All language subtitles for American Greed s08e11 A Wolf in Priests Clothing

Episode of American Greed. In St. Louis,
Missouri, Martin Sigilito is a jet

-setting international lawyer.

who lectures at Oxford, checks on his
$50 million British real estate

and attends to his heavenly affairs as a
bishop in the Anglican Church.

He always traveled first class, a lot of
$10 ,000 expenses monthly on his charge

cards.

Stateside, he's a board member of the
Racquet Club, St. Louis' most exclusive

clique, and a man with an impeccable
reputation.

He seemed very knowledgeable,
charismatic, professional.

An attorney, a trusted advisor, a
friend.

That is, until his own secretary unmasks
him as a wolf in priest's clothing.

I was shocked.

I couldn't believe it. It was
devastating. I mean, all these people

lose their life savings.

In May 2010, British attorney Irvinder
Bakshi is on a mission to find $20

million. She heads out of London on the
M4 motorway.

I had no idea what I was getting myself
into.

She's been hired by a U .S. client to
find out why he isn't getting paid the

millions he's owed by a British land
developer named Derek Smith.

And now she's concerned that she's
headed into the lair of this potential

criminal mastermind.

I was going to interview a man who we
suspected had taken a huge amount

of money from my client and I could
possibly personally

be at risk.

But once she sits down with him, Bakshi
begins to realize that he knows less

about where the money is than she does.

He was absolutely calm.

He didn't seem to have any information
whatsoever.

Smith tells Bakshi if she wants to find
the money, the person she should be

talking to is his American partner, who
lives 4 ,000 miles away in St. Louis,

Missouri.

Every Sunday, Martin Sigilito dons his
gilded robes and steps before his

congregation as bishop of a St. Louis
American Anglican Church.

In the pews are Richard and his wife
Melba, a couple who do not want their

name used, and who have known Sigilito
since the 50s when they moved into a

house next door to his parents.

Marty, as they know him, was four years
old.

We thought of the figurative children
kind of like our own children. We loved

them just as much.

They were just like family to us.

Here's Marty when he was, I think, about
12 years old.

Marty is the oldest of two boys, and
from a young age, he shows a penchant

academics. He was always very brilliant
scholastically, but

he was sort of a loner type of child.

Sigilito graduates valedictorian of his
high school class.

He goes on to get a bachelor's in
classics at the University of Missouri,

master's in European history from
Cornell University, and a law degree

Louis University.

He speaks four languages fluently and is
a member of Phi Beta Kappa.

By the early 90s, he appears to be on
his way to an illustrious career in

international law.

And I understood that he taught law in
Austria and, I believe, Switzerland. And

he gave some classes at Oxford in
Britain.

Former Assistant U .S. Attorney Stephen
Holzhauser will later find out that

Sigilito wasn't exactly the Oxford
professor he claimed to be.

What we came to learn was that the
University of Missouri at Kansas City

School had a two -week -long summer
session where you traveled over to

and attended, at the location of Oxford,
some continuing legal education

seminars. And Sigilito was merely a
presenter at a seminar.

But it's during his time in Oxford that
Sigilito meets a friend who tells him

about an investment program he's
involved with called the British Lending

Program.

Basically, the British Lending Program
provides the opportunity to lend amounts

of money for short terms, usually one
year, at very high interest rates.

Interest rates range between 20 % and at
times as high as 48 % on a one -year

loan.

Purposefully supporting or buying land
and real estate projects in England.

Cigelito's friend says he is working
with a British real estate developer

Derek Smith, who owns several valuable
hotels and properties he wants to

in the UK.

And what he really needs is more
investor cash.

Smith thinks Cigelito could be his
ticket to success.

He was impressed by Cigelito's
presentation.

He was impressed by his education, which
Mr. Smith...

lack similar education, he was easily
convinced of Sigilito's authenticity.

And he befriended him and trusted him as
well.

When he gets back home, Sigilito starts
pitching the program and Smith's

development acumen to many of his
friends and acquaintances at the

St. Louis Racquet Club, where he's a new
member.

Mr. Sigilito was bringing in clients
that could loan millions.

He would take anything, but still he
could bring in the larger amounts of

Before long, Sigilito starts to bring in
millions of dollars. And while he has

access to the very wealthy, he doesn't
discriminate.

In 2000, Richard and Melba run into
their old neighbor Marty at his

wedding reception.

and he begins to tell them about the
British lending program.

