All language subtitles for American Greed s11e19 Lesson in Greed and Soldier Scam

In this episode of American Greed, in
Detroit's troubled public schools,

gold in pencils, paper, and desks.

Especially for people like Norman Shy,
who know how to rig the system,

millions. Norman Shy was living
lavishly, even by the standards of most

people. Swimming pools, a two -story
library.

Some irony there, a two -story library
from a guy who...

Steals from school kids who can't afford
books.

And later, in an online invasion,
romance scammers are stealing millions

dollars from unsuspecting Americans
posing as U .S. soldiers.

You would never expect somebody from the
military to scam you.

I thought we were going to get married.

It's a perfect scam for the criminals.
They prey on those emotions.

They build the trust, and within a week,
two weeks, they're asking for money.

And then one victim turns the tables and
cashes in on the scam for a lovely

profit.

In 2016, outside the Detroit Criminal
Courthouse, the legal walk of shame

has an unthinkable cast of characters.

Not murderers or drug dealers, but
public school officials charged

with stealing funds that were supposed
to go to students.

Do you have any apology to give to
anybody? I have nothing to say, thank

After all this area has been through,
after all the smacks to the head this

has taken, and here's another. It's one
of those things that make you think, did

this have to be Detroit?

Because it really does paint the whole
area. It's like people roll their eyes.

Oh, that's just Detroit again.

It wasn't supposed to go this way.

Just a short time ago, public school
principals were seen as the last best

to turn around Detroit schools.

Some were even lauded on national
television.

There's an amazing school in Detroit
that's getting national attention right

at Spain Elementary School in Detroit.

Spain Elementary's principal, Ron
Alexander, goes on the Ellen DeGeneres

tell the world of his school's plight.

Holes in the ceiling let rain pour into
the classrooms.

Mold covers the gym floor.

Alexander pleads to Ellen for help.

And it pays off in a big way.

Goodbye!

Half a million dollars big.

In collaboration with Lowe's, it's the
largest gift her show has ever bestowed.

I remember we interviewed him.

When it happened, and I think he stood
up and actually physically danced behind

his desk because he was so happy. He
couldn't believe that somebody would be

that generous and help out his school,
and it was a school that absolutely

needed that money.

Other principals throughout the Detroit
public school system are seen as

saviors.

Principal Ronnie Sims attracts a film
crew to document his groundbreaking

program for fifth -grade boys called the
Gentleman's Club.

The Gentleman's Club, my definition
would be a life -altering experience

that would help the boys become
respectful men

in their family and community.

Wake up, everybody.

Principals are like the mothers and
fathers to a lot of these kids.

They got hugs.

All the principals knew the kids by
first name.

So the kids trusted the principal. The
parents trusted the principal.

But money is always tight.

And principals say they are painfully
hamstrung.

With the system that we have now, my
hands are tied to many degrees as far as

getting access to the funds.

They would make requests for funds for
supplies or programs or whatever they

needed, and it would either not be there
or it would fall on deaf ears.

Despite appearances, Detroit public
schools actually do have a billion

budget serving more than 47 ,000
students.

And a lot of that is federal money and
state money, but what that tells you is

that this is a district that does a lot
of business.

And I think people saw that.

as an opportunity to make money.

Norman Shai grows up in northwest
Detroit and attends Detroit Public

He's a local guy made good, founding a
school supply company named Allstate

Sales.

The Detroit school system is one of
Shai's biggest clients.

He seemed generous, philanthropist, is
what I could...

Almost have called him.

At one time, we gave him an award as one
of the top 100 suppliers for the

district.

It's a lucrative business.

And Shai makes a point to give back to
the struggling school district that

make him the success he is today.

Norman Shai provided blinds to some
schools.

He sponsored field trips for students,
furniture.

and provided several school supplies
that he claimed were free to the school.

And then, in 2009, there's a big change
that will alter the course of Norman

Shai's life and the lives of several
principals he deals with.

The Michigan State Legislature installs
an emergency manager who becomes

responsible for all financial decisions
in the district.

The hope is this person will turn the
ship around.

In part, by decentralizing the vast
bureaucracy.

The building principals had to run daily
business. They needed school supplies.

They needed food.

