0:00

In a world of economic

0:02

uncertainty and workplace transformation, learn

0:05

to lead by example from

0:07

visionary C-sweet executives like Shannon

0:09

Schuyler of PWC and Will

0:11

Pearson of Ihart Media. The

0:14

good teacher explains, the great

0:16

teacher inspires. Don't always leave your

0:18

team to do the work. That's

0:20

been the most important part of

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how to lead by example. Listen

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to Leading by Example, executives making

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0:29

Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever

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you get your podcasts. We

0:33

live We live in a

0:36

divided country and our media couldn't be

0:38

more polarizing. That's why we started the

0:40

middle with Jeremy Hobson. It's about bringing

0:42

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0:44

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0:46

Each week we hear from ordinary Americans,

0:48

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0:54

Thing Trump did that focuses on just

0:56

one item from the avalanche of news.

0:58

Listen to the middle with Jeremy Hobson

1:00

on the iHeart Radio app, Apple podcasts

1:02

or wherever you get your podcasts.

1:04

to Pot of Rebellion, our

1:06

new Star Wars Rebels rewatch

1:09

podcast. I'm Vanessa Marshall, voice

1:11

of Harrison Dula Specter, too.

1:14

I'm Tia Zirkar, Sabine Ren,

1:16

Specter, Specter 5. I'm Taylor Gray,

1:18

as a bridge of Specter 6.

1:20

And I'm John Librodi, the Ghost

1:23

Crew, Stowe, a moderator. Each week,

1:25

we're going to rewatch and

1:27

discuss an episode from

1:29

the series. And share

1:31

some fun, behind-the-the-scenes. on

1:34

because it's going to be

1:36

a fun ride. Q-the-Music. Listen

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to Potter Rebellion on

1:40

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1:42

Apple Podcasts, or wherever

1:45

you get your podcast.

1:47

Glassing. Glassing. Oh,

1:50

French dressing. Exactly. I'm

1:52

AJ Jacobs, and my

1:54

current obsession is puzzles.

1:57

And that has given birth

1:59

to my podcast, The Puzzler.

2:01

Something about Mary Poppins? Exactly.

2:03

This is fun. You can

2:06

get your daily puzzle nuggets

2:08

delivered straight to your ears.

2:10

Listen to the Puzzler every

2:12

day on the i-heart radio

2:14

app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever

2:16

you get your podcasts. Previously,

2:18

on Once Upon a Con.

2:22

When he first started working

2:24

for me, he hit us

2:26

within a month of, oh,

2:28

I'm so connected, I know

2:30

everybody, my wife, she's doing

2:32

all these things, politically, she's

2:34

connected to Gavin Newsom, and

2:36

he dropped so many names.

2:38

How much money did you

2:40

invest with him? I invested

2:42

40 grand total. I uncover

2:44

more victims of David Bloom,

2:46

including his former employer, and

2:48

we all banned together. And

2:50

show up at David's front

2:52

door. to get our money

2:54

back. Hey, how are you?

2:56

Let's go to the center.

2:58

No, we're going to get

3:00

it right here. Nobody knows

3:03

which end is up. I

3:05

was the only one who

3:07

couldn't be there. I just

3:09

had eye surgery that day.

3:11

We prearranged that I would

3:13

record everything on my iPhone.

3:15

I'm talking to my business

3:17

partners, Beck and Aaron, who

3:19

are instrumental in the planning

3:21

and execution of this confrontation.

3:23

David Bloom was actually out

3:25

of town for a couple

3:27

weeks and we were scared.

3:29

Maybe somebody tipped him off

3:31

that we were coming for

3:33

him. He didn't even know

3:35

whether he really was in

3:37

London and really was coming

3:39

back. Everyone was texting him

3:42

and saying, David... He goes,

3:44

yeah, I'm on my way

3:46

back. I didn't really think

3:48

he would walk in the

3:50

door, actually. I thought there's

3:52

no way. And he's leading

3:54

everybody on and saying, and

3:56

we were checking, you know,

3:58

was this stuff still in

4:00

his apartment, or was he

4:02

really going to come back?

4:04

So when he walked in

4:06

the door on a Sunday

4:08

night about 7 p.m. and

4:10

went up to his apartment,

4:12

I was personally, I was

4:14

shocked. I was like, wow,

4:16

he's walking back into this,

4:18

he's walking back into this.

