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1:00

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1:34

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1:36

the mob when I was 17 years

1:38

old. People are dying. Is he doing

1:40

this every night? Kenny was a

1:42

Chicago firefighter who lived

1:44

a secret double life

1:46

as a mafia hitman.

1:48

I had a wife

1:50

and I had two

1:52

children. Nobody knew anything.

1:54

He was a freaking

1:57

crazy man. He was

1:59

my father, and I

2:01

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2:03

any of this until

2:05

now. Crook County is

2:07

available now. Listen for

2:09

free on the I

2:11

heart radio app. or

2:13

wherever you get your

2:15

podcast. Previously, on Once

2:17

Upon a Con. He's

2:19

a predator, and he

2:21

needs to be stopped.

2:23

David Bloom's ex-wife Nancy

2:25

shares her experience of

2:27

what it was like

2:29

being married to the

2:31

con artist for nearly

2:33

10 years. He convinced

2:35

me that he was

2:37

the only one who

2:39

really knew me, who

2:41

loved me like no

2:43

one else had. the

2:45

only one that truly

2:47

understood me, and then,

2:49

you know, how could

2:51

I be without him?

2:53

I finally found this

2:55

person, and he was

2:57

able to identify my

2:59

insecurities and basically played

3:01

them, you know? I

3:03

wanted to be taken

3:05

care of, so he

3:07

took care of me.

3:09

But in reality, David

3:12

Bloom is pulling one

3:14

of his most cruel

3:16

and evil cons to

3:18

date, that will ultimately

3:20

destroy Nancy's life. It

3:22

was insane. The stuff

3:24

he was doing was

3:26

insane, and I was

3:28

trying to make sense

3:30

of something that doesn't

3:32

make any sense, or

3:34

to understand things that

3:36

I could not have

3:38

thought of in my

3:40

wildest dreams to do.

3:42

So how could we

3:44

understand what he's doing?

3:46

we would never think

3:48

about doing it ever.

3:57

David was now selling.

4:00

advertising and he's making

4:02

great money selling billboard

4:04

advertising. And Fiat Chrysler

4:06

and Westfield. It's late

4:08

2016, Nancy and her husband

4:11

David are living happily ever

4:13

after in Los Angeles. He

4:15

seems to have turned his

4:17

life around and he's making

4:19

great money selling billboard advertising.

4:21

So Nancy takes some time

4:23

off work and David appears

4:25

to be taking care of

4:27

her. A couple times, you

4:29

know, I would do some

4:31

consulting here and there and

4:34

he'd have me engage with

4:36

people and say that Fiat

4:38

Chrysler was going to sponsor

4:40

an event, provide cars, vehicles,

4:42

and financial support for philanthropic

4:44

events. So I think there

4:47

was an event with Vogue,

4:49

a women's conference. There was

4:51

the Lachma gala, annual gala,

4:53

and there was... the Friars

4:55

Club gala in New York

4:57

and Fiat Chrysler was going

4:59

to provide a juke-cheriki for

5:01

the Vogue event. They were

5:04

going to provide a car

5:06

or cars that were going

5:08

to be out front of

5:10

the LACMA event to step

5:12

and repeat all the celebrities

5:14

were going to walk by.

5:16

LACMA or LACMA or LACMA

5:18

is an acronym for the

5:21

Los Angeles County Museum of

5:23

Art. and their gallets are

5:25

star-studded events, where LA's rich

5:27

and famous gathered a schmooze

5:29

and be schmoozed. Additionally, David

5:31

was going to fill a

5:33

table of celebrities for the

5:35

actual gala. It was heavy

5:37

hitters and wealthy people, you

5:39

know, and lacknerless at that time

5:42

thrilled. We have all these new

5:44

people coming, potential donors and supporters

5:46

in the future. We've got Fiat

5:49

Chrysler supporting your car. And then

5:51

in New York, he was going

5:54

to provide transportation to

5:56

the talent. The celebrities

5:58

coming to honor. Jerry

6:00

Lewis. So the night before the

6:02

Fires Cup Gala, we're invited to

6:04

a private dinner at the Fires

6:07

Club to honor Jerry Lewis. Elvis

6:09

Costello and Diana Kroll are sitting

6:11

across from us, Leonado DiCaprio's there,

6:13

and you know, we're all at

6:16

this private dinner. I mean, they're

6:18

probably 50, 60 people around the

6:20

big U-shaped table. We're all sitting

6:22

there and you know, baby, it

6:24

is calm as a fucking cucumber.