So what that meant was that the ability
or the right to sign for invoices was

now delegated to principals at the
building level.

Before, vendors were chosen by the
district, but now each principal has the

ability to choose their own vendors and
find the best deals for Detroit Public

Schools, or DPS.

You had principals that were kings and
queens on their own island, so to speak,

and they could, through their own
individual signature, sign off on the

and expenditures of DPS money, again,
tax dollars, for all sorts of

materials, and the vendors would provide
those materials.

With Norman Shye's history of working
with the district, principals naturally

choose him for many of their supply
needs.

He would go out to the schools, meet
with the principals, sit with them and

allow them to look through the catalog
and make the orders with him.

He delivered his orders in person.

His business spread like wildfire by
word of mouth. Some principals that

with him told other principals about
him, you know, so he reached out.

Shai also offers a product his
competitors do not.

a specialty item called raised line
paper.

It has a braille -like texture and
supposedly helps special needs students

to write.

Raised line paper is an unlikely
springboard into a multi -million dollar

But give Norman Shy an A -plus for
creativity.

Next on American Greed, see how Norman
Shy is making paper and turning it into

cold, hard, fraudulent cash.

In Detroit, principals have been given
wide latitude to run their public

like a business.

In theory, it reduces bureaucracy and
increases accountability.

But in practice, it makes the schools
ripe for fraud.

It really goes to show how weak the
financial controls were because the

principals could sign off on anything.

And it was expected that they would be
truthful and do the right thing.

Norman Shy comes up with a plan to take
advantage of the principal's new

authority.

He submits inflated invoices, billing
schools for far more than he actually

delivers. The school principals become
his partners in crime.

I mean, the whole scheme worked like
this. You know, I'll pat your back, you

mine. How about I order $10 ,000 worth
of paper, I'm only going to deliver

eight, and then you and I will split the
difference.

It was a simple, you know, turn your
head the other way when stuff doesn't

up. That was the key to it all.

Shai's raised -line paper is the ideal
vehicle for his fraud.

It's consumed quickly and constantly
refreshed, making audits more

And when he submits bills, Shai is
strategically vague about how much he

delivered.

There's no reflection of size.

Quantity of 40, we don't know what a
quantity of 40 is. Like, is it a REMA

paper? Is it a stack of 12 pages? You
know, so I think without necessarily

seeing the goods, someone wouldn't
necessarily know, have a concept of what

being or should be delivered.

Shai's bogus invoices siphon money from
the district and divert it into the

conspirators' personal bank accounts.

Once the principal's ordered from Norman
Shy, he kept detailed records, a

meticulously kept ledger of the amount
of money that he was paid by DPS, and he

would give a percentage to each
principal.

Shy's kickbacks to the principals are
generous, some as high as 40 to 60

percent. They would call Norman Shy and
say, hey, Norm, what's my balance?

And he would tell them, your balance is
$5 ,000.

What do you need?

And they would say, I'd like free $500
gift cards.

Sometimes, instead of gift cards, the
principals request cash or even

improvements on their homes.

To me, as bad as Norman Shy was, the
principals were almost worse because

they're the ones who had to look these
kids in the eye every day.

These little kids who are looking up to
their role models, saying, gosh, maybe

that's what I want to be when I grow up.

And the principal is staring them right
in the eye and taking payoffs.

To keep things legitimate, Shai asks
principals to request gift cards on

official school letterhead for tax
purposes.

He plans to write off the cards as gifts
or business expenses.

Shai is brazenly doubling down on fraud.

He was trying to legitimize kickbacks as
business expenses, thereby reducing his

tax doing only, which is tax evasion.

With his scheme in place, he turns paper
into profits and is able to enjoy a

life of luxurious amenities.

Until we went out to his house in
Farmington Hills, I had no idea he was

filthy rich.

Every night, Norman Shy comes home to
this.

An 11 ,000 -square -foot mansion in
Farmington Hills, equipped with nine

bathrooms, four kitchens, and its very
own movie theater.

Millions of dollars intended for Detroit
school children is instead poured into

the house that Greed built.

Norman Shy was living lavishly even by
the standards of most wealthy people.

Swimming pools, a two -story library.

