeah.

[Lacy Mosley]

Yeah. So Matthew used the money to pay off his lines of credit, credit cards, and personal business expenses. So I was kind of responsible. He gave the money back to big corporation. They would have been fine. Okay. The companies did not generate revenue sufficient to cover overhead expenses while paying investors the returns they were promised or otherwise led to expect. He used new investor money to pay off previous investor money. And Kyle, say it with me. What is that called?

[Kyle Gordon]

Ponzi scheme. Yeah, there we go. There we go. Tale as old as time.

[Lacy Mosley]

Yes. I hope you all set it up there with me, too. With us, too. Okay, so some of his victims were members of the Bethel Church in Reading, where he was a parishioner. He claimed to have a line to President Donald Trump. That. Honestly, that's not as peculiar as him saying he knows Algo.

[Kyle Gordon]

Yeah, right.

[Lacy Mosley]

Like you saying you have a line to Donald Trump. Like he got everybody numbering his phone.

[Kyle Gordon]

Yeah, exactly. He accidentally probably gave it out to him at some point. No.

[Lacy Mosley]

Call me anytime you need to come to the White House for $5 million.

[Kyle Gordon]

Exactly. Yeah, I know Algorithm.

[Lacy Mosley]

I know Algo. Algo. I birthed Algo. He's actually one of my kids.

[Kyle Gordon]

Yeah. Close personal friend. Yeah. He kisses, he want, he comes to the Mar A Lago.

[Lacy Mosley]

Kiss my ass.

[Kyle Gordon]

He wants, Kiss my ass.

[Lacy Mosley]

You can meet Algo if you come to Mar A Lago for a million dollars.

[Kyle Gordon]

Yeah. By the way, you're getting exclusive. I don't think I've ever done a Trump before, so this is, this is pretty good.

[Lacy Mosley]

Oh, thank you. I was losing my voice.

[Kyle Gordon]

Yeah. Yeah. Wow.

[Lacy Mosley]

So that like President Donald Trump, that whole claiming to be involved with him actually may have helped Matthew bolster his standing with members of a church where one of its leaders made a prophecy that Trump would win reelection in 2020. Now, okay, if we gonna say God can speak to you, we gotta say the devil can call you up too. Okay. The devil and Jesus got your phone number. Okay. Sometimes they make a group chat and it's like, which one do you wanna like? Or heart in the group chat, who are you with? So him saying like, God told me Trump was gonna win. I mean, Trump did win, so maybe God did tell him something. I don't think God was like, this is a good thing.

[Kyle Gordon]

Yeah. Also, also, you know, it's a pretty low stakes prophecy when the odds are 50, 50. You know what I mean? It's not like saying I'm gonna win the lottery. There's only two options.

[Lacy Mosley]

Yeah, that's true.

[Kyle Gordon]

Yeah. It's not that crazy.

[Lacy Mosley]

But it worked out.

[Kyle Gordon]

Yeah, it did.

[Lacy Mosley]

So of the proceeds, Matthew used about $1 million to buy a boat and another million to buy and renovate two houses, plus additional money to pay a criminal defense firm firm. So he was getting ahead of it a little bit.

[Kyle Gordon]

Yeah, he had a, he had a premonition. He, God spoke to him and told him, this is not going to work out.

[Lacy Mosley]

Yeah, God spoke to him and said, hire abogado.

[Kyle Gordon]

There you go.

[Lacy Mosley]

But God also spoke and said, buy a boat.

[Kyle Gordon]

Yeah, actually, yeah, God, God probably, yeah. Seemed to be more specific in his premonition to Matthew than it was to.

[Lacy Mosley]

The, to the parishioner. Yeah, I don't know. The parishioner got one right too. Yeah, that's like gambling on black or red. It's like, I'm gonna hit it true if I don't. And you can be like, the devil got God's way.

[Kyle Gordon]

Yeah, there you go.

[Lacy Mosley]

That's why y' all weren't praying hard enough. You can flip that, you can make it someone else's fault. So back to Bethel Church. And that parishioner Bethel Church happens to be an evangelical mega church that preaches prosperity gospel. That is always a scam to me. Watch Scam Goddess on Hulu. We talk about prosperity gospel. Prosperity gospel is the idea that God re. He rewards faith and wealth, which makes it an easy mark for Ponzi schemers. So it's like, if you tithe today, you will get tomorrow. Oh, we're looking at Bethlehem Church right now.

[Kyle Gordon]

Oh, wow.

[Lacy Mosley]

Oh. Oh, no. It's one of those churches where they got a drum set and several guitars.

[Kyle Gordon]

Yeah.

[Lacy Mosley]

And it's just like, look at them. Like, that's devotion.

[Kyle Gordon]

So like 50% of the budget goes to, you know, it's better than a Broadway show. Like, people are coming down on God is our Bestie. Yeah.

[Lacy Mosley]

God is our bestie, is our best. Everybody put your hands in air. God is our best.

[Kyle Gordon]

Can't see. Hands are up. Hands are up all around.

[Lacy Mosley]

$50 from your 411k right now. Amen.

[Kyle Gordon]

Amen.

[Lacy Mosley]

Amen.

[Kyle Gordon]

Check out the app and donate there. Yes.

[Lacy Mosley]

Pull out your QR code. We've got God is our Bestie on the screen. Like, come on now. Listen to us.

[Kyle Gordon]

Yeah. There's no. There's no tray going around. They got the QR code on the back of every seat. You know, like, it's easy to donate.