He gave us a spiel about how safe it
was, that he had been in it for a couple

years, and they never had had a failure.

The couple considers the investment for
nearly a year.

Finally, they decide to cash out
Richard's IRA and invest $80 ,000 with

longtime friend.

The interest rate on here is 21 .5%.

And being that he was almost a close
member of our family, we felt that he

was trustworthy.

Each month, they withdraw a small
dividend and reinvest the rest.

They are more than satisfied with the
investment.

And when they have the opportunity, they
put in more, including Melba's IRA, for

a total of more than $350 ,000.

Monthly bank statements are reassuring.

Since this came from the bank, it gave
us a more sense of security and

credibility that everything is okay.

Marty makes them feel secure as well,
with his spiritual guidance in church on

topics like ethics, decency, and
morality.

He treats Richard and Melba like family.

We had Sunday dinners with him every
Sunday.

We would go out to dinner to his clubs
or to a restaurant somewhere.

And he picked up the tab.

When American Greed returns, Martin
Sigilito is picking up tabs all over the

place. It's easy, since it's not his
money to spend.

He was living high on the hog. Food at
the racquet club, massages, $800 bottles

of cognac.

If you're not a member of the St. Louis
Racquet Club, you might not even know

it's there.

But inside this unremarkable exterior is
a place of distinction, a home away

from home for St. Louis' old money power
players.

Established in 1907, some of its early
members helped to fund Charles

Lindbergh's flight across the Atlantic.

Today, these wood -paneled walls are the
domain of another high -flyer.

A newcomer, Martin Sigilito, who has
made his way onto the club's board of

directors. His secretary, Liz Stajohar,
books his appointments for massages and

dining.

The Rocket Club was his go -to place.
Actually, it was a big deal that they

let him be a member because he was what
they call new money.

He would go there and he would meet his
clients and dine them and do his

business there.

Although he is an international lawyer,
Sigilito's main business is an

investment group called the British
Lending Program.

It was real estate development.

You know, he was finding investors to
send money over to England to help them

develop properties.

By 2007, Sigilito has convinced more
than 100 people to lend $35 million

him to his British land developer, Derek
Smith.

Said Toledo tells most investors for his
services, he takes a modest fee,

usually three to five percent.

But with so much money coming in, he can
afford to live the life of a successful

international businessman.

He would travel abroad to England and
Israel sometimes as much as once a

And he would always travel first class
and stay at the fanciest hotels and eat

at the nicest restaurants.

Stajahar is impressed with her boss's
success, and it's enough to convince her

to invest and to recommend the
investment to her family members.

After all, she, like all the other
investors, believes that their loan

are backed up by valuable properties in
England.

We had an asset and liability statement
showing the properties that Derek Smith

owned in England.

Smith's properties include the Hinton
Grange Hotel, valued at more than $5

million.

The Little Farm Nursery, worth $15
million.

And Bracknell, a sweeping plot of
undeveloped suburbia that Sigilito

be transformed into a residential
neighborhood.

As word of the secure, profitable
British lending program begins to filter

through St. Louis, it seems everyone
wants in on Sigilito's deal.

He seemed very knowledgeable,
charismatic, professional.

Philip Roseman learned about Martin
Sigilito from a lifelong friend who's

happy with his investment and talks up
the British lending program.

Roseman has spent 30 years in sales and
development for a niche manufacturing

business started in his father's garage
in 1957.

And it grew from a very small place to,
as I say, the largest manufacturer of

rotary dies in the world, and it still
is.

Now he's getting ready to sell his share
of the profitable company.

I was expecting, you know, to be in the
$20 million -plus area, and I wasn't

sure what I was going to do with it, but
I wanted to put it somewhere as

security while I was in another
business.

Although Roseman is not married and has
no children...

He's got an important reason for wanting
to keep his money safe for the long

term.

Gabriel Novotny, the only son of one of
his best friends, who is 27 years old

when he meets with tragedy.

He skied with Olympic skiers. He was
captain of the crew team. He's an all

-American everything.

Returning from a day on the slopes,
Novotny is in a car accident.

He was just a good guy that had a freak
accident that was none of his fault.

He was in a coma for four months and
wasn't supposed to live.

And today he still can't swallow and
can't speak.

So I bought a home in Minnesota for his
mother so she could be around him.

Roseman wants his money to provide for
Gabe's long -term care.