6:27

We're drinking, he's chatting, we're laughing.

6:29

That celebrity dinner, the night before,

6:31

their big gala, goes off without

6:33

a hitch. David hobnobbs with Hollywood

6:36

stars and rub shoulders with New

6:38

York's rich and powerful elite, who

6:40

are in fact legitimately donating hundreds

6:42

of thousands of dollars to the

6:44

Fryer's Club. And David convincingly pretends

6:47

he is too. But... We go

6:49

into the next day where David's

6:51

supposed to produce these cars, to

6:53

transport talent, and they don't show

6:55

up. And I had gotten out

6:58

to get my hair done, of

7:00

course, bought new clothes, come back

7:02

to the hotel room. He started

7:04

getting emails, and I started getting

7:07

emails about people canceling. Their private

7:09

plane got canceled. They weren't going

7:11

to make it in for the

7:13

dinner. Fiat canceling. But we're sitting

7:15

there together, and I'm getting emails,

7:18

right? So David can't be sending

7:20

them, because we're reading them together.

7:22

And so everything falls apart, and

7:24

I was, I just freaked out.

7:27

I just, I can't even remember.

7:29

And I think, you know, what

7:31

I may not have done a

7:33

good job in conveying is the

7:35

confusion that he created in my

7:38

head. The cars were a fake.

7:40

The fiat price or support was

7:42

a fake. He worked his way

7:44

in there and act like you

7:47

know the big swinging and had

7:49

nothing Nancy's head is spinning. She

7:51

had literally just gotten off a

7:53

transcontinental flight from Europe to attend

7:55

the Friars Club event. We came

7:58

to New York from Italy, where

8:00

we had gone to meet with

8:02

Fiat Chrysler, and it never materialized.

8:04

They got busy, stayed in these

8:07

beautiful, exclusive places that Fiat had

8:09

paid for for us. Later I

8:11

found out I had paid for

8:13

for for us. And then from

8:15

there we flew to New York

8:18

for the Friars Club. I went

8:20

a day ahead. I can't remember.

8:22

I think he had important meetings.

8:24

Yeah, right? And he joined me.

8:26

You know, we were in Lake

8:29

Cuomo. Fiat was just lovely to

8:31

us, except Fiat never clearly existed.

8:33

It's 2017 at this point. I

8:35

was married to David for almost

8:38

10 years. And Nancy begins to

8:40

realize that David doesn't really have

8:42

a high-paying job selling billboard advertising

8:44

to huge companies. And she's about

8:46

to make another startling discovery too.

8:49

Just exactly where all the money

8:51

he's been using to support them

8:53

both financially for the past couple

8:55

years is coming from. A living

8:58

in Venice and I go to

9:00

the mailbox. David had been very

9:02

strategic. He always got the mail

9:04

before I got home. And he

9:06

knew I didn't like to go

9:09

get mail. And honestly, like kind

9:11

of shows you where I came

9:13

from. I grew up with a

9:15

single mother, right? My father died

9:18

when I was five. She was

9:20

a public school teacher. We didn't

9:22

have a lot of money and

9:24

mail stressed her out because it

9:26

was bills. And so literally, like,

9:29

I remember she had opened the

9:31

mail once or twice a week

9:33

because it was too stressful. And

9:35

so I kind of have that

9:38

mentality. So I was like, David's

9:40

getting the mail. I don't have

9:42

to worry about it. Whatever. So

9:44

what he was doing was getting

9:46

the mail. And if there was

9:49

anything that I shouldn't see in

9:51

it. I didn't see it. So

9:53

I must have gotten home before

9:55

him and I got the mail

9:57

and there were all these overdue

10:00

notices from credit cards. He had

10:02

opened the credit cards in my

10:04

name and added his to the

10:06

account. He knew my social security

10:09

number address, etc. I signed up

10:11

online and signed up for online

10:13

billing so he never received a

10:15

bill. charged all this and was

10:17

who knows at that point stealing

10:20

from Peter to pay Paul and

10:22

Going from bank to bank covering

10:24

the minimums on these credit cards

10:26

for a while So they're continuing

10:29

to rack up charges. He's covering

10:31

the minimums, but at some point

10:33

he must have not been able

10:35

to cover the minimums So they

10:37

started sending bills to try to

10:40

collect and that's what I discovered

10:42

The money Nancy lost while being

10:44

involved with David Bloom? It was

10:46

upward to a couple hundred thousand

10:49

dollars. So Nancy, with a stack

10:51

of overdue credit card bills in

10:53

her hand, linked to accounts bearing

10:55

her name, that she had no

10:57

idea even existed, confronts her husband

11:00

when he gets home that evening.