[Lacy Mosley]

It's hard for me to like, scrutinize certain churches just because I am religious. But I do realize there's a lot of scammers in that field because honestly, it's like free therapy for a lot of people where they can donate what they want versus, like, going and paying somebody 350 to listen to them bitch about their lives and feel like they're not getting anywhere. And it's like, my therapist has never sang to me. I've never picked up the phone. And she was like, wait in the water. Like, she ain't never did none of that. She don't got no band. She. She don't got no youth space. Some people to watch your kids while. While you worship. Like, it's a vibe. I. I get the vibe.

[Kyle Gordon]

Yeah. Yeah. But like, because it, like, it makes it even more sad when you take. Take advantage of people who are just who it. It can be a really good thing for people. And then when you take advantage of them, gives it a bad name.

[Lacy Mosley]

I always say prayer is a form of meditation. Like, there's a lot of good things that can come from the Bible if you're not cherry picking it to the obstacle that the Bible has. And that it was written by a bunch of dudes, and it's like, okay, yeah, we really believe all of y'.

[Kyle Gordon]

All.

[Lacy Mosley]

Sure thing. And it's been interpreted to English language and other languages. So it's like, what do we lose in translation? Who was like. They were like, he who shall be kind will reap. Nah, I don't like that. He need to take everything he can get.

[Kyle Gordon]

Yeah, I don't think Jesus spoke English.

[Lacy Mosley]

No, not, not the English we spe. But they put it on little thin pieces of paper. So you're like, oh, this is. This is heavy text.

[Kyle Gordon]

Exactly. The papers are so thin, so many pages.

[Lacy Mosley]

Scam got his thinner paper. It's too thick. It should have been thin. See through paper. It should have been places where it was just marked out in red. Yeah, I played. I played myself.

[Kyle Gordon]

You live and you learn. Next one.

[Lacy Mosley]

Next one in the book of romance, the book of John. So the church website even has a financial disclaimer telling congregants that the Bethel Church doesn't endorse any offers they may receive to invest their money. So here's part of it. They say, although we pray for miracles, and put on my best church voice. Although we pray for miracles in economies and investments, Bethel Church board members and leaderships and management are neither financial advisors nor investment consultants in any. And no way represent ourselves as such. Bethel Church strongly recommends that you seek expert advice from qualified professional before considering any form of investment. Now, who are these expert at, like, advisors? Are they Jesus or.

[Kyle Gordon]

I was just so carried away by the spirit. You just, you, you transported me with that one. So, yeah, I, I, I went to another place.

[Lacy Mosley]

I'm sweating like.

[Kyle Gordon]

Yeah, the handkerchief came out.

[Lacy Mosley]

Y. With expert advice in his name, but not in our name. Don't try to file any claims. Really? Y' all not gonna be serious? Okay, that's fine. So in 2009, another congregate was arrested on charges of defrauding more than 20 Bethel worshipers in a Ponzi scheme that took hundreds of thousands of dollars.

[Kyle Gordon]

So not the first. There's a history here.

[Lacy Mosley]

This is scam church.

[Kyle Gordon]

Scam Church? Really?

[Lacy Mosley]

Yeah. Scam San. Okay, if we not scamming in the sanctuary, what we doing? David Souza, and we're looking at him right there. Was sentenced to 18 years in prison starting in 2014. The same year the church added an investment disclaimer to their website. So once David got pinched, the church was like, convenient. Morning announcements. Good morning, everyone. Good morning, Passer congregation. It saddens us to say that our Brother David has been taken away by the Federal bureau investigations, but we know only God can invest our hearts. Bethel Church can still invest y' all wallets.

[Kyle Gordon]

All right, we'll. We'll let him off the hook this one time.

[Lacy Mosley]

Right? Like, that should have been the flag for everybody in the church. David was a former handyman and truck driver whose business slogan was where business is moral and miraculous is routine.

[Kyle Gordon]

Yeah, that's always a red flag when your slogan is, I swear I'm a good guy. I promise I'm really, really nice.

[Lacy Mosley]

That's a great slogan. When the business is moral and the miraculous is routine. He says, so if I can't fix your carburetor, you gotta lean on God. One of us is gonna fix that spark plug. Me or Jesus.

[Kyle Gordon]

Yeah, that's a good out, too. It's like, if I can't fix your spark plug. It was God willed it.

[Lacy Mosley]

God wants you to have a new car. That's all it really is. You're like, I had a broken tail. Like, God said you to come to the light in a new Oldsmobile. Like, what?

[Kyle Gordon]

Yeah.

[Lacy Mosley]

So experts call it affinity fraud, where a scammer pitches his investment plan to members of a tight knit community because everybody knows your name is like, Cheers. Like, what if I went into Cheers and I just started pitching my, like, ideas?

[Kyle Gordon]

Yeah, I feel like that must have been an episode of Cheers. Like, who was it, Norm? Yeah, he was pulling some scams on them, you know, for sure. Had to be 100%. Yeah, exactly. Yeah, yeah. He came in with like, yeah, there's an incredible opportunity. Actually, one time speaking, a friend of mine's dad, he was like. We were all. It was like, you know, end of college and we came back and we were all like, smoking weed with our friend's dad. And he was like, guys, seriously, there's grass in Brazil that's pure gold. So just give me a little bit of an investment. I'm talking to a guy down there. It's. We're harvesting the grass and you can put it. And it. It's pure gold. Real gold bullion that you can take the grass and it. Yeah, So I think that was a scam.

[Lacy Mosley]

Yeah, I definitely remember the periodic table.

[Kyle Gordon]

Yeah, yeah, exactly. I don't think.

[Lacy Mosley]

And grass and gold were never.

[Kyle Gordon]

Maybe yellow. I don't know about pure gold.

[Lacy Mosley]

Grass was never on there. Yeah, I thought maybe he meant like, good weed grass.

[Kyle Gordon]

No, no, I think he meant like lawn. Like, in Brazil, the lawns are pure gold.

[Lacy Mosley]

Oh, so he was just going to steal People's lawns.

