All language subtitles for American Greed s10e16 Hack Me If You Can Goodfella Gone Bad

In this episode of American Greed, for
nearly four years, a mysterious computer

hacker quietly steals millions from the
IRS.

I'm just kind of blown away. This guy
really does know what he's doing. But

he gets too greedy planning his next
score, federal agents realize he wants

money at any cost.

Threats of shooting, innocent people
being taken out, law enforcement being

at.

And later, murder, mobsters, and
misdeeds.

A self -styled wise guy, Domenico
Domrabuffo is making investors offers

can't refuse.

Everybody was going to win. Make your
dreams come true.

But to pull off a $49 million real
estate scam deep in the mountains of

Carolina, he's going to have to keep
everyone in line.

I think he liked the idea that people
would be a bit afraid of him.

Federal investigators simply call him
the hacker.

They don't know his name or where he's
hiding.

IRS Special Agent Denise Medrano does
know one thing for certain.

The hacker is behind a complex tax
return scheme to rip off nearly $5

from American taxpayers.

It was over 1 ,900 tax returns that we
had identified that were associated with

him. It's very possible that he had done
much more than that.

But in May 2008, Medrano and U .S.
Postal Inspector James Wilson catch a

break. One of the hacker's accomplices
has betrayed him, and he's told the

agents where they might be able to find
him.

This is where the rubber meets the road,
because the government was losing

millions.

Now, agents wait anxiously for the
hacker to show, hoping to finally lure

from the shadows.

We didn't know if he was even in the
country. We didn't know if he was

European or somewhere in China or
something.

The hacker could be anyone and anywhere,
but he's a lot closer than

investigators realize.

He's Daniel Rigmaden, a reclusive 27
-year -old who spent his life in the sun

-drenched hills of Northern California.

But if you're looking for an easy answer
to what makes the hacker tick, Think

again, says Arizona Republic reporter
Dennis Wagner.

It was just almost as if he came out of
a cave and there was just not that much

history. People wouldn't talk about him.
So it's hard to get into his head and

figure out what was motivating him.

Wagner's been an investigative reporter
for three decades, but even he hit a

brick wall trying to decipher Rig
Maiden.

I tried to find family members who would
talk to me about him, and none of them

would even call me back or respond to
emails. I tried to find friends from

school that would talk about him, and I
never found one.

What is known is Rick Maiden grows up in
Monterey County, California, south of

San Francisco.

By the time he graduates high school,
he's already sinking into trouble with

computer.

In 1998, Internet posters accuse him of
selling grossly overpriced Beanie Baby

stuffed animals and of hijacking their
computers to spam others.

One complainant warns he's a computer
whiz and really needs to be stopped.

He's pretty brilliant. And you're just
shaking your head going, how does all

this fit together?

Rick Maiden takes a pass on college.

On his Web page, he admits instead.

He begins creating fake IDs, and
eventually he's jailed six months for

theft. In a rare radio interview, Rick
Maiden says he always felt like an

outsider. Sometimes society gets
overwhelming for someone who doesn't

agree with participating.

Rick Maiden says he gave up on the
trappings of modern society.

Using stolen identities to mask his
whereabouts, he packs up his computer

disappears into the wilderness.

Here in the Las Padres National Forest,
Daniel Rigmaiden plots his next move.

It was just kind of a way to get away
from a system that I didn't agree with,

suppose. And I was just kind of taking a
break from society at that point.

But when Rigmaiden does come down from
the mountains, he has more on his mind

than restocking his camping supplies.

Now he's trying to steal millions from
the government's least popular

institution, the IRS.

Rick Maiden holds up in hotel rooms,
scouring websites like the California

Index.

There, he collects the personal records
of nearly 700 deceased individuals.

Then he begins churning out hundreds of
bogus tax returns using an intricate

computer system he's designed.

He was very sophisticated in the fact
that he automated the process so that

returns were filed within minutes of
each other at a very high volume.

He conceals his actions using malware
programs called bots.

