All language subtitles for American Greed s04e06 Sholam Weiss

This is a CNBC original.

In this episode of American Greed, he's
a consultant to con men.

The greed, the greed, American greed.
You want to talk about American greed?

American greed was without boundary. The
brains behind one of the largest scams

in history.

Before it's over, he'll lead federal
agents on an international chase.

changing locations and identities.

Dealmaker Sholem Weiss doesn't hide in
the shadows.

The guy is such a flamboyant character.
He's big and he's bold and he's brazen

and he's loud.

He was attracted to lights, women,
music, gambling.

Are these the fatal attractions that
will do him in?

In 1999, Sholem Weiss goes on trial in
Orlando, Florida, for masterminding one

of the largest insurance frauds in U .S.
history.

The charges?

Weiss and his accomplices have stolen a
staggering $450 million from National

Heritage Life Insurance Bank accounts.

And people who invested in annuities and
life insurance policies see their life

savings disappear.

The take went right into the pockets of
those who were perpetrating this game.

The trial lasts for more than nine
months.

When it comes time for the case to go to
the jury, Weiss doesn't stick around

for the verdict.

His space next to his attorney was
empty.

That is not the first time I've had a
client take what we used to refer to in

the 80s as a Colombian appeal.

Slang for fleeing the country rather
than facing the music.

He's gone, leaving the country without a
trace.

A warrant is issued for his arrest.

The FBI puts him on their most wanted
list.

And an international manhunt begins.

But Sholem Weiss is no ordinary
fugitive.

We're going to have a new saga.

Going to match wits with the smartest
guy in the world.

Weiss's story begins in Brooklyn's
Borough Park neighborhood in a close

Orthodox Jewish community.

By all indications, his childhood is
fairly normal.

He's one of nine children.

We assume that people who grow up in
that community have good moral

His father runs a simple fruit stand.

They're making ends meet, but it's not
an easy life.

The entire Weiss family lives in a two
-bedroom apartment.

Weiss strikes out on his own when he
turns 18.

He never finished high school.

He started his own plumbing business,
and that's how he started to make money.

That plumbing business, Windsor Plumbing
and Heating Supply, is Weiss's way out.

In 1974, Windsor is a small -time
operation.

He eventually builds it into a
multimillion -dollar business.

By the mid-'80s, the man who grew up in
a Brooklyn tenement has a mansion in

Muncie, New York.

The story could have ended there, and
Weiss could have lived out the American

dream.

But something happens on the way to
success.

Sholem Weiss gets greedy.

It starts with what has been a
successful plumbing company suddenly

bankruptcy. Then his warehouse burns
down.

He defrauded Lloyd's of London through a
mysterious fire in Brooklyn where

10 or 20 non -existent Whirlpool spa
baths went up in flames.

It doesn't look like Sholem Weiss is
particularly good at the art of the

He winds up in prison for the phony
insurance claim.

Five months into an eight -month
sentence, he proves to be a good

good behavior come perks.

He's moved from the prison to a halfway
house in Manhattan to serve out the rest

of his time.

One day he puts in a request.

He asked the judge for a furlough.

for a Jewish holiday in which he wanted
to spend with his wife and children.

That's not where he stays.

Instead, he takes a chartered jet to
Donald Trump's casino in Atlantic City.

Mr. Weiss ended up in Atlantic City with
stories of prostitutes,

drugs, and certainly alcohol.

That is the fatal flaw of this man.

He and a female companion go through
more than $70 ,000 before he returns to

halfway house.

The authorities found out about it, and
he was taken out of the halfway house.

Not a guy who lacks for a daring move
now and then.

But he hasn't learned from his mistakes.

He's already planning his next move.

And when he gets back his black suit and
hat and walks out of the prison gate,

he knows what he's going to do.

His arrogance and cunning have made him
into a man capable of orchestrating the

largest insurance scam in U .S. history.

It's 1993, and Sholem Weiss has begun a
new career as a workout expert, a

consultant to others in financial
difficulties.

In reality, he does have a specialty to
sell, how to cheat the system and turn

financial woes into profit. And part of
his brilliance is that he doesn't leave

a paper trail.

He was just an amazing, extraordinary
character and kept almost everything in

his head.

No diaries, no day timers, no aids. He's
just the smartest guy

in the world. Whatever the problem is,
I'll solve it.