11:02

I said, what are these bills?

11:04

David has this way about him.

11:06

It's hard to even explain until

11:09

you're the person confronting him. But

11:11

again, he can just so calmly

11:13

take it in and then, you

11:15

know, when he finally, if he

11:17

does admit to something, which obviously

11:20

you have to, you know, the

11:22

bills are right there and there

11:24

are some charges I recognize like

11:26

playing tickets to Italy and things

11:28

like that, dinners, hotels, hotels, that

11:31

he cops to it. but it's

11:33

always in this way it was

11:35

for you I wanted to do

11:37

it for you I'm so sorry

11:40

I love you you're the love

11:42

of my life I didn't want

11:44

to hurt you I just how

11:46

could I do this to you

11:48

I love you so much But

11:51

that was really kind of the

11:53

last straw for me. I was

11:55

panicked. I'm not working now, right?

11:57

Because we're so rich, I don't

12:00

need to, you know. And I

12:02

don't have the money to cover

12:04

any of this. I've got rent.

12:06

I don't know how I'm paying

12:08

my bills. And so that was

12:11

really kind of the beginning of

12:13

the unraveling. I asked him to

12:15

leave multiple times he was in

12:17

and out. He'd work his way

12:20

back and I'd asked him to

12:22

leave. And then one day. when

12:24

he had been gone. And every

12:26

time he was gone, he'd come

12:28

back, you know, I'm just doing

12:31

this for you, I love you,

12:33

I'm so sorry, will you ever

12:35

forgive me? He had burst in

12:37

to the apartment and I caught

12:40

him with my phone. And I

12:42

said, what are you doing with

12:44

my phone? And he put it

12:46

down, oh, sorry, I thought it

12:48

was my phone. I said, what

12:51

are you talking about? So he

12:53

bustled around and he was actually

12:55

frightening that time. Nancy has no

12:57

idea that when David takes her

12:59

phone, he secretly blocks a number

13:02

on it. The number of a

13:04

mutual acquaintance, so that person now

13:06

has no way of calling Nancy

13:08

directly. But their friend called me

13:11

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13:13

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14:11

It takes one guy out there

14:13

to say who's that's Kyle who

14:15

thinks he can just get on

14:17

a microphone on a podcast and

14:19

start publicized by a position. From

14:22

I Heart Podcasts and Tender for

14:24

TV comes a new true crime

14:26

podcast, Crook County. I got recruited

14:28

into the mob when I was

14:31

17 years old. Me, Kenny, an

14:33

enforcer for the legendary Chicago outfit.

14:35

And that was my mission, to

14:37

snuff the fucking life out of

14:39

this guy. He lived a secret

14:42

double life as a firefighter paramedic

14:44

for the Chicago Fire Department. My

14:46

wife and I have two children?

14:48

Nobody knew anything. People are dying.

14:50

Is he doing this every night?

14:53

Torn between two worlds. I'm covering

14:55

up murders that these cops are

14:57

doing. He was a freaking crazy

14:59

man. We don't know who he

15:02

is, really. He is my father.

15:04

And I had no idea about

15:06

any of this until now. Welcome

15:08

to Crook County. Series Premier, February

15:10

11th. Listen for free on the

15:13

I heart radio app, Apple Podcasts,

15:15

or wherever you get your podcast.

15:17

Well, this podcast might be keeping

15:19

you from being distracted. Here's something

15:22

to level up your focus. I'm

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amount the imba host of the

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15:49

work on the free iHeart app

15:51

or in whatever podcast app you're

15:53

listening to. Their

15:58

friend called me and told me

16:00

about a scam had been running

16:02

locally, sewing pre-IPO, Snapchat stock to

16:04

them, but had included me as

16:06

part of this, had wanted to

16:08

start a business with one of

16:10

the guys, but had been using

16:12

me as part of this scheme,

16:14

but had told them not to

16:16

talk to me because I didn't

16:18

like to talk about business, at

16:20

this point had been emailing people

16:22

from accounts he developed in my

16:24

name, and had been doing a

16:26

number of things. So they called

16:28

me to say, We've been asking

16:30

for our money back. We're tired

16:33

of this. And we want our

16:35

money back. What are you guys

16:37

doing? And I said, I have

16:39

no idea what you're talking about. I

16:41

think at that time I said, can

16:43

I call you back? I wanted to

16:45

get my locks changed. I hung up.