Some irony there, a two -story library
from a guy who steals from school kids

who can't afford books.

Next on American Greed. Former Detroit
school's principal accused by the feds

taking tens of thousands of dollars in
kickbacks. When a public school scandal

hits the news, will it threaten to
expose Norman Shy?

They squeezed her and then she started
singing like a bird.

So we knew another shoe was going to
drop.

In 2015, a story breaks about an
invoicing fraud involving another school

district in Detroit.

Her name, Kenyetta Wilburn Snap.

The indictment today says Snap pulled in
almost $60 ,000 in a bribery and

kickback scheme.

Somebody did an audit, and they found
the discrepancy in the school supplies.

And that's how the whole thing started
coming down.

We received information from an internal
audit that a principal named Kenyetta

Snap was possibly engaged in fraud with
a vendor named Norman Shy.

We conducted an interview, and Norman
Shy very much admitted his involvement

with Kenyetta Snap and alluded to
additional business with the Detroit

Schools.

Investigators obtain a search warrant
for Norman Shy's home.

Inside, they find folders documenting 13
Detroit public schools he was doing

business with.

And inside each folder, invoices and
handwritten ledgers laying out a running

balance for each school official's
personal account with Shy.

And those files were really the
motherlode. I mean, they were the

Shy knows he's caught.

He agrees to hand over voice and text
messages from the principals he was

working with to the FBI.

Like this one from Josette Buendia, a
principal at Bennett Elementary on

Detroit's southwest side.

Shy also agrees to wear a hidden camera
while he meets with principals.

In this video, he calls on Buendia at
her office.

She has been with the district for 16
years and the principal at Bennett since

2010. Good morning.

Norman Shy to see Ms. Buendia.

Hey,

Norm, how are you? Happy New Year to
you. Happy New Year to you, too.

Look.

Being an elementary principal is like
having 500 members of your own personal

admiration society.

Because they all think I'm wonderful.

Well, tell me something. Aren't you
wonderful?

Oh, well, of course. Clearly.

In this one meeting, Wendia takes $3
,000 in gift cards.

Here's your cards. Okay.

It's just a portion of her prize for
signing off on Shai's inflated invoices.

Cheyenne Buendia may think that the gift
cards are a clever way to launder

money, but the cards leave an electronic
trail that the FBI easily follows.

We were able to learn that she made a
number of personal expenditures.

They ranged from gasoline purchases,
fast food, massages.

These expenditures were definitely...

personal in nature and weren't for the
school children of Bennett Elementary

School. You were stealing from kids and
you were reminded of it every time

Norman Shy handed you another bundle of
cash or gave you another stack of gift

cards. Oh, hey, I was stealing from kids
and it sure was profitable this

quarter.

Word starts to spread about the
investigation.

And on March 29, 2016, Norman Shai and
13 school officials are charged.

We're here today to announce bribery
charges that were filed this morning

against 14 individuals.

One of them is a vendor for Detroit
Public Schools, and the other are all

Detroit Public School officials.

I was sitting in the news conference
with the U .S. attorney. They hand you

indictment, and it's got 13 principals
whose names you don't recognize.

But then I look at it again, and I go,
wait a minute.

That's Spain Elementary.

Ronald Alexander, the very public hero
of Spain Elementary, the man who appears

on Ellen pleading for help, has been
charged with stealing $23 ,000 from

public schools.

When he asked Ellen for money to fix up
the school, at the same time, perhaps

even the next day, he would see Norman
Shy and he'd get his kickback or his

bribe.

Remember Ronnie Sims, the do -gooder who
planned to turn boys into gentlemen?

Sims is charged with taking almost $60
,000 from his school and students.

It makes Inspector General Bernadette
Cucuzza and many others heartsick.

I look at mainly our young boys.

who look at a male principal and admire
that principal and want to be him one

day.

And it just turns around, and the next
thing is the same principal on TV as the

fraudster, you know.

But even in the face of the community's
ire, some of the principals try to

justify their expenses.

Ms. Buendia told me that she spent a lot
of money.

on the schools out of her own pocket,
and that she rationalized that it was

to use these gift cards on herself
because she was making herself even.

What you have here are common criminals
trying to justify to themselves and to

the court that what they did was for the
kids.