These bots spread viruses that allow him
to secretly and untraceably take remote

control of random computers around the
country.

This was all done with individuals not
knowing that their computers had been

compromised. He has the refunds routed
to prepaid debit cards that he hopes to

cash before the IRS catches on.

Debit cards can receive funds.

So on a tax return, it's easy to put an
account number and a routing number and

it not be a traditional bank account
that you walk in and withdraw money

This debit card can be used anywhere.

The hacker's on his way to a $5 million
payday.

But he has to be quick.

I basically had to go out to the ATM
machine every day. I mean, got to a

where there was a lot of time spent just
kind of walking the ATM machines to get

money pulled out.

He's smart enough to know using the same
local ATMs over and over will

eventually lead the IRS right to his
door.

He was adamant about not being exposed,
so he had to rely on other people to get

his money back to him.

The hacker needs a new plan to grab the
cash.

But he's about to choose the wrong
partners in crime to help him out.

Next on American Greed, paranoid and
desperate, the hacker says he'll do

anything to get his cash.

If something went wrong, people might
die.

Daniel Rigmaiden, a .k .a. the hacker,
is living two lives.

He's hiding off the grid at a Los Padres
campsite.

But the reclusive computer genius is
also slipping in and out of California

hotel rooms, flooding the IRS with bogus
tax returns.

If his plan works, he should collect
nearly $5 million.

Rigmaiden had mastered filing the
returns. They were filed quickly. They

filed in high volume.

The problem was getting his money.

Rigmaiden wants to stay hidden.

Achieving that goal means he can't
simply route the money into a nearby

account.

That exposes him to being identified. It
was clear that every step that Daniel

Rigmaiden took, it was to insulate
himself from being detected.

So Rigmaiden reaches out anonymously on
websites and in chat rooms.

looking for anyone in cyberspace willing
to commit a felony crime with him.

No names are shared, no identity is
revealed, but Rigmaiden quickly builds a

network of like -minded accomplices to
help him with his scheme.

They would keep their share of it, and
they would then send by FedEx or some

other means the remainder in cash to
Rigmaiden, so there was no paper trail

him.

One person who answers the call is 41
-year -old Ransom Marion Carter III in

Phoenix, Arizona.

Carter's got a rap sheet for a variety
of crimes, and now he's about to add tax

fraud to the list.

He was willing to open up a bank
account. He was willing to walk into the

and make that cash withdrawal to
ultimately, we believe, then send the

back to Rick Maiden.

Carter rents a mailbox in Phoenix to
help move the money.

But he's not nearly as clever as the
hacker.

And in early 2007, a store manager
alerts Postal Inspector James Wilson

there's a problem.

She'd received numerous pieces of mail,
what appeared to be envelopes that had

credit cards that I'm going to this one
particular subject's mailbox and

different people's names to that
address.

26 envelopes with 26 different names on
them, all addressed to Ransom Carter's

mailbox.

Wilson soon discovers the envelopes all
contain empty prepaid debit cards.

There was no money on them at the time.

And that's what arose my suspicion,
like, all right, well, where is the

coming from?

Meanwhile, IRS Special Agent Denise
Medrano has her own puzzle to solve.

She's been reviewing a large number of
first -time tax returns.

all filed by elderly California
residents.

It didn't make sense to us how an
elderly individual would have filed a

return for the very first time over a
course of a lifetime.

Many returns should be filed by a
taxpayer.

It turns out the filers are all
deceased, and that's why they no longer

in IRS databases.

Digging further, Medrano discovers that
$340 ,000 from 200 fraudulent returns

are being sent to Ransom Marion Carter
III in Phoenix.

So that's how we put two and two
together, and that's how Agent Medrano

began to work together.

Suspecting that the hacker recruits
money mules such as Ransom Marion Carter

online, agents devise an undercover
ruse.

They pretend to be cyber criminals eager
to help him.

So we did exactly what Ransom Carter
did, but using our own accounts, using a

bank of our choosing to conduct the
undercover operation.

