All language subtitles for American Greed s05e03 Fools Gold

In this episode of American Greed, Dr.
Henry Jones, philanthropist,

diplomat, international man of mystery.

He was supposed to have access to all
these diplomats in Africa.

He was supposed to have known Nelson
Mandela personally.

Through his international ties, Jones
promises to get investors in on a secret

gold deal.

He was this miracle worker. He was going
to make all this magic happen.

I do believe it would serve everyone's
interest for the transaction to be done

like a thief in the night.

But Dr.

Jones leads a double life, living it up
with young, sexy, wannabe pop stars.

Shake your baby, shake your baby, work
your lady, work your lady. A life

to his investors, unknown even to his
partners in crime.

They were duped by Henry Jones.

There were two different schemes going
on.

Henry Jones is the classic con man who
will say or do anything to get people to

part with their money.

In 2005, in Hollywood, a Nigerian
businessman named Dr. Henry Jones wants

the next pop music kingmaker.

As founder and CEO of his own
entertainment company, Jones shoots

around the world and spends millions of
dollars on young singers who hope to be

the next Britney or Rihanna.

He would fly in the choreographers from
New York.

put them up at the Four Seasons.

He would pay celebrities to come in and
appear on these videos.

He had Mike Tyson in a video.

In L .A.'s music scene, Dr. Henry Jones
seems to come out of nowhere, but he

certainly plays the part of a high
roller.

He was throwing money around. He lived
very well. He had a Ferrari.

He had two houses.

But just where is his money coming from?

That was like the million -dollar
question. Everybody wanted to know how

Jones had so much money.

I am coming.

I am coming your way. The money is
certainly not coming from his movies or

musical acts.

Every single one has been a flop.

I think Henry Jones wanted to be
successful. He wanted to dress the part.

wanted to act the part as someone that
was making lots of money in the

entertainment industry.

The fact was, he didn't sell any
records, he didn't sell any movies.

The story of Dr.

Henry Jones, who claims to be a
philanthropist, diplomat, and media

begins in a very unlikely place.

Nestled in the hills of the Appalachian
Mountains in eastern Kentucky sits a

coal mine.

It's here that two California
businessmen claim they've made a

will revolutionize the energy business.

Clean burning coal.

Their coal is so clean, they say, it's
98 % emission free.

It was a coal seam in the mine that had
a particular type of coal that

required less processing.

They had special clean burning coal and
it would be good for the environment.

Their names are Art Simberg and Robert
Jennings.

Simberg is a former executive at Puma,
the athletic apparel company.

Jennings is a preacher.

Simberg seemed to be sort of the
frontman, promoter. He was the real

behind the whole thing. Jennings seemed
to be more of the operations guy.

Robert Jennings was basically in charge
of the coal mines, and he never once

visited the coal mines. Someone out in
the mines actually...

described it like Charlie's Angels,
where it's the guy in the box that just

of talks over the phone.

They called the venture Tri -Energy and
run it out of their homes in Southern

California. But the new company
desperately needs cash.

They wanted investors to invest in the
coal mine. They were going to increase

production, get more coal mines, get
more equipment, and they wanted

to participate in that.

This was a clean coal venture that
people could get huge returns by simply

loaning money to them.

Simberg and Jennings promise investors
they can double their money.

They reach investors through direct mail
at investment seminars and even church,

since Jennings is a preacher.

Jane and Alfred Lord are in Jennings'
congregation when they hear about the

clean coal mine.

It was...

Something he was excited about, the
potential of what good could come out of

I believe the minimum investment was $5
,000.

And we originally, for the first
investment, we invested $10 ,000 in that

But there aren't enough Jane and Alfred
Lords to go around, and the fundraising

is stalling out.

Then, in 2001, Simberg and Jennings are
introduced to Dr. Henry Jones.

Jones is CEO of the Marina Investors
Group, an investment fund specializing

emerging markets.

The Nigerian businessman claims to have
close ties to world leaders with big

money. He was supposed to be this
international man of mystery, of

had these international connections.

He claimed to be friends with Nelson
Mandela and at one point had photographs

himself with Nelson Mandela on his
website.

Jones tells Simberg and Jennings he can
make their fundraising dreams come true.

But in return for helping out with their
coal mine, Jones wants help with his

own project.

It involves a complicated gold
transaction in the Middle East.

The gold transaction allegedly involved
the brokering of about 20 ,000 tons of

gold between Israel and Dubai.

20 ,000 tons of gold.

Simberg and Jennings don't do much
research, but if they did, they'd learn

that's more gold than in Fort Knox.

The United States actually has the
world's largest store of gold and has

World War II. And the United States has
only 8 ,000 tons of gold in storage.

According to Jones, the transaction is
extremely sensitive.

Because Israel and Dubai had no official
diplomatic relations, it had to be

super secret. They couldn't tell anybody
about it. It just had to be within the

group of investors.

By helping to broker the gold deal, the
group will make $200 million.

The money will then finance the coal
mines.

The intent was to take the windfall from
the gold transaction and actually

operate the mines and build the mining
business.

In February of 2002, Jennings, Simberg,
and Jones signed what they call a

capital infusion proposal and go into
business together.

Much of the business is conducted on
nightly conference calls, where the

voice of Dr. Henry Jones casts a spell
on naive investors.

Up next on American Greed.

And later,

just where is the money going?

The story of Jones' Russian model wife
and her $3 million diamond cocktail

dress.

In Southern California, a mysterious
businessman named Dr. Henry Jones joins

forces with Art Simberg and Robert
Jennings.

Two men who purport to be green energy
entrepreneurs.

Simberg and Jennings say their company,
TriEnergy, owns a mine in Kentucky that

produces clean burning coal.

And they just need investor money to
make it profitable.

If they just had enough money to buy
some equipment and get the coal out of

mine, they would be able to fill huge
lucrative contracts in Europe and China.

Dr. Jones says he'll help Simberg and
Jennings raise money.

if their investors help him broker a
multi -billion dollar international gold

transaction. In February 2002, with
their new partnership, they get to work

drumming up investors through nightly
conference calls.

One ton of gold is the net dollar
equivalent of 100 ,000 tons of coal. So

said if you would assist me with this,
his transaction would get him to the

billions, and he would make 200 million
available to us to go into our coal

mines.

The conference calls took on a life of
their own.

Basically, when it first started, there
was a small group, but then it grew, I

guess by word of mouth.

The conference calls happened just about
nightly, and up to 100 people could be

involved in the conference calls, and
they would have to dial in and use a

special code.

Kim and Dave Flanagan run a mom -and
-pop furniture store.

They hear about TriEnergy from a true
believer, Kim's own mom.

And she just said, I can't explain it to
you, but, you know, it's something

really exciting and really positive in
my life, and I'm just, you know, so

about it.

Kim's mother explains that TriEnergy
promises triple returns on investment.

She and her husband are intrigued.

She said, if you guys would like to know
what this is about, let's set up a

conference call so that you can
understand. She's like, because this is

complicated. On the conference calls,
the Flanigans learn how Tri -Energy is

running four coal mines in the
Appalachian Mountains.

This year, we have actually mined on all
four sites.

Currently, at the Dean site, we have
about 3 ,000 tons on the ground.

At the Verizon site, about 20 ,000 tons.

At the Ben Hollow site, we have about 6
,000 tons there.

They also hear how Dr. Henry Jones is
jetting across the globe.

on a campaign to complete the multi
-billion dollar gold deal.

Though

Dr.

Henry Jones is supposedly traveling
around the world, occasionally investors

actually hear from Jones himself.

It was almost a treat to get Henry on
the phone. He was supposed to be very

to... get a hold of because he was
traveling for the gold transactions.

The

gold

transaction itself is cloaked in
mystery.

All investors are told is that it
involves a transfer of 20 ,000 tons of

bricks from Israel to Dubai.

He prevented investors from being able
to do any meaningful due diligence by

cloaking the whole thing in a veil of
secrecy. On his rare phone appearances,

Jones only gives investors mysterious
information and vague details.

We're just waiting.

For all we know, it could be tomorrow
morning.

It's literally a waiting game.

TriEnergy promises huge profits.

But the group also appeals to investors'
sense of altruism.

In 2003, Allison Johnson takes part in
the nightly phone calls on the advice of

a friend.

As an international political economist,
Allison works around the world to

combat poverty.

Art said very directly that they wanted
to make a difference in the world, and

he felt that my knowledge and background
could be useful when his investors were

going to...

take their returns, and invest them in
humanitarian causes.

She is particularly fascinated by the
group's devotion to Henry Jones.

He was this miracle worker. He was going
to make all this magic happen, and that

he was the inspiration behind this group
and their forming.

The conference calls take on a decidedly
religious tone.

Talk of doing God's work and being
divinely inspired increases.

Group prayer is common.

I just think that God is always ahead of
us. He already knows everything that's

going to challenge us.

There are many Mormons involved. There
are many born -again Christians.

They prayed together.

They believed that this was going to
happen.

It really became a social network for a
lot of the people.

After listening to the calls for several
months, Allison decides not to make an

investment. As far as I could tell, it
never made any sense. The dots never

connected. It was just this string of
confusing facts and misguided

information that was supposed to weave
into a logical investment that you were

supposed to be buying into.

The Flanigans also have their doubts.

But Jones' charisma overrides their
skepticism.

They borrow $10 ,000 from Kim's mom and
invest in TriEnergy.

You know, it sounded far -fetched.

But if you get a chance to talk to Henry
Jones and Art and Bob and a few of the

others, they're very convincing.

It wasn't definitely something that I
understood.

I think that I would consider myself not
a very educated person.

And this gentleman definitely knew what
he was talking about, and so it made it

seem valid.

But perhaps the Flanagan's should have
gone with their first instinct, as the

coal and gold deals are fraught with
problems.

Things were being explained to the
investors that, well, we've had this

but it looks like this thing's going to
happen tomorrow.

It's almost not even explainable. I
mean, there were things like washing

to attorney's fees, storage fees, safe
passage letters, I

mean, on and on and on.

Like a charity holding a telethon,
TriEnergy always seems to be campaigning

another cash infusion to deal with each
delay.

A typical request involves gold storage
fees.

That was a big fee. The storage of the
gold started out as a several hundred

thousand dollar ask.

And they would say, you know, we need to
pay for the storage because the deal's

not closing yet. So can everybody try to
pitch in some money?

What kind of expense are we looking at
to take things to the finish?

It is safe to assume that we're going to
have to handle one more storage amount.

How did anybody ever guess that would
happen?

You know?

We had investors that put in as much as
$500 ,000, people who mortgaged their

houses, their farms, their IRAs.

And with every campaign, Tri -Energy's
founders grow richer.

With hundreds of investors involved at a
time, the scam pulls in up to $2

million a month.

Under Tri -Energy's arrangement, Simberg
and Jennings receive a portion of the

money for the coal mines.

But despite their claims of owning four
mines, the pair really have a lease on

just one mine, and hardly any investment
money ever makes it there.

Mine engineers that worked out of an
office in Norton, Virginia, kept sending

lists of what they needed back to Robert
Jennings, and the equipment would never

get purchased.

The money often goes straight into
Simberg's and Jennings' pockets.

They didn't live extravagantly, but I
think they made over $100 ,000 a year.

They made a pretty good day -to -day
living, and they didn't work very hard.

But Simberg and Jennings cut is chump
change compared to Henry Jones' take, as

Dr. Jones easily clears eight figures to
fund his international endeavors.

I'm not sure that Simberg and Jennings
ever really stopped to look at the bank

accounts to see how much money that was
coming in. I think Simberg and Jennings

on a certain level were duped by Henry
Jones.

There were two different schemes going
on.

I think they hoped that the gold
transaction was real, and it's kind of

ostrich putting its head in the sand.

But the only gold that Henry Jones is
pursuing is gold records.

Next on American Greed.

He was living the life, and he was using
investor money to pay for it.

I was shocked.

I was just dismayed, disgusted.

For years, Tri -Energy is a struggling
coal mine venture.

But in 2002, Henry Jones changes the
company's fortune.

Things really took off once Henry Jones
was involved, and they could tell people

that there's this bigger pot of gold out
there.

Using millions of dollars of investor
funds, Jones is allegedly brokering a

-secret international gold deal with a
$200 million payout.

For hopeful Tri -Energy investors, the
deal is heaven sent.

People believed that this was really
meant to happen so that they could help

cure poverty, help people who were
unfortunate, and really fulfill their

to do humanitarian good.

There was a lot of talk of God about the
investment being deistically inspired

because these people were going to go
out and do so much good within the

But Henry Jones isn't really working on
the gold deal.

To Try Energy's investors, MIG stands
for Marina Investors Group.

But it's also the name of Jones' music
business, MIG Records.

Henry Jones was having a very good time
running a music and video business near

the beach in Los Angeles.

Headquartered in Marina del Rey, MIG is
the home of roughly a dozen acts.

Ranging from hardcore rappers to pop
princesses.

Jim is a former MIG employee.

Henry was the type of guy who just
basically thought, I get the best

get some random.

Girl to be a pop star.

And then sooner or later, I'm going to
be getting a producer of the year award

at the Grammys or something like that.

Jones isn't above putting himself in his
artist's videos.

In this one, playing a mob boss.

Well, if she's in love, she'll be
singing about it.

Now, you find her and I'll fix her.

He's even trying to break into the movie
business.

Producing the film Mr.

Jinx, starring Martin Sheen's brother,
Joe Estevez. If the police question me,

should tell them the whole truth.

M .I .G.'s official motto is, be heard,
be seen, get paid.

Something Jones knows well.

Jones was spending all of this money
essentially to keep up the facade that

was an important and successful
entertainment mogul.

He bought fancy cars. He bought fancy
houses.

I had a friend who used to be
responsible for payroll in the company,

said it was enormous, like hundreds of
thousands a week.

TriEnergy's investors don't know it, but
they're footing the bill.

He spent well over $21 million of the
investors' money on his personal

and then running this business.

Jones takes care of his employees,
especially the female performers, one of

just happens to be his Russian -born
wife.

His wife was a model. I think he rented
a dress, made out of diamonds for a

photo shoot for her.

The diamond dress has an appraised value
of $3 million.

He got some special edition Ferrari for
his Russian wife.

This was supposedly a Ferrari that you
had to be on a waiting list.

for jump through all these hoops to get,
and he got it for that afternoon.

But for Dr. Henry Jones, one Russian
model wife isn't enough.

Jones also has a girlfriend, Adrian Lau,
who he's determined to make a

superstar.

What I saw him spend his money on,
basically, was what Adrian wanted. What

Adrian wanted was for him to...

buy her into the limelight.

She basically had a staff. She had her
publicist. She had somebody to drive

She had a hairstylist. She had a makeup
person.

She had a choreographer.

But Jones's extravagant spending isn't
matching up with MIG Records' output.

It was an interesting lark on his part.
He had no clue, from my perspective,

about the music industry.

The sales from his records didn't amount
to...

There was very small amounts of his
records sold.

Far from making money, MIG Records has
to pay to get its singers heard.

And you also have to understand with the
performers, the acts that he had, he

had to pay for them to perform in
various nightclubs.

On the surface, you know, it seemed like
they were doing everything that a

record company should be doing.

It was just weird because it just seemed
like he chose such talentless people.

But sales don't matter as long as the
cash continues to flow.

MIG employees don't know where the money
is coming from, but they know they're

paid well.

Some people said he came from a rich
family. Some people said that he was

commodities or something we didn't
understand.

But the way we all saw it was more like
he's got a lot of money and he's

spending it to try to launch this record
company because of his ego.

To preserve his Hollywood lifestyle, all
Jones has to do is keep investors

believing in his $200 million gold deal.
But that isn't always easy.

Next on American Greed, some tri -energy
investors finally ask, just where is

our money going?

There were conference calls where there
were very irate, very angry investors

confronting Jones on the calls.

He has stated that the transaction is
very much a lie.

A lie or a lie? A lie, but A -L -I -B
-E.

I just felt this slow anger begin to
burn. I really became quite obsessed.

And the elusive Dr. Jones takes his
disappearing act to a new low.

Jones hid under his desk in his office
until the police came.

Dr. Henry Jones is leading a secret
double life.

In Marina del Rey, California, he's the
free -spending head of MIG Records.

But to hundreds of investors around the
U .S., Jones is an internationally known

humanitarian who will make them all rich
brokering a secret Middle East gold

deal. I do believe it would serve
everyone's interest for the transaction

done like a thief in the night.

Very clandestinely and confidentially.

Tri -Energy promises investors a $200
million payout if they remain patient.

But the only ones actually making money
are Henry Jones and his partners Art

Simberg and Robert Jennings.

I think the minimum that we're aware of
is something like $38 million.

The scam goes on for more than three
years.

But cracks in the facade start to appear
in 2004 when a group of investors gets

fed up with the delays.

...has stated that the transaction is
very much a lie.

A lie or a lie? A lie, but A -L -I -B
-E.

So there's no semantic confusion there.
Not A -L -I -E, rather A -L -I

-B -E.

Okay? In early 2004, shortly after
making their $10 ,000 investment, the

Flanagans realized that something isn't
right.

While listening to a conference call,
they hear an angry group of investors

confront Henry Jones.

But Henry, given the fact that the funds
were supposed to be in Luxembourg and

we were due payout, how come we're
stalling here again?

They wanted proof of what had been
happening. They wanted some sort of

documentation that everything that they
were being told by Henry Jones or by Art

Simberg was actually going forward.

David and I just shook our heads at that
time, and we just knew we were going to

owe my mom $10 ,000.

The event is known as the Gang of Ten
incident.

On Super Bowl weekend, ten investors
tracked down Jones in Marina Del Rey.

Disgruntled investors actually went to
Jones' home and wanted to confront him.

And from what we were told by people
that were there, Jones hid under his

in his office until the police came.

Jones eventually calms the gang of ten
down, once again convincing them the

deal will come through.

He did mean to smooth things over, and
he did it with the help of Simberg and

Jennings. Apparently, he showed them
some documentary film that he had made.

The documentary is MIG's The Rise and
Fall of Saddam Hussein, a film allegedly

made possible by Henry Jones'
international ties.

Simberg and Jennings later went on the
conference calls and said to investors,

you know, we saw some things we really
can't tell you what we saw. But Jennings

himself said, I can assure you, Henry is
who he says he is.

So rest assured, we have a top -notch
individual people that we are connected

with who's a joint venture partner with
us.

And if we just relax, everything is
going to come to pass.

Kim and Dave Flanagan aren't convinced
and alert the authorities in Montana,

where they live.

One of the first things that I was told
when I went to the state authorities is,

well, who are these people?

I don't know. I don't know who they are.
And so I decided to try and piece that

puzzle together.

Determined to do something, Kim secretly
begins taping the tri -energy calls.

I just felt this slow anger.

begin to burn.

For months and months, I would just lay
on my bed with a tape recorder in my

hand and the speakerphone on.

She was absolutely obsessed with
bringing it down, stopping it, and

get money back for the people that had
been victimized.

Over nine months, she tapes hundreds of
hours of calls, writing down the names,

dates, and details of every
conversation, and sends them to state

regulators.

Hey, Art, can I ask you a question
really quick about the coal?

Is that Kim? Yeah, it's me.

Now, is there coal that's being sold
yet?

I just wanted some specifics because I
knew they weren't telling the truth.

So I wanted them to get as specific as
possible because I knew they were lying.

Last week we had 25 truckloads that went
out last week.

There were gross misstatements about
what was going on at the coal mine.

None of this was true.

More determined than ever, the Flanigans
want their $10 ,000 back.

Kim's husband and brother eventually
confront Simberg and Jennings on a

call.

You know, I don't really want to press
you any further, except I just want to

know when I can expect the money to be
deposited back in my account.

The Flanigans threaten to report Tri
-Energy to the authorities.

Let me ask you guys something.

I had no problem saying, well, yeah,
I'll agree to that, but I don't know

Kim's going to do.

Amazingly, the Flanagans get back their
money and a tacit admission of guilt

from Tri -Energy.

You can see him just putting on
blinders, like, let's just keep the ship

in this one direction and make sure that
no authorities get notified.

Meanwhile, in Washington, D .C., an SEC
investigator gets a tip from another

wary investor.

He gives the feds the number to Tri
-Energy's hotline.

We began listening to the public mailbox
and the phone calls, and we were able

to use this information plus documents
that we got through subpoenas and other

sources to conclude that Tri -Energy was
really nothing more than a Ponzi

scheme.

In May 2005, after a short
investigation, the SEC has heard enough.

Within a matter of weeks of us hearing
about it, we took this evidence into

court, got a restraining order, an asset
freeze, and stopped the scam.

Or so they think.

Despite the court order, TriEnergy
continues to recruit investors.

Even after the SEC got an injunction and
basically told them to stop, and they

still raised money.

In one case, they told an investor,
listen, we're not allowed to raise

in your state, in the state of
Washington, so why don't you wire the

your mother in Florida, and then she can
wire the money to us in California.

But the feds keep pushing.

The FBI, IRS, and Postal Inspection
Service are brought in to investigate.

The SEC closes down the Kentucky coal
mine and sends a court receiver to claim

MIG's assets in California.

When the SEC did come, like, nobody was
surprised. It was more like, oh,

finally, we get to know.

You know, it's kind of like a relief
-type feeling.

But Jones is defiant. In June 2005, he
gathers his employees and starts a new

label, Global Village Records.

He's basically saying, like, look, you
can stick with the receiver or the

deceiver. You know, he just said, just
disregard all those things you may have

read. They can't beat me. They can't
beat us. And, you know, we're going to

Jones even opens up new bank accounts.

Amazingly, some investors refuse to
believe it's a scam.

There were a lot of investors that just
continued to give him money because they

all believed him when he said, look, the
gold deal is about to close and the SEC

is going to mess this whole thing up.

You know, we just have a few more
payments we need to make and the gold

will close.

Tri Energy investors are told to make
out checks to Adrian Lau, who Jones says

is his lawyer.

So at least one investor wired several
hundred thousand dollars to a bank

account in Adrian Lau's name, with the
understanding that this was Jones'

attorney.

But this wannabe pop star is no more a
lawyer than Jones is a diplomat.

The investors did not know that that
was, number one, his girlfriend, and

two, one of the acts that he was
promoting.

We learned about this very quickly. We
moved very quickly to stop that branch

the fraud as well and to freeze assets
related to that.

But the gig is up.

The feds prepare charges of wire fraud,
mail fraud, and securities fraud against

TriEnergy and MIG.

In October 2007, Jennings and Simberg
are arrested and taken into custody.

But Henry Jones has slipped away.

Next on American Greed, will the FBI
track down Dr.

Jones? Henry left the country. I think
the writing was on the wall, and he

decided to leave.

He left to Hong Kong.

In October 2007, Art Simberg and Robert
Jennings are sitting in jail while their

partner, Dr. Henry Jones, is on the run
in Hong Kong.

Their company, Tri Energy, has been
exposed as a lie.

Their clean coal is no different than
any other coal.

The supposed international gold deal is
a figment of Dr. Henry Jones'

imagination, and Dr.

Jones isn't even a doctor.

He insisted that his employees call him
Dr. Jones, but there was no proof that

he, in fact, had a Ph .D. in anything.

Amazingly, the scam brings in more than
$32 million over a four -year period

from 2002 to 2006.

Facing charges of mail fraud, wire
fraud, and securities fraud, Art Simberg

pleads guilty and is sentenced to nine
years in federal prison.

Robert Jennings chooses to stand trial.

Jennings' defense was that he believed
Jones and he always thought it was true

and didn't make any false statements to
investors.

Despite losing $20 ,000 to the scheme,
Jane and Alfred Lord direct their anger

at Henry Jones, not at Robert Jennings,
their friend and pastor.

Robert's a trustworthy man, and we
trusted him.

And I believe he trusted somebody he
shouldn't have.

Yeah, that's the bottom line for me. I
feel like he was duped just as well as

were.

That doesn't stop them from testifying
in court.

I did not testify against Robert. I
testified the truth.

And I think eventually he got in to a
place where he was over his head and did

not know how to get out.

Robert's in jail because he broke the
law.

There's no question in our mind that
Simberg and Jennings directly lied to

investors.

Whether or not they believed in some of
what Jones said...

for our purposes, is really beside the
point because they were brought to

justice for their role in recruiting
investors and their lies that they made

investors.

Following a three -week trial, Jennings
is found guilty of fraud and sentenced

to 12 years in prison.

Meanwhile, Henry Jones isn't as easy to
bring to justice.

He knew the criminal investigation was
going on at that time. He was still in

the middle of the civil litigation with
the SEC, and then he just left the

country.

For five months, the FBI tracks Jones'
movements in Hong Kong.

He's there with his girlfriend, pop star
wannabe Adrienne Lau.

But even this international man of
mystery can't run forever.

He was picked up on an international
arrest warrant that was initiated by the

Justice Department when he was passing
between the border between China and

Kong.

Jones must now stand trial and face the
fraud charges.

David Kalianithis is Jones' attorney.

He thinks Jones has a good chance of
creating reasonable doubt in the minds

the jurors.

Very few investors ever met him.

Very few investors had any direct
contact with him. All they had was these

calls and only one witness.

Nobody else could even identify him.
They just knew a voice.

Kalyanithis advises Jones not to
testify, but Jones has different plans.

It took on a bizarre tone when we
started his

testimony.

He wanted to show who he was to the
jury, and unfortunately he did a very

job of that.

Jones proceeds to tell rambling stories
about the president of Sierra Leone,

mysterious attorneys, and exposing
government evils.

The courtroom at that point had devolved
from a

serious criminal trial into something
I've never seen before.

Mr. Jennings is sitting not too far from
me, laughing. His lawyers are laughing.

The jury is starting to laugh.

It was very unpleasant.

The jury doesn't buy a word of it. In
April 2009, Jones is sentenced to 20

years in federal prison.

I hope Henry Jones rots in jail. I
really do.

He's a very bad man.

He's evil, as far as I'm concerned.

As for his girlfriend, Adrienne Lau, she
avoids jail time but must pay a $200

,000 penalty.

Authorities say Tri -Energy defrauded up
to 1 ,500 victims out of more than $32

million, at least $21 million of which
goes to Henry Jones.

During the trial, many victims learned
just where he spends it.

I was shocked.

I was just dismayed, disgusted.

He obviously had a lifestyle that he had
to support.

But to do it with these people's money,
it just breaks my heart.

You know, that he could take money from
investors and just buy all these

extravagant houses, cars, vacations for,
you know, groups of people. Yeah.

It's pretty irritating.

As for Jennings and Simberg's take, they
make considerably less.

a few hundred thousand dollars each.

But to earn that money while you're
working out of the spare bedroom in your

house and you don't have to commute, and
really all you're doing is making a few

faxes a day and having a few phone
calls, that's a pretty good life.

The court receiver is working to recover
money for the victims.

But the lion's share was spent on Jones'
lifestyle and will never be recovered.

We have about a million dollars that
we're hoping to be able to distribute.

Out of the $35 million.

We haven't worked the percentages yet,
but 1 35th of whatever their investment

was may be it.

Despite guilty verdicts, some investors
refuse to believe the gold deal is

really over.

You still had a core of true believers
that either blame the government for

making the deal not work or just believe
what they were saying so much that they

didn't want to believe the government
saying that this was a fraud.

We see this a lot in Ponzi schemes where
as soon as we come in and stop the

fraud, the natural thing for the
defendants to do is to blame the

were just about to close the deal and
then the government came in and ruined

and spooked investors.

Kim Flanagan's mom, who got her into
this, is among the true believers.

The two don't talk for over a year.

We both have made monumental efforts at
rebuilding our relationship.

But she also has to balance her love for
these people with also coming to the

realization of the deceit. And so it's
very hurtful. It's very painful.

Other investors are emotionally and
financially destroyed.

There are a bunch of people that lost
their houses.

There's a guy that committed suicide
partly because he lost everything.

These were people from all walks of
life. They were everything from...

retired businessmen to doctors, PhDs.
They weren't stupid people. They were

intelligent people.

With the tri -energy ordeal now behind
them, some victims say they've learned a

valuable lesson.

It's our bad. We were very unwise in how
we approached it.

So, yeah, we wouldn't invest money again
so blindly, you know?

Let's advertise this one. We'll put an
ad in the clipboard. You know, I've

people say, you should be really careful
who you invest with unless you know

them really well, unless they're really
close family or friends. And I say, no,

you be careful, especially when it's
family and friends.