4:21

all victims of con artist

4:23

David Bloom. Even Harry, his

4:25

former boss at that credit

4:27

repair company, is there. I

4:29

was enraged because at the

4:31

time I had trusted this

4:33

man, I actually cared about

4:35

him. When the things he

4:37

did to help me, like

4:39

make me really believe he

4:41

was genuine. And then to

4:43

realize all of that was

4:45

a lie, it felt like

4:47

being cheated on. It was

4:49

like confronting a cheater while

4:51

catching them in the act.

4:53

So, when we knock on

4:55

his door. David

4:58

actually opens it, sees us all

5:00

standing there, angrily staring him down.

5:03

He takes a beat and says,

5:05

But Harry speaks up for all

5:07

of us. No, we're going to

5:09

get right here. David, I want

5:11

to know the truth. You've told

5:14

me a lot of things that

5:16

are different than the stories I'm

5:18

hearing from these people. I'd like

5:20

to know the truth. We've all

5:22

heard a lot of different stories,

5:25

David. Everyone's all, everyone's talking. David

5:27

is weirdly calm. Acting like

5:30

this is all just one

5:32

big misunderstanding, which strikes us

5:34

as odd. Another neighbor speaks

5:36

up. He's basically swindled out

5:38

thousands and thousands and thousands

5:40

and thousands of dollars. Okay,

5:42

then let's get the money

5:44

back. One of the victims

5:46

confronting him is out $70,000.

5:48

Another one gave David 40,000.

5:50

Suddenly, Harry starts up again,

5:52

asking about his employee Terry

5:54

who we now know pretended

5:56

to be the whole food

5:58

CEO AC Gallo on the

6:00

phone with me that day.

6:02

You've involved Terry in some

6:05

of these feelings? Has Terry

6:07

been an accomplice of some

6:09

of your deals? Has he

6:11

ever made a phone call

6:13

for you on your behalf?

6:15

No. You never wrote in

6:17

a script? No. You never

6:19

called Edison? How did the

6:21

trip to Texas happen? Do

6:24

you even have a contact with? Hopefully it is?

6:26

Yeah. No you don't. So who was the voice

6:28

that spoke to me as if they were the

6:30

president of Whole Foods? Was the guy from Whole

6:32

Foods? No it was not. And I've actually confirmed

6:34

that it was not. And I've actually confirmed that

6:36

you don't know Romberco, from Romberco, who you used

6:38

to let all of us believe that the money

6:40

that we were giving you came from an IPO.

6:42

I do actually know Romberco. knows the story of

6:44

what's going on right now. An extra confirmed that

6:46

you do not know Romburgle, you do not text

6:49

him every day, you do not do any of

6:51

that, it's all been confirmed. Let's just have David

6:53

call him right now since he's such good friends,

6:55

it's here, you call your guy. I don't call

6:57

him in the middle of the day. You text

6:59

him all the time, you show me text, just

7:01

all the time, David, come on. I've confirmed that

7:03

you do not know him, that you do not

7:05

know him, that you do not know him, that

7:07

you do not know him, that you do not

7:09

know him, and you do not know him, and

7:11

it, and it, and you do not know him,

7:13

and it, and it, and you do not know

7:15

him, and it, and you do not know him,

7:17

and it, and it, and you do not know,

7:20

and you do not know, and it, and it,

7:22

and you do not know, and you do not

7:24

know, and it have given you money for an

7:26

IPO based on your relationship with wrong. I asked

7:28

Sylvie when you said you were at the CEO

7:30

of Netflix where you were and you were by

7:32

the fucking pool and you were not leaving and

7:34

you called Amanda and you invited her to a

7:36

barbecue that day knowing that you were not getting

7:38

on a flight coming to see us letting us

7:40

sit in Texas. What was the point of that?

7:42

You know that I'm completely broke. You know that

7:44

I have a little daughter. I have zero of

7:46

anything. And you allow me to spend my last...

7:48

that was my salary. That was my salary. My

7:51

whole salary going to Texas! To have a meeting

7:53

that didn't exist! I cooperated with Whole Foods that

7:55

the meeting didn't exist! AC Gallo doesn't know who

7:57

you are! This is a lie! Why? Why lie

7:59

to me! Why? I want to

8:01

know why. I am so enraged

8:03

at this point, I'm literally turning

8:06

red. Part of me wants to

8:08

punch David Bloom into next week.

8:10

I'm inches from his face right

8:13

now, and he's just calm and

8:15

emotionless. He's got a real Dexter

8:17

vibe going on. I apologize to

8:19

you. Why? Would you do that

8:22

to me when I thought we

8:24

were friends? We are friends, well,

8:26

I have not been able to.

8:29

But what did you gain from

8:31

that? Nothing. What was the purpose?