Weiss is called to Park Avenue to meet
with a bankruptcy client and high

-powered New York lawyers Michael
Blutrick and Richard Herman.

The bankruptcy attorney comes in the
room, makes a presentation, gives an

analysis of the case.

Sounded good.

And all of a sudden, Mr. Weiss stands up
and says, I don't agree with that.

You're wrong.

Blutrick is impressed by Weiss's
chutzpah. He sees a kindred spirit,

with the talent and guts to use
unconventional methods.

Blutrick has another case that can use
Weiss's creative input.

The lawyer represents a life insurance
company in Orlando, Florida called

National Heritage.

Some of their investments are quite
unusual for a life insurance company.

I believe National Heritage even
invested in a strip club in New York

Blutrick and the owners have been
stealing money from the company, and

thefts have caused a $35 million
accounting gap.

Blutrick's law partner explains what he
learned later about how they were able

to skim money off with falsified
appraisals.

There'd be a piece of property that,
say, was worth,

$500 ,000, and they would get an
appraisal saying it's worth $3 million.

So the insurance company would send over
$3 million.

They would buy the property for $500
,000, and the rest of the money they

whack up between themselves.

Insurance regulators are starting to ask
questions about the $35 million hole in

the books, and Blutrick thinks Weiss can
help cover it. They knew.

that they needed a fixer, because they
were minor league con men, and they

needed a con man doctor.

They knew Shalom Weiss could be their
fixer. They asked, Shalom, you do

workouts, you do things, what can we do?
We have this $35 million hole in our

accounting. What can we do here? Do you
have any ideas for us?

And Shalom did.

Next on American Greed, see how
bankruptcy expert Sholem Weiss' ideas

half -billion -dollar car.

In Orlando, an insurance company,
National Heritage Life, is being looted

owners.

Through a series of sham companies and
bogus transactions, the owners and their

lawyer are funneling millions of dollars
of company money into their own

pockets. The greed, the greed, American
greed. You want to talk about American

greed? The American greed was without
boundary.

They had this company and they
annihilated it without regard to anybody

anyone. But it's hard to conceal graft
on this scale.

And insurance regulators are close to
discovering that $35 million shortfall

the company's accounts.

The books and records just weren't
adding up.

The con men are in over their heads.

So they reach out to a creative
financial consultant with just the

need. Show them wise.

They believed they'd found someone with
a more sophisticated and deeper

knowledge of how to handle the growing
problem of the $35 million

hole. Jolum Wise has learned how to work
the system, and since then he has

counseled others in financial distress.

His reputation for shady deal -making is
legendary.

He became a master at bankruptcy fraud.

in New York. And Michael Blutrick saw
him operate, and he said, wow, this

unbelievable.

And so is his double -sided personal
life.

He wore a black suit every day. He wore
a yarmulke every day. He professed to be

a very conservative, Hasidic Jew.

Yet he doesn't always act like one.

Weiss had a very fast lifestyle.

He was known to be a lover of gambling.

He liked to drink, and he liked women,
and he liked gambling.

He and his wife were technically
estranged, even though they lived in the

house and they had children together.

Weiss's personal life is not national
heritage's concern.

The con men need a heavyweight.

They needed to go to Muhammad Ali, and
that's where Sholem Weiss came into the

picture. Weiss's big idea will sound
familiar.

It's sort of an early 90s version of the
mortgage fraud that brought about the

recent financial meltdown.

In August 1993, Weiss buys mortgages
that are in default for 60 % of their

value. He pays $60 million for 100
million worth of mortgages.

National Heritage pays him full face
value of 100 million.

With the $40 million profit, He kicks
back the $35 million that the con men

to cover their accounting hole and is
left with a nice $5 million payday to

share with his co -conspirators.

Everybody got a cut. Everyone grabbed
what they could, took what they thought

they could get away with. Giving Shalom
Weiss $100 million is like, you know,

giving a baby ice cream.

There's no way he's not going to have
some fun with that.

With the $35 million hole covered for
now, the schemers feel confident

Heritage can survive an insurance
commission review and live to be built

day. Weiss is so confident that he
acquires stock in National Heritage and

now a permanent part of the con team.

He starts to handle more of the skimming
operations.

There are many others who believe,
certainly, that Shalom Weiss kind of

over. Ultimately, Mr. Weiss ended up
with the most money.

Weiss will soon find out if his
financial voodoo will hold up to

scrutiny when the company comes up for a
regular review in the spring of 1994.