The judge didn't buy it. I don't buy it.
I don't think anybody bought it. You

couldn't buy it, even with Norman Shye's
gift cards.

Despite the fraud and bribery
allegations, Ellen and Lowe's decide to

with their donation to Spain Elementary.

In a statement to American Greed, Lowe's
explains their decision in further

detail, writing, There was still such
great need at Spain Elementary School

we kept our commitment to improve the
learning environment for the students,

insured funds provided by Lowe's
directly benefited the students and

With Norman Shy.

isn't done scheming yet.

Next on American Greed, see what happens
when Shy double -crosses the feds. The

first principal involved told us that
Shy had tried to warn her about the

federal investigation.

Norman Shy knows he will be heading to
prison soon. The question now is, for

long?

He's agreed to be an informant and
collect evidence for the FBI.

In exchange, he's hoping for a reduced
sentence.

However, Norman Shy tries to cheat the
feds.

In interviews with the U .S. Attorney's
Office, Three principals admit Shai

warned them about the investigation.

We confronted Norman Shai with the fact
that we were aware that he had warned

certain principals.

Shai confessed.

After that, we made a determination not
to make a motion for a sentence

reduction for Norman Shai.

In all, Norman Shai bills Detroit public
schools for $5 million in school

supplies.

$2 .7 million of that is fraudulent.

Mr. Shy, you have anything to say?

No comment.

$2 .7 million goes to the principals and
Norman Shy.

The principals only get $908 ,000.
Norman Shy gets the rest.

Shy pleads guilty, and the 74 -year -old
is sentenced to five years in prison.

He is also ordered to pay $2 .7 million
in restitution.

Eleven of the twelve principals and an
administrator also plead guilty to

conspiracy.

Mr. Alexander, was this a just sentence?

Principal Ronald Alexander of Spain
Elementary gets one year in prison.

Ronnie Sims is sentenced to 15 months.

Josette Buendia takes her case to trial
and is found guilty by a jury.

She is sentenced to two years in prison.

in order to pay more than $45 ,000 in
restitution.

Maybe it's classic greed.

Maybe it's the classic no one will ever
notice.

Figuring, what the heck, there's a big
slush pile of money out there, and I can

take a little bit of it anyway.

You're getting kids who need a hand up.

And instead, Norman Shy and his co
-conspirators gave him a smack across

face.

More than one million Americans serve in
active duty in the U .S. military,

fighting for freedom at home and abroad.

For many, U .S. troops are held with
great respect and admiration.

Amy Bouchat is a reporter and editor for
Military .com.

I think that there's also something to
be said for a man in uniform.

I mean, everybody loves a man in
uniform, right? And so military members

typically very fit.

So uniform, fit, handsome.

But according to her husband, a major in
the Alaska National Guard, crooks have

another idea.

Americans love American soldiers because
American soldiers protect them. So how

can I use that to exploit people and
take from them?

In the age of catfishing, it's easy for
con artists to assume the identity of

a hero.

And it's even easier for these false
heroes to trick victims into handing

their wallets in the name of love.

I don't think people realize the
enormity of the scam that's going on on

basis.

Every day they're out there trolling the
Internet looking for unsuspecting

victims. They're throwing in the fishing
line and looking for someone who's

vulnerable and is open to a
relationship. And once they snag them,

them in and they take millions of
dollars.

I'm a hopeless romantic, so I thought
maybe I would meet my husband online.

Lilo Schuster is a chiropractic
physician living in Illinois.

In 2009, she goes on Match .com looking
for someone special.

My dating history would be I would go
out with somebody for, I don't know,

months, six months, and I could not date
somebody for two years, three years,

and so my heart was really hurting. I
was really sad. I was desperate.

I was pretty just kind of fed up.

For years, Lilo yearns to start a family
of her own.

At one point, even spending $20 ,000 on
artificial insemination. But

unfortunately, with no results.

I actually prayed to God.

And I said, will you please send me a
widow with a child? Because I love

children. And by the time I'm 45, I
thought, well, I probably won't have

children of my own.

Miraculously, the next morning, she
checks her computer and her prayers have

been answered.