Their efforts lead them to the arrest of
an accomplice in Utah who is more than

eager to cooperate to save his own skin.

This confidential informant walks the
agents through how the hacker moves the

money around to escape detection.

Our confidential informant was an
intermediary from the hacker to low

participants. The low -level
participants would set up the accounts.

The hacker would fund the account.

They would make withdrawals on the
accounts, and keeping their end of the

bargain, they would bring money back to
our confidential informant. He would

give the hacker his cut of the money.

If only it were that easy.

Although money is pouring into his
network of accomplices, only a small

has trickled back to the hacker.

Instead of millions, he's only collected
thousands.

And Agent Wilson believes he's feeling
impatient.

I'm not yielding the return I want. I'm
doing the brunt of all the work here.

You're just mediating things. I want my
hit.

The hacker tells the confidential
informant he needs $68 ,000 immediately.

And he's willing to leave his campsite
to get it.

Using a stolen identity, he rents an
apartment in Santa Clara, California.

and sends the informant very specific
instructions for how he wants the money

delivered. We were to wash the cash in
Coleman lantern fuel. We were supposed

package it in airtight packaging.

Then he wanted to put it into a child's
toy in some kind of box, wrapped up for

like a gift, and then into a bigger box.

The card on it was to be a birthday card
with a message to a child who was dying

of cancer.

The hacker instructs the informant to
mail the package to a FedEx in Palo

California. But it's also very clear
he's desperate, and if anything goes

there will be hell to pay.

Next on American Greed.

If there was any surveillance or law
enforcement, people were going to die at

the FedEx office.

5 a .m., May 7, 2008.

Federal agents watch closely as a
mysterious man enters a Palo Alto FedEx

collect $68 ,000 in cash stolen from the
IRS.

Is this finally the mysterious hacker
they've been chasing? If so, he's taking

no chances.

The individual that had entered had a
hoodie. He couldn't really see his face.

When he had to sign for the package, he
held the pen in a very particular manner

so that there weren't fingerprints left
anywhere.

He picked up the parcel, ducks into an
alley, rips open the box, takes out the

toy that had the money in it, shoves it
in a backpack, takes all the packaging

and dumps it in a dumpster so no one
could find it.

The agents are being extremely careful.

The hacker's email rants have made it
clear he's willing to kill if anything

goes wrong.

He was going to have a counter
-surveillance team set up on him with

weapons, and he was specific that if
anything was to happen, there would be

kind of violent confrontation.

Not sure this is really their man, and
unwilling to put civilians' lives in

danger, agents watch as the suspect
climbs aboard a commuter train and

disappears.

$68 ,000 was a lot of money for us.

But we had made the determination that
we would let the money walk rather than

jeopardize the investigation.

The hacker thinks he's finally on a
roll.

Soon, he's demanding another $352 ,000
from his accomplices. But he doesn't

there.

His simmering anger and paranoid threats
of violence take a sudden and

disturbing turn, says Arizona Republic
reporter Dennis Wagner.

He had an idea for using drones to
assassinate politicians.

And then he also had an idea for using
missiles to deliver biological or

chemical warfare.

The hacker's email suggests a man on the
verge of cracking once and for all.

I'm probably the biggest single threat
to the U .S. government, and they don't

even know it. I can do things that will
make all terrorist organizations look

like sewing circles.

But this bluster leads to Rig Mayden's
undoing.

Federal agents track an IP address on
some of his e -mails to a computer

in Santa Clara, California, less than 20
miles from where the $68 ,000

disappeared.

Now things started to mesh, and we were
able to put things closer together and

maybe say, are these two people related?

But even better, agents discover he's
been using a Verizon Air card to log on

the Internet.

Air cards connect to nearby cell towers
the same way a cell phone does, opening

the door for federal agents to finally
turn technology against the hacker.

It's a secret surveillance device called
Stingray. They're about the size of a

shoebox.

Stingrays are cell site simulators,
forcing all cellular devices in their

vicinity, including the hacker's Verizon
Air card, to share location and

personal data.