We really had to chase down the assets
because you looked at the balance sheet

and something said this and it wasn't
quite adding up.

The examiners sharpen their pencils and
get down to work.

When we first started...

suspecting things weren't quite right
with National Heritage.

We opened the toolbox.

We went in to look a little deeper, find
out what was really going on.

There were on -site visits.

There were additional regulatory filings
that were required.

Ultimately, an exam was done, and my
team advised me that the company had

solvency issues.

When they uncover investments the Kahn
team put on the books at more than their

actual worth, they realize the company
has almost no real value.

Alarmed by the bald -faced criminal
activity, the insurance commission tips

the FBI and federal prosecutors.

By the end, it was a shell.

Every investment was pretty much a
hollow Fabergé egg.

He kept taking it apart, and there was
nothing left, nothing left, nothing

We thought we were looking at a few
million dollars in fraud, but after we

talked to the auditors, I realized it
was more like a half a billion dollars

fraud.

Investigators turned their focus to the
mortgages Weiss bought.

They said, well, let's test these. We're
going to take a random selection of

these mortgage assets, and we're going
to get new appraisals. We're going to

look at them. We're going to check the
value. And we seized hundreds and

hundreds and hundreds of mortgages and
brought them here in U -Haula trucks so

that the Delaware regulators could have
at least access to their assets.

The mortgages are nearly worthless.

National Heritage is less than a
functioning company.

It's a den of thieves.

When we were able to begin to understand
the true nature of this

enterprise, we went in and put the
company into receivership.

Regulators take National Heritage over.

Nearly half a billion dollars is
missing, and someone is going to have to

for it.

It's only a matter of time before the
investigation leads directly to Weiss

Blutrick. But the sky is falling in more
ways than one.

Weiss and Blutrick get a tip that
they've been caught on tape in

office.

We pulled down a tile on the corner of
the ceiling in Michael's office, and a

camera dropped out of the ceiling.

The video camera.

So I don't know who looked whiter at
that time, Blutrick, Pfeffer.

or Mr. Weiss, but everyone just couldn't
believe this was going on.

It turns out that this surveillance is
tied to yet another Blutrick scheme.

There had been a murder at the strip
club Scores that Blutrick co -owns, a

murder with ties to the Gambino crime
family.

Federal prosecutors are trying to find
out what he knows about a mafia

retaliation hit.

Under pressure, Blutrick cracks.

As disturbing as the surveillance tape
is, It strangely turned into a golden

parachute for Blutrick. He wasn't
involved in the murder, but he is

with the Gambinos and their shady deals.

He's willing to spill what he knows to
the feds to save himself.

Almost immediately upon discovery of the
taps, they went in and cut a deal in

New York where they pled guilty to
various felony crimes in order to not

serve. A 25 -plus year prison sentence,
they agreed to work undercover.

Ultimately, Michael Blutrick also agrees
to turn on his National Heritage pals

and tell the feds everything.

The National Heritage case turns out to
be the largest life insurance company

fraud in American history.

Not every single case...

has the mystery and intrigue and ties to
the mafia and ties to,

you know, millions of dollars like this
one does.

There was bank fraud, insurance fraud,
wire fraud, mail fraud, securities

mortgage fraud.

This was probably one of the most
enormous cases I had ever undertaken.

Next on American Greed, the negotiator
Sholem Wise takes the witness stand to

prove he's innocent.

Will it backfire?

In 1999, the largest life insurance scam
in American history makes front -page

news.

National Heritage was built out of
nearly $450 million.

The person who took home the biggest
chunk was shady dealmaker Sholem White.

This was different than simple fraud.

The people here got the insurance
company for the purpose of looting it.

Most of the scammers plead guilty and
turn federal witness.

Among those who flip is New York lawyer
Michael Blutrick.

He arranged the purchase of the company,
helped loot it, and then brought in

Sholem Weiss to try to cover it up.

When faced with charges, Weiss decides
to take his chances at trial.

He knows that the government is betting
that he'll plead guilty, too.

They thought they weren't going to try
this case because everyone in the

courthouse felt that it was too
complicated for a jury to handle, to

evidence, to handle the complicated,
interwoven deceit.

Another defendant in the case is Blue
Trick's law partner, Richard Herman.

He insists he has no knowledge of the
National Heritage scam.

So when Prosecutor Judy Hunt offers him
a reduced sentence for his cooperation,

he flat -out refuses.

You know, they say you can indict a ham
sandwich.

In this case, they indicted a crumb of
the piece of bread from a ham sandwich.

But they did it. And she figured if she
indicted me, I would run down to

Orlando, go into her offices, try to cut
a deal with her, because after all,

Michael Blucher was my law partner.

I had to have known what they were
doing.

Herman goes on trial with Sholem Weiss
and three others on February 1, 1999.

From the beginning, Weiss is the main
attraction in the courtroom.

Because Sholem Weiss gave the appearance
of being rich and clearly was rude.

And it came across, his rudeness
certainly came across in the courtroom

from time to time.

And people described him as being
brusque and abrasive, and I think that's

Jurors can't help but notice his
attitude.

Sholem Weiss was in the very front.

He was upset. He was an angry, seemed to
be an angry, gruff man.

The trial moves at a glacial pace.

It was, you know, just such a monstrous
trial with so many transactions, so much

money to trade, and so much testimony.

A lot of the witnesses were lawyers,
even added to the problem.

They told us I think it was going to be
a three - to five -month trial.

Kept going on and on, and all I could,
my only analogy was that this was like a

John Grisham collaboration with Hunter
S. Thompson.

It was just unbelievable, you know, just
kind of surreal pulling together of

events and schemes.

During the trial, the defendants are
free on bond.

After the day in court is over, Sholem
Weiss relaxes in a favored way.

Reporter Susan Clary says he frequents a
local strip club called Rachel's. He

had a girlfriend that he met at
Rachel's, and she came to court every

you know, probably half his age.

Susan Clary covers the trial for the
Orlando Sentinel newspaper, and she

to Wise on a daily basis.

He was very moody.

Some days he would be very sweet, and
some days he would be very angry.

I would write an article that maybe
wasn't as pleasing to him as he had

and the next day my car would be keyed,
or I would write something that he

disliked, and I'd come to the
courthouse, and he'd meet me on the

courthouse and say, why did you write
all these things about me?

Back in the courtroom, attorney Joel
Hirschhorn nears the end of his defense.

when Weiss adds a surprising twist.

He wants to testify.

As a criminal defense lawyer, I've had
clients get acquitted who didn't take

stand and get convicted who did. The one
rule is that if you get up and testify

and if the jury doesn't like you, it
makes it very difficult to get

Would I have preferred that he didn't?
There were some things that only he

explain.

Weiss presents his side of the case.

He insists he's an innocent.

caught in Michael Blutrick's web of
deceit. He seems to think that he can

convince the jury by the force of his
personality.

He obviously had some confidence or he
wouldn't have gotten on the stand in the

first place.

Ultimately, I think his decision to
testify hurt him more than helped him.

He's a disaster as a witness. He's big
and he's bold and he's brazen and he's

loud.

Judy Hunt just did an excellent job
cross -examining him.

He didn't even know it, and he was being
torn to shreds.

In early October, both sides rest their
cases, and the judge gives the jurors a

week -long break before starting
deliberations.

The defendants are allowed to return
home. For Weiss, that's his palatial

in New York.

He had a week up there in Muncie. People
were worried.

about whether he would flee or not,
whether the bond would hold him. I think

had to be on electronic monitoring, but
his house was so big they couldn't do

electronic monitoring.

The signal from the monitor's base
station won't reach his entire house.

reluctantly, the authorities allow Weiss
to come and go as he pleases.

There are lots of courthouse workers,
and not that they bet on the cases for

money, but so the bets were kind of...

Do you think Weiss will show up for the
verdict?

And it was pretty split.

Do you think they're all going to be
found guilty? I think everybody was

sure they would.

One week later, as the legal teams
reassembled in Orlando for jury

deliberations. Can't find Mr. Weiss. I
call, I call. So I have no choice. Next

morning, show up to court. The judge did
point out to me my dance card appeared

to be empty, and it was. I had no one
there sitting next to me. The judge

allowed almost a half an hour.

But she didn't want to keep the jury
waiting, so she questioned his lawyer,

Hirshhorn, and she said, do you know
where your client is? He said no.

Do you know if he's going to appear?

And he said, I expect him to appear.

For FBI agent Joe Judge, Weiss's failure
to appear is a neon blinking sign.

Weiss is on the run.

I'm sure he was planning to flee anyway
because...

He put on about 60 pounds during the
trial.

We're thinking it's nervous eating. No,
that's his disguise for when he flees.

There is no doubt in his mind that Weiss
used the week -long break to get a head

start. That's the first thing I had to
do, and try to get him entered into our

national database and get border stops,
airport stops put out.

In the courtroom, the trial judge moves
forward.

She gives the jury instructions, and
they begin deliberation.

The judge did instruct the jury every
day they were not to consider the fact

that Mr. Weiss was not there.

Morning after morning, you do start to
wonder, you know, whether he was sick or

what happened to him.

Two weeks later, the jurors signal that
they have reached a verdict.

The defendants minus Weiss, the symbol
in the courtroom.

They begin to read those counts off, and
the verdict sheet was about that thick.

like a phone book, and they read those
counts down for Sean and Weiss.

And each count was guilty, guilty,
guilty.

Of course, I was very disappointed that
he was not there to hear the verdict

read. Three other co -defendants are
found guilty as well. Then comes the

verdicts for Bluetrick's law partner,
Richard Herman.

After about two hours of guilty
verdicts, my heart was going through my

And the jury, the judge, read off the
verdict.

Not guilty, not guilty, not guilty, not
guilty.

The judge basically said, Mr. Herman,
you're free to leave.

Herman feels vindicated.

I'm never going to forget this, and I'm
never going to forget how I was

mistreated.

Sentencing is scheduled three months
later.

Weiss's fugitive status affects the
other convicts. The other defendants...

all found themselves on home
confinement, even though they had

day for court. But the defense attorneys
just couldn't argue at that point.

The judge throws the book at the con
artists for why she stacks up each of

convictions to a grand total of 845
years.

Of course, the court knew they weren't
going to be in jail for that long. But

she expressed the clear intent that due
to the seriousness of the crimes they

committed, it was her intent that they
remain incarcerated for the rest of

lives. It is the longest sentence ever
handed down for a white -collar crime.

Instead of an ending for FBI agent Joe
Judge, this is a new beginning.

Well, I knew that I was going to have a
tough fugitive case because, you know,

Shalom Weiss, he was going to be a
masterful fugitive. But our trial was

the people got convicted, the people got
sentenced, and now I was going to spend

most of my time trying to find Shalom
Weiss.

The authorities do have one advantage.

Why call her?

We frequently are able to find them by
tracking their own personal

ways of life.

Sholem likes gambling, drinking, and the
company of working girls. If anyone's

going to stand out in the world, it
could be Sholem Weiss. Up next on

Greed, can a prostitute be the key to
capturing Sholem Weiss?

Con artist Sholem Weiss is on the run.

He has been convicted of taking part in
the collapse of National Heritage Life

Insurance Company.

It is the largest insurance company
failure due to fraud in American

Weiss and his pals stole nearly half a
billion dollars.

For his part, Weiss was sentenced to a
staggering 845 years, the longest

sentence ever for a white -collar crime.

But Weiss didn't stick around to take
his punishment.

He's a fugitive.

When he went on the FBI's Most Wanted, a
poster went up in the post offices.

It's FBI agent Joe Judge's hope that
Weiss's personal appetites will lead

authorities to him.

Sheldon Weiss is known in Las Vegas as
the whale because his game was

$25 ,000 a hand.

There is a good chance that the 46 -year
-old Weiss, a Hasidic Jew with a taste

for the wildlife, will stand out
wherever he goes.

So I put together very detailed
communications about, you know, how he

how he looked, the numerous women that
he would wine and dine and entertain,

his constant wheeling and dealing 24
hours a day on phones.

Alerts go out all over the world, but
especially to cities that might be

attractive to wives.

These targeted locations all have a
distinct combination of a Hasidic

easy access to financial markets,
gambling, and last but not least,

He traveled between several different
countries while he was on the land. He

kicked out of hotels.

He had big parties with women with a lot
of drinking and things going on. And so

it wasn't hard to follow him. What was
hard was he kept changing. He shaved.

He colored his hair.

He lost weight.

Then a lead comes in from Sao Paulo,
Brazil.

A man there fits Weiss's MO.

It sounded interesting enough for...

the lifestyle leads that we were getting
and that we felt it was good enough

that I was going to go down there for
three weeks and work with the Brazilian

Federal Police.

George Pontes is the officer assigned to
work the case with Judge.

From the very beginning, he was a person
who loves to drink alcohol.

He loved to have parties, to have sex
with.

more than three or four or five women at
the same time. And it was a good lead

because it's not normal for a person to
party with eight and

ten girls as he did. We set up shop in
this area where we felt Shalom Weiss

would be. And this area was just like
the Upper East Side of New York, very

posh. We talked to concierges. We talked
to maitre d's. We talked to sommeliers.

We talked to croupiers.

And we are getting a nice picture. The
whale is around.

For a while, they get no bites.

Even though no one recognizes the name,
the investigators still feel they're on

the whale's tail.

Individuals who have engaged in fraud
generally...

have become used to a certain standard
of living.

And they find it very difficult after
their escape to not live kind of like

lived before. They're not likely to take
the Greyhound bus.

Finally, investigators catch a break at
the Sheraton.

One of the employees pointed the photo
and confirmed that this man

had stayed there at the hotel in the
recent past.

Finally, a guy at a hotel says, you
know, this could be your guy. He looks

familiar, kind of had a little
disturbance with a lot of call girls in

but his name is not Charles White.

This guy's name is Charles Dick.

And we go, whoa.

The name rings a bell with Agent Judge.

Charles Dick is the name of Weiss's
cousin.

And then we find out.

that this room had an Internet service
connected to it to trace the New York

Stock Exchange dealings all day. We are
not looking for Charles Wise anymore.

We were looking for Charles Dick.

Charles Dick's M .O. is to change hotels
frequently, and unfortunately, he has

already gone from the hotel where he was
I .D., along with the alias Charles

Dick. Investigators figure out another
lead to follow, his Internet service.

Every day, Shalom Wise was in touch with
the stock market in New York.

We are way ahead of the power curve here
now.

And we quickly had to go and get a
subpoena from Brazilian court to find

where that Internet service was being
provided right now. We've got another

hotel.

The room is registered to a high -priced
call girl named Simone de la Santos.

That was his M .O. too. He would, shall
I say, interview a number of call girls

for a while. Then he would pick one.

And she would be his favorite for a
while.

The authorities raid the hotel room.

We missed him by a day.

So we were a little crestfallen there,
but we felt really good. We felt really

good because we know his alias. He
doesn't know we know it.

They come up empty -handed, but they
still have a way to track Weiss through

girlfriend. We found out that Simone was
the key of the case and she probably

would take us to get him.

Simone was constantly with Charlotte
Weiss. We requested for the Brazilian

federal judge in charge of this
investigation a warrant to make a

wiretapping.

in her phone.

They listen and learn that Simone and
Weiss are vacationing in Europe but are

coming back to Brazil.

But we were very surprised when Simone
came back by herself. She came back

alone, stayed a couple of weeks, but we
knew that she was going to take us to

Solon Weiss.

All they can do is watch Simone and
wait.

Finally, her phone rings.

We're listening to the conversations
between Charles Dick and Simone de los

Santos. And they're going to get
together, and we're going to try to join

Brazilian police officer Mara Barreto
has been trailing Simone.

They decide she'll stay glued to her for
the flight to Europe as well.

But they need to be certain not to spook
her.

For whole three months, I was mating the
surveillance on her.

So when we decided to follow her in the
international flight,

I had to have my hair cut and to dye my
hair, changing

the color of black hair.

At the last moment, Weiss calls off the
trip.

I don't know whether Shalom Weiss felt
he could see what kind of activity was

going on, he could hear about activity
going on.

because, you know, Shalom always likes
to think he's wired wherever he's

working. For now, it's back to the
waiting game.

They hope that Weiss hasn't dumped
Simone for a new favorite.

They are relieved when he calls her
back. This time, Weiss wants her to go

Germany. We found out that Simone was
following the advice of

Shalom Weiss.

And she always bought a ticket, an
airplane ticket, for one destination

stopover. And she usually to stop in
that place and change

the destination.

Weiss doesn't meet Simone at the
airport.

She goes to a hotel alone.

German police react with amazing speed.

They immediately install a wire
intercept on her room. Just incredible.

be done in the United States.

They get the intercept set up in her
room.

In the morning, Weiss calls again to
change her destination.

He must be certain that she isn't being
followed. Go to Vienna, he says.

He's not going to make it easy.

At the train station in Vienna, Simone
is met by a man who doesn't look like

Weiss. No beard, no yarmulke, thinner,
light -colored hair.

Austrian authorities take over the tale
from Mara.

and followed the man and Simone to an
exclusive hotel.

We don't know what to do because they
don't know who he is.

So I asked them to find out who rented
the room.

And the room was rented by a guy I
recognized to be Sean Weiss's brother

-law in Vienna.

So I said, that's got to be him.

Let's go get him. Let's go get him.
We're going to lose the whole thing.

Austrian police storm the room, but
Weiss is gone.

Simone is there, so they hold her and
hope that they haven't been spotted by

Weiss. Finally, a key unlocks the door.
The door opens, and the same man from

the train station walks in.

Shalom Weiss comes strolling back in,
and when confronted, immediately asks

a lawyer.

Does he deny he's Shalom Weiss? No.

He asks for a lawyer, which kind of
clinches it.

If Weiss goes home, he's looking at 845
years in prison.

When he was apprehended in Vienna,
Austria, my phone rang and I was asked

jump in and try to save him.

Next, the U .S. still has to convince
Austria to hand Weiss over. And for his

part, Weiss is not going to go peaceful.

In Austria, Sholem Weiss has been
captured after being convicted of the

life insurance fraud in United States
history.

He leads law enforcement on a one -year
chase from Florida to Brazil to Europe,

where he is finally apprehended in a
hotel room with his call girl

It's been a long, complicated manhunt,
and it's not over yet.

There's a hitch.

The United States does have an
extradition policy with Austria.

However... If they don't define the
things that he was convicted of here as

crime, they don't extradite for those
things.

So he was actually captured and
released.

After all the work it takes to nab
Weiss, the FBI is stunned when an

judge lets him walk free.

Some quirk in Austrian law, the Austrian
courts for some reason are forced to

let him out on bond, which was quite a
surprise to us.

It's a nail -biter.

Will Weiss stay in Austria and fight
extradition, or will he flee again?

Weiss's attorney, Sam Burstyn, says
there is a safe haven for him in

The plan that was developed provided an
option for him whereby he was eligible

for Belgian citizenship, which had he
taken and had he moved there

during the period of his release, he
could have lived happily ever after in

Belgium.

Belgian law makes extradition of a
citizen to the U .S. practically

But for the high -living Weiss, it comes
down to lifestyle choices, and Belgium

is too dull.

He didn't much care for the scale of
Belgium.

It didn't really suit his appetite for
the pleasures of life. He had his money.

He had a car.

He had a passport. He had other
countries he could have gone to.

But he stayed there and thumbed his nose
at everyone.

His gamble in Austria is for a shortened
prison sentence.

So Weiss chooses to stay and fight the
extradition power of the United States

government. That's where the white
-collar element of narcissism really

back and bites the criminal at the end.
He convinced himself that he

had enough local political...

cover in Vienna to remain there. The
Austrian government didn't want to wage

against the United States over this guy.

After Austria extracts a promise from
federal prosecutors that Weiss will be

allowed to appeal his conviction in U
.S. court, they hand him over.

But Scholem still isn't giving up.

As he boards the plane in the custody of
U .S. Marshals, Weiss tries a last

-ditch effort to avoid going home.

He... had a cardiac event. The local
medical establishment in Austria

that as a fake heart attack. But the
pilot of the commercial jetliner refused

allow him to board.

The second time around, U .S.
authorities take a little theatrical

the plane trip.

We had a young, handsome FBI agent. He
was sitting there with a stethoscope and

a black bag.

However, he was never introduced as a
physician.

But we think Mr. Weiss may have been
influenced by that site, and we had a

uneventful flight back to the United
States.

And Weiss is in prison today.

Weiss lands back on U .S. soil on June
9, 2002.

Despite being in prison, he continues to
fight the legality of his extradition.

He says the U .S. lied to get the
Austrians to hand him over.

For their part, the U .S. government
admits that promises made were broken.

The question is, can he be held in the
United States of America where

his appearance here was procured by
lies, trickery, and

deceit within the legal process?

Federal courts generally believe that
once a person is here,

It's not the federal judge's problem how
he got here.

And therefore, the devious dealmaker
will spend his life behind bars, serving

his sentence.

I understand that Sholem Weiss has once
again found religion in the federal

facility that he's in.

I hope that's so, because when you're in
prison for the rest of your life, I

don't know what else to do for 845
years.

Sholem Weiss is scheduled to be released
on November 23rd.

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