I can't believe that I had this email
from my widow, and he has a child, and

he's in Afghanistan, and he's fighting
the terrorists, and he's a pilot,

and I thought my prayers had been
answered.

His name, he says, is Officer Adam
Smith.

We started to email back and forth, and
he sent me attractive pictures saying

kind things and how...

beautiful that i am and by the end of
the year he wants to be able to come

and we can create a family together so
these kinds of things that i wanted to

hear and it felt really nice actually
officer smith tells lilo his wife died

tragically not long ago and he's left
with a sick daughter to care for i love

children i always wanted them and not
having my own that certainly was a way

connect

But within a few weeks of their
relationship, a problem comes up with

daughter. His daughter, who was in the
United Kingdom with his mom, was going

school, and they were going to go on a
school trip.

He asks for her help to pay for the
trip, and he would, of course, pay her

Lilo devotedly goes to Western Union,
where she wires $2 ,700 to the UK.

At this point...

She has known him online for only four
weeks.

You feel like you're contributing to
your relationship, that you're helping

daughter be able to go on a trip that he
couldn't provide for her. But, you

know, he'll pay me back is what he had
said.

That same year in Colorado, a 38 -year
-old single mother and hairdresser named

Tracy Vassar has a very similar
experience.

As she later tells investigators in an
interview at her home, Vassar meets a

person online claiming his name is
Captain Jeffrey Lawrence.

And he was like, oh, I have a son, and
he was supposed to be in Afghanistan.

And he's like, I have a son, and his
name is Paul, and I'm widowed, my wife

dead, and someone watches after him
because I have no family.

In the same fashion, shortly after they
start their online romance, her new beau

has a problem.

His son is in desperate need of cash.

And then he was like, oh, he doesn't
have any money. Could you send some

In reality, neither of these women are
talking to an officer in Afghanistan.

And their stories have an all -too
-common theme.

The MO is all the same.

I'm a single father. My wife, I'm a
widower.

I'm raising a five -year -old girl. And
they play on the emotions of the

victims.

I didn't feel that it was a scam from
the beginning. I felt that there was

something that was off.

I didn't know what it was.

I speak to hundreds of victims, and it's
hard for them to believe that they're

being scammed.

Someone is playing on your emotions, and
they're making millions of dollars off

of unsuspecting victims.

Next, in a greedy twist, one victim
changes the game and starts working with

the crook.

In Brighton, Colorado, 38 -year -old
single mom Tracy Vassar is living the

dream, quite literally, because her new
love is all just a fantasy.

As her first relationship fades, Tracy
is introduced to a new online romantic

interest named Kels Klein.

He claims to be a sergeant stationed in
Afghanistan and knows Captain Lawrence.

Klein and Tracy hit it off immediately.

Mr. Klein, at least in the beginning.

made Tracy believe that he loved her.
And they, at some point, were exchanging

-mails, expressing their love for each
other and wanting to be together in the

future.

Tracy is then asked for a favor.

He was like, I need an agent to, like,
pick up money. And I'm like, what?

Sometimes the fraudsters then flip or
turn these original victims.

into mules themselves to take in money
from other victims and open bank

and then transfer yet more money.

Sergeant Kels Klein tells Tracy Vassar
she'll be transferring money from people

all over the world to Nigeria for a
charity fund for U .S. soldiers.

She'll be acting as an agent for the
government.

It gives an air of legitimacy to the
intended victim.

Well, I'm not wiring the money overseas.
I'm not sending it to Nigeria.

Everybody knows that's a fraud. I'm
sending it to this woman named Tracy

that I've been told in this letter with
military letterhead that she's the

agent.

In exchange for her help, Kells offers
Tracy a small percentage of the money

is transferring to help cover fees.

One transaction leads to many.

And Tracy starts taking in thousands of
dollars from women all over the world

and sends it to various places dictated
by Sergeant Klein.

They reached out via IM message.

She would be instructed on when to
collect it and directions of where it

go, who it had to be sent to.

In her correspondence with Klein, Tracy
starts negotiating for a bigger cut of

the profit.

One message states, I can't do this for
free, especially since I'm the one

taking all the risk.

Soon, she is opening bank account after
bank account in an effort to hide the

large amounts of money she is receiving
and then immediately sending out.