8:33

Nothing. I almost lost everything. Everything.

8:35

You know what you said to

8:38

me? You said, use your last

8:40

dollar, Caroline. Stay on the couch

8:42

because this is so big for

8:45

you, as a business woman. Stay.

8:47

Spend your last dollar for this

8:49

meeting. Because it's so big for

8:51

you. It's life changing. It's life

8:54

changing. Stay on the couch, live

8:56

on people's couches until you get

8:58

to the place where you need

9:01

to go. Why would you say

9:03

that shit to me? Why? Why?

9:05

Tell me now why. I am

9:07

sorry. He says he's sorry, but

9:10

I'm way past believing anything he

9:12

says anymore. It's truly a surreal

9:14

scene. The six of us standing

9:17

in that hallway. exposing David Bloom

9:19

for what he really is, a

9:21

despicable con man? Harry in a

9:23

lot of ways is the most

9:26

vulnerable, because David was his employee

9:28

for three years. If I can

9:30

lose my company over this, 15

9:33

years I've worked to build that

9:35

company. How could you lose your

9:37

company? How couldn't I? You're committing

9:39

crimes. David actually told me and

9:42

everyone else that he's the one

9:44

who owns Harry's credit repair company.

9:46

You're part owner of my company

9:49

I hear. What's the owner? You're

9:51

the owner. I'm glad you guys

9:53

got to hear that. Okay, because

9:55

I'm shocked to hear that I'm

9:58

not. There's

10:00

also a woman who comes out of

10:02

David's apartment. His girlfriend, nearly 20 years

10:05

younger than him, not that that matters.

10:07

We've all hung out with her at

10:09

different times, and we think we know

10:12

her. But now we've realized David's been

10:14

telling each of us different stories about

10:16

her. Harry turns and looks her in

10:18

the eye. He told me that you

10:21

were his mistress is why it was

10:23

okay with you guys having an affair.

10:25

In reality, David's been divorced from his

10:28

former wife Nancy for a couple years

10:30

now. I chose to tell a different

10:32

story because I didn't. They're all lies

10:34

when they're a different story. I didn't

10:37

want anyone to. This entire confrontation goes

10:39

on for more than a half an

10:41

hour again and again we all keep

10:44

demanding our money back. And David keeps

10:46

saying. You all have your money back.

10:48

There's no trust anymore. It has to

10:51

happen now. Why do you just wire

10:53

it? Why are you? I don't trust

10:55

that you won't be on the first

10:57

plane out of here. I'm not going

11:00

anywhere. I'm waiting. You can go into

11:02

Wells Fargo and you can do wire

11:04

100%. And you can do Zell and

11:07

you can do anything. And if you

11:09

have all the money that you've been

11:11

telling all of us that you have,

11:13

you should need to be allowed. All

11:16

I want is spent. All something back

11:18

that we've given you tonight right now

11:20

before we leave. Because I don't trust

11:23

that you won't be on the first

11:25

plane out of plane out here. David

11:27

keeps insisting he'll go to the bank

11:30

first thing in the morning and get

11:32

us all our money back. Why don't

11:34

you give us something that we can

11:36

hold as collateral so we can get

11:39

the money for these people. Like wallet?

11:41

Why don't you get your whole wall

11:43

with all of your information? You can't

11:46

travel without passport? I want your wallet.

11:48

David bristles at the idea of surrendering

11:50

his passport and wallet to us and

11:52

walks back into his apartment shutting the

11:55

door, we're all thinking he might never

11:57

come out again. Then suddenly, a minute

11:59

later... Have you got enough money in

12:02

the bank to pay them all back?