16:48

I called a friend to come over

16:50

so I wouldn't be alone. I called

16:52

a locksmith and had a locksmith come

16:55

and changed my locks. And then... I

16:57

called them back or they called me

16:59

back and they told me the story

17:01

of what David had been doing with

17:04

a lot of local businesses, which goes

17:06

back to a lot of what he

17:08

had done in New York earlier. So Nancy

17:10

gets her own apartment and tries

17:13

to hide from David Bloom, but

17:15

he eventually finds her and once

17:17

again worms his way back into

17:20

her life, playing on her sympathy.

17:22

He suddenly shows up one day

17:24

and he looks homeless and he

17:26

looks homeless. and smells like he

17:28

hasn't bathed in weeks. He tells

17:31

Nancy. I've been sleeping on the

17:33

street, you know, can I take

17:35

a shower? So Nancy reluctantly lets

17:37

him in to use her bathroom,

17:40

and eventually he coaxes his way

17:42

into sleeping on her sofa, until

17:44

he can find a place of

17:46

his own. She doesn't want to

17:48

be with him, but at the

17:51

same time, she felt like she

17:53

couldn't put him out on the

17:55

street. Nancy was slowly turning into

17:57

a shell of her former self.

18:00

disoriented, isolated, and severely depressed. And I

18:02

was working now, and it was abusive.

18:04

I mean, again, I couldn't think straight.

18:06

I didn't know what day it was.

18:08

I didn't know what season of the

18:11

year it was. It was all I

18:13

could do to get up, get myself

18:15

to work, try to appear like a

18:17

functioning human being and get home. David

18:19

at one point was living now in

18:22

my new place where I had tried

18:24

to disappear. He was staying in the

18:26

living room, kitchen area, and I would

18:28

come home, get something little to eat,

18:31

and sit on my bed with the

18:33

door closed while David had the rest

18:35

of the apartment. And it was one

18:37

night when I was sitting there. and

18:39

I could barely function and David's, you

18:42

know, telling me how he's going to

18:44

get this job and help me get

18:46

that job and do this and he's

18:48

going to have money, he's going to

18:50

pay me back and he's going to

18:53

pay our taxes and doing all that,

18:55

that I saw how like diminutive I'd

18:57

become, that I was barely functioning and

18:59

I just had this realization that he

19:01

will not stop until he kills me.

19:04

He sees what he has done to

19:06

me and he does not care. And

19:08

I summoned my strength and that was

19:10

the last night he was there. Nancy

19:13

finally kicks David out for the last

19:15

time and promptly files for divorce. Took

19:17

another two years to actually get a

19:19

divorce. It's very difficult to get a

19:21

divorce. when you don't know where the

19:24

other person is, so you have to

19:26

go through a whole process of sending

19:28

the government has to send papers to

19:30

the last address they have on file

19:32

for the person, and then when they're

19:35

not returned within six months, then they

19:37

can go on to the next step.