Federal agents are able to take this
device and they can call a computer card

a cell phone and replace its operating
system with their own so that they're

able to ping on it and locate it.

A stingray leads agents directly to an
apartment complex in Santa Clara. A

record search confirms they are closing
in.

All the personal identifiers on the
rental agreement were all phony.

They're all fake.

So that's what we were able to get us to
secure a warrant for that apartment

complex in that unit.

As agents wait to make their move, the
hacker demands $352 ,000 be shipped to

him the same way the first package was.

The money was packaged in a toy.

It was wrapped as a gift, had a card for
a kid, and it was sent to the same

location as the original one.

Agents wait four long days for the
hacker to make his move.

When he finally does, this time they are
ready.

The hacker describes what happened next
in a radio interview.

I saw this guy kind of coming after me,
so I started walking faster and he

started speeding up.

He tries to evade his pursuers, but this
time his luck has run out.

The instant I was getting arrested, when
I was laying on the sidewalk getting

handcuffs put on me, I instantly knew
that they had tracked the air card down.

It was the only...

weak link in the whole operation.

Cuffed and out of options, the suspect
still refuses to identify himself.

The only thing in his pockets were a set
of keys. There was no identification on

him. Again, we still didn't know who
this individual was.

And when agents enter his apartment
looking for answers, they find only more

questions. He basically had a hammock in
there and a desk lamp and a laptop

computer. The very simple existence.

But agents also find what they are
looking for, gold and silver coins, and

,000 in cash with matching serial
numbers to the $68 ,000 that the hacker

grabbed from the FedEx store in Palo
Alto.

In a nearby storage locker, agents
discover another $70 ,000, more gold

and a stack of debit cards and fake IDs.

That was a location that no one would
ever find, and that was the place he can

revert back to. If it got really hot, he
can go to that place and pick that up

and disappear.

The hacker holds out to the end,
refusing to identify himself.

It will be days before his fingerprints
are finally matched, and he is at last

identified as Daniel Rigmaiden.

Behind bars, Rigmaiden opts to defend
himself against wire and mail fraud

charges.

He spends the next six years in jail
fighting to get his case tossed.

He argues that the stingray technology
used to track him down violated his

Fourth Amendment protections against
unlawful search and seizure.

But his judge doesn't agree.

This person who they were going after
was not a person.

He was an alias. He was a false name and
somebody using a false identity.

doesn't have a privacy right for that
false identity.

Therefore, Daniel Rigmaiden didn't have
normal privacy rights.

In 2014, Rigmaiden accepts a plea deal
for his crimes and is sentenced to six

years' time served.

Today, Daniel Rigmaiden still argues
that the stingray surveillance

that took him down is a civil rights
violation.

He's also working on an autobiography
that may finally shine some light on

made the hacker tick and what his
endgame truly was.

What was he doing with all the money?
Where was it going? And the only person

that could answer that question is
Daniel Rigman.

Next on American Greed, a New Yorker
with a wild past is about to make a big

splash in a small town.

There's a mobster up there on the map.

And a brutal murder is just the first
chapter of a $49 million bank fraud

Glenville, North Carolina.

An unincorporated blip on the map
nestled in the Blue Ridge Mountains.

Population, 110, according to a 2000
census.

The nearest traffic light is five miles
away.

It's the kind of community that if you
run out of sugar, you don't run to the

nearest supermarket. It's at least ten
miles before you get there. So you tend

to know your neighbors fairly well.

Towering high above Glenville is the Big
Ridge.

Lucy Morgan's been escaping to her
second home here for 25 years.

But Morgan's not your typical vacationer
relaxing in the cool mountain breezes.

She's a Pulitzer Prize winning
investigative journalist.

And one day in 2007, she stumbles upon a
most unlikely tiff when she walks into

her local beauty shop.

The hairdresser said, Lucy, there's a
mobster up there on the mountain.

And I said, well, how do you know he's a
mobster?

And she says, well, he's from New York
and he wears gold chains all the time.