[Kyle Gordon]

Yeah, pretty much. He knew a guy. He knew a guy.

[Lacy Mosley]

He knew a guy who could steal lawns. He was like, do y' all need a nice law? I can go to Brazil and take it from a family. Do you want it? I'm just saying, we're all gonna be rich. So alas, the church's disclaimers were not enough to prevent Matthew. Y' all know who I'm talking when I say Matthew Piercy from hitting it big time at the same church with another scheme. So they, they had that one guy get pinched. David. And David did not beat Goliath on this one. But then they put up this disclaimer like, we're not involved in any investments. Like, don't call us, call Jesus. And now you would think everybody would be a bit more wary in the church of this. But the church's disclaimer wasn't enough. It wasn't enough to prevent Matthew from doing. It's the same thing. So the getaway. When FBI agents tried to arrest Matthew in November of 2020, Matthew led them on a car chase through a residential neighborhood and onto a highway. He was being trailed by a helicopter and California Highway Patrol when this happened. So right now we're watching a car chase showing a suspect running from FBI agents. He had like the scuba flies just in his car.

[Kyle Gordon]

Water escape. Remember this wild story that's happening?

[Lacy Mosley]

He was really getting ready. He was putting his flippers on.

[Kyle Gordon]

Yeah, that's not what I expected. Including Matthew Piercey after they tried to arrest him for an alleged 35 million dollar Ponzi.

[Lacy Mosley]

My guy was running from the cops.

[Kyle Gordon]

Ended and continued underwater. The prosecutors say Piercey jumped in Lake Shasta with a sea scooter and hid underwater for 25 minutes before finally surrendering. This is file video of what those sea scooters look like. And then there's Piercey. Today a federal judge in Sacramento said Piercey was a flight risk and, and ordered him to stay in jail.

[Lacy Mosley]

Is he a flight risk or a dive risk?

[Kyle Gordon]

Yeah, flight risk. Yeah, they could have.

[Lacy Mosley]

Yeah, he's leaving by sea. Honestly, these police officers probably felt very dumb, but at least they stayed there. They were like, he gotta get air sometime.

[Kyle Gordon]

Like, also, I didn't really like. I'm thinking California. I think he got. I was thinking he went into the ocean. He went into a lake which famously.

[Lacy Mosley]

Oh, those are closed off.

[Kyle Gordon]

Yeah, you can't really.

[Lacy Mosley]

You gotta go into the ocean. You're right. Lake's end.

[Kyle Gordon]

Yeah, famously.

[Lacy Mosley]

How far were you gonna get?

[Kyle Gordon]

Keep Circling.

[Lacy Mosley]

Take it to the ocean.

[Kyle Gordon]

Come on. You're right there.

[Lacy Mosley]

He played.

[Kyle Gordon]

He played.

[Lacy Mosley]

So he abandoned the vehicle and he took an object out of the trunk and entered the lake in his street clothes. The object was later identified as a Yamaha 350L underwater submersive device, aka an undersea scooter. He spent about 20 minutes tooling around underwater in the very cold Lake Shasta when FBI agents could only see bubbles on the surface of the lake, which indicates. Indicated his location. Sir, they can see. They can see where you are.

[Kyle Gordon]

That's what. Isn't that what happens in like spongebob? Like when they go up and they see the. The top of the island?

[Lacy Mosley]

Like he was probably. He loves spongebob. I bet he jumped in the water and he was like, my leg. Like, no, they can see your bubbles. They can see your bubbles. You can't even go that deep underwater with this. What were you thinking? Honestly? So creative though. But it is a la lakes are enclosed, babes. They could just surround you around the lake. Like, you gotta come out of the lake sometime.

[Kyle Gordon]

Yeah, there's a trail. We're looking at it.

[Lacy Mosley]

Like it's. Yeah, go to the ocean, bro.

[Kyle Gordon]

Yeah.

[Lacy Mosley]

Are you serious?

[Kyle Gordon]

Yeah, yeah. So the cops were just like, yeah, just sat on the side, just eating sandwiches.

[Lacy Mosley]

He should have stayed on dry land. Cause, sir, this was ridiculous. But you have to know this had to be a part of his master plan.

[Kyle Gordon]

Yeah. Oh my God. Yeah, exactly. He was planning it the whole time. Yeah.

[Lacy Mosley]

He was like, they'll never catch me. Not jumping this swimming pool.

[Kyle Gordon]

I've never been more certain that he said that exact thing right before he. And then, you'll never catch me.

[Lacy Mosley]

Cops don't want to get wet.

[Kyle Gordon]

Yeah, exactly.

[Lacy Mosley]

I'll just wait them out.

[Kyle Gordon]

Yeah, it's. At least he thought about it.

[Lacy Mosley]

He really thought they were going to give up and go home. And that was his hope.

[Kyle Gordon]

Yeah, it's like an 8 year old's idea of what, like a. It's like a Grand Theft Auto. Like. Yeah, yeah. It's like after an hour they. My, my.

[Lacy Mosley]

I'm sure he's right now in jail, like trying to make his Shawshank Redemption exit. He's like, yeah, give me a poster of Lola Fana. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Spoon.

[Kyle Gordon]

I want him. If he makes an underwater escape out of the jail. I mean, that would be. Oh, I'm rooting for him now.

[Lacy Mosley]

Don't put him anywhere near water because this man is talented. So neither the FBI or the Justice Department would tell us was he Using scuba gear, was he? So this man is bobbing. He's coming up for air.

[Kyle Gordon]

He's like picking up, like, can't catch me.

[Lacy Mosley]

Gotta go back down.

[Kyle Gordon]

He's like, oh, they're still there. Gotta go back.

[Lacy Mosley]

That man was definitely bobbing up out the water like a damn buoy.

[Kyle Gordon]

Yeah.

[Lacy Mosley]

He was bobbing for scam apples. He was like, did they get me? Oh, they still out there. Let's go back down.

[Kyle Gordon]

And, you know, after a while, the cops were like, please, Matthew, please, just come on.

[Lacy Mosley]

Come on, dude.

[Kyle Gordon]

Come on.

[Lacy Mosley]

But they weren't gonna come in the water. Yeah, if he could have stayed. If he could have stayed in the water forever, he would've got away with it.

[Kyle Gordon]

He was right about one thing. Like, the cops really didn't wanna get wet.

[Lacy Mosley]

They didn't.

[Kyle Gordon]

Yeah. So he. Part of his plan. I have to give him credit for that.

[Lacy Mosley]

He should have just go. A larger body of water.

[Kyle Gordon]

Very, very lake.

[Lacy Mosley]

And then you. You just popping up and going back down like babes. What are we doing?

[Kyle Gordon]

Yeah, if you have to, like, physically, like, pop out of your hiding spot.

[Lacy Mosley]

They hopped out of the getaway car and started wakeboarding. Yeah, we're going to catch you, man. You're in a lake.

[Kyle Gordon]

If you can see them, they can for sure see you.

[Lacy Mosley]

That is the old school theater terminology.

[Kyle Gordon]

Yes.

[Lacy Mosley]

If they can see. Oh, Shasta Lake. Yeah, he should have jumped over the dam.

[Kyle Gordon]

There's a dam? Yeah.

[Lacy Mosley]

What Damn.

[Kyle Gordon]

Should have done a fugitive like Harrison Ford just gone for it.

[Lacy Mosley]

Honestly. Yeah, honestly. The dam is very steep, but, like, you don't got no climbing tools. You could have come in with. You already got the underwater scooter. If you don't got a hook and gravel, you could have thrown in there with you.

[Kyle Gordon]

Yeah, you got to phase one of the plants.

[Lacy Mosley]

Reservoir.

[Kyle Gordon]

Yeah. Yeah, it looks like a reservoir. Like, oh, also, it looks. Maybe it's just the picture we're looking at. This doesn't even look like that big of a lake, to be honest.

[Lacy Mosley]

Yeah, my guy jumped into a pond and just kept being like, do they see me? Yeah, like, sir, also, your scooter is red. Like, we can see it underwater. Sir, you're doing this right under the surface. You haven't even gone to any depth.

[Kyle Gordon]

Oh, this guy rules.

[Lacy Mosley]

Yeah, he does.

[Unknown McDonald's Voiceover]

Robin, the McDonald's snack wrap is back. You brought it back. Ranch snack wrap. Spicy snack wrap. You broke the Internet for a snack? Snack wrap is back.

[Kyle Gordon]

McCormack knows unbeatable flavor starts with the right spices.

[Lacy Mosley]

It's why we Created flavour sealed.

[Kyle Gordon]

So anytime you peel back The Seal.

[Lacy Mosley]

Of McCormick, Earth Herbs and spices, you.

[Kyle Gordon]

Can be confident they will pack the same amount of flavor as the day they were packed.

[Lacy Mosley]

The kind of flavor that brings out the best of your favorite recipes and keeps everyone coming back for seconds or maybe even thirds. McCormick flavor sealed for unbeatable flavor and Frau. So the scooter, the underwater sea scooter was taken as evidence. The commercial. Yeah. Y' all gotta investigate this for future crime. Sure. The commercially available battery powered scooter is usually used by scuba divers and costs about $500. Okay.

[Kyle Gordon]

Affordable, right.

[Lacy Mosley]

So it. It has this enclosed propeller that can pull the diver underwater at just 4 miles per hour, which is faster than humans can move with fins. Right. But it's not going that fast. It's 4 miles per hour. So also, they've chased this man all over town. He hops in the water and he's just going to see me, like, so unserious.

[Kyle Gordon]

It's like slower than a golf cart. Right.

[Lacy Mosley]

Literally. So let's take a look at the getaway vehicle in action. So we're going to see the underwater scooter. It doesn't look that loud.

[Kyle Gordon]

That's really.

[Lacy Mosley]

I'm sorry, it doesn't look that fast.

[Kyle Gordon]

Yeah. That is slow.

[Lacy Mosley]

Yeah. There's fish swimming faster than the scooter. That's a stingray. That's like moving faster than them.

[Kyle Gordon]

Yeah.

[Lacy Mosley]

At this point, I think he's just having a little fun time before he gets caught. He was like, let me just have a little fun at the lake before they take me to prison.

[Kyle Gordon]

Yeah, yeah. They're literally going side by side, showing the machine, like, sea turtle and a turtle. Famously a slow animal.

[Lacy Mosley]

Oh, yeah. He was just having a goofy little time because, sir, this is so unserious. When the very cold and wet fugitive emerged from the lake, FBI agents allowed him to change into dry clothes that his wife had brought for him him before escorting him to the nearest FBI field office in Sacramento. Love that. His wife was like, well, he did what?

[Kyle Gordon]

Yeah. All right. Okay.

[Lacy Mosley]

What kind of pants y' all allow in jail? No dungarees. Okay.

[Kyle Gordon]

She brought him like a bag lunch. Yeah, yeah.

[Lacy Mosley]

And a sack lunch. It's definitely a ham and cheese and a juicy juice. And she was like, all right, babe, go with God. Oh, my God, that's so embarrassing. Can you imagine? She in her group chat and she's like, y', all, the authorities just told me I need to bring clean clothes. Cause no. Cause Matthew done ran away. He. He Went on a lamb to a lake.

[Kyle Gordon]

Yeah. And now he's all cold. I like cold and wet. He's just so pathetic.