19:39

I didn't have any money, so I

19:41

had to do most of it by

19:44

myself. And as if what David had

19:46

stolen from her and the horror he

19:48

put her... through with

19:50

his years of endless

19:52

lies and manipulations

19:55

wasn't enough, some of

19:57

David's victims, he

19:59

scammed using Nancy's identity,

20:01

file a lawsuit

20:03

against her. I can't

20:06

fault people for

20:08

trying to get their

20:10

money back. I'm

20:12

sorry that they thought

20:15

that I was

20:17

involved. I'd like my

20:19

money back too. And

20:22

these days, nothing surprises Nancy

20:24

about David Bloom because she's

20:26

witnessed firsthand his power and

20:28

malicious influence for years. And

20:30

she understands now that no

20:32

one is safe. I was

20:34

never even physically attracted to

20:36

David, but somehow we still

20:38

had control and power over

20:40

me and made me feel

20:42

like I could not exist

20:44

without him. It's kind of

20:46

like a cult. That's what

20:48

I'd liken it to. And

20:51

one of the most shocking

20:53

revelations Nancy shares is David's

20:56

magical ability to continue scamming

20:58

his own family, who already

21:00

know full well he is

21:02

a con artist from way

21:04

back in the 80s in

21:06

his New York days where

21:09

he swindled hundreds of victims

21:11

out of $15 million. His

21:13

sister was so embarrassed by

21:15

David and his crimes she

21:17

moved to Northern California to

21:19

get away from him. Got

21:21

married, she and her husband

21:24

didn't like David hadn't spoken

21:26

to until we went and

21:28

visited the family. He even

21:30

conned them. He created an

21:32

email in my name and

21:34

used it for communications with

21:37

a lot of people, with

21:39

this local group. But emailed

21:41

his sisters and her husband

21:43

saying he had this access

21:45

to this pre -IPO stock,

21:47

I think because as me

21:50

lie. Now it shows you

21:52

he was completely heartless and

21:54

ruthless to steal from his

21:56

own sister. He also stole

21:58

from his parents. But to

22:00

do it in my name and

22:02

to lie and the fact

22:04

that even she, after

22:07

basically disowning him and

22:09

knowing his entire criminal

22:12

history, still fell for

22:14

him again. Still, he

22:17

was able to convince

22:19

them to give him

22:22

money again. Nancy

22:25

reports David Bloom to the

22:27

police multiple times. She's hoping

22:29

and praying he gets charged

22:31

with scamming her. And in

22:33

the meantime, she's keeping tabs

22:35

on him. As I have

22:37

read the most recent article,

22:39

and I credit David's OCD,

22:41

he doesn't reinvent himself. He's

22:43

been running the same old

22:45

sorry schemes for the last

22:47

couple decades and seems to

22:49

continue to do so. And

22:51

I had heard about another

22:53

woman. that he, younger woman,

22:55

that he had taken advantage of

22:57

a couple years ago, but I

23:00

wasn't in any position, you know,

23:02

to do anything at that time.

23:04

I was still trying to get

23:07

my own life together, and it

23:09

just hit me that, you know,

23:11

enough is enough. I have worked

23:13

on women's issues and been an

23:16

advocate on women's issues for the

23:18

last couple decades, and I cannot

23:20

stand by and watch him do

23:23

this to anybody. but let alone

23:25

take advantage of a young woman.

23:27

That's abuse. It certainly is. And

23:29

she's just one of many victims.

23:32

David tricks out of money in

23:34

the L.A. area. At this point,

23:36

it feels like I've gotten my

23:39

PhD in David freaking bloom. From

23:41

his New York scams in the

23:43

80s and 90s to the decade-long

23:45

series of cons he pulls on

23:48

his wife and even his own

23:50

sister. I know now what I

23:52

have to do. I have to

23:55

warn everybody. This man is

23:57

dangerous. So I start

23:59

calling every... single person

24:01

David Bloom ever introduced

24:03

me too. Like you called

24:06

me probably like in a

24:08

week when we came back

24:11

from France and you asked

24:13

me I think did you

24:15

gave him money? Yeah that's

24:17

what I asked you and

24:19

then I said yes. And you

24:21

asked me I think did you

24:24

gave him money? Yeah that's

24:26

what I asked you. And

24:28

then I said yes. That's

24:30

LA restaurant tour and chef

24:32

Vincent San Marco. I remember

24:34

the day David brought you to

24:37

the Villa Carlata and I just

24:39

thought wow this like super cool

24:41

French chef here with David. They're

24:43

gonna open some you know fabulous

24:46

restaurant together. I think I

24:48

was coming to hang out

24:50

with him at the swimming

24:52

pool and to maybe put

24:54

a little leg in the

24:56

pool, something like that, anywhere

24:59

here, with your beautiful hair,

25:01

beautiful smile and beautiful gorgeous

25:03

daughter and introduce me to

25:05

you. You were very sweet,

25:07

very nice, not Hollywood, you're

25:09

a very genuine person. And

25:11

you were, to me, another person

25:14

that validated David Bloom. Right?

25:16

And I'm sure I must have

25:18

somehow validated him back to

25:20

you. Indeed you did. Because that's

25:22

kind of what he does. But we

25:25

validated him by us and our existence,

25:27

but not by words or by

25:29

anything of discussion. Because I mean...