12:04

What you what you took from them

12:06

initially? But for good measure, we

12:08

asked to hold on to his cell

12:10

phone too. I'm not going to keep

12:12

my phone. I'm going to keep my

12:14

phone and I'm being here. You

12:17

don't have those privileges to

12:19

decide anymore. If you want to,

12:21

if you want to, please, you

12:23

want me to take my phone? Yeah. The

12:26

mere threat of calling the police

12:28

scares David into handing over his

12:30

iPhone to us. So you have

12:32

everything. I will make it right

12:34

probably work. So I'll see what 8

12:36

o'clock in the morning. We eventually

12:39

leave David's place with his wallet,

12:41

passport, and cell phone. A few

12:43

minutes later, a message from Terry

12:46

pops up on David's phone. Remember,

12:48

he's the guy who pretended to

12:50

be Whole Foods CEO AC Gallo

12:52

on the phone with me? Now

12:54

he's responding to a message titled

12:57

urgent. That David must have sent

12:59

in that 60 seconds he walked

13:01

back into his apartment while we

13:03

were waiting outside. We don't know

13:06

David's pass code so we can't

13:08

read the rest of the

13:10

message, but it's clear they're

13:12

obviously working together. Anyway, we

13:14

all eventually walk back to our

13:17

own apartments. I don't sleep at

13:19

all that night. My adrenaline is

13:21

pumping. When morning comes, my business

13:24

partner Aaron and a couple other

13:26

victims escort David to the Wells

13:28

Fargo down the street. I don't

13:31

know what the security footage would have

13:33

looked like. I mean it must have

13:35

looked like some sort of crazy price

13:37

of something. We all walk in and

13:39

I'm just sitting there just think this

13:41

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Take care of yourself. You deserve

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it. We live in a divided

15:52

country. I am a lifelong Republican

15:54

with all kinds of different people

15:56

You know, I'm a mother. I'm

15:59

a grandmother That's why we started

16:01

the middle with Jeremy Hobson It's

16:03

about bringing voices not from the

16:05

extremes, but from the vast middle

16:07

into the national conversation Anna and

16:09

calling from Las Vegas each week

16:11

we bring together an all-star panel

16:14

Mark Cuban so great to have

16:16

you on the middle. Thanks for

16:18

having me Jeremy, Jeremy Neil Degrass

16:20

Tyson, welcome to the middle. Thanks

16:22

for having me. And hear from

16:24

ordinary Americans from all over the

16:26

country on the most important issues.

16:29

Hi, my name is Venkad. I'm

16:31

calling you from Atlanta, Georgia. And

16:33

when you subscribe to the middle,

16:35

you also get an episode each

16:37

week called One Thing Trump Did

16:39

that focuses on just one item

16:41

from the avalanche of news. We

16:44

should be examining what our government

16:46

spends its money on and are

16:48

these jobs necessary and what are

16:50

we doing here. But that doesn't

16:52

seem to be what we're doing

16:54

in this situation. Listen to the

16:56

middle with Jeremy Hobson on the

16:59

I-Hart radio app, Apple Podcasts, or

17:01

wherever you get your podcasts. Welcome

17:03

to Pot of Rebellion, our new

17:05

Star Wars Rebels rewatch podcast. I'm

17:07

Vanessa Marshall. Hi, I'm Tia Sercar.

17:09

I'm Taylor Gray. And I'm John

17:11

Lee Brody. But you may also

17:13

know us as Harrison Dula, Specter

17:16

too. To be in Rens Specter

17:18

5. And Ezra Bridger, Specter, Specter

17:20

6 from Star Wars Rebels. Wait,

17:22

I wasn't on Star Wars Rebels.

17:24

Am I in the right place?

17:26

Absolutely. Each. guests like Steve Bloom

17:28

voices Zaborellio Specter for or Dante

17:31

Bosco voice of Jai Kel and

17:33

many others. Sometimes we'll even have

17:35

a lively debate. And we'll have

17:37

plenty of other fun surprises and

17:39

tribute to. Oh and me? Well

17:41

I'm the lucky ghost crew stowaway

17:43

who gets to help moderate and

17:46

guide the discussion each week. Kind

17:48

of like how Canaan guided Ezra

17:50

and the ways of the force.

17:52

You see what I did there?

17:54

Nicely done John. Thanks Tia. So

17:56

hang John. because it's going to

17:58

be a fun ride. Cute music!

18:01

Listen to Potter Rebellion on the

18:03

I-Hart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or

18:05

wherever you get your podcast. We

18:07

all walk in, and I'm just

18:09

sitting there just thinking. this is

18:11

as weird as it gets. Probably

18:13

looked like you guys were walking

18:16

this poor old man to rob

18:18

him. 100% I was so aware

18:20

of that just I was really

18:22

freaking me out. I was just

18:24

watching going this is just crazy.

18:26

They walk up to the teller

18:28

and he doesn't even have his

18:31

wallet and then we had it.

18:33

Yeah and then one of the

18:35

one of the victims the other

18:37

victim pulls out his wallet and

18:39

hands it to the teller and

18:41

says it will draw out everything

18:43

that's in this account please. And

18:46

The teller didn't question it. And

18:48

said, okay. And then one of

18:50

the other victims goes, and how

18:52

much is left in that account?

18:54

And then she said X amount.

18:56

And then he said, he'll be

18:58

back tomorrow for more. And then

19:01

the transfer was done. And then

19:03

we all walked out at the

19:05

bank like nothing. It felt like

19:07

I don't even know what it

19:09

felt like. It was just so

19:11

surreal. In all, we got about

19:13

22,000 back to be divided amongst

19:16

all the victims. There was one

19:18

person that lost about 70,000 and

19:20

that's just one person. So you

19:22

can imagine, that was pennies. Each

19:24

of us only got back a

19:26

couple thousand dollars, a tiny fraction

19:28

of what David took from us.

19:30

And I was actually like grateful

19:33

because I was now going to

19:35

be able to pay my rent.

19:37

I was that scarce on money

19:39

that I didn't know how I

19:41

was, I literally was counting on

19:43

this money to pay my next

19:45

month's rent. And I put everything

19:48

I had in to this IPO.

19:50

David promises he'll get us the

19:52

rest of our money in a

19:54

few days. We make the mistake

19:56

of returning his wallet, cell phone

19:58

and passport to him. But a

20:00

few weeks go by and he

20:03

never gives us another dime. So,

20:05

one by one, we all go

20:07

to the police and report him.

20:09

And to the LAPD's credit, they

20:11

take our case seriously and investigate

20:13

David Bloom. But it takes them

20:15

nearly an entire year to do

20:18

something about it. Nevertheless, on August

20:20

9th, 2022, they arrest him. But

20:22

he's quickly released after posting a

20:24

$45,000 bail. Gee, I wonder where

20:26

he got that money from. I've

20:28

definitely heard from other people who

20:30

said they were scanned by him.

20:33

LA Times reporter James Queely wrote

20:35

a big article about David Bloom

20:37

that was published a month after

20:39

his arrest. The district attorney's office

20:41

still has not brought a case.

20:43

there's been some frustration you know

20:45

some of the victims that have

20:48

kept in touch with me you

20:50

know just a concern there's no

20:52

suspicion that he actually has much

20:54

of the money left that he

20:56

allegedly took from people LAPD I

20:58

think the captain of the division

21:00

that investigated him actually confirmed to

21:03

me when they did a financial

21:05

audit of him they did a

21:07

financial audit of him they did

21:09

a financial audit of him they

21:11

did not turn up much in

21:13

his personal accounts so you know

21:15

maybe the mattress somewhere stuff with

21:18

money I don't Listen, if I

21:20

was accused of a crime and

21:22

there was heavy evidence against me,

21:24

I feel like most people might

21:26

have an instinct to flee and

21:28

there is concern that he might,

21:30

you know, might bounce. So there's

21:33

definitely concerns on that level, but

21:35

yeah, it has not moved through

21:37

the legal system much since I

21:39

wrote about it. As of this

21:41

recording on April 2nd, 2023, it's

21:43

been more than eight months since

21:45

David Bloom was arrested and then

21:47

released. He's free as a bird

21:50

right now, and from what I

21:52

hear from random people hitting me

21:54

up on Instagram, he's still out

21:56

and about. In fact, my best

21:58

friend Hammy, remember him? I just

22:00

spotted David Bloom on the fucking

22:02

street at the bus stop, folks.

22:05

This was a couple weeks ago.

22:07

Ironically, David was waiting on a

22:09

bus near the Whole Foods. on

22:11

Santa Monica and Fairfax when hammy

22:13

rolled up on him and hit

22:15

record on his phone. Hey what's

22:17

up scammer? You scamming people at

22:20

the bus stop? That's what's up

22:22

today, huh? The look of nervous

22:24

terror on David's face is priceless.

22:26

As he quickly darts off in

22:28

the opposite direction, no doubt on

22:30

the hunt for more victims to

22:32

scam in LA. It's hard to

22:35

believe he's not been charged with

22:37

a single crime for what he

22:39

did to all of us, even

22:41

with the mountain of evidence and

22:43

all those recordings we submitted to

22:45

the police and to the DA's

22:47

office. Bringing a con artist to

22:50

justice really feels impossible. The overarching

22:52

similarity between your con artist David

22:54

Bloom and my con artist Mayor

22:56

Smith, aka the Irish heiress, she

22:58

was my neighbor too. How crazy

23:00

is that? Yeah. Jonathan Walton has

23:02

been producing this podcast alongside me

23:05

from day one. His own story

23:07

of getting scammed and then bringing

23:09

his con artist to justice is

23:11

chronicled in the hit podcast Queen

23:13

of the Con. After listening, I

23:15

was stunned to learn how similar

23:17

my con artist David Bloom is

23:20

to Jonathan's con artist Mayor Smith.

23:22

I've been investigating these cases now

23:24

for the past almost five years.

23:26

Yeah. And they use the same

23:28

playbook. Even with David Bloom, what's

23:30

fascinating about your case is the

23:32

fake tears. You said he cried.

23:35

He cried. Mine cried too. Like

23:37

they can cry. They're actors. They're

23:39

total actors. They're good actors. Yeah.

23:41

And then the other thing, the

23:43

fake emails and texts. Yeah. That

23:45

was Mayor Smith's go-to. She would

23:47

show me a text. Look what's

23:50

so and so sad. Right. Like,

23:52

just like he would show me

23:54

Ron's text messages in such a

23:56

way where he would be like,

23:58

Ron remembers you people. a pizza

24:00

girl, he's saying hi. Looking back,

24:02

David Bloom checks every box

24:05

for being a professional con

24:07

artist. I just didn't know

24:09

what the signs were. Now I do. And I

24:11

hope you all listening do too.

24:13

I want to do to David

24:16

Bloom, what Jonathan did to his

24:18

con artist, Mayor Smith, because he

24:20

never gave up on his fight

24:23

for justice. Mayor eventually went to

24:25

trial where he testified against her.

24:27

and she was convicted and sentenced

24:30

to five years in jail for

24:32

scamming Jonathan. By going public with

24:34

your story and by getting over the

24:37

shame and the worry of what people

24:39

are going to think and just outing

24:41

this motherfucker to people, I think that's

24:44

important and I think you have helped people.

24:46

I'm frustrated because he's still out there,

24:48

you know, he's doing this as we

24:50

speak, and I'm frustrated that the system

24:52

does not have a good... plan to

24:54

get these people off the streets, that

24:57

they know that they can get away

24:59

with it. David even said it one

25:01

day. He was like, they're never going

25:03

to arrest me. He knows. And they

25:05

all know. And that's why they do

25:07

it. And, you know, in a lot

25:09

of ways, David is right. The system

25:12

doesn't go after they consider it, quote,

25:14

white collar crime. It's non-violence. But

25:16

it's destroying people's lie. It

25:18

is. I agree a thousand percent.

25:21

The problem is Los Angeles. and

25:23

there are thousands and thousands of

25:25

crimes and scams and cases in

25:27

the DA's office that you're just

25:30

one of 10,000 cases. So you

25:32

have to set yourself apart. My

25:34

advice to you, have you thought

25:37

about staging a protest outside

25:39

the DA's office downtown? Oh my God.

25:41

That would get attention. If I

25:43

were you, I would stage a

25:46

protest. Bring signs, you know, charge

25:48

David Bloom. That's what everyone should

25:50

tell the DA's office because this

25:52

specific DA, George Gascon, I've heard,

25:54

you know, he's very sensitive about protests

25:57

and stuff. That would get

25:59

their attention. Because there's no reason

26:01

he hasn't been charged yet. And if

26:03

you stage a protest, I will come

26:05

down in protest too. And I'll get

26:07

as many people as I can go.

26:09

You will? Yeah. Let's do it. Let's

26:12

put this fucker behind bars for good.

26:14

Oh my God, I'm so down. Let's

26:16

make a noise. Let's do it. I'm

26:18

down. So on the morning of March

26:20

2nd, 2023. It seems like a good

26:23

corner? Yeah. I think the corner so

26:25

we get traffic traffic. Jonathan

26:27

and I meet up in downtown

26:29

Los Angeles at the intersection of

26:31

Temple and Spring Street right in

26:34

front of the district attorney's office.

26:36

We make a bunch of signs

26:38

and put the word out on

26:40

social media. Hammy's on the way.

26:43

Yep. And my friend Ricky is

26:45

someone. He's bringing Isaac. Yeah. My

26:47

dad's on his way. Ricky's on

26:49

his way. And I have two

26:52

other people I know for sure.

26:54

There's no shame in being caught.

26:56

We are not the ones that

26:58

need to be ashamed. He needs

27:01

to be ashamed. That's why I'm

27:03

amazed by you. It takes balls.

27:05

Just be out there and say,

27:07

I got scanned, but I fell

27:10

for it. Actually, it takes vagina.

27:12

It takes a big vagina. But

27:14

is that a compliment? Vagina, yes.

27:16

It actually is. Because you know

27:19

what, vagina is 10 times stronger

27:21

and can do so much more

27:23

than the saggy balls, okay? But

27:25

join up to do what I'm

27:28

doing right now, okay? Not balls.

27:30

Let's change that narrative. In all,

27:32

a group of about 10 of

27:34

us, carrying signs and chanting. Charge,

27:37

James, Blue. Charge, James, Blue. Charge,

27:39

David, Blue. Stage a protest outside

27:41

the Los Angeles District Attorney's office.

27:43

And even David Bloom's ex-wife Nancy

27:46

comes down to join our cause.

27:49

We have a lot of victims

27:51

here. Nancy was married to David

27:53

for nine years. Yeah. This is

27:55

her first time coming out, taking

27:58

her power back. At

28:00

one point, Nancy starts telling us

28:02

about a real estate scam David

28:04

pulled on her, that she's never

28:06

revealed before. He actually tricked her

28:08

into believing he was buying her

28:10

a house. We had realtors, we

28:12

had to cheer your decorators as

28:14

the head of my family goes

28:16

through. I thought I was fucking

28:18

moving in a multi-million dollar home

28:20

in Venice. Oh my God, that

28:22

gives me such anxiety brand. I

28:25

wish David Bloom could see

28:28

Nancy now, protesting in solidarity

28:30

with us. Charge David Bloom

28:32

is a scammer! Charge David

28:35

Bloom is a scammer! Charge

28:37

David Bloom is a scammer!

28:39

Charge David Bloom! People dressing

28:42

suits come out of the

28:44

DA's office to observe what

28:46

we're up to and passers-by

28:49

are curious, too. He's a

28:51

really bad guy. He steals

28:54

from everybody. He's a scam

28:56

artist at LA. He pretends

28:58

to be somebody that he's

29:01

not. Some big, savvy investor.

29:03

Instead, he tries to ruin

29:05

your life. Oh, wow. Yes.

29:08

I don't want to meet

29:10

this guy. No, you do

29:13

not. He needs to be

29:15

in jail. Charge David! We

29:21

protest on that corner for about

29:23

two hours straight. A lot of

29:25

people walking in and out of

29:27

the DA's office saw us. And

29:29

I did manage to make a

29:31

few contacts. Then, lo and behold,

29:33

three weeks after our protest, I

29:35

suddenly get invited to attend a

29:38

Zoom meeting with the District Attorney

29:40

of Los Angeles himself, George Gascon.

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30:53

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30:55

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30:57

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30:59

started The Middle with Jeremy Hobson. It's

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31:43

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31:45

Listen to the middle with Jeremy Hobson

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31:49

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should be a way to be able

33:33

to overcome some of those harms. It's

33:35

a community zoom, and I'm told

33:37

that the status of the David

33:39

Bloom case is a topic he's

33:41

going to address, as one of

33:43

several issues brought to his attention

33:46

by the public. You know, we often

33:48

get accused, and I get attacked all

33:50

the time for being a soft and

33:52

crime, and you know, not taking care

33:55

of the community. But I sit through

33:57

that entire meeting, and they run out

33:59

of time. before they ever call on

34:01

me. Thank you everyone for the

34:03

questions that you submitted that we

34:05

didn't get to get to, so

34:08

I'll make sure that we send

34:10

those to the office and then

34:12

send back what we hear. Thank

34:14

you for your time. I know

34:16

it's precious and we really appreciate

34:18

it. It just doesn't make any

34:20

sense to me. Why did they

34:22

arrest David Bloom eight months ago

34:24

if they weren't going to charge

34:26

him? It does sound like something

34:28

got lost in what they call

34:30

their E filing system. I don't

34:33

want to speculate as to how

34:35

that happened, but yeah, there was

34:37

confusion, to put it lightly. LA

34:39

Times reporter James Queely wrote one

34:41

article about David Bloom already and

34:43

plans to write another, if and

34:45

when he's charged. James has spoken

34:47

to the DA's office and to

34:49

the LAPD several times, and what

34:51

they're telling him just isn't adding

34:53

up. Something got lost in the

34:56

mail between the, I mean, for

34:58

those who don't know, normally the

35:00

way of criminal cases brought, is,

35:02

well, the most common way it's

35:04

brought is a police agency arrest

35:06

somebody, they do an investigation, they

35:08

present the case for filing to

35:10

a prosecutorial agency, city attorney, DA,

35:12

US attorney, whatever, depending on jurisdiction,

35:14

and then the DA will make

35:16

a filing decision. Somewhere between the

35:19

point where LAPD picks up Bloom

35:21

and where the DA's office makes

35:23

a decision, I don't know what

35:25

happened. The city had been experiencing

35:27

a pretty significant homicide despite the

35:29

last two years. It might just

35:31

not be getting a lot of

35:33

priority. Bureaucracy in law enforcement is

35:35

not a problem that's ever going

35:37

to go away no matter how

35:39

much reform you do. There's just

35:42

massive agencies. LA District Attorney's Office

35:44

is the probably the largest non-federal

35:46

prosecutor's office in the United States.

35:48

LAPD is the second or third

35:50

biggest police agency in the country.

35:52

It's not this small town where

35:54

the sheriff is also the investigating

35:56

officer. Everyone. But I mean, that's

35:58

a little bit of a speculation,

36:00

which I'm, you know, not supposed

36:02

to do. Apologies to the journalism

36:05

gods. But that's the best I

36:07

could guess of just the sluggishness

36:09

of this. It's April 2nd now,

36:11

2020. I've heard whispers from some

36:13

people in contact with law enforcement

36:15

that David Bloom will be charged

36:17

in the next few weeks. So

36:19

I'm hopeful that I'll get my

36:21

day in court and be able

36:23

to put that scammer where he

36:25

belongs in prison for years. The

36:28

police actually said the mistake you

36:30

made which you should never have

36:32

given him back his phone because

36:34

that's our evidence. If you've given

36:36

it to us. That's the thing

36:38

though, that little fear of we're

36:40

doing something illegal even though he's

36:42

doing something. Why more illegal? Beck

36:44

and Aaron have been along on

36:46

this whole crazy ride with me

36:48

from the very beginning. The good

36:50

news is, through a lot of

36:53

hard work and hustle, my company

36:55

is actually doing really well. Pizza

36:57

Girl pasta sauce is now available

36:59

in a bunch of whole food

37:01

stores, like for real! And our

37:03

reach is growing exponentially every month.

37:05

So it's kind of perfect. Pizza

37:07

Girl is finally in like a

37:09

really incredible position. And actually, just

37:11

last week, the real CEO of

37:13

Whole Foods posted on his LinkedIn

37:16

page, which is also on my

37:18

Instagram. He just said that Pizza

37:20

Girl is one of his top

37:22

favorite products in the country. He

37:24

also bought Pizza Girl sauce for

37:26

all of his acquaintances and their

37:28

gift baskets for the holidays. So...

37:30

Turns out I didn't need you

37:32

David Bloom the real CEO of

37:34

Whole Foods is a big fan

37:36

of pizza girl So that's a

37:39

really nice like full circle moment,

37:41

but thank you for the motivation.

37:43

Yeah But this story is far

37:45

from over I'm not letting David

37:47

Bloom off the hook for what

37:49

he did to me and what

37:51

he did to dozens of other

37:53

victims in Los Angeles I'm going

37:55

to keep fighting until justice is

37:57

served Charge David Blue! Charge David

37:59

Blue! Charge David Blue! I must

38:02

make noise and protest, which we

38:04

have a right to. Right. Nothing

38:06

will change. Thank you. Is that

38:08

as cool when we're being the

38:10

same? I appreciate you guys doing

38:12

all this. We out here, David.

38:14

You know where to hide now?

38:16

This podcast is dedicated to the

38:18

memory of my amazing mother, Bonnie

38:20

Major, who would be super proud

38:22

of me standing up for myself.

38:25

Once Upon a con

38:28

is a production of

38:30

AYR media and 32

38:32

flavors hosted by me

38:35

Caroline DeMore executive producers

38:37

Eliza Rosen for AYR

38:39

media Alex Baskin for

38:41

32 flavors and Jonathan

38:44

Walton for Jonathan Walton

38:46

Productions Written by Jonathan

38:48

Walton producer Caroline DeMore

38:51

Sound design by Tim

38:53

Mulhern, edited and mixed

38:55

by Tim Mulhern. Supervising

38:58

editor Victoria Chang, Mastered

39:00

by Victoria Chang, Engineering

39:02

by Justin Longerbeam, Legal

39:04

Council for AYR Media,

39:07

Giani Douglas. Our theme

39:09

song, Freshly Served, was

39:11

written and performed by

39:14

the incredibly talented Maddie

39:16

Noise, and is available

39:18

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39:30

is supported by Better Help,

39:32

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39:34

connect with via video, phone, or

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chat. Here's Better Help head of clinical

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operations, Heshoe Joe, discussing who can

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benefit from therapy. I think a

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40:01

be a sign that maybe you

40:03

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40:28

That's better help.com.

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We live in a divided country and

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our media couldn't be more polarizing. That's

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Hobson. It's about bringing voices not from

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the country, and when you subscribe to

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the middle, you also get an episode

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each week called One Thing Trump did

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that focuses on just one item from

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the avalanche of news. Listen to the

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