And I said, well, you know, I need a
little more than that.

She doesn't know it yet.

But Lucy Morgan's about to uncover a $49
million fraud that begins 20 years

earlier and 750 miles away.

August 8th, 1987.

Erwin Schiff is just finishing dinner at
Bravo Sergio, an Italian bistro on

Manhattan's Upper East Side.

Erwin Schiff was a bigger -than -life
individual. I mean, literally. He was

about 6 '3 and weighed 400 pounds.

He was a bit of a shadowy individual who
had contacts with a lot of unsavory

individuals, including members of
organized crime.

Tonight, his past is about to catch up
with him when a door behind him quietly

opens.

It was what you'd call a Hollywood
script hit. I mean, he's eating dinner

Italian restaurant.

An identified man steps in the side door
that's usually locked and puts two

bullets in his head while he's eating
dinner.

Schiff is an associate of the Genovese
crime family, but he's also closely tied

to a big -time local electrical
contractor named Domenico Dom Rebuffo.

Rebuffo was a very, very good
electrician.

He was a very, very good construction
manager.

he would be able to manage very, very
large projects.

Robuffo, married and the stepfather of
four, is currently running one of the

largest electrical companies in
Manhattan.

But to be this successful, Robuffo's no
stranger to the mobsters Irwin Schiff

runs with.

They played a very big role in the
economy in New York, and not in a good

Even big -time, legitimate developers
had to deal with them.

It's just business.

Robuffo himself is no mobster, but he is
an imposing figure.

And he's happy to let people believe
whatever they want if it helps close a

deal. If he thought it was to his
benefit that somebody he was negotiating

thought that he was connected and he
could get a better price or a better

he wasn't going to dissuade them.

But Dom Robuffo's hands are hardly
clean.

While investigating Irwin Schiff's
murder, John LaPerla uncovers a series

money scams that Robuffo and Schiff are
running together.

The biggest by far is occurring on the
rooftops high above Manhattan.

There, Robuffo is making a hefty profit
financing huge electrical backup

generators.

The generators cost maybe $50 ,000, $60
,000. He inflated the amount

to hundreds of thousands of dollars.

Robuffo and Schiff take the scam even
further, tricking several separate banks

into providing duplicate financing for
the same overpriced generators.

It's called double -hocking. There were
times, you know, there'd be three

generators on a roof, and they would be
guys from eight banks up there.

These schemes net Robuffo, Schiff, and
several New York businessmen a $49

million payday.

But when Irwin Schiff is murdered by
Moth Associates...

Dom Robuffo has to wonder if he might be
next.

Dominic didn't know exactly why Erwin
had been killed, and he was wondering if

he would be considered a loose end here.

Robuffo's arrested and pleads guilty to
bank and tax fraud.

To reduce, he rats on the people he's
involved with.

Bankers, businessmen, loan brokers,
several state tax enforcement agents.

Robuffo spends five months in prison.

and also divorces his wife, May,
although it will hardly be the end of

relationship, says FBI Special Agent
Mark Soucy. Some people have told us

they got divorced and remarried twice,
that May was the second and fourth wife

of Mr. Rabuffo, but we do know that from
individuals who know both of them, that

they kept a relationship.

And it won't be long before Dom Rabuffo
resurfaces with a new plan to fleece the

banks, far from the mean streets of New
York.

Next on American Greed, the residents of
tiny Glenville, North Carolina are in

for a big shock when Don Rapopo struts
into town.

I just knew that it wasn't right from
the very beginning. There was something

wrong.

Read the smoking gun flyer that spells
out Don Rapopo's scam at AmericanGreed

.CNBC .com.

Feeling greedy?

Want more than your share of behind -the
-scenes dirt?

Like us on the American Greed Facebook
page.

We'll be right back.

Electrical contractor Dom Robuffo's
dodged a bullet, but his business

been murdered and the heat is on in New
York.

So in 1994, Robuffo relocates to Florida
for a fresh start.

Soon, he says he's a developer on
several rich cotton projects along the

Coast. But his most high -profile
success is in Miami's Tony Coconut

Was he the principal developer? I don't
believe so, but I believe that he

certainly was able to leverage that
experience in selling himself as a

legitimate big -time developer.

Things are going well for Dom Rebuffo.

He moves into a $2 million condo on the
Coconut Grove property.

He also buys another house in a nearby
upscale Miami neighborhood.

He's just very charismatic, and he had a
way about it. He had people very

convinced that, you know, he was the
guy.

Maybe that's how he reconnects with his
ex -wife, May, and convinces her to join

him on a new project, out of sight and
far away.

By 2004, Robuffo is quietly buying
property on Big Ridge in Glenville,

Carolina. He hides his purchases behind
shell companies in the name of his ex

-wife.

Real estate paralegal Emma, who has
asked that her real name not be used,

Tom Robuffo took the area by storm.

He came in with a plan.

He was a loud -talking, fleshy Florida
guy coming up here.

Robuffo says he wants to build an
exclusive community called Hampton

top of Big Ridge.

Anchored by a Ritz -Carlton hotel, it
will be full of mansions, villas,

clubhouses, and a spa, and worth $200
million when he's done.

But Dom Robuffo hasn't left his past or
his implied connections to the New York

mafia far behind.

Soon, he's throwing money and attitude
around freely.

There were big rings and gold chains and
sort of flashy, much too flashy for

this area.

He's obviously a little bit out of his
element here.

Before long, locals are whispering that
the mob has come to their Sleepy

Mountain home.

I think he likes the idea that people
would be a bit afraid of him, that they

would perceive him to be a mobster.

And the people who lived around that
development almost immediately thought,

must have mob connections.

And Dom's not the only one who likes to
make a big splash, says Emma.

In 2005, she learns that Robuffo's ex
-wife May is flying into town on a

jet to sign papers on a $1 .6 million
loan.

She was supposedly like the CEO or
president, and it was by and through her

construction company.

that they were buying these lots.

Mae's private jet lands at the tiny
local airport, and soon she's

storming into Emma's office.

She had on the loud Birds of Paradise
jacket and all of the gold rings and

chains, and she had her little fluffy
white puppy with her.

Emma is a dog lover herself, but if
she's hoping to bond with Mae Rebuffo,

about to be disappointed.

She was not friendly.

She was obviously not happy to be there.

And to make absolutely sure there's no
confusion, Mae Rebuffo has not traveled

alone.

She's sitting at the conference room
table, and there are these two huge

bodyguards dressed all in black, a
couple gold chains, and just sort of

there. You can see the bulge under one
arm.

It's the only Hampton Springs closing
Emma handles involving private jets and

bodyguards. But it doesn't take long for
her to notice that all of the deals

feel wrong.

It was the prices of the property.

There's just no way those lots were
valued at what they were getting loans

That's because Dom Robuffo's busily
working another major bank fraud,

four financial institutions, Bank of
America, Wachovia, Regions, and

to fund what will turn into a $49
million scam.

To get the cash, Robuffo's using a
nationwide stable of straw borrowers

stellar credit ratings to trick the
banks.

He coaches his straw borrowers to take
out two loans, each for a $325 ,000

half -acre lot.

The timing of these loans is key.

Bank of America would fund one side of
the parcel.

Wachovia would fund the other one. They
would have simultaneous closings, so

Bank A wouldn't know about Bank B.

And Robuffo's making these straw
borrowers an offer they can't refuse.

When they obtained a loan for Lot A,
they would receive $6 ,250.

When they received a loan for Lot B,
they would receive $6 ,250.

That's $12 ,500 just for two signatures.

Plus, to sweeten the pot, Robuffo also
promises to pay all the closing costs

the monthly mortgages themselves.

All you need is your credit. You don't
need any money down.

It didn't get any better than that.

But it does get better, says federal
prosecutor Dwayne Williams.

He says Robuffo was promising an even
better back -end deal if the borrowers

would apply for an additional
construction loan to break ground as

After a year, you would take out a
construction loan to build a house on

property, and you'd be paid $12 ,500 at
that point. So if you were participating

in the scheme, you could expect to make
$25 ,000 and not spend any of your own

money. Robuffo's not shy about the deal
he's offering. He even hands out a

brochure which clearly spells out what
he's doing in writing.

And this flyer pretty much laid it out,
the solicitation for straw buyers.

I've never seen anything like it. I
mean, mortgage fraud is not a sexy crime

investigate. This was the smoking gun
for a bank fraud case.

Robuffo lays just enough concrete to
make it look like a development might

eventually be built, but is mostly
concerned with recruiting new borrowers

keep the loan money pouring in.

It's word of mouth.

I mean, someone in Miami knows someone
in Tampa who's in real estate.

That person has friends and family that
live in Pennsylvania. And the word kind

of, you know, gets rolling.

Few of these borrowers can actually
afford such large loans.

But Robuffo has that base covered as
well. He'll use shell companies to vouch

false employment records when the banks
call.

And one of the borrowers was a handyman
receiving hundreds of dollars a week.

But on his loan application.

It's stated he made $23 ,000 a month as
a loan executive.

As long as new loans are coming in,
Robuffo can keep paying off the earlier

loans with little fear of discovery.

Some of that money would be taken,
siphoned off, and actually used to pay

monthly mortgage payment on that
construction loan.

Some of the other money would just be
taken and used by the perpetrators to

finance their lifestyles.

And he's living it up.

Splitting time between his Florida Ritz
-Carlton address and a home on the top

of Big Ridge.

It's one of the most beautiful views in
the area. It does have this absolutely

breathtaking view of the mountains.

It also has another feature, one that
the FAA hasn't approved.

A black -topped helicopter landing pad,
perfect for entertaining prospective

straw borrowers.

Bring them on the chopper over and take
them to a luxurious restaurant or a nice

steak dinner. Show them a good time.
Show them that you are this legitimate

FBI forensic accountant Adela Echeverria
says Rapafo doesn't live life on the

cheap. I could see that millions of
dollars were being spent.

Hotels, traveling, he's purchasing fancy
cars.

He had jewelry, electronics.

She says that Robuffo traveled
constantly to Las Vegas, Mexico, and the

Caribbean. And when he did, it was
always in high style.

He had private planes, jet services,
limo services. Everywhere he went was

services.

Ex -wife and business partner May
Robuffo splits her time between homes in

York, Florida, and Big Ridge.

And for a divorced grandmother from Long
Island, Mae Rebuffo does pretty well

herself. She'll pocket nearly $2 million
laundering money for her ex -husband.

It's a great scam if Rebuffo can keep
the banks lending money.

The bubble was going to burst
eventually. It continued to get bigger

based on Paul's premises.

Next on American Greed, when a Pulitzer
Prize winning journalist starts asking

questions, Dom Robopo better have the
right answers.

He was trying to hold it together, but
he couldn't do it. It was falling apart

too fast.

Dom Robuffo's been strutting around
Glenville, North Carolina, saying he's

building a $200 million luxury
development high in the mountains above

But none of it makes much sense to real
estate paralegal Emma, who's been

handling many of the closings.

Loans kept getting higher and higher,
and these straw companies kept getting

incorporated just one after the other
and used to purchase these properties. I

knew something was wrong.

Emma meets with her boss to ask what the
real deal is.

He listens to her concerns and fires her
on the spot.

I said, well, why?

What's the problem?

And he just stood up and left the room.

Never spoke to him again. Never got any
kind of explanation.

Nothing.

Because no one wants to tell the truth.

That Dom Robuffo and his ex -wife May...

have crafted an elaborate $49 million
bank fraud far from prying eyes.

But in 2007, Robuffo's about to meet a
new neighbor, and she's going to make

life really interesting.

Lucy Morgan, part -time Big Ridge
resident, full -time investigative

And she has a lot of questions about
Robuffo's Hampton Springs development.

Nothing about it seemed logical. We were
in a...

economic slide at that moment that was
only getting worse, and the surrounding

developers were not selling houses. So
it was not logical that in the middle of

nowhere, they would suddenly have a
viable developer.

Smelling a good story, Morgan drives out
to the construction site.

There, she finds only empty trailers and
a handful of half -finished houses.

In the summer of 2008, Lucy Morgan
finally convinces Dom Robuffo to talk.

He spins the tale of a hardworking
businessman just trying to make everyone

happy. And when Morgan asks about his
colorful past of mobsters and murder,

Robuffo says, forget about it.

He refused to talk to me about his
criminal background, the case in New

where he had been convicted of fraud.

Robuffo thought that he could tell me
what a great guy he was and what he was

going to do there and that I would
believe what he said was true.

But Robuffo's still playing the tough
guy. At the end of the interview, he

in close to Lucy Morgan as if to share a
secret.

He turned to me and he said, remember,
Lucy, I know where you live.

Morgan's no stranger to a veiled threat.

And Robuffo is not about to deter her
from getting to the bottom of what's

happening on the top of Big Ridge.

As she digs deeper, Morgan realizes
there is something fishy about almost

loan for the Hampton Springs
development.

I've seen appraisals done on land up
here, and I've never seen an appraisal

would indicate the value of the land at
more than $15 ,000 an acre. He was

listing the property as being sold for
$650 ,000 an acre.

That alone should have signaled trouble
to anybody who looked at it. When she

begins filing stories in Florida, the
writing is on the wall for Domra Buffo.

Apparently, the story drew the attention
of the U .S. attorney in Miami. Not

long after that first story, there was
heat on them.

SunTrust, one of the bank's hit hardest,
sends inspectors to check out the

construction sites.

They're not happy with what they find.

Water treatment sewer was never hooked
up to the neighborhood. We've heard

rumors that electricity was rerouted
from neighboring homes to maybe operate

or two of the homes to show them to
potential buyers.

SunTrust immediately stops funding
loans.

With no money coming in to keep the scam
running, everything implodes around the

rebuffos. Once the money stops, then
there's no money to continue paying the

mortgages.

Eventually, all the properties went into
default, and after that, they went into

foreclosure.

Hiding behind their shell companies, the
Robuffos have burned through nearly $50

million.

All the accounts were completely wiped
out. There was no money left in any of

the accounts.

All the money was gone.

In January 2014,

Dom Robuffo and his wife May are charged
with conspiracy to commit bank and wire

fraud.

Mae Rebuffo argues that her ex -husband
tricked her into participating in the

scheme. At trial, Ms. Rebuffo identified
that she was a victim to the man she

loved for all these years, and he took
advantage of her.

And Dom Rebuffo, who spent his life
managing large construction sites, his

argument is he was simply a bad
businessman.

The problem with that defense is that
you were never going to get the

development off the ground, yet you
still took the bank's money and

that you were developing.

On July 3, 2014, after an 11 -day trial,
the jury finds them both

guilty. Mae Rebuffo is sentenced to 14
years in prison, and her ex -husband Dom

is sent away for 27 years.

None of the straw borrowers who helped
the rebuffos rob the banks blind are

charged with crimes.

But they don't exactly get off scot
-free, either.

Most of those borrowers, their credit
was destroyed. Some of the borrowers

settled with the banks. Some of the
borrowers still have big judgments

them today.

Now, all that remains of Hampton Springs
are a handful of half -finished homes

that scar the side of Big Ridge.

The houses are mostly teardowns. Most of
them will never be lived in by anyone.

It has destroyed a really pristine piece
of land.

It's a painful and constant reminder of
the time when a greedy wise guy came to

town.

The site of our nation's tragedy, now a
symbol of America's resilience.

The bad guys would love to knock it down
again.

Join Jim Cramer for an unprecedented
look. Downtown is back.

Ground Zero Rising, Freedom vs. Fear,
premieres next Thursday, 10 Eastern,