25:31

Because we weren't allowed to really

25:34

speak to each other. He keeps

25:36

everybody kind of separate, but shows

25:38

you that they exist, right? Correct. I

25:40

was so impressed with Vincent when

25:42

David introduced me to him

25:44

back in 2021 2021. I

25:46

mean, there's actually a documentary

25:48

about Fitz in San Marco

25:50

streaming right now on Amazon,

25:53

called Belvie. I'm a

25:55

third generation restauranter. Belvie,

25:57

bonsois, Belvie, bonsois, Belvie.

26:00

Belvie is the name of

26:02

Vincent's restaurant in Brentwood

26:04

and in late 2020

26:06

it's ground zero for

26:08

how Vincent ends up

26:10

in David's crosshairs. He

26:12

started coming in with his

26:14

girlfriend and they were coming

26:16

at the bar, happy hour,

26:19

very talkative, he knows about

26:21

ours, he knows about stuff.

26:23

So he comes into your restaurant, he

26:25

sees you. Did he know you

26:27

were the owner? How did he strike

26:30

up a conversation with you? I mean,

26:32

you come into my restaurant. It's very

26:34

easy to talk to me. I talk

26:36

to everybody. This is what I do,

26:39

you know, whether it's my restaurant or

26:41

I work for someone else. I'm a

26:43

very open person. I'm very genuine. He

26:46

started to come and twice a week,

26:48

three times a week, and then I

26:50

started to talk a bit about movies.

26:53

I'm highly passionate about theater. And then

26:55

he started telling me that he invested

26:57

in this movie, it just came out,

27:00

the last Christopher Nolan movie, Tenet.

27:02

It all happened here. Hasn't

27:04

happened yet. And that he

27:06

put one million dollar into that

27:08

movie, he was named dropping a

27:11

lot. One of the names David

27:13

drops in front of Vincent

27:15

is one you all know

27:17

very well by now. That's

27:19

supermarket tighten, billionaire Ron Bircle.

27:21

He took... to me a lot about him

27:24

all the time as he was his good

27:26

friend and that they hang out they used

27:28

to play tennis together and so on and

27:30

so forth so I mean like okay he's

27:32

a good guy and then I maybe I

27:35

Google the name Ron Burkle probably like three

27:37

months after he started talking to me about

27:39

that person you know Did he ever

27:41

show you text messages from Ron? Probably

27:43

once or twice. He used to do

27:46

that to me all the time. So

27:48

what's interesting here, I'm realizing he was

27:50

doing your con at the same time

27:53

that he was doing mine. Sadly, COVID-19

27:55

takes a lethal toll on Vincent's restaurant,

27:57

Belvie, which is actually what that Amazon...

28:00

movie is about. A good friend

28:02

of mine, Marcus Miser, did

28:04

the documentary about me using

28:06

my restaurant during the pandemic.

28:09

Wow. And Vincent's restaurant closing gives

28:11

David Bloom the opening he

28:14

needs to step in and

28:16

help. Remember the credit repair

28:18

company David told me he

28:20

owned? Well, he tells Vincent

28:22

the same thing and offers

28:25

to fix his credit. He

28:27

actually did repair my credit pretty

28:29

well. Mine too! I did. So

28:31

it's also legitimized the fuck

28:33

out of him. Because like when I

28:35

lost the restaurant I did a personal

28:37

bankruptcy and I was at 400 of

28:40

credit score and like when the company

28:42

took care of my repair credit and

28:44

like in three months I was at

28:46

6.50. Yep. And right now I'm at

28:49

6.80 already. One thing after another we

28:51

become kind of friends, we hang out.

28:53

It comes to my house, it comes

28:56

to my house for Christmas. So you

28:58

guys became really close. Yeah, it

29:00

looks like you want to

29:02

help and mentor me business-wise

29:04

and more investment-wise, which I

29:07

didn't have any money at the

29:09

time. And here's where things get

29:11

really interesting. David used

29:13

the same two-part scam on Vincent

29:15

that he used on me. For

29:17

me, the first part was the

29:20

dangling carrot of that Whole Foods

29:22

meeting in Texas. I never gave

29:24

David any money for that. Looking

29:27

back, he just used that entire

29:29

Austin fiasco to distract me from

29:31

the real con he was pulling,

29:33

which was that Soho House IPO

29:35

where I gave him $35,000. And

29:38

David pulled the same two-part con

29:40

on Vincent too, but the dangling

29:42

carrot part was a new restaurant.

29:44

The story I remember was that

29:47

he was building out a restaurant

29:49

for you to be the head

29:51

chef at. He was telling me,

29:53

oh, I have a building in

29:55

downtown LA, and I know that

29:57

he owns. Daddy owns. Yep, yeah.