And since personal referrals mean a lot
to him, He trusts his friend's

endorsement of Martin Segelito and the
British lending program.

The BLP was supposed to be really safe
because he had a niche market in England

with some people that did real estate
development and had been doing it for

quite some time and been very successful
at it.

When Roseman asks for information about
Derek Smith's properties and development

projects in England, Segelito promises
the total asset values are at least...

twice what investors are lending.

So even if there was some problems here
and there, it was pretty much a

risk -free venture.

So when this multi -million dollar ship
comes in, Roseman hands over about $15

million to the British lending program
in the form of loans to Derek Smith in

England.

Philip Roseman plans to forget about the
money until he needs it for another

venture.

He's so confident in the program,
Roseman also recommends it to one of his

oldest and closest friends, a bricklayer
named Stanley Kulo.

We were just talking some investment
opportunities for our retirement fund,

then he had told me about Martin's
British lending program and gave me a

details, and I said, well, I'd like to
get involved in that.

And he said, well, I'll talk to Martin
and then see if he is interested in

taking any more investors.

Stanley sets up a meeting with Sigilito,
who offers to take him on because he's

such close friends with Philip Roseman.

The thing that really put my mind at
ease, I said, well, how safe is this? He

said, I have my own family's money in
it.

He said, I really believe it. My own
money is in this project.

I said, okay, and then we just agreed to
a certain amount that I would invest

with him.

And then he sent me a note. I sent him a
check, and I was an investor.

For the next several years, the two
friends are satisfied with their

and happy to see their money growing.

Everything looked fine because we were
getting statements from the bank saying

that everything was fine. In fact, I
felt good enough that I wanted to put

money into it.

My father just passed away.

Like two years later, my mother passed
away. So there was some inheritance that

we got.

Well, of course, I knew what I was going
to do with my share.

You know, I was going to give it to
Martin because it would grow, you know,

double in three years.

Coming up next, where are the investors'
millions?

I can tell you that a large part of it
went down the plumbing system of the

racket club.

In St. Louis, Missouri in 2009, it would
be hard to find a more respected person

than Bishop Martin Sigilito, a pillar of
the community with ties to the city's

who's who.

Sigilito is a husband and father of
four, devoted to his church and reaping

benefits of a seemingly lucrative
investment enterprise.

But former Assistant U .S. Attorney
Stephen Holzhauser says Sigilito makes

from his British lending program by
paying himself outrageous commissions.

No one was actually entitled to know the
amount of fees. He didn't want anyone

to know that.

He wanted to have some sense that he was
taking something for himself, but he

was taking between 15 and 32 percent as
a fee for a one -year note.

He was taking it.

every year the note renewed.

With 140 investors and $50 million now
in the program, those fees add up to

than $1 million every year.

And his secretary, Liz Stajahar, notices
a change in her boss's lifestyle.

It became much more elegant. He would,
you know, go to fancier restaurants. He

joined fancier clubs. He bought fancier
clothes and more antiques and more

books.

Sigilito is an academic with a strong
interest in religious and other

antiquities. On his monthly trips to
England, he spends thousands of dollars

adding to his collections.

He bought a lot of books, hundreds and
hundreds of books. He also bought maps,

rugs. He was interested in obtaining the
Dead Sea Scrolls. This is

the Nuremberg Chronicle.

It was...

handwritten in the year 1493.

He spent $120 ,000 just for this one
book.

And while one might think such valuable
artifacts should be under glass in a

museum, Martin Sigilito simply hoards
his collections in his office for no one

to see.

A lot of them were just kept in boxes
and crates that they came in. They would

come in and he would look at it and just
leave them there all stacked

everywhere.

Liz Stajahar chalks it up to one of her
boss's eccentricities.

He was successful.

He had all these well -educated people
looking up to him and investing in his

program. And, yes, I thought he was
doing really well.

Philip Roseman also thinks Sigilito is
doing well.

The unassuming multimillionaire has
invested more than $15 million and

his money is growing by a reasonable 20
% in the booming global real estate

market. If you know real estate
developers, 20 % is not any great amount

especially during boom times.

Roseman believes that he's part of a
small and exclusive group of investors

are all making money with Martin
Sigilito.

When I came into town, we'd go over to
the racket club, and he knew some of the

really important people in the city and
whatnot that would come by there and

whatnot, and they'd talk and say hi and
stuff.

Sigilito tells Roseman his money is
being put to work in England.

Building homes and subdivisions
developed by real estate mogul Derek

whom Roseman believes he has lent
millions of dollars.

Then, in late 2009, Roseman needs nearly
$1 million of his money back for a new

business venture. But when he calls for
the money, all he gets are excuses.

Health problems, he fell down, hurt his
hip, volcano ash that was keeping the

airplanes from going.

A lot of excuses that probably I didn't
pay that much attention to at the time.

Sigilito writes, I am back home but
apparently suffered a mild concussion

week when I fell in Jerusalem.

Have been ordered to remain essentially
immobilized for a couple of days.

Then, a week later, I am still having
some problems as a result of the second

fall in London.

Sigilito had a way of not answering a
question, diverting.

the topic, are coming up with excuses
and problems and things that take the

off of your anger and make you feel
sorry for him. He's a master at that.

As Roseman's frustration with Sigilito
begins to boil over, he decides his only

hope is to talk to the mysterious Mr.

Smith directly.

Well, Marty said all my money went to
Derek Smith, and that amounted to pretty

close to $15 million.

I don't know what, $12, $14 million,
something like that.

When I couldn't get that money back,
then I wanted to go after Derek Smith.

But once again, he's put off by
Sigilito.

I apologize for not yet carrying my
BlackBerry again.

The doctor has ordered me to keep it off
and put away until my blood pressure

drops the 25 or so points it went up
last month.

After six months of excuses and delays,
Philip Roseman has had enough.

I believed him for a long time, and then
when I didn't believe him anymore, I

got hold of Sebastian Rucci and asked
him to look into it for me.

Sebastian Rucci is a lawyer Roseman has
worked with in the past, as well as a

trusted friend.

Rucci specializes in real estate
development.

First, he wants to know more about
Martin Sigilito.

Everybody that invested trusted him and
trusted him to do the things he said he

was going to do, take the money, invest
it in England, make sure that there was

investigations being done of the
properties. Everybody trusted him to do

and he told them he was doing that.

Then he reviews Roseman's original loan
contract with Derek Smith.

It was very sloppy, very poorly written.

The math didn't make a lot of sense.

Rucci is very uneasy with the deal, and
since they're not getting anywhere with

Sigilito... He advises Roseman that they
need to try to get the money back from

Smith as soon as possible.

The first plan was to go ahead and sue
Derek Smith.

So the only document I had at that time
was the loan agreement with Derek Smith,

which I attached as an exhibit.

We sued him.

We had to, of course, go through this
crazy process of serving somebody

overseas.

Next on American Green.

Before they can sue Derek Smith, they
have to find Derek Smith.

I wouldn't go so far as saying I was
walking into mafia land, but I did worry

about my own personal safety.

In the spring of 2010, attorney
Sebastian Rucci is trying to get his

Philip Roseman's money back from a real
estate developer in England.

He hires British lawyer Irvinder Bakshi
to help him with his lawsuit against

Derek Smith.

When Sebastian Rucci came to me, his
client, Philip Roseman, had invested

between $16 million to $20 million, all
secured against the same properties

where Derek Smith was supposed to invest
money and give a return and then repay

the capital.

Bakshi sends a process server to serve
Derek Smith at his listed company

address. But she quickly gets her first
clue that something is very wrong.

It was in a dilapidated condition and
clearly had not been operating as a

business for some time.

So the first news that got back was the
so -called headquarters of this company

was abandoned.

Not only is this supposedly the
headquarters of a thriving development

the property itself, Little Farm
Nursery, is listed as a key asset of

worth more than $15 million.

It was a matter of huge concern that the
nursery wasn't an operating business

because what that meant for us was that
there wasn't a business that was

producing revenue or income against
which we might be able to recover any

for Mr. Roseman.

To make matters worse, Bakshi discovers
that the property is actually owned by

Smith's son.

who paid less than $300 ,000 for it. It
showed you that there was a fraud afoot

right there.

And I mean, not like a little fraud,
like a big fraud, because if the ground

worth $200 ,000 or $300 ,000 and they're
claiming it's $15 million, they're just

really fattening up some big numbers.

And so that was the start of telling you
that something's really wrong.

From there, things continue to spiral
downward.

Bakshi learns that the Little Farm
Nursery isn't the only property listed

fraudulently as an asset.

A number of the other properties he
didn't own at all. He no longer owned or

they were derelict.

Hinton Grange Hotel he was the owner of.

It was a very small hotel.

It didn't seem particularly thriving.

He didn't run it.

Now it's time to confront Derek Smith.

And it's the Hinton Grange Hotel where
Smith wants to rendezvous.

As Bakshi heads out of London, she
steals herself for the confrontation to

Here I am in quite an isolated place,
driving into the countryside to meet a

whose background and history I have no
knowledge of. But at that time, it

pretty clear to me that something was
very, very wrong.

When she arrives at the hotel, she's
more at ease.

It's a quaint, if a bit run -down
property set in the rolling hills of the

English countryside.

two hours west of London.

It's also one of the properties listed
as an asset valued at more than $5

million.

Here she comes face to face with 66
-year -old Derek Smith, whose demeanor

the opposite of what she expects.

This was a man who had a huge amount of
debt that needed to be repaid to a man

in the...

to the tune of about $20 million.

He exhibited no signs of stress or
outward signs of stress or anxiety.

He didn't seem worried at all.

Smith tells Urvinder he has no idea
where Philip Roseman's money has gone

You must have received them. He said,
no. I said, the company must have

them. No, where have they gone?

And he kept answering by saying that the
Americans.

had all the financial information, and
they would send it through.

Hard as it is to believe, Smith says he
left everything up to Martin Sigilito.

He knows nothing about the British
Lending Program's investors or how much

owed. What he admitted was that what he
would do is he would sign the back page

of these loan documents and send 30 or
40 at a time to the states, and then

would assemble it here in St. Louis,
basically.

He had no idea as to the amount of funds
that he was borrowing for the company

and therefore no idea either as to the
amount of money that he was guaranteeing

and that he would be liable to pay back.

And he agreed that that was the case,
which I found absolutely astonishing.

The ultimate conclusion was that Derek
Smith is a patsy. He's not a ringleader.

He is somehow involved, but he didn't
get... the money or certainly didn't get

the bulk of the money.

That told me that whoever was doing the
major fraud, the mastermind was here in

the United States, Martin Cigillito, and
that a lot of the money was either

hidden by him or it was gone.

Next on American Greed, Cigillito's own
secretary decides it's time to take

action. She walked into the U .S.
Attorney's Office and the FBI and says,

to tell you about something.

What else did Martin Cigillito buy with
stolen millions?

Find out at AmericanGreed .CNBC .com.

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Join the Greed social network.

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page.

We'll be right back.

In May 2010, attorney Sebastian Rucci
sits down with his friend and client,

Philip Roseman.

To let Roseman know he's been swindled
out of $15 million by Martin Sigilito.

I said, Phil, can I get an update?

I said, today I think the money's all
gone.

It felt like a betrayal, and it was a
significant betrayal.

It took my life savings that I'd spent
20, 30 years building up, and

it felt pretty bad, obviously.

Phil, in his usual way, said, okay,
let's go do what we got to do now.

Which meant, let's sue him, let's
prosecute him, whatever we have to do.

Rucci knows that if they go to the
authorities too soon, there may be no

of recovering Roseman's money.

So he decides to first deal directly
with Sigilito.

I was really pissed off that he stole
Phil's money.

And so I was just going to go after him.

We put together various emails, one
lengthy one where we detailed all our

findings to Sigilito, his secretary, and
others that were involved, and

basically called it a Ponzi scheme right
up front, because that's what I thought

it was.

And basically what we were trying to do
is figure out, did he hide some of the

money? So the goal at that time was to
see if we could flush out some of the

money under the theory of maybe we'll
recover some percentage of it.

For Sigilito's secretary, Liz Stajahar,
who has been working for Sigilito since

she was still in college, the
accusations are unbelievable.

I was shocked.

I couldn't believe it.

But Stajahar cannot overlook Sebastian
Rucci's claims.

They're based on an investigation into
the value of the British Lending

Program's properties in England that are
supposedly the collateral for all

investor loans.

It was about $60 million we thought at
that time was owed, and he said the

assets were worth maybe a couple
million.

You know, we had all been led to believe
that all these assets existed and they

were valued much more than what they
were really worth.

It was devastating. I mean, all these
people were going to lose their life

savings.

In fact, Liz and her immediate family
members themselves have more than $300

,000 invested in the BLP.

I didn't know what to do. I was so torn.
You know, you have this man that you

respect and look up to, and he's telling
you this is all going to be okay, this

is normal, and then inside you, you know
it's not okay. You know, all these

people are out their money, and how can
you help them?

What can I do?

Stajahar decides to go to her lawyer.

and then to the feds.

Two days later, FBI agent Kevin
Cosentino takes the case.

I didn't know what to expect.

You know, I didn't know if it was going
to be a major case or just someone

coming in to complain about their boss.

On May 19, 2010, Liz Stajahar and her
attorney walk into a conference room at

the St. Louis courthouse, where the U
.S. attorney's office is located.

We're all sitting at the table about...

four or five of us.

And she seemed very confident, very
composed.

And she just started laying it all out
for us.

I had a lot of documentation. I had, you
know, the list of all the investments.

I had copies of loan agreements, emails
with the lies about the money.

And she showed us about $40 to $50
million going in.

And we said, where did the money go?

And she said it was supposed to go to
England, but she believes only about 900

,000 of it went to England.

And she actually knew that a lot of it
went back to prior investors.

A lot of it was spent on fees that went
to Martin Cigillito.

I was thinking, if this is real, this is
pretty big.

Within a week, the FBI secures a search
warrant, and on May 24, 2010 at 7 a .m.,

FBI agents are waiting outside Martin
Sigilito's office when he arrives at

We identified ourselves and said, we'd
like to talk to you.

Most people like him, they want to know
what you know.

So they will talk to you.

So he invited us in and we just started
talking about the British lending

program.

Sigilito thinks the FBI are there
because of Philip Roseman, who has been

pressuring Sigilito to get his money
back.

He assumed that they contacted us and
told us about Mr. Roseman's 12 million.

So he assumed all I knew about was the
12 million in the program.

Sigilito starts telling the agent how
he's got a deal going in England that

bring in 3 million British pounds for
Roseman very soon.

And I asked him how three million pounds
was going to pay back $50 million.

And that's when his eyes started going
left to right.

He stood up and basically said,
gentlemen, I have an appointment that I

get to.

And he was ready to walk out.

While the FBI conducted their search,
Sigilito is free to go.

For the next 11 months, the FBI and the
U .S. Attorney's Office billed their

case.

We had financial analysts. We had the
IRS. We had forfeiture analysts all

working together from the seized
documents.

We had hundreds and hundreds of loan
documents in boxes.

FBI agents eventually confirmed that
Sigilito's British developer, Derek

got $2 .7 million of the $50 million
taken in.

So what happened to the rest?

The answer, Assistant U .S. Attorney
Stephen Holzhauser says, is hard for

victims to take.

Some of the victims would ask me, well,
can you tell me what happened to my

money? And the most basic way that I can
answer it is I can tell you that a

large part of it went down the plumbing
system of the racket club.

He would have meals custom -prepared for
himself by the chef there.

He would have special cognac purchased
and brought into the club for him and

alone.

He got around town in a chauffeur
-driven limousine, even though he had a

driver's license and could drive and
owned several vehicles.

And he paid for those with money from
the BLP.

He also bought a second home.

There was expensive clothing, huge
credit card bills, which is day in,

day out, expensive, extravagant
expenditures and lifestyle.

In less than eight years, Sigilito spent
more than $6 million of the fees he

collected from the investors like Philip
Roseman, who had no idea he was being

gouged.

He mostly used my money to pay off other
investors and to enjoy a very nice

lifestyle.

The loss of his life savings has a
devastating effect on those Roseman

about, especially Gabriel Novotny, the
paraplegic son of Roseman's friend.

who relies on Roseman for his long -term
care.

It's not as if Martin Sigilito didn't
know about Gabe. He even met him and

prayed for him.

When he came back from his injury, he
was in a wheelchair, and he couldn't

speak, couldn't anything.

I mean, he was a total mess.

And Marty came over and talked about
saying prayers for him at church, and he

was actually stealing the money that was
going to be that gentleman's security.

the rest of his life.

So, you know, there's no mercy for
Martin Sigilito when it comes to

do with any of the people that I know.
And that personal one for me is just, is

really, really very strong.

On April 28, 2011, 62 -year -old Martin
Sigilito was indicted on 22 counts of

fraud. A week later, he turns himself in
to the authorities and is booked into

the county jail awaiting trial.

Next on American Greed, what is a just
punishment for a man who ruined lives

devastated entire families?

My mom and dad worked all their lives
for their kids and their kids'

kids.

And then I let some son of a gun deal
that money.

On March 19, 2012, Martin Sigilito
stands trial for orchestrating a $50

fraud known as the British Lending
Program.

At the time, it's the largest Ponzi
scheme St. Louis has ever seen.

Former Assistant U .S. Attorney Stephen
Holzhauser prosecutes the case.

The wolf in sheep's clothing usually
describes somebody that hides amongst

sheep in order to actually attack the
sheep.

So he's disguised himself as this
religious person, an attorney, a trusted

advisor, a friend, and all of that to
suck people in and to build their trust

and to gain their trust. And then when
they think he's a trusted person, that's

when he prays.

The prosecution's star witness is
Cigelito's secretary, Liz Stajahar.

A big part of his defense was blaming
me.

that I was destroying the program and I
was ruining what he had set up for these

people. I was just trying to save
myself.

It is true that Stajahar's hands are not
completely clean.

Between 2005 and 2008, she wrote
personal checks to herself from Martin

Sigilito's office bank account, totaling
nearly $300 ,000.

Before the trial, she pleads guilty to
one count of falsifying a tax return.

She receives five years probation.

Federal authorities believe the theft is
separate from Citilito's fraud scheme

and that Stajahar has redeemed herself
by coming forward, especially since she

admitted her own wrongdoing, even
without a deal in place.

It could still be going on today if it
wasn't for Liz.

He could have easily gotten more
investors and kept this thing afloat,

in more victims.

Another key witness is British real
estate developer Derek Smith.

In order to get him to agree to come to
the U .S., prosecutors make a deal that

Smith will avoid prison time if he
testifies.

He receives five years probation.

The benefit of having him there was the
jury could see that Mr. Smith wasn't

this mastermind and that he, in fact,
was used by Sigilito as

much as the victims were to some extent.

He was responsible for some of the lies
that he told.

Sigilito's original partner in the
program, a Kansas City attorney who

$1 .4 million from the scheme, received
a three -year sentence in exchange for

his cooperation.

The jury finds Martin Sigilito guilty on
all counts.

Nine months later, federal judge Linda
Reed sentences him to 40 years in

and orders him to pay $34 .6 million in
restitution.

The thing that gets you about this case,
and I guess makes you angry, is what a

devastating impact it had on the lives
of some of these people who really did

nothing wrong other than trust Sigilito.

And they are left now with what they
thought were going to be retirement

in their twilight years, and it's gone.

While many BLP investors have no choice
but to accept their fate, Sebastian

Rucci decides he is not finished.

He's agreed to represent the majority of
victims and is setting his sights on

recovering money from the banks, without
whose negligence, Rucci says, Sigillito

would not have been able to continue the
fraud.

If the banks had done their jobs, this
would have collapsed a long time ago.

I'd go further. Some of the banks did
uncover it.

Each one would uncover it and pass it on
to the next bank.

So it's a real shame for that because
somewhere there has to be some

accountability.

In August 2013, Enterprise Bank settles
for an undisclosed amount, which is

distributed among the victims.

Rucci and his team continue to pursue
claims against four other financial

institutions that he says allegedly
figured out the fraud but failed to warn

investors.

So far, Richard and Melba, who lost most
of their life savings, have recovered

about $25 ,000.

Now in their retirement years, they are
struggling financially.

Yet they choose to focus on what they
still can do.

We exercise daily, and we go swing
dancing because we enjoy it.

We try to do those kind of things in
order to keep our mind open.

And to keep us from dwelling on the
situation that we're in.

For 67 -year -old Stanley Kulo, he not
only invested his own retirement money,

he convinced his sister, as executor of
their parents' estate, to invest their

inheritance as well.

My sister, she writes this check out for
$300 ,000 to Martin.

And it's gone.

I told her that was the thing to do.

And being a big brother, that's hard to
live with.

Six months after losing the money,
Stanley Kulo's sister passes away,

Stanley unable to make amends.

Oh, I'm angry at myself. I don't have
enough anger left to share with Martin.

And I just...

I'm not going to let Martin control my
life.

He is now back at work, thankful that
he's still able.

And I've been very fortunate to have
work in a downed construction industry

where it's pretty depressed.

So I try to live one day at a time.

For Philip Roseman, who lost $15
million, the largest amount, his focus

rebuilding his hard -earned life
savings.

The man who took it...

is of little consequence to him.

Well, if he's uncomfortable now, then
he's got what he deserves.

It's not helping anybody else, though.

I don't think of him, quite honestly. I
just don't even think of him.

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