[Lacy Mosley]

He literally. He got on. Sir.

[Kyle Gordon]

Oh, Matthew, no. No. Yeah. She must have been like, oh, Matthew, no.

[Lacy Mosley]

The second I saw him put the water skis on top of the sedan, I. What are you about to do? Oh, my God.

[Kyle Gordon]

Oh, my God. It's such a, like, suburban, like, whole. The whole thing is such, like, a stupid suburban crime.

[Lacy Mosley]

Right? It's like, she was like, he don't got no clean underwear or socks. You know what? I'm gonna do a load before I go down there, cuz I'm not. He's still in the water, looking up and playing peekaboo. I'mma just. Let me just wash some of his draws real quick.

[Kyle Gordon]

Like, I'll just throw him in with our son's baseball pants.

[Lacy Mosley]

Literally. Like, how exhausted you must be.

[Kyle Gordon]

Oh, God.

[Lacy Mosley]

So witness tampering. Nearly 9 million of what Matthew stole was returned to early investors. But most of the remaining 35 million is gone, which makes sense. He paid off some debt. He bought a boat. Clearly he's got, like, underwater things he's passionate about, like this Yamaha scooter.

[Kyle Gordon]

It's crazy. You had 35 million and you tried to get away on a $500. Like. Like, that's what you get in, like, Cozumel to, like, go and, like, see the coral.

[Lacy Mosley]

Sir. You should have had a whole hideaway. You should stash. You should have had a boat that you had. It should have been a speedboat to take you to Cuba. Like, what are you doing? Or to Mexico. That's closer to California, but, like, what are you doing?

[Kyle Gordon]

Yeah.

[Lacy Mosley]

So he. He had given back 9 million of the 35. So it's like 24 million left. Right. I don't know how he. What he was doing with that. So he tried to keep investors and witnesses from responding to grand jury subpoenas again, mentioning Trump in his cautionary emails. Now, honestly, great strategy. Trump is letting all types of weirdos out of prison.

[Kyle Gordon]

Like, it's plausible.

[Lacy Mosley]

Very plausible.

[Kyle Gordon]

He's like, I got a pardon. It's coming down the line. Just hang tight. I'll get you your money.

[Lacy Mosley]

You'll be mad when I get my pardon.

[Kyle Gordon]

Yeah, exactly.

[Lacy Mosley]

I'm at the White House. And then you're gonna be like, I wish we were friends again. I'm not bringing you to Mar A Lago. That's a Mar A Lago.

[Kyle Gordon]

Yeah, when I'm scuba diving in Annapolis.

[Lacy Mosley]

Yeah, Right. So he claimed that the subpoenas were a response to a letter he sent to Trump suggesting that the only way to save the nation's banking system from financial. Financial effects of the. Of the coronavirus pandemic was to have them invest money with him. So he said, trump, if you want to save the banks, just invest with me a guy.

[Kyle Gordon]

A random guy in Northern California.

[Lacy Mosley]

A guy.

[Kyle Gordon]

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Lacy Mosley]

And I'll take care of the Federal Reserve. Me, a guy.

[Kyle Gordon]

Yeah. Sounds plausible. Yeah.

[Lacy Mosley]

So Trump would be like, he's a smart guy.

[Kyle Gordon]

I know exactly.

[Lacy Mosley]

He gets a lot of things. Yeah, he knows a lot of.

[Kyle Gordon]

I know a guy, the smartest guy.

[Lacy Mosley]

And he's. And he's the only guy.

[Kyle Gordon]

We need the fact fastest swimmer swims.

[Lacy Mosley]

Four miles an hour on his own by himself.

[Kyle Gordon]

He's a fish. Yeah, he's a literal fish.

[Lacy Mosley]

So that didn't work, obviously. And he was arrested anyway. After his arrest, he used coded communications from jail to direct two people to take action on a U Haul storage locker he had rented. I don't know what take action means, but I think it's like, open it up, get my stuff I stole.

[Kyle Gordon]

Yeah. Take action. Yeah, yeah, Go get my stuff and hide it. Yeah.

[Lacy Mosley]

I mean, U Haul has been a pillar of this scam community for so long. Shout out to U Haul. They're like, we don't give a fuck what you put in there as long as you pay your $35 a month. Don't bother us. If you don't pay it, we're gonna open your shit up, and I guess we'll call the feds or we'll just auction it off. You all's like, if. If you need.

[Kyle Gordon]

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Lacy Mosley]

Scam storage for you.

[Kyle Gordon]

Like, it's the backbone of their whole business. I feel like. I mean, you tell me. I feel like this scam maybe, other than underwater escape is hitting a lot of kind of common things that you see in scams, right? Is it Prosperity Gospel church?

[Lacy Mosley]

Yes.

[Kyle Gordon]

U. Hideaway stuff. So he's kind of.

[Lacy Mosley]

Yeah, he's checking all the boxes.

[Kyle Gordon]

Yeah. Okay.

[Lacy Mosley]

For sure.

[Kyle Gordon]

Yeah.

[Lacy Mosley]

And when he was like, hey, y' all go to this U Haul and see what I hauled. That didn't work either. And the FBI search of the U haul found a wig and 31, 000 Swiss francs, or roughly 37, 000 a wig.

[Kyle Gordon]

I went, was it a good wig?

[Lacy Mosley]

Was it a cheap wig? Was it party city wig? What kind of wig is this?

[Kyle Gordon]

I really would. Yeah. Also. Yeah, I guess that was part two of the plan. Is get out of the water, wash dry off. Yeah.

[Lacy Mosley]

Put on a wig and then walk away.

[Kyle Gordon]

Yeah. Yeah. And then my wife would never know it was me. Yeah.

[Lacy Mosley]

Yes. This is a small lake slash pond, but if I can just get to the other side and get my wig bag.

[Kyle Gordon]

Yeah.

[Lacy Mosley]

I'mma throw that on. And the feds are going to be like, we need to rescue you. I'll be like, who, me? Not in my wig.

[Kyle Gordon]

Yeah. That can't be Matthew. That. That guy has a red black widow wig on from Party City. Exactly. That looks like black widow.

[Lacy Mosley]

No, I'm Billie Eilish. Look at the wig.

[Kyle Gordon]

Yeah, we're looking. And when I say I mean with.

[Lacy Mosley]

A wig, what could he look like?

[Kyle Gordon]

I mean, in his defense, that is the most plain, generic white guy I may have ever seen.

[Lacy Mosley]

I've never seen him and I'm looking at him. I never seen him before. My.

[Kyle Gordon]

Yeah, I can't. I'm actively looking at him. I don't know what he looks like. He's just a white guy. I've never seen more of a white guy in my life.

[Lacy Mosley]

But I'm curious. Okay. Obviously he looks like he belongs in this financial scape for what they've stereotyped it as.

[Kyle Gordon]

He looks a little like me, but.

[Lacy Mosley]

Like, what kind of wig. Oh, my God, no. What kind of wig would your cousin wear?

[Kyle Gordon]

Yeah, what, for him?

[Lacy Mosley]

Yes. What wig would look like somebody else?

[Kyle Gordon]

Yeah, my blood relative, Matthew Pierce. Yeah. I think the only way he.

[Lacy Mosley]

I mean, what celebrity, like, what wig could make him look like. Yeah, maybe like a young Rod Stewart type.

[Kyle Gordon]

Yeah, yeah, he could do. Yeah, maybe like a mullet. He could get a Rod Stewart. He'd have to take the suit off, but yeah, if he. Yeah, if he put a mullet on. Yeah, he, he's got. His natural hair is like just the classic white guy comb over, which I also have. But yeah, yeah, I think. Yeah, you'd have to go.

[Lacy Mosley]

You don't, you don't have. Your hair is like curly and stuff.

[Kyle Gordon]

Yeah, wavy, a little wavier. His. His is straight. But yeah, I think he'd have to go mullet. He's also in like the redneck part of California, so he could kind of, once he gets out of the pond, he might be able to blend in a little. Yeah, it's.

[Lacy Mosley]

I mean, this is all through them together. Top rated lawyers. Oh, he used to be a red.

[Kyle Gordon]

Oh. So maybe he, he does have some. What do you call it? Range. You know, he has range.

[Lacy Mosley]

It's still the same face. I still have Seen him before, but he's got. I see a red head now, though.

[Kyle Gordon]

But that's a good point. If he went ginger, that would be a very distinct look for him. That might have been. Although he does have a history of looking that way. But ginger. And maybe put on a few freckles.

[Lacy Mosley]

Yeah. Maybe a bang.

[Kyle Gordon]

A bang? Yeah. Exact. Yeah. Go emo. Yeah.

[Lacy Mosley]

Oh, yeah. What if he went emo? Oh, yeah. We need some black lipstick. Yeah.

[Kyle Gordon]

That would be a different person. Yeah. Yeah.

[Lacy Mosley]

Oh, yeah. He should have had that in his go bag on the other side of the lake.

[Kyle Gordon]

Yeah. Yeah. It would have been great if he did an under. If he had, like, if he had really planned and he was able to do a change underwater and he just emerged from the lake like a emo Loch Ness monster just kind of crawling out of the lake. That would have been.

[Lacy Mosley]

How can I help you, bro?

[Kyle Gordon]

Yeah, stop staring at me, all right? Back off. Leave me alone.

[Lacy Mosley]

My dad hates me, and I hate my dad.

[Kyle Gordon]

That may have been the motivation, honestly.

[Lacy Mosley]

Yeah, something he had to try. Something with that face. We. We know what you are.

[Kyle Gordon]

Yeah.

[Lacy Mosley]

So Matthew pleaded guilty to fraud, money laundering, and witness tampering. He faces a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison for each wire fraud, mail fraud, witness tampering, and money laundering count. One of his Sons created a Change.org petition for Matthew's release, which currently has a whopping. Y', all, 43 signatures. They don't want him free.

[Kyle Gordon]

Oh, poor man.

[Lacy Mosley]

They said the change we want to see is cuffs. Wait, they said, we want you on the chain gang. We don't want you changing.

[Kyle Gordon]

No, I. I wonder. I don't. I don't know much about change. So it looks like the. What they're going for is 50. And I don't know, it would be funny if they were, like, looking for 10,000. I mean, this is a close personal friend of President Donald Trump.

[Lacy Mosley]

They know people ha him. They only went for 50 signatures. They didn't even try.

[Kyle Gordon]

They set the bar really low.

[Lacy Mosley]

If we can get 32 signatures, we would really appreciate it.

[Kyle Gordon]

Yeah, that. Yeah. Again, that's all your cousins. I think I might have accidentally signed. This is my cousin. Right? So. Yeah, yeah, yeah, they set the bar really low. But, hey, again, they're at, like, you.

[Lacy Mosley]

Know, I know that wifey is, like, getting tossed out of all of her communities. She was probably in the big little lies community. She know who they threw off the stairs in Monterey, and now they won't talk to her anymore. And she's like, y' all did a murder. Come on. My husband just did a lot of fraud. And they're like, no, no, no, no, no. We got away with our murder. Yeah.

[Kyle Gordon]

No, my father, my husband got arrested for going on one little scuba trip. All right. And he like, what's so bad about that?

[Lacy Mosley]

No, no, no, no, no, no. Well, shout out to Matthew and his diving abilities.

[Kyle Gordon]

Yeah, shout out to. Shout out to my cousin. We all miss you.

[Lacy Mosley]

Yeah, we miss you. We want you back. Hope you buy better wigs next time.

[Kyle Gordon]

Free Matthew. Free Matthew.

[Lacy Mosley]

Free Matthew. We put it on a T shirt.

[Kyle Gordon]

Yeah. There's a mural up. Yeah, for sure.

[Lacy Mosley]

It's definitely going up in Brooklyn.

[Kyle Gordon]

Yeah, yeah.

[Lacy Mosley]

But we actually have a little treat for you guys today. We have time for scammer of the week, so we're gonna shift gears just a little bit. We're gonna stay in California though. So there was a Lego heist. Kyle, a 32 year old California man, was charged with multiple counts of second degree burglary and theft after stealing nearly $25,000 worth of Legos from Target stores between August20, February 2025. Now the way, the way these stores be marking up their prices, $25,000 worth of Legos, what is that, like 10 boxes?

[Kyle Gordon]

Yeah. Legos are not cheap.

[Lacy Mosley]

I feel like he could carry out that much in his hands.

[Kyle Gordon]

Yeah. Genuinely, that's like one Star Wars. That's a death. That's one Death Star, I think cost that much.

[Lacy Mosley]

Right. I don't know how much he actually stole.

[Kyle Gordon]

Right.

[Lacy Mosley]

So Michael Ivory Fletcher loaded up his shopping carts with the expensive building toys, disappeared into the parking lot in a master of minutes and drove. I mean, sometimes you go to a Target and it depends on the area, they'll have somebody who looks at your receipt. But sometimes they don't. Maybe they're on break, maybe they had a coffee break. And I feel like I always feel very insecure leaving a store with my receipt because I'm black. So we just get targeted. So I'm always got my receipt up high. Like, hey, wait, yay.

[Kyle Gordon]

Home Depot especially. Yeah, yeah, right?

[Lacy Mosley]

I paid. I paid. Like, yes. It's like put your receipts in the air, wave them like you just don't care to go to prison. Like that's what we do. But I feel like this guy probably fit a nice mold of just walking out. And they're like, oh, he's just loading up his car, he'll be back.

[Kyle Gordon]

Yeah. Targets especially are very in quality from one to the other. Sometimes you get a really good one. I can Speak. Living in Brooklyn. The target in, in like downtown Brooklyn by the Barclays Center. That's a rough one. That's a rough one.

[Lacy Mosley]

It is. Switch foot traffic. They don't give a fuck. They're like, if you don't give a damn, we don't give a fuck.

[Kyle Gordon]

Yeah, yeah. You said it could it happened in California. If that happened happened at the downtown Brooklyn target, I would not have been surprised either. Yeah.

[Lacy Mosley]

No, no, no, no, no. All targets aren't built the same target sponsored the show. So Michael Ivory Fletcher, he loaded up his shopping carts with these expensive toys and he disappears into the parking lot. LEGO thefts have become more frequent in the Los Angeles area with thieves targeting a specific kind of Lego. The minor. Okay, so is that a part of Mine Minecraft universe or. No, because why they want the miners so bad?

[Kyle Gordon]

Yeah.

[Lacy Mosley]

Do the children yearn for the mines truly? Are they practicing digging coal? Actually they should. Because the way our economy is going.

[Kyle Gordon]

Oh like, like.

[Lacy Mosley]

So it's not about Minecraft, it's just the children yearning for the mine. They already know what their future has to hold for them. They will be digging coal.

[Kyle Gordon]

Yeah. It's good to know that mining exists in the cultural landscape. Aside from Minecraft. There is. Yeah. People are interested in, in, in, in the pure mining. They know.

[Lacy Mosley]

They were in elementary school and they're like, what do you want to be when you grow up? And they used to be like a astronaut and they're like how about a minor?

[Kyle Gordon]

Minor? Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Lacy Mosley]

I want to be president. How about minor?

[Kyle Gordon]

This has got to be some psyop. I didn't know. Yeah. Now, now I'm seeing so much of part, part of, I'm now realizing of like youth culture, like kids culture is about mining, which that's gotta be a psyop somehow.

[Lacy Mosley]

Yeah, for sure. We're preparing them for the planet. We're gonna leave them with 100%. I wanna be a stay at home mom. How about a mom who stays at home at night to clean but goes to work in the morning. We're taking away all of your options, guys. Just getting you prepared for it. Cause like toys used to be always it was like you have the baby doll. Cause it's trying to get you ready to have a baby. You'd have the cooking set. It's like we're teach. What's your fake cooking set now they're like minds.

[Kyle Gordon]

Yeah. Yeah. Let's play manual labor. Who wants to play manual labor?

[Lacy Mosley]

Who wants to bust shell rock?

[Kyle Gordon]

Yeah, let's play Amazon Warehouse.

[Lacy Mosley]

It's got robots in this edition. Oh, that makes it harder.

[Kyle Gordon]

Yeah. You lost your fake job in. Yeah, Even the kids are getting fired. You're getting. Robots are taking their fake job when they play at home. Yeah.

[Lacy Mosley]

Who wants to pay line cook? But at Waffle Play, I got furloughed, right? Oh, no.

[Kyle Gordon]

It's grim.

[Lacy Mosley]

So much mining.

[Kyle Gordon]

It's grim.

[Lacy Mosley]

So. Oh, my goodness. Certain LEGO bricks and mine figs can have a return value that rivals traditional investments, including gold. One economic study found that some unopened LEGO sets on the resale market saw an average annual return of 11%. Rare special edition releases like the Millennium Falcon star from Star Wars. I got it. And kits for, like, limited time can skyrocket in value in the secondary market. So it's giving Beanie Babies to me. But, like, the Beanie Babies weren't employed.

[Kyle Gordon]

Yeah, yeah, yeah. I guess you're probably right that this guy stole him to resell them. But I really was hoping that he just stole $25,000 worth just to play with them. Just to love playoffs.

[Lacy Mosley]

He wanted to be a kid again.

[Kyle Gordon]

Yeah, that's what, you know, I mean, I assume he got caught, but I. I would love to imagine that they busted down the door and he was building them.

[Lacy Mosley]

Yeah, yeah, I know. He's like, in mid mine.

[Kyle Gordon]

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Lacy Mosley]

He's breaking the coal. Lego.

[Kyle Gordon]

Yeah.

[Lacy Mosley]

I almost have enough energy for the power of this neighborhood. They're like, no, sir, you need to come with us. No, but if it's a resale value thing, then that makes a lot more sense. Just like, he was trying to get money off of it. And at $12,000 worth of theft, you know, 11%, like, he's getting a decent, like, cut. I don't know if it's enough for me to do it, but I understand, because look at these LEGO collectors. Like, look how much stuff they have.

[Kyle Gordon]

Yeah, that's crazy. I mean, Legos are fun. Legos are really fun.

[Lacy Mosley]

I always say if you're a collector, you're either really rich or you're not rich.

[Kyle Gordon]

Yeah, yeah, yeah. Or. Yeah, right. Or you've spent all your money on this. I went to. You ever been to the Mall of America in Minneapolis? Did you see they have a giant, like, I think it's like, my. I don't know if it's the world's largest, but I was just there for doing so. Yeah, it's a giant dinosaur dragon thing. It's pretty cool.

[Lacy Mosley]

Oh, yeah, yeah.

[Kyle Gordon]

So I understand that.

[Lacy Mosley]

Next.

[Kyle Gordon]

Yeah, exactly. That'll be the. That'll be like the national treasure of LEGO heists.

[Lacy Mosley]

That's like an art heist if we steal that kind of lego.

[Kyle Gordon]

Exactly. Yeah. I want someone to walk out of the Mall of America with, with a, you know, three story lego.

[Lacy Mosley]

I just don't know how I feel about mining legos. It's like, like, yeah, I have an insurance provider, lego. I'm denying all your claims. Chook, chook, chook. Like, yeah. And what are we telling the children?

[Kyle Gordon]

Very true. And there's something weirdly dystopian about like a guy who say whatever you will about him, probably was in dire straits, was in a desperate circumstance so he had to steal the mining worker. Lego.

[Lacy Mosley]

It's very specific.

[Kyle Gordon]

Yeah, it's. I don't know, there's some irony there. Well, it's grim. It's grim.

[Lacy Mosley]

Yeah. I mean, I'm sad that this man got charged. He was 32. So I'm like, you're young too. Like, you really did this.

[Kyle Gordon]

You have so much ahead of you.

[Lacy Mosley]

He's been away for so long though. August 2024 to February 2025. I mean, that's not a bad run.

[Kyle Gordon]

Yeah, yeah, he.

[Lacy Mosley]

But that's the thing about Target though. Sometimes if you steal from big box stores, I'll just say big box stores, some of them will let you steal for a while so that they can build the case against you and then they'll charge you. So you might not be getting away with all the thefts that you think you are. Y', all, like sometimes they build a case, they lay in weight.

[Kyle Gordon]

You're saying is get out while you're ahead. You have to time it out. Yeah, yeah.

[Lacy Mosley]

You gotta find that window to Target for the rest of your life for a little bit.

[Kyle Gordon]

Yeah, yeah, yeah. Lay low. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Lacy Mosley]

Lego lay low.

[Kyle Gordon]

Lay low. Yeah. Lego.

[Lacy Mosley]

I love that. Well, thank you so much for being here. This was such a fun episode. Thank you, Kyle. We always ask, where can we find you? Where do you want to be found? Anything you want to plug?

[Kyle Gordon]

Yeah, I am. Kyle Gordon is great on everything. I'm a really down to earth and humble. Also check out my new comedy album, Kyle Gordon is wonderful. It's musical comedy genre parodies. It's a very fun listen comedy songs and yeah, if you're in New York on September 19th, I'm playing a show at Racket in New York. Okay. Yeah.

[Lacy Mosley]

Well, Kyle, thank you so much for being here. As always. You can find us at Scamgodesspod if you wanna see all these photos scamgodesspod on Twitter if you wanna chat with me. D I V A L A C I D valacy on all platforms. Personal Shenanigans get my book Scam Goddess. It's out everywhere. Audiobooks as well. And watch all of the episodes of Scam Goddess. They're all streaming now on Hulu as well as all the episodes of Going Dutch. They're streaming on Hulu as well. Congregation, get out there and I want you to lay low. And Lego Scam Goddess. This has been an Earwolf production in association with Team Coco. Scamp Goddess stars and and is hosted by me, Lacy Moseley, AKA Scam Goddess. Our producer is Jessica Cisneros and our audio engineer is Rich Garcia. Research for the show is conducted by Kate Doyle. Stay scheming.

[Kelly Ripa]

Hey there, it's Kelly Ripa. And if you've been listening to my podcast, we are knee deep in season three. And if you haven't heard it, it's time to get on board. After years of interviewing celebs on camera, I finally get to bring you the real conversations that take place when the camera cameras aren't rolling. Where else are you going to hear Michelle Obama talk about keeping her girls out of Page Six? Hilaria Baldwin's hilarious reaction to Alec running for office, or Jeremy Renner's lucid hallucinations about Jamie Foxx? Nowhere else. It's raw, it's honest, and best of all, it's off camera. And believe me, that's where you get the good stuff. So download. Let's talk off camera with Kelly Ripa now. Wherever you get your your podcasts, the.

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