30:00

And that he was the building?

30:02

It's right next to Bastia. It's

30:04

in the art district. It's an

30:06

old firehouse which got transformed as

30:08

an hotel. I think probably five

30:10

years ago and got closed and

30:13

because he was not working and

30:15

he was saying he bought the

30:17

building for super cheap. and he

30:19

wants to open a restaurant he

30:21

wants me to take care of

30:24

it and I just lost my

30:26

restaurant and I mean perfect timing

30:28

perfect timing I mean I need

30:30

it and while all this is

30:32

going on in early 2021 tragedy

30:34

strikes Vincent's brother-in-law suddenly dies and

30:37

David seems to really step up

30:39

and be there for Vincent and

30:41

his family he was there at

30:43

the at the funeral, at the

30:45

funeral, at the funeral. By way,

30:48

because he was a friend, I

30:50

mean, like, yeah. He came and

30:52

received me in tough days and

30:54

tough time and be here for

30:56

me to cheer me up and

30:58

stuff like that all the time.

31:01

All the time, all the time

31:03

here for me. Like a friend.

31:05

My mother-in-law, my wife, I just

31:07

like broken and like, he said

31:09

like, hey, oh, like, Ron Verkel

31:12

again, you know, you know? Yeah.

31:14

He has a resort, very close

31:16

very close in Montana, very close.

31:18

He gave me a house, we'll

31:20

be next to Facebook creator and

31:23

stuff like that. We have a

31:25

private plane coming to take us.

31:27

Like, sorry, we were ready, we

31:29

did our suitcase, man. And if

31:31

you Google, Ron Burkle, and Montana,

31:33

you'll see that he actually does

31:36

own a resort there in Yellowstone.

31:38

So Vincent and his wife and

31:40

mother-in-law are really looking forward to

31:42

their trip to that Yellowstone resort,

31:44

compliments of David Bloom. if only

31:47

for a temporary reprieve from their

31:49

grief. So on the day that

31:51

you're supposed to go to Yellowstone,

31:53

you're all packed and you are

31:55

on your way to go be

31:57

with Ron Burkel, your wife, and

32:00

David, what happens? Like, he just

32:02

said, like, that the security of

32:04

Ranbarker, because we've just been vaccinated

32:06

just eight days ago, doesn't want

32:08

us to come? Oh my God,

32:11

he pulled the vaccinated card on

32:13

me too. Not surprisingly, that Yellowstone

32:15

trip never happens. But David

32:17

does offer to help Vincent,

32:20

who is now unemployed, with

32:22

an incredible investment opportunity. It

32:24

was an IPO. Was it the Soho House

32:26

IPO? It was no, it was like

32:29

some kind of glasses. Oh, Warby Parker.

32:31

I glasses company. So I give him

32:33

10K. And you can see too that

32:35

Warby Parker was IPOing at the time.

32:38

He's very smart. Yeah. Everything is

32:40

on point. Yeah. And you know,

32:42

I never invested money or anything

32:44

due to the fact that I

32:46

really don't support speculation. I think

32:48

it's a cancer for our society. But

32:50

I mean, he was insisting and

32:52

he was saying, like, I'm going

32:54

to make so much money. So

32:56

I started giving 10K. And then

32:58

a solar house come in, I

33:00

give 20K. So David takes $30,000

33:02

in all from Vincent, who again

33:04

is unemployed and has a wife

33:06

and two babies at home to

33:08

support. But Vincent isn't worried at

33:10

all, because David just bought

33:13

that old firehouse downtown, and he's

33:15

going to convert it into

33:17

a high-end restaurant for Vincent to

33:19

run. I'm very good in operation. I'm

33:22

a killer in operation. So he made

33:24

sense. It's not betting on a dream.

33:26

He's betting on your hard work and

33:29

you're successful and you believe in yourself.

33:31

He has you so invested in this restaurant

33:33

and running this restaurant and being a part

33:35

owner in this restaurant that when he pressures

33:38

you for the IPO on the side, it's

33:40

like, okay, no big deal, let's get back

33:42

to the restaurant. That's kind of how he

33:44

did it to me too. I had this

33:47

big meeting with the president of Whole Foods

33:49

because of Ron Berkel that when the IPO

33:51

thing came along, he played it as, oh

33:53

yeah, just get together whatever money you can,

33:56

it'll help you survive until the big money

33:58

comes in from the business. This is

34:00

a real eye-opener, and it's

34:02

helping me piece together where

34:04

exactly David was just before

34:07

I met him. He was

34:09

living in the Arbienbies and

34:11

stuff like that, and I

34:13

think with the 30K, he

34:15

went to the Villa Carlota.

34:17

Wow, this is really an

34:19

aha moment. So in April

34:21

of 2021, David Bloom is

34:23

using Vincent's $30,000 to move

34:25

in and pay rent at

34:27

the Villa Carlata. which was

34:29

about 8,000 per month. And

34:32

that place turns out to

34:34

be fertile ground for a

34:36

crafty-con artist, chock-full of victims

34:38

who David is about to

34:40

scam. Myself included. And David

34:42

shows off Vincent at the

34:44

Villakarlata frequently. telling us all

34:46

he's opening a new French

34:48

restaurant with him in the

34:50

very near future. So that

34:52

helps make David seem like

34:54

he's on the up and

34:56

up to everyone. Not to

34:59

mention, he's also a brilliant

35:01

manipulator. He cried to me

35:03

one day at the pool.

35:05

Me too many times. Yeah.

35:07

So he opens himself. He's

35:09

really like, and I think

35:11

when he cries he was

35:13

very genuine. Authentic, I know.

35:15

Of course, Vincent and I

35:17

had no idea. We were

35:19

both getting scanned by David

35:21

Bloom. Well, he already got

35:23

scanned. I was about to,

35:26

but as the weeks pass,

35:28

David gets himself into a

35:30

bind and does something really

35:32

uncharacteristic. He's pathologically, he's a

35:34

psychopath. Yeah. Like a real

35:36

psychopath. Next

35:39

time on Once Upon a Con. He

35:41

was doing great at work, he ramped

35:43

himself up to a point where he

35:45

was making about 15 grand a month,

35:47

and he sat record after record at

35:49

my company. But David Bloom's employer has

35:51

no idea what he's really up to.

35:53

Because he literally had his doing jumping

35:56

through moves, like a little circus, and

35:58

wasn't I mean? He is a very...

36:00

smart man. Oh he's a genius like

36:02

I have no doubt now that I've

36:04

seen this side of him because I

36:06

always thought at the time it was

36:08

just a great sales but now

36:10

I realize he's just an absolute

36:13

psychopath. This podcast is dedicated

36:15

to the memory of my

36:17

amazing mother Bonnie Major who

36:19

would be super proud of

36:21

me standing up for myself.

36:23

Once upon a con is

36:25

a production of AYR media

36:28

and 32 flavors. hosted by

36:30

me Caroline DeMooray. Executive producers

36:33

Eliza Rosen for AYR Media,

36:35

Alex Baskin for 32 Flavors,

36:38

and Jonathan Walton for Jonathan

36:40

Walton Productions. Written by

36:42

Jonathan Walton. Producer Caroline

36:44

DeMooray. Senior associate producer

36:47

Joe Pushesnick. Coordinator Molena

36:49

Croyevsky. Sound designed by

36:51

Tim Mulhern, edited and

36:53

mixed by Tim Mulhern.

36:55

Supervising editor Victoria Chang,

36:58

Mastered by Victoria Chang,

37:00

Engineering by Justin Longerbeam,

37:02

Legal Counsel for A-Y-R

37:04

media, Gioni Douglas. Our

37:06

theme song, Freshly Served,

37:09

was written and performed

37:11

by the incredibly talented

37:13

Maddie Noise, and is

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available on her SoundCloud.

37:26

For A-Y-R media, Alex

37:28

Baskin for 32 Flavors,

37:31

and Jonathan Walton for

37:33

Jonathan Walton, producer Caroline

37:36

DeMore, senior associate

37:38

producer Joe Pacheznick,

37:40

coordinator Molina Kroyaski,

37:42

sound designed by

37:44

Tim Mulhern, edited

37:46

and mixed by

37:48

Tim Mulhern. Supervising

37:50

editor Victoria Chang,

37:52

mastered by Victoria

37:54

Chang. Engineering by

37:56

Justin Longerbeam. Legal

37:58

counsel for Why our

38:00

media, Gioni Douglas, our theme

38:03

song, Freshly Served, was written

38:05

and performed by the incredibly

38:08

talented Maddie Noise and is

38:10

available on her sound cloud.

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man. He was my father

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and I had no idea

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about any of this until

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