Numerous bank accounts at numerous banks
all around the state because various

banks. Or money remitter would get wise
and move her down the road. So she'd

have to come up with different names or
excuses for people to accept that money.

And all the while, taking some for
yourself and pushing that money back to

Nigerian. Her involvement became so
extensive.

And when she was wiring amounts in the
tens of thousands of dollars, told us

that she didn't believe that this was
something that was legitimate. She knew

what she was doing.

It becomes so lucrative for Tracy, she
even brings her own 71 -year -old

Karen, into the scam as well.

She involved her mother in collecting
that money, and we even believe she

recruited family members to in fact
assist with this because it did get

busy.

But then the Brighton, Colorado Police
Department gets a call from a woman in

North Carolina.

She said a military agent named Tracy
Vassar, $2 ,000, but now believes

it was a scam.

Authorities look into the allegations
and find enough evidence to support her

claim.

When the local authorities contacted
Tracy Vassar, they explained to her that

she was assisting fraudsters, in this
case Nigerians, using her as a money

And they explained to her that was a
crime and to basically stop.

helping the bad guys.

Police hope that with their warning,
Tracy will cease her illegal activity,

they continue to monitor her.

Back in Illinois, Lilo Schuster has
already sent $2 ,700 to a person

to be Officer Adam Smith, a man she
thinks she's dating online.

I thought we were going to get married.

But a few weeks after sending the
initial money, Officer Smith raises the

and asks for even more cash via e -mail.

When I questioned him the second time,
then they berated me. You must not love

me. You must not want our future
together.

I acquiesced, and I started to wire
money.

Lilo sends over a string of payments
that total nearly $23 ,000 to Smith.

But when she tells him she can't send
any more, she suddenly stops hearing

him.

I just knew something was wrong because
I wasn't getting any communication, and

so I googled romance scams, and I found
a website.

And I couldn't believe it because you're
reading word for word, this is exactly

what happened to me.

And that's when I knew, uh -oh, I just
got scammed.

Lilo contacts law enforcement and cuts
off all communication.

I was pretty upset because I felt so
excited that I thought that I had met

somebody. You realize it had nothing to
do with me. It was only for my money.

I was really embarrassed that I could
let this happen to me.

As Lilo tries to come to grips with her
loss, Tracy Vassar continues to rake in

profits.

Next on American Greed, Amy Bouchard
gets an alarming message about her

I got a Facebook message from a woman
telling me my husband had found her on

Tinder and that he had tried to scam her
out of money.

Hello, everybody. You are listening to
Davin's Den.

To fight greedy scammers, comedian David
Rosenblatt hosts a radio program on

iHeartRadio that focuses on fraud.

Big show tonight on the show. We like to
reveal what the scammers are saying

about you.

Victims of catfishing scams contact the
show to express their sobering stories

of love and financial loss.

But there is another layer to this
romance fraud that few recognize.

I think when a lot of people look at
these online scams, they focus on the

person who was duped. But there's
another side of it. There's the person

picture was taken.

Amy Bouchard knows this all too well.

Her husband, Luke Bouchard, is a major
in the Alaska National Guard.

I got a Facebook message from a woman
telling me my husband had found her on

Tinder and that he had tried to scam her
out of some money.

She was worried that I didn't know and I
should know.

Amy looked over at me with a lot of
seething anger that she was trying

to hold back and told me what was going
on, like this communication that she was

having with this lady over Facebook
Messenger at the time.

Completely caught off guard.

I was pretty upset for, I would say, for
about 15 minutes.

And then very quickly it became apparent
that this was a scam.

She had sent me screenshots with the
communications.

And in those screenshots I could see
that he was talking to her at times that

know couldn't have been because we were
together.

on an island off of Florida without our
cell phones. It was not possible.

So when you Google boo shots, here's
what you get.

These scammers will steal your
information, steal your image, and you

to be able to either come together or
grow apart as a couple because of that

we've come together.

So it's been a challenge, but nothing
that we couldn't overcome.

Former scam victim turned scammer Tracy
Vassar and her mother have been working

with online con artists for months,
funneling money from victims to Nigeria.

They knew that what they were doing was
wrong when they were contacted by

Brighton Police Department, