The Long Island Long Con with Jon Gabrus

Summary

Scam Goddess – "The Long Island Long Con" with Jon Gabrus

Release Date: December 10, 2019
Host: Laci Mosley
Guest: Jon Gabrus

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Episode Overview

This episode of Scam Goddess, hosted by the ever-hilarious Laci Mosley with comedian and podcast maven Jon Gabrus, is a riotous deep dive into the world of scams—both petty and grand, historic and ongoing. The centerpiece is the jaw-dropping, multi-decade Long Island coin fraud committed by Harold Adamo, but the journey there covers personal anecdotes, cultural commentary, and a bonus tale about a Canadian "witch" scammer. With Gabrus' signature irreverence and Mosley's witty, conspiratorial energy, the episode is both an education in fraud and a comedy masterclass.

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Notable Discussion Points & Insights

1. Podcast Vibes & Role of Comedy in Scam Culture (00:00–06:16)

• Laci introduces Jon Gabrus, joking about his numerous podcasts and their respective audiences.
• Discussion of "scam culture" as not always negative: “We worship scammers here. I support them fully.” (Mosley, 05:11)
• Both riff on how comedy podcasts are not investigative journalism, and that's the point.
  • “I have to constantly remind podcast listeners that I am an idiot and I’m doing comedy—like, relax.” (Gabrus, 05:09)

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2. Listener Scam Story: The Gay Mortician's Death Certificate Con (07:22–14:21)

• Laci shares a listener's scam: A mortician who faked a child's death certificate to avoid a college midterm and even Photoshopped himself into a fake funeral barbecue.
• Gabrus and Mosley riff on the extra, unnecessary lengths scammers go to—like Photoshopping yourself into events for “proof.”
• Broader commentary: Is online school itself a scam? Mosley: “Online school is a scam. College in general is a scam.” (12:30)
• Discussion of scam etiquette (“don’t kill off living relatives in your lies!”) and the perpetual hustle in academia.

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3. Historic Hoodwinks: The Harold Adamo Rare Coin Scam (19:01–47:03)

a) Setup & Players (19:01–23:01)

• Introduces Harold Adamo, a Long Island coin dealer, and his longtime neighbor & friend-victim, Rococo Marini.
• Their relationship is intimate—godparent-level, vacationing together, possibly (jokingly) implied swingers.
• Mosley: “If I’m gonna watch anyone fuck, it’s gonna be four 50-year-old people.” (21:26)

b) The Con Spans Decades (25:05–28:40)

• Adamo pitches rare coin investments. Assures Marini he's “in it together” and provides fake statements of value.
• The scam: buys coins at low prices, sells them to Marini at insane markups. eg. $200 coin sold for $100,000.
• Gabrus: “That’s a lot of money if you’re buying a $100,000 coin... you just instantly lost $99k.” (27:22)

c) Greed & Erosion of Trust (28:40–33:56)

• Adamo keeps issuing bad checks to other dealers, stops communications (ghosts them) when called out.
• Laci and Jon riff on the ridiculousness: How broken must your friendship be to scam a friend of 25 years?
• Discussion of “coin symposiums”, the nerd subculture, and whether antique shows are secret hookup events.

d) The Discovery, Fallout, and Legal Battle (36:09–47:03)

• Marini finally realizes the fraud, tries to recover money, and files suit. Damages claimed: >$11 million.
• Adamo argues Marini should have caught on sooner; court disagrees, sides with Marini for $20M but Adamo declares bankruptcy.
• Harshest blow: Marini’s investments included the kids’ college funds—now their children watch Adamo’s kids go to private school with the scammed money.
• The court rules Harold’s kids don’t have to pay the money back.
• Mosley, in near disbelief: “So you took your kids’ college money and watched the neighbor's kids go to nice colleges on your dime.” (44:19)

e) Lasting Damage and the Scam’s Aftermath

• Marinis try to claw back funds via lawsuits against schools, to no avail. Adamo is still at large—and rococo’s neighbor.
• The personal element: loss of friendship and violation of trust might even eclipse the financial hit.
• Gabrus sums it up: “You had me dickmatized.” (47:48)

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4. Scammer of the Week: The Canadian Witch (47:53–55:07)

• Samantha Stevenson, 27, was charged with pretending to be a witch to scam a 67-year-old man out of $600,000 via a “spirit un-blessing.”
• Scammed victim by convincing him to sell his house, transfer money, and burn cash—all to remove “evil spirits.”
• Law cited: Canada’s rarely-used statute against fraudulent witchcraft, sparking banter about how to "prove" you’re a witch in court.
• Gabrus: “She could scam an old man out of money the old-fashioned way by just dangling pussy in front of him. I appreciate her going the other way and dangling the devil’s pussy.” (53:46)
• Laci considers Samantha’s ingenuity: “If the spirits went away, honestly, she did her job.” (53:52)

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Memorable Quotes & Moments

• On Fake Brand Modeling Contests:
  “That’s the scam of the century, is me becoming a plus-size model.”
  — Jon Gabrus, 01:38

• On Scam Podcasting:
  “Our ads are not scams. That’s the only thing about this podcast that’s not a scam.”
  — Laci Mosley, 05:59

• On Scammer Tactics:
  “You have a lot of access to do this scam. I photoshopped an obit, okay?”
  — Laci Mosley, 11:05

• On Investment Scams:
  “Never invest in something you don’t fully understand... If you’re gonna ‘get educated,’ don’t let it be by the person who’s making money off you!”
  — Laci Mosley, 26:00, 26:07

• On Losing Trust & Family Funds:
  “If you my dad... but I’m trying to go to school, and you telling me you ain’t got no coins for me? Put them hands up, father.”
  — Laci Mosley, 41:22

• On Fraudulent Witchcraft and Justice:
  “Every witch is a scammer or a witch—we don’t know, and no one can prove it.”
  — Laci Mosley, 50:36

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Important Timestamps

• 00:00–06:16 – Comedy, podcasting, scammer admiration, and podcast disclaimers
• 07:22–14:21 – Listener's mortician scam story
• 19:01–47:03 – Main Story: The Long Island Rare Coin Con (see section above for episode structure)
• 47:53–55:07 – Scammer of the Week: Canadian Witch Scam

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Tone & Dynamics

Scam Goddess maintains a fast-paced, irreverent, inclusive, and conspiratorial tone. Laci’s charisma and wit make even dry legal details wildly entertaining. Gabrus matches her with Brooklyn skepticism, relatable self-deprecation, and the energy of a sitcom neighbor who's seen it all. While the episode pokes fun at the victims’ naivete, there’s a strong undercurrent of empathy—especially concerning the violation of trust in lifelong relationships and the real world impact of financial scams.

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For New Listeners

This episode is a quintessential Scam Goddess ride: smart, silly, and sneakily insightful. Whether you’re in it for the history, the scam tactics, or just the belly laughs, you’ll gain:

• A sense of camaraderie for the "con-gregation" (the fanbase)
• Insider knowledge on both petty and grand scams
• Sharp, unfiltered comedy that doesn’t shy away from real talk about race, class, and human nature

Stay schemin’—and don’t invest in rare coins with your neighbor.

Transcript

[A]

Scams C, Robbery and Frauds. Scams C, robbery and Fraud. What is up, congregation? It's your girl, Scam Goddess. Back with another installment of the podcast, Scam Goddess. Yes, I named it after me. My name is Lacy Mosley and I'm so fun excited for our guest today. You've heard him all over, You've seen him all over.

[B]

Okay.

[A]

He has 90 million podcasts. John Gabrius, how many podcasts do you have currently running?

[B]

I guess now I technically have three.

[A]

Currently running.

[B]

Yes. Cause raised by TV action boys, high and mighty. And then now the Gino Lombardo show is currently running.

[A]

Yes, the Gino Lombardo Show. I'm hearing great things.

[B]

Going apeshit.

[C]

I don't know.

[B]

It came out today, so who knows?

[A]

No, I'm sure they are. I love it. I love it.

[B]

I have severe outfit envy. I just want you to know.

[A]

Thank you.

[B]

That's like, extremely my shit.

[A]

That's a big compliment because you dress so well.

[B]

Well, I dress like shit today because I was inspired knowing I wasn't gonna have to take an IG shot. So I'm in my gym clothes.

[A]

Oh, hey. Oh, wait a minute. Was that chartreuse under there? Is that. Are those chartreuse compression shorts? Holy shit.

[B]

It's one piece.

[A]

So you did have all summer. Oh, that's Chubby.

[B]

It's Chubby's. It's 1P. The underwear is built. No, they never let me model Chubby's.

[A]

What are you doing?

[B]

Yeah, what the fuck, Chubby. That's the scam of the century is me becoming a plus size model.

[A]

You killed it on there, though. They had this, like, ad campaign and like, so many people voted for you. They were just doing that as advertisement. That was a fudgeing scam.

[B]

That's what Bullshit. Because I knew it was bullshit. When the 10 finalists were selected by the people running the competition and votes were only 10% of the value, I'm like, motherfucker, that is such a cop out. That's so. I mean, ideally it's so that they could hopefully pick people of all different types rather than just the 10, but come on now.

[A]

I had the most popular one, the most votes. That means that you should have won something. That's bullshit. Because it's like, oh, you're higher. We're going to do this based on votes, but they only count for 1% of our no.

[B]

So it's like, you got to hustle. And then I'm like, the rest of it is just, like, vague. Whatever you want. Okay, I assume I like to pretend it's because my Instagram is probably not, you know, marketing worthy.

[A]

What?

[B]

Like. Like, it's just. It's not. It's R rated. It's a hard R. Oh, yeah. You know the N word with the hard R?

[A]

We're leaving that in. We're leaving it in.

[B]

Yeah. No, of course.

[A]

Now, at this point in the podcast, I haven't told anyone that I was black.

[B]

Oh, shit. None of your listeners know.

[A]

I reveal it. I reveal it every episode. If you hear me say N, I am black. I'm one of the blackest.

[B]

Oh, yeah. And you know what? Same here. If I say the N word. If I say the N word, it's because I'm black. Right. Got it. Moving on.

[A]

Yes. John Gabris, a black man.

[B]

Don't worry. I will not say the N word. I stopped doing that, wyatt. Look, like 18 months. I learned 18 months ago.

[A]

18 months ago. That's too recent.

[B]

Well, I stopped. I. I said it along with music for way too long now. I even.

[A]

Were you at least in your own home.

[B]

In my own home or car? Yeah. I'm not Windows.

[A]

That's okay. Listen, I just want to say, white people out there, we know y' all saying the N word in your home, and we know. We know. We know you're in your car.

[B]

I doubt most of them that are staying in their home are rapping along to Juicy Jeff.

[A]

You get in your car, you're just like, nigga, nigga, nigga, nigga, nigga, nigga, nigga. Then you look around and you're like, woo, that felt good. I know you gotta get it off your chest. Just don't fucking make videos of it. Don't fucking say it to me.

[B]

Don't do it in the makeup chair at your job.

[A]

Right. I don't pay your fucking rent. I do not pay your car note. Okay, I'm not giving you permission. I'm not saying. Don't go out there and say, Lacey told y' all to say nigger in your cars. Cause I didn't. If I look over and I'm driving and you just niggering away like you might get sideswiped. I didn't tell you to do that. But I am saying. I know you do it.

[B]

Saying it as a ing word is very funny. If I see you hittering in your car. See, I could radio edit myself now.

[A]

Yes, exactly. I don't know why so many people act like it's so difficult. It's not. And listen, I will give y' all nigga I will give white people, nigga, if I could have rights, full rights in society.

[B]

Oh, yeah, it's not worth it. Well, you can keep the word. Never mind. Never mind.

[A]

Offering it to you.

[B]

Never mind. I wanted to be able to say it, but not for, like, equal rights. That shit is going to be a problem in the long run.

[A]

I'm like, shit, no, I'm offering it to you right now. White people you can have. Nigger, you can say the harder. Just give me rights. Stop your police from killing us. Like. And that's a joke, but it's also very fucking real. Y' all don't want to do that, so stop trying to say, nigga, leave us alone.

[B]

I feel like Zig knew the second I had you had me on the podcast would be the longest discussion of the N word.

[A]

Listen, I love. I love a problematic pod listen, but these are jokes, people. Sometimes people be in my reviews, like, giving me all this hardcore journalistic advice. I am not a journalist. I feel like I have to say this so many times.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Or that is a scam.

[B]

I have to keep. Constantly remind podcast listeners that I am an idiot and I'm doing comedy. Like, relax.

[A]

They be like, why y' all laugh so much? Why? There's so many jokes.

[B]

They're like, the lead singer of Rush is actually. I'm like, shut the fuck up. You know, I was talking extemporaneously for two and a half hours.

[A]

You think I got to research? Like, I got a computer up here right now. Like, I'm not here to educate you. I mean, I am. I am here to educate you on scams, but beyond that.

[B]

But be and I. I love that your podcast is about scams. That's such a fucking exciting topic.

[A]

It's so fun. It's been such a good ass time. I've learned some scams. I've inspired people to do scams.

[B]

Oh, it's not. It's not necessarily a negative portrayal of scams.

[A]

Oh, no, no, no. We worship scammers here.

[C]

We. We.

[A]

I support them fully. You know what I mean? I've offered to advertise some scams on the show if people want to support them.

[B]

Oh, hell yeah. Let's get some MLMS advertising on this show.

[A]

No, all of our ads are real, guys. Our ads are not scams. That's the only thing about this podcast, that it's not a scam. I feel the need to say that because I'm gonna get in trouble.

[B]

Please use my products and my promo code.

[A]

My promo code is scam. A lot, though, which I love that ads are down for that. I love that they're down for that.

[B]

Yes. Just put in the promo code scam, and we show up at your house and take your mattress out of your living room or whatever.

[A]

It's a reverse CA situation. We take your mattress from you.

[B]

No, you gotta buy it back.

[A]

Right? So speaking of talking about scams.

[B]

Oh, solid transition. Speaking of talking about scams. If only there was a short. I'm not a journalist that I'm well aware.

[A]

Jacob roasted my ass. So we like to start off every episode with, like, what's hot and fraud. And sometimes that'll just be me warning you about what's going on. Scrams. New ways to watch out for your credit card. A lot of it involving gas stations. Gas stations are where a lot of scams are born. And Brooklyn. Brooklyn is the Silicon Valley of scams. I've said it before.

[B]

I believe that I lived there for seven years.

[A]

Instead of black turtlenecks, everyone's wearing, like, chains and very loud Migos blouses. But it's the same deal. So, guys, if you have a scam that you've retired, if you have a scam run on you that you want to share, you can always email [e-mail].

[B]

oh, I like that you say a scam that you're retired. Because these scam artists are like, I'm not blowing my shit up.

[A]

No, I don't wanna fuck up the bag. You know what I mean? I want you to get your money, and then once you tired, you share with me. Now, this scam comes from a gentleman. I'm not gonna say his name. He gives me these specifics, so I will read them, but I'm not gonna say where you're from either. So he says, I'm a gay mortician in Blank City. I don't know why he had to tell me he was a gay mortician.

[B]

Yeah, I know. Just say, mortician, we know you're all gay. The stereotype, no one knows, right?

[A]

So he's a gay mortician to electronic databases for a death certificate registry and the ability to create them. He went with his man. He went with his man, honey to Vegas one year for a getaway, while also taking 25 online class units in a college to finish his undergrad. So he has said he ends up getting drunk so hard in Vegas that he forgot about his midterm that was due the same weekend. He says, when I woke up, right? He says When I woke up on Monday, after I got home from that latest hell Sunday, I realized the grave error I made. Is that supposed to be a pun, sir? Suddenly the ability to scam came alive in me.

[B]

Oh, shit. That's how it happens.

[A]

I don't know if it just comes alive in you.

[B]

I'm born with the scam ability. It is the chosen one. The gay mortician scams are alive inside of you, my son. Release them upon the world. Yeah.

[A]

He pulled the sword out of the stone. He pulled the body out of the drawer. Like, what is this? So it says, I emailed my teacher that I did not get rest all weekend due to my neighbor's child passing away by peanut allerg. Damn.

[B]

Jesus.

[A]

He said that he basically had been helping every waking moment that weekend and could not do his midterm. He said that he was sorry and that the professor asked him to send a copy of the death certificate and program and he would count his final for both terms and last testing. So basically, if you send me a death certificate proving that this really happened, I will just count your final twice and you don't have to take the midterm exam.

[B]

It's crazy that teachers have to get to that level because people do do the sc.

[A]

I know, but also it's like, come on now, just let me say somebody died and let's move on from this. We both know I'm lying. Now I gotta get on here and Photoshop. You know how many times I killed off my auntie?

[B]

Yo, I have some. My mom has had to come through and be like, okay, look, someone did die.

[A]

Like, when I was in college, she died so much.

[B]

My mom has definitely lied about grandmas dying before.

[A]

Right?

[B]

You don't believe me? Ask my mom. Mom, I need a really weird favor. If a teacher calls and asks, just say your mom died recently, not 10.

[C]

Okay?

[A]

Bring up your. I know this is traumatic for you probably still, but I'm gonna need this from you.

[B]

And I know you probably don't wanna, you know, resurface it all on behalf of your slacker son, but let's get to work.

[A]

Let's get to work.

[B]

So choosing a child death is intense too. Cause then you put like, some real stress and sadness on the person listening to.

[A]

Stress and sadness.

[B]

Like a grandma, grandpa dying. You can, like, wrap your head around, so.

[A]

And normally, you know, I don't like to read sad shit. That's not what we do on this podcast. But he said that he had to use the child because. And this is where the fuck part comes in. He says, so I had a boy who died with a peanut allergy two weeks ago at the funeral home, and I had access to all the printed materials we used for his service and death certificate. I printed the death certificate, blacked out the parents information and Social Security number so he could not be found. I also went into our online database at the funeral home and changed the dates of the service to correlate with the date coming.

[B]

This is. This is a scam that isn't for everybody.

[A]

You have a lot of access to do this scam. I Photoshopped an obit. Okay? Those are made in word. You know, most people are so black, they love putting somebody, like, in some clouds or some shit. So, you know, very basic editing.

[B]

You know, we got plenty of photos of women in cloud photos.

[A]

You know, they said, go sunrise, sunset. That's the beginning of every black program. So you just gotta change that sunset, baby. Change that sunset, baby. So he printed all of this out, and then the icing on the cake is he used Adobe Photoshop to crop some pictures of himself into a barbecue that he was having at his house.

[B]

Jesus. He went for it. Probably unnecessary, but now he's just getting cocky.

[A]

I feel like you don't need to also submit proof of you being at a fake barbecue.

[B]

Yeah, he's holding up a newspaper and shit like, it's today's date. I promise.

[A]

Like, you went on Facebook, found this little boy, family barbecue, edited yourself. Did you have to go take pictures outside to match the lighting? Like, you went outside, took a picture with a. With a damn pants, blue ribbon in your hand.

[B]

Yeah. He's like, hey, Brian, we need it. We need a children's corpse asap. I got to post this photo of me giving a thumbs up next to it to prove to my teacher. My teacher, my online course also.

[A]

This is an online course.

[B]

He doesn't even know what you. He doesn't even know what you look like. Why do you have to Photoshop yourself in? If it's online, you can use any photo you want. That's me, Conan the Barbarian, standing there at a children's funeral.

[A]

And it's online course. Like, is online school even reputable? Online school is a scam. It.

[B]

It's probably a healthy dose of. But college in general is a scam, so maybe online is, like, the easiest way to be scammed. It's probably a little cheaper than going to a liberal arts school.

[A]

Remember when Shaq used to be selling Phoenix University?

[B]

Shaq is my. Shaq is one of the richest people I know who has no qualms about visibly slumming in front of everybody at all. He's like, all right, yeah. So next up, these are my brand French fries. You can bake them. It's like, Shaq. How much money. How much money is Shaq making for the general because they don't have. The fucking budget of the ads themselves is awful.

[A]

Right.

[B]

And so you got Shaq. They probably blew all the money on Shaq.

[C]

Yeah.

[A]

So then they're doing a handheld recorder from the 90s.

[B]

Yeah. Even, like, his Icy Hot ad is just like him on a black screen. Like him with, like, nothing in the background. Just like, I use Icy Hot.

[A]

And you're like, shaq, I love Icy Hot. I put it on my body. It's icy, and it's hot. Okay. They didn't even spend money on somebody writing copy. They're like, shaq, just riff.

[B]

He's a master improviser. If you've ever watched NBA on tnt, it should be fine. It's true. He is a solid. He's solid out of the pocket. He's good.

[A]

So.

[B]

So, Shaq, I'll go to your online college is what I'm saying.

[A]

Right? Shaq, if you want to make your own online college outside of Phoenix University, I will attend it.

[B]

I've got 12 degrees. That would be such a great dude. I want to do an online scam, so I school scam. So I have, like, 24 majors. I want to be like, I also have a master's. Yeah, like, just keep listing all the shit.

[A]

I honestly don't get a degree anymore. Just say you got it. You know what I mean? There's so many ways. There's so much Photoshop. You don't have to actually go out and get a degree, right?

[B]

Yeah, I know. I can't believe it was 15 years ago or whatever where I had to write my GPA on a resume. Right?

[A]

Everything's on Google, bro. So he says. I ended up getting an A in that class. Love the show. Scammer, mortician.

[B]

Oh, hell, yeah. That's awesome. And I hope he gets plenty more business that he can. He can exploit the deaths of children more for his benefit.

[A]

Oh, damn. I mean, look, I have killed off an auntie. I have not gone and changed the database on a website and Photoshopped myself into photos with her.

[B]

But, oh, me, it's a little scary for me to do stuff like that because I know there's no correlation. But God forbid something happens shortly after me lying about that. I'll feel. I'll feel that shit in my bones. Like, if you're like, make up a lie about your aunt and then she passes away, I'd be like, no, you. That was my fault. People who are already dead, that's the move, right?

[C]

Right, Right.

[B]

That way, if they come back to life, then it'.

[A]

Yeah. You can't build people who are alive. That's just too risky.

[B]

Yeah. No, it's not worth it. Your online fucking communications professor might run into a child who's still alive and be like, I thought you died from a peanut allergy.

[A]

Right? Also, the fuck. Like, you were online teacher. Like, why are you asking for so much? Like, you know people are lying. Just be like, okay, we'll make your final count as double. Like, don't make me produce all this information. Don't even go to Kinko's.

[B]

Just be like, if you want to take a B minus, I'll give it to you right now. That's the shit I want. I want to be like, look, I don't have the time to do it. Blah, blah, blah. Teacher just goes, I don't give a shit either. I'll give you an 84 right now. I'm like, I'll take it.

[A]

Like, what are we really doing here? Like, you know what I mean? Like, I have to show you that I learned the things that you taught me. Like, let's just skip that.

[B]

Let's just be real. We're just trying to get to the point where I have a degree so I can get some shitty job, you know? Like, I just need to demonstrate that I did college.

[A]

Cut to the fucking chase. I was so glad I had a professor like that in college because I have a business degree and I hated finance. And there was, like, a corporate finance class that I had to take, and I waited until my last semester to take it, which was fucking stupid. I was on scholarship. And so, like, what I would do in a lot of my business classes is I would, like, show up to office hours looking real rough. Like, I wouldn't comb my hair. I'd wear some rags, some 18th century rags.

[B]

This is hard for me to even picture.

[A]

I would do it and I'd come in and I'd be like, oh, my God, this class is so hard. Can you help me with these problems? Can you give me what's the answer to the homework? I would just do this, come in

[B]

looking sad on purpose, just looking beat up.

[A]

And they would give me answers, and they were like, this worked for me all the time. And I had one professional who his class was so hard that when I graduated, I was walking across the stage and I leaned over to him and I was like, is this coming in the mail? The diploma? I was like, am I gonna get this shit in the mail or no?

[B]

Am I opening? Am I opening up just a big letter that says sorry inside this thing?

[A]

He was like, yeah, yeah.

[B]

Why'd they even print a diploma that just says sorry? That's brutal.

[A]

Dicks. The University of Pittsburgh. Sorry. That's rude as shit. No. I was like, is it gonna come in the mail? He was like, yeah, yeah, yeah, it's coming. I was like, okay, thank you. I used to pretend to be, like, underprivileged youth. Cause every time I told somebody I was at school on scholarship, they'd be like, oh, for athletics. I was like, no, bitch. Academics. I'm fucking smart, but I'm black. So they'd be like, so you run fast.

[B]

That's better than just saying, like, your family's poor.

[A]

That was the next assumption. Which was funny. Cause my family was not poor. I only went to school out of state because I wanted to leave state. So I was like, oh, okay, I'll get a scholarship. I knew I was gonna be an actor, and I wasn't gonna make money for Went and did that. But now my parents could have paid for college.

[B]

It's really. It's really funny that you went to your teacher looking hurt to get where for you. It. I guess it works on both ends. Like, if you showed up looking fine, you can, like, showed up all dressed up, all gussied up. You're like, I'm having trouble with this question. You'd get the answer, too.

[A]

See, I don't know if I would. Then they'd be like, you're not trying. You're not applying yourself.

[B]

You have to act like you were hustling.

[A]

Yeah, I got to look like I had already applied myself before I came, and that didn't work.

[B]

Like, it's so hard for me as a student athlete. They're like, what sport? You're like, shut up. All right, never mind. Let's get at it.

[A]

What sport do you play? Running?

[B]

Yeah. Is running a sport? Cause I'm good at that. I'm fast.

[A]

I do. I do running. I'm very fast. Did I mention I'm black?

[B]

Can't you just see I'm an athlete? Let's go.

[A]

Yeah. You know, growing up in the inner

[B]

cities, I'm wearing tights. Let's move. I got leggings on you know, I'm an athlete.

[A]

You said you're from Frisco, Texas? Yeah, the inner cities of Frisco, Texas. You know what I'm saying?

[B]

You don't know where that is?

[A]

Yeah, we got one small ghetto.

[B]

I mean, I don't live anywhere near it, thank God.

[A]

But Scams C. And it's time for my favorite segment of the show, Historic Hoodwinks. This is where I'm gonna regale Mr. Gabrius with a fantastical tale of fraud. We're gonna get his opinions on it. So, Gabris, you're from Long Island?

[B]

That's correct.

[A]

Yes.

[B]

Have I ever mentioned that on a podc?

[A]

I think Long island is becoming a brand.

[B]

Yeah, it's going, hey, I'm leaning in. I'm like five days away from becoming like a Long island version of Larry the Cable Guy.

[A]

And I want it. Everybody wants it.

[B]

I need it, actually.

[A]

You know what I mean? People are looking right now for that. That Voice of America again.

[B]

Yeah. People are like, you know what? Let's get some white people. And I'm going to stand out by being from Long Island.

[A]

It's going to work.

[B]

It's going to work for me.

[A]

So this is a historic hoodwink about a man named Harold Adamo.

[B]

Okay.

[A]

He's a rare coin dealer who has been accused of $330,000 in coin consignment and sales fraud in which he bilked. I love the word bilked.

[B]

Oh, bilked sounds so good.

[A]

It just rolls off the tongue. He built several coin dealers and private collectors out of money, gold, and collectible coins under the guise of legitimate coin deals. So he allegedly took advantage of long term business relationships and stole collectibles and cash. Now, what's crazy is, like, some of these relationships span over and he just

[B]

like, lightly scammed them every once in a while, or is he bilking them nonstop? I think he, by the way, bilking someone non stop, I felt uncomfortable saying that. Yeah.

[A]

Sounds sexual.

[C]

Yeah.

[B]

Fuck, I haven't been bilked since I was in college. That's where they pour milk in your butt, right?

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

Okay, good.

[A]

That works. And then the b. Butt milk built. Yeah. You get it?

[B]

Yeah. Now, thanks for explaining my joke.

[A]

So at age 15, rococo marini. Love that name.

[B]

Oh, that's not an alias. That's not a fake name.

[A]

It's a real name.

[B]

Roco.

[A]

You would think I make the names up on this show because they're always so fucking insane, but scammers love a crazy name. So Rococo Marini began buying and selling irregular sweaters at flea markets. By his early 20s, the enterprising Marini had amassed millions from his growing textile business. Several years later, rococo Marini at 54 years of age and his wife Josephine at 50, became close friends with Harold Ademo, one of their neighbors. Neighbors. The two men and their wives socialized regularly and became godparents to each other's children. Yeah, when I hear socialized regularly, that sounds like fucking.

[B]

That's some. That's some small town.

[A]

Small town.

[B]

I love it.

[A]

50s. I love it.

[B]

The best guy.

[A]

The best guy.

[B]

If I'm gonna watch anyone fuck, it's gonna be four 50 year old people.

[A]

Oh, hot.

[B]

I'm not against it.

[A]

Hey, listen, I'm not sex shaming you. Get out here. I want a nut till I die.

[B]

Okay, that could be a rage. I want a nut until I. And I want to die in five days.

[A]

Nobody want to be 95. Just like

[B]

Matthew McConaughey's dad died, his mom. Isn't that like a.

[A]

That's beautiful.

[B]

Isn't that amazing?

[A]

That's like the Notebook,

[B]

I guess. I've never. I don't remember the Notebook that well.

[A]

But you don't remember that scene where they had sex and then they die

[B]

and she finishes still, she's like, hold on. Rigor mortis is set in. Give me another minute.

[A]

Oh, Lord. Oh, God, what a dark.

[B]

Well, what a dark thing. Let's get back to this guy stealing from an elderly married couple.

[A]

So what I love about this is like, yeah, they have to be fucking. My mom used to try to hang out with our neighbors. They would have bunko nights, which is where I guess they would play the dice game. Bunko, which is just like, I don't know, a rich white people game where you. I don't know.

[B]

Oh, I don't know. I'm a poor white person. So we didn't have that game. We had poker and dice. I grew up playing dice with my friends.

[A]

Dice, you know, where sometimes you start stab someone, sometimes you don't.

[B]

Wow, this is a very weird. This might be weird for listeners to hear a white guy telling a black girl, I grew up playing dice. I don't know what game that is. I grew up shooting dice in the alley.

[A]

Hey, look, we're all a monolith. But I do keep my secret lifestyle of having a privileged life to myself.

[B]

Hey, smart.

[A]

It's medium privilege. We were just like medium upper middle class. Not like crazy.

[B]

Yeah, just like fountain in the yard.

[A]

Not like Tyler Perry. Greenleaf. Okay?

[B]

Greenleaf, Rich. Oh, you're not building your millions on the back of non union actors. Tyler Perry, great scam.

[A]

He is a great scammer. Listen.

[B]

But he also is making fucking art for people to watch.

[A]

So we'll call it art. It's something. It's something. It's recorded.

[B]

Madea is my Tony Soprano, yo.

[A]

Tyler Perry killed me because I think he made acrimony in a week. And I talk about this with people because please watch the movie Acrimony. It's so fucking bad. Had that. It's good.

[B]

A few, like, I think he has like a 1 in 4 that come out that you were like, oh, this is an actual movie. And then like three out of four are like, this is an insurance scam where you had access to a baseball field and you shot a movie and a green screen.

[A]

I'm not even kidding. I've never seen someone shoot a walking and talking scene. Like a walk and talk on a green screen that doesn't treadmills. Green screen doesn't move. And here they are just a whopping. I'm like, there's a boat in the back. The boat hasn't moved at all. Truly. You love to see it. The audacity of that movie to be in theaters. I love it. I live for it. So these swingers. Rococo. So rococo. Morini thought he had a foolproof way to boost his assets, investing in a pal's coin business. This is obviously harold. So in 2002, approximately 10 years after they became friends, the Addamos surprised the Marinis by unexpectedly joining them during a Caribbean.

[B]

Unexpectedly. Okay. Yeah.

[A]

On the Carnival cruise is like, what are you doing here?

[B]

Yeah, I had a friend back in the day who's like, oh, these are my friends I go on a cruise with. I'm like, oh, are they a couple? He's like, yeah. And I'm like, just the three of you go on a cruise? You're like, yeah, but we're just all friends. I was like, you don't have to lie to me.

[C]

Yeah.

[A]

You can say that you're these people and that they're taking you on this cruise for free.

[B]

Exactly.

[A]

We also, in the same stateroom, I

[B]

get to wear the Mickey Mouse ears.

[A]

I get to keep all the towel animals after we fuck on them. So they go on this unexpected Caribbean vacation. During the vacation, Marini and Adamo began discussing coin transaction. Marini expressed interest in investing in these coins. Okay, so Adamo proposed that Marini invest some of his wealth in rare coins that he would select for him. So to reassure Marini, Adamo made certain representations, including that Adamo would be investing in the same coins Marini. So basically we're going to go in on the same coin. So I have as much to lose as you do. The coins were liquid and Marini could sell them on 24 to 48 hours notice.

[B]

Okay.

[A]

And Adamo would only charge a small commission on each coin that he sold to Marini. Over time, Adamo also provided Morini with written statements purporting to show the market value of the coins that Morini had purchased.

[B]

Never invest in something that you don't fully understand. Right. Like, isn't that like a go to?

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

Like, if you're like, I'm going to buy land, it's like, I don't know shit about land. Let me look into it. I don't know shit about collectible coins.

[A]

And also, don't get educated by the person who's going to make money off of you, because then I'm going to fudgeing, tell you whatever I want also.

[B]

Yeah. Don't you just have like a stock? The stocks or something? I don't even know. Like, that's how broke I have been my whole life. I'm like, don't you have stocks? I don't even know what that means. But like, to choose coins and be like, no, I trust you. I got. Don't worry about our future children. I got this fudgeing rare coin in the attic. I'd be like, fuck you, mom coins.

[A]

Like, are those really worth shit? This is 2002. So this is before the housing market bubble in 2008. So this is when people still had money to blow on. Dumb shit.

[B]

Yeah, yeah. Because they have to pay their like $4800 a month balloon mortgage that they're trapped in right now.

[A]

Exactly. So unbeknownst to Marini, Adamo was defrauding him. Duh. Like, if.

[B]

So he's giving him fake coins and also collecting a commission on like, that's such a.

[A]

So Addamo would buy coins at low prices and then sell them to Morini at exorbitant marks. For example, Adamo would buy a 1988 $1 Morgan silver coin, April 2003, for $200. And then he would sell the coin to Marini December 2003 for 100,000.

[B]

What? Okay, so that's not just a little bit of money you have that you're investing. That's a lot of. If you're buying $100,000.

[A]

That's a big ass markup if I don't.

[B]

I don't know much about collectible coins, but it sounds like he just instantly lost 900 and he instantly lost $99,000. $999. A dollar coin for a hundred grand? Seems like, hey, I got a $20 bill. You have 60 bucks. I'll sell it to you right now. That's a quick scam.

[A]

What the fuck? Also, like, Harold, you are greedy as fuck. You couldn't have bought a $200 coin and sold it to my man's for like $1200. I know, I know.

[B]

Isn't it not enough to make $1,000 off the guy who's been your wife on cruises for the last.

[C]

Right?

[A]

Y' all been fucking each other's wives on these cruises. Y' all haven't built a rapport. You've seen each other. There's dicks.

[B]

Yeah, you've seen your. You've seen his. I'm going to be way too specific based on the fucking swinger, amateur shit I've been watching, right? What another. Continue.

[A]

So in another instance, Adamo sold Marie. I keep calling Adamo and Harold, but that's the same guy. Guys, Harold sold Marini an 1880 Morgan Stanley coin, another dollar coin for 250,000 in December of 2002, and then just one month later, bought back the same exact coin for himself from another dealer for only $33,500.

[B]

Jesus.

[A]

How much money did Marini have?

[B]

Holy shit. What a fucking cash cow. If your neighbor's like, hey, I'm looking to spend some money. Do you. Can you help me? It's like, sure. What are you looking to spend? I don't know, five, six hundred thousand dollars? Be like, oh, shit. Well, I got two coins with your fucking name on it.

[A]

No, I can help you. Let me tell you how the business works. Don't go online.

[B]

Also, flip her over. She likes it from behind for a little bit. I imagine all the business deals are happening while they're drinking like big ass fucking margaritas and fucking each other while everyone's guts are slapping the gun.

[A]

Oh, God. Oh, what an image. So Harold was told in August 2018 that he had a buyer for 18 ounces of gold and an 1837 dime.

[B]

Ooh, shit. I don't know much about coins, but I know that one is good.

[A]

That a slave dime. You know, we really want that one. And see, and that's when white people are saying the N word in their homes. He probably got that Dime and was

[B]

like, in 18, in 1837. I think they were saying it, saying it wherever they wanted to, unfortunately.

[A]

And that's why he wanted the coin so bad, so he could rub it and think of better times.

[B]

Just rub it. Thinking about racism is like the weirdest ever. It's like how racist you got to be to just. Just like, like rub the wood of a plantation.

[A]

Oh, that's what they do. I went on a tour in Savannah and I only went on one because I realized they were all the same. And it was like this old Southern, like, mansion that obviously slaves worked in. The tour guide had a little bit of Asperger's that I diagnosed myself, which is up. But she just seemed like she was on the spectrum and she was really slave heavy on this tour, which I loved.

[B]

It's weird. It's weird to like, slave history, like, is not. It's so prevalent.

[A]

Like, it's so prevalent and we don't want to talk about it. And it's not that long ago my grandfather went to a colored only high school, so you guys really should fuck off. But so she's walking through this house and she's really kind of discussing in real detail. She's like, this is where the slaves slept. This is where they would take care of the mistress's children and blah, blah, blah. And I liked, you know, learning this stuff, even though it's sad. You know, it's my history on this fucking tour. I am the only black person.

[B]

Everyone else, Everyone keeps looking at you, like, nodding solemnly.

[A]

No.

[B]

Slavery, huh?

[A]

That was the weird part. I was like, where are the uncomfortable white people that I've grown to love in Los Angeles?

[B]

Well, they're not in Savannah.

[A]

They're problematic. White people in LA are problematic, but it's like the like, oh, we're gonna touch your hair and ask uncomfortable questions and make you aware that you're different as much as possible, but in a woke, quote unquote way. But in the south, it's like usually like a little more like, hey, what's up?

[C]

Hi.

[A]

Or something. These white people on this tour, I have not seen more people just in awe of a slave house. Like, she would be like, yeah, as in, this is where the slaves were beaten. And they'd be like, is that marble? Is that real marble? Is that from the original house? Like, they were more interested in the architecture of this house than the actual history of it. It was fucking weird.

[B]

I used to do comedy gigs in Charleston all the time, and I would always ask people shit to do and people were like, oh, white people always be like, you gotta see the slave market. I was like, I'm sorry, what, dude? And I was like, it's a thing. And I thought maybe it's like, oh, it's this new thing, but this is where the slave market once was. And I was like, oh, okay. So we rode our bikes over, and it's like, this was the slave market. And it's not. It's like a commemorative slave market. I'm like, yo, how that this like Auschwitz having a fucking ticket taker at the door?

[A]

Like, black history is the only history where it's like, not revered as this, like, sad never again thing. It's like, better days, they're like, hold

[B]

off till February, sweetheart. It's like, hey, remember when white.

[A]

White folks will really empower?

[B]

That's like, to me, we should be humiliated. And it's insane. Like, it should be a point of reverence. Like, maybe it should stay up and kids should go there and have to learn the dark shit of that instead. Just like, isn't this crazy?

[A]

Like, look how nice these houses were.

[B]

This is where nice white people were able to purchase other people.

[A]

All this for one straw penny. Like, what the fuck?

[B]

An 1812 dime. Holy shit. This is going to be worth 500 grand someday.

[A]

And it should not be robbery and fraud. So Harold took the items and promised to send the coin dealer a check. Prosecutors said when Harold returned later that month to submit the check for nearly $39,000, the check bounced.

[B]

And this guy's already got several hundred thousand dollars of his friend's money, and he can't even. He doesn't have 30 liquid.

[A]

So he's like, is he writing from a bad account? Like, I don't know.

[B]

I'd like to completely make up all his backstory. So let's say he's being black by a different couple he's. He's been swinging with.

[A]

Yeah, he started having sex with a wife not on Caribbean vacation. And they were like, this was not our rules.

[B]

Yeah, he broke the rules of the open marriage. Yeah.

[A]

So Harold later stopped communicating with the dealer. Makes sense. Check bounces. He's like, I'm not actually giving you this money. Bye. So the same month, Harold bought six Canadian Maple Leaf 1 ounce coins with a check for more than $7,300. Prosecutor said he returned later that month and bought 22 other coins. They were like Cure Grand 1 ounce gold coins with another check for more than $27,000. Both checks bounce, bounce, bounce. Oh, no, I can't I can't do that anymore. That's the bad man. I forgot.

[B]

All right.

[A]

Oh, it's a bad man. So prosecutors said that Harold stopped communicating with the dealer. Duh. This is his game. He write a bad check that he'd be like, change my phone.

[B]

I mean, I stopped talking to people for way less shit than defrauding them of $200,000. I lost. I lost friends over, like, trying to split a bill at a taco stand. So I get it for this kind of.

[A]

He's like, harold ghosted me. I gave. So Harold met most of the dealers through a so called coin symposium. How nerdy is this?

[B]

And I'd like to go there and just alpha everyone out of their money. But I'll give you a wedgie if you don't give me a hay penny or whatever.

[A]

Not even a straw penny. I want a hay penny. Which are cheap chat rooms for coin dealers in the community. This is a community. He was also known to coin dealers and the public through public coin shows and websites. Are people fucking at these coin shows,

[B]

I tell you who is Adamo, baby.

[A]

Let me get a picture of Adamo up. Let's see if he's hot. Yeah. Is the Antique Roadshow just like the furry convention? Is everyone getting it on there?

[B]

I think any convention, when you get a bunch of people who are into the same stuff, they're going to inevitably end up. You know what I mean? Like, it's a lot of people who are into old garbage. So they're all going to get together and be like, oh, if you're. If you're like a guy who collects coins and there's a woman who collects coins and you're both single, you already have the icebreaker built in.

[A]

Of course.

[B]

Yeah. I remember famously when I was a kid, my dad, famously, my dad would always tell me that all the little people were fucking like crazy on the wizard of Oz. He's like, think about it, Johnny. All these little people get together. He didn't use that word, of course, because it was the 80s when he was telling me this. But he's like, all these little people get together, you know, they're gonna be. That's the most amount of little people that's ever been together in one time. They're. I was like, oh, yeah.

[A]

I love that. He didn't have like a documentary about this. He just assumes that they're. I mean, on any movie set, after a while, there's happening. I've learned. I was like, wow, all this was happening around me. I had no idea. Okay, so getting caught. While we look at this photo, Harold and the Marceni's friendship was well established. They had known each other for 20, 25 years. Can you imagine someone you've known for 25 years stealing, like, $300,000 from you? That's fucking wild.

[B]

That's fucking upsetting.

[A]

And he was fucking your wife.

[B]

I trusted you. And according to our version, I trusted you.

[A]

I trusted you with my wife, my money.

[B]

Yeah, he's got all the bags.

[A]

So eventually, Marini discovered the fraud and demanded that Harold buy back his coins. When Harold refused, Marini sued him for fraud, alleging damages of over 11. $11 million.

[B]

Holy.

[A]

Expert testimony played a crucial role in helping Marini establish both liability and damages. Meaning that Marini got on stand and just sang like a canary. In order to prove fraud, Marini needed to show, among other things, that Harold had misinterpreted the value or misrepresented the value of the coins that he sold to Marini and charged him an excessive markup. To establish these facts, Marini presented the testimony of two coin experts. The two determine the true market value of the coins, and Marini went to auctions. Blah, blah, blah, blah. This is how it gets him. Harold challenged the reliability of this valuation methodology under Daubert v. Merrill.

[B]

Oh, classic. We all learned about that in school.

[A]

Yeah. Is this man a lawyer? The gist of Adamo's argument was that reliance on auction prices was inappropriate, given that subjective factors like taste can affect the value of extremely rare coins.

[B]

Oh, that's his back guy. He's like, look, I thought I liked it, so I thought it was worth more than it really was.

[A]

Harold, you. You are slippery. The court disagreed and found the expert's testimony reliable. Okay, shout out to the court while. Can you imagine being a juror on a coin case? How boring.

[B]

I know. And you're like, oh, that's no problem. It'll be done in no time. And then it's like, please look at the 1812 Morgan Stanley dollar coin exhibit A and be like, oh, me, dude. And then I'll just be picturing the two couples the whole time.

[A]

That's what gets you through.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

So while conceding that there is a subjective component to valuing coins, the court held that it did not render the expert testimony unreliable, given the widely accepted valuation and publications and other methods and shit. Instead, the court held that the issues, such as difficulty of pricing coins with such limited supply, were more appropriately explored on cross examination. Aside from contesting liability, Harold sought to limit his damages by arguing that Morini should have discovered the fraud earlier than he did. Did.

[B]

That's. That's. Really. That's a great defense.

[A]

Like, I scammed you for 25 years at.

[B]

Yeah. At some point, you're not even allowed to be mad at me.

[A]

No, honestly, I thought you was in on the scam. I thought you wanted to be scammed. I thought that was your kink.

[B]

That's.

[A]

Imagine my ties. Me, your wife, and me scamming you.

[B]

Keeping a lie up for 25 years is hard as hell.

[A]

You can't slip once.

[B]

I know. It's been 37 years of telling people I'm straight and.

[A]

Yeah, and your neighbors. So it's not like you can even go outside and get the paper.

[B]

Well, it's like, hey, did you notice Harold put in a saltwater pool in the backyard? Where do you think he's getting that money from? It's. It was two days after I gave him $250,000.

[A]

Meanwhile, every time I ask him about how our coins are doing on the market, he's like, bad, not good, bro.

[B]

Sorry. Subjective taste.

[A]

We losing so much money, we're going

[B]

to need another cash infusion.

[A]

But, Harold, why you got a Rolls Royce in your. In your lawn?

[B]

It'd be mad funny to invest in coins. But. But, like, not special ones. Just like, Yeah, I got $1,000 in quarters in my house. Unstealable. It's too heavy. Big duffel bag full of money.

[A]

Truly, it's beautiful. So I like his argument here. He's like, you should have known. And I think you did, because otherwise you are real dumb. So, in response to. One of. One of Morini's experts testified that at least one of the main auction websites was not publicly available until after 2008, well after Marini had already discovered the fraud. So basically, what they were saying was, is, like, we didn't even the option to look at this shit until you've been scamming this guy for two.

[B]

This fraud didn't exist when you started scamming him. You invented this fraud.

[A]

You made this fraud up.

[B]

Yeah. We now have to have rules set in place, thanks to you.

[A]

Like, now we have a law in your name. Adamo. The Adamo coin law. Like, bitch, you made this scam up. So how are we supposed to know about this scam?

[B]

Rococo. Be careful, buddy.

[A]

So the couple eventually sued Adamo and forced him into bankruptcy, winning a $20 million judgment. Okay, you won a $20 million judgment. But, bro. Harold, don't.

[B]

Bad news, brother. It's Gonna be in coins. No, no, no. This one's worth 19 million. Trust me.

[A]

Trust me, it is.

[B]

It's pretty much the whole thing. You'll be set.

[A]

So Harold was 53 when he was arrested in September 2019 and charged with grand larceny and scheme to defraud both felonies as well as misdemeanor counts of issuing bad checks. He did write a lot of bad checks and then stopped texting people back. His bail was set for $100,000 bond or cash. He was suspected in court on Friday. If convicted, he would face up to seven years in prison.

[B]

Good.

[A]

I don't know. That feels too long.

[B]

I don't think so at this point. Like he ruined another dude's entire future.

[A]

Did he?

[B]

Probably. If the guy invested, he's not going to get that money back.

[A]

Ooh. There is something that I have to tell you about this scam that actually makes Rococo seem even stupider.

[B]

Uh oh.

[A]

So some of this money that he was getting was from his kids college funds.

[B]

No Rococo. Who would have thought the guy who takes that. This is upsetting now. Now I'm pissed.

[A]

I don't know because I feel like if you my dad and. Okay, I know you fucking A neighbor. Good. Have fun with that. You in your 50s. Get your fuck on. Great. But I'm trying to go to school. And you telling me when I pull up to university, you ain't got no coins for me? Like, put them hands up, father. We about to fight.

[B]

Fist fight your dad outside a pit first more.

[A]

As soon as I get to admissions and financial aid and they talk about I need to take out a loan. Hell no. Get the up, Rococo.

[B]

I be like, the coin your father gave us to send you to college, we turns out is only worth $1,100.

[A]

Dad, you can't pay for college in coin.

[B]

Yo, that's up.

[A]

This ain't a barter ship, Father.

[B]

If you're. Yeah, Rococo's wife better not have been like, neighbor blind. You got to step up and be

[A]

like, hey, I think she was dict. Because at no point was she like, bae, like, we probably shouldn't liquidate the kids college.

[B]

No, no, trust me, a few more coins and we're going to be set off in the right direction.

[A]

But none of these coins are hitting. I was fucking. I mean, I was talking to Harold last night and he said none of the coins is hitting.

[B]

You know, Harold is putting a hot tub in both his bathrooms in his house. Where do you think he's getting that money from.

[A]

I tried it out. The jets are good and our kid's

[B]

going to Nassau Community College, so I hope you're happy. No offense to NC Squared, right?

[A]

Oh, I love that. I love that shortage. So. So Harold scammed seven customers out of hundreds of thousands of dollars from April 2017 to March 2019.

[B]

And the crazy thing is, all of them were named Rococo. There's that many Rococo's out on the island.

[A]

If your name is Rococo, you are Mark. What are we supposed to do?

[B]

I should gotta ask my mom if she's ever met someone named Rococo. Because then that's possibly the Rococo.

[A]

It has to be. Now I wanna know.

[B]

This is recent too, that this all went down. Right? This is awesome.

[A]

So the Marinis have had no luck so far in collecting and obviously. No, that's a shocker. That is a plot twist. They haven't gotten any money. I'm also gonna guess that he stopped returning their calls. Now what's crazy here is obviously all this stuff earlier. Like the judgment came down in 2014. He was scamming customers out of hundreds of thousand dollars. April 2017 through March 2019. So he went back to crime.

[B]

He's got to. He's got to pay his bail.

[A]

You know, they say crime doesn't pay this guy, but this, he's proving them wrong. So the Marines recently took drastic steps for targeting Hofstra University, Fairfield University and Brooklyn Law School to try to claw some of their money back. Arguing that the total of $246,000 that Harold's kids paid in tuition to the schools came from their father's scheme. So Harold put his kids through college.

[B]

And to put your kid in Hofstra, living on Long island, that's a private university that is like. And if they put them in a dorm, that's some money wasting shit right there because it's 20 minutes away from anywhere in Nassau County.

[A]

So truly what I'm trying to understand is y' all took the money out of Yalls kids college fund so y' all kids had to watch your. The neighbor's kids go to nice colleges on your dime.

[B]

That's so fucked up and pretty baller.

[A]

So they claim that all this tuition was from ill gotten gains. Okay. And the university's not about to give it back to you. That's not how universities work.

[B]

Yeah, Brooklyn law is like, look, we're lawyers and we're. And the cash is in the bank. Dude. Dude, it's not coming back out.

[A]

I don't know what you think this is, bro? But we will not be giving you a dime security.

[B]

I wish I could ask my college for a refund.

[A]

We all do. I ain't even pay tuition. I'm like, give me some. No, I'm kidding. I love the University of Pittsburgh. You guys did so much for me. I'm just. You know, they start calling you immediately too, when you graduate, talking about donate to the alumni association. I'm like, now, you know?

[B]

Yeah. No, I've been alumni for 15 years.

[A]

If anybody knows how my coins are set up from with y', all, it's you. You right?

[B]

I know. It's like, wouldn't you like to donate to the school? I'm like, I did when I went there.

[A]

Yeah. What are you talking about? Donate for four years, bro. So the Brooklyn federal court judge sided with Harold, ruling that his children had no legal obligation to return the funds to their father or to give it to the Marinis. Duh. The. I love that the Marinis are now just trying to go after anyone to get their money back. They're at Target. Like, listen, we know that Harold came up in here and he bought a waterbed and three flat screen TVs with all.

[B]

Yeah, and here I am. Here are the street value of three flat screen TVs. If you just give me $2,100, I will walk out of here right now.

[A]

Sir, this is a Target fine.

[B]

I'll just take two fleece blankets and call it even. Just like immediately.

[A]

So you have to pay for those.

[B]

Give me your credit card. Rococo. That's a fake name. No, I swear to God. Right?

[A]

He goes to jail. So the kids could have chosen to take a trip or gone on a shopping spree with Harold's money, and it wouldn't have been recovered then either. You can't. You can't. That's not how money works. So after the ruling, Harold, the former neighbor and godfather to Marini's children.

[B]

Oh, remember he took. He eliminated college from his own God. Children's future

[A]

gloated that the bankruptcy trustee overseeing their case lost that motherfucker

[C]

Harold.

[A]

You're fucking rude. Like, you already bilked these people out of hundreds of thousands of dollars. You robbed your own godchildren. They got photos of you in they house with you like kids on the children.

[B]

I was about to say, yeah, it's fucked up. Cause then Harold would go in his backyard and fuck his wife loudly on a pilot of expensive coins in front of and make Rococo watch the dining room.

[A]

It was very painful.

[C]

Yeah.

[B]

Yeah, it was not comfortable.

[A]

The wife was like, I have many bruises.

[B]

We can fuck literally anywhere. Does it have to be on change?

[A]

So Joseph Marini said that she. Excuse me, Josephine Marini, the wife said that she was demoralized by the ruling. Was that what you were demoralized by, Josephine?

[B]

You could tell us, Josephine, if you're just mad, your husband is a idiot. I get you. I'm with you.

[A]

So she says. It's my belief that the bankruptcy court has shown little to no desire to hold Harold accountable. Damn, sis, that's. I'm so sorry to hear that. So it looks like Harold is still at large.

[B]

He. He's not in jail? No, he's just on Long island making it happen. Is he still Roko's neighbor? That's so up. If you got to see him every

[A]

morning, I don't think Rococo can afford to move.

[B]

Yeah, well, Rococo's trapped. You know, he's like, hey, I got your mail again, man, and looks like you and your. The wife are going on a vacation again. I miss our cruises, Harold. I miss our cruise.

[A]

I give it all up to just go on one more Carnival cruise.

[B]

God damn it, Harold. You had me dick matized.

[A]

All right, guys, it's come to the end of the road. No, I have to let you go, John. But before you go, I just want to take a moment to praise an honorary charlatan that we call our scammer of the week. So this is Samantha Stevenson, 27, who's charged with pretending to be a witch, fraud and possession of property obtained by crime. She allegedly scammed a man out of $600,000.

[B]

Oh, hell yeah.

[A]

So as a part of her scheme, Stevenson posed as a psychic under the name Ivana Lopez. That's a good sign. Psychic name, like I V. To see the future. You v. To see the future?

[B]

Oh, yeah, that's like. That's some usual suspect. She got that name off the wall behind the person. What's your name? Threedom usa.

[A]

Makes sense. Adds up to me over time, one of her victims, a 67 year old man, lost. So remember, she's 27, he's 67. Good. 40 years here. Lost more than $600,000 in an evil spirit blast Blessing scam. She allegedly told her victim that in order to ward off evil spirits in his home, he would have to undergo a series of steps, including selling his house, transferring money to her bank account and allowing her to burn $6,000 and selling his car. So here's my question.

[B]

I don't know much about ghosts. But Samantha.

[A]

Samantha. So if he wanted to get rid of the evil spirits in his home, he had to sell his house. Okay, well then the ain't the spirit. He don't live there no more.

[B]

He's still not working. I, I, I bet you Samantha's got a good plan. She's probably looking at all her other 20 something friends who are gold digging. Like I don't even have to. This 67 year old man, I got him lighting money on fire. I got him selling houses and I

[A]

just told him I was a witch.

[B]

Una bruja, Ivana Lopez.

[A]

Oh my God. I don't even think she's latina.

[B]

Oh no.

[A]

Oh no. She did the old Leslie Khan on us.

[B]

Gotta get bookable, baby.

[A]

That's a deep cut for LA people. Oh, God. So the offense of pretending to practice witchcraft under the criminal code of Canada specifically deals with individuals who fragilely portray themselves as having fortune telling abilities or pretending to use witchcraft, sorcery, enchantment, or conjuration in order to obtain money or valuables from a victim. Police said.

[B]

Wait, so being a witch is the actual crime? I thought it was just something.

[A]

What is this, Salem? Y' all gonna burn my bitch at the stake? This is ridiculous.

[B]

Sorry, Samantha, we have to throw you in the river.

[A]

What? Yes. Put these rocks in your pocket. This is too old timey. Let my bitch go. Every witch is a scammer or a witch. We don't know and no one can prove it.

[B]

And it's not up to the court of law to determine.

[A]

It's definitely not.

[B]

It's up to the dark arts.

[A]

What do you have to do in court to prove you're a witch? I'm like, all right, give me some sage, an eye of newt.

[B]

I'm determining that some criminals have in this room before. Yeah, man. Okay, you're can't argue.

[C]

You're right.

[A]

I'm seeing handcuffs.

[B]

There's a man in a black robe with a tiny hammer.

[A]

You can't say she's wrong. So according to a press release, the police were attempting to identify Stevenson for a year. In November 20, 2017, police began to investigate the case as an instance of elder abuse. Also, like 67 is older, but like, I don't know if I want to to be called elder abuse.

[B]

Oh, yeah. Well, here I got bad news for you. When you're 35, if you're trying to get pregnant after 35, it's called the geriatric pregnancy.

[C]

What?

[B]

Yeah, that'll break your heart.

[A]

Oh, my God.

[B]

Get it in by 34

[A]

there. Somebody get in here with the old eggs.

[B]

Yeah, like, hey, don't say that to my face. Woo. All right. Hope that cage free. Let's figure out what's going on.

[A]

These ain't free range no more. So it's not illegal to practice witchcraft in Canada, which it sounds like it is according to this penal code, either as a part of a religion like Wicca, or as an occult practice. So either you can, like, worship.

[B]

You have to use your witch powers for good.

[A]

Yeah, you can either be with Satan or you got to be wicked. However, According to section 635 or 365, excuse me. Of Canada's criminal code, it is illegally to illegal to fraudulently pretend to exercise any kind of witch to witchcraft for money. So the law has generally been interpreted as like a provision against the occult, like doing fraud to people. The conviction can lead to a $2,000 fine and up to six months in jail.

[B]

Like, what about psychics and shit? Is that illegal in Canada?

[A]

That's what I'm saying. Like, what if. Call me now, Madam Cleo. Call me now.

[B]

Dude, if I used to say call me now every time, like every day as a kid. Because that commercial was on all night long. All night long.

[A]

It was playing like that. It was in syndication. I'm like, how much did Cleo just make off the commercial itself? Because I saw that shit so many.

[B]

Hell yeah. I mean, the commercial itself is just the entry level to the Cleo scam. She must have been printing. And I hope she was printing money. But more likely she was the figurehead of some company that was running the scam. That's the thing that breaks.

[A]

She was like, the Popeye Chicken lady, who's like, I love Louisiana. Popeye's Chicken. Me, a Negro. I make all the chicken with my black hands. Not no white people are involved in this corporation. You're gonna love that. Chicken for Popeyes. Meanwhile, it's a white people's company. They got that black lady out here in her wigs. You know she wears wigs. Cause she doesn't wanna be recognized in real life.

[B]

Oh, that's smart. Yeah.

[A]

So basically, Samantha had this law applied to her. But what I will say about Samantha is I do appreciate that she went about this in just like a more ingenuitive way. Like, fuck it.

[B]

Yeah. She could scam an old man out of money the old fashioned way by just dangling pussy in front of him. So I appreciate her going the other way and dangling the devil's pussy.

[A]

Also, I want to know if the spirits went away. Because the old man didn't say nothing about if the spirits went away. And if they did, honestly, she did her job.

[B]

I hope Samantha would always setting up fucking like little radios and little MP3 players playing spooky sounds all night and shit. And she's like, another house? You have to be kidding me. Well, let's burn another few thousand dollars and save this house.

[A]

Right?

[B]

Like she's applying, she's at night haunting him and stuff and he's getting all scared.

[A]

She's rattling tree branches against his wife window.

[B]

Yeah, she's hiring like local kids from the haunted house to keep this guy

[A]

scared so that she a full time job.

[B]

Well, it's worth it for 600 grand a year. It's not a bad gig.

[A]

Samantha, we never see you at brunch. You work such weird hours,

[B]

Samantha. What do you mean you work on weekends? We have Pilates found by brunch.

[A]

Samantha, what do you mean you need my bush again? So Samantha was brought to court on these charges, but no convictions have been handed down yet. So Samantha, Samantha. Shout out to a queen, Samantha.

[B]

You got this, girl.

[A]

I want you to get out of jail and I want you to continue to rid people's of their homes.

[B]

Dude, scam me. Samantha,

[A]

I just want to see the presentation. I want to see you burn $6,000 because that does feel like witchcraft.

[B]

Oh, that. I mean, you want to see me burn $6,000, take me to a dispensary in Vegas.

[A]

That's how. That's how you should burn 6,000. Well, gamers. This has been amazing.

[B]

No, Lacy, this has been amazing for me.

[A]

I'll take myself out of it.

[B]

Yeah, please.

[A]

Where do you want to be found? That's what I ask people. Don't ask people. Where can people find you? I want to know where you want people to find you.

[B]

I want you to find me on Stitcher Premium, which is my go to destination for podcasts. And there you could check out the Gino Lombardo show, which is currently running. Use promo code Gino if you want a month free. Or I'm assuming if you're in the Earwolf family, you might even have the Stitcher Premium going. So just pop over to Gina Lombardo show and give it a listen.

[A]

Pop on over, guys. It's very funny. All right, guys, it is. Gabriel's is very funny. I know that sounds patronizing, but he's like so fucking no shit.

[B]

I'm very.

[A]

I mean, by the end of this, you know that, right? Like, I don't have to tell you that. Anyway, I'll try and give him a compliment, see how he be acting. Guys, you know where you can find us if you want to send us a scam that you've retired? Of course. Don't fuck that bag up. You can send that to [e-mail] if you want to find our show scamgodesspod on Instagram, on Twitter if you want find me honey D I V A L A C I on all platforms including Vammo all right, congregation, keep scamming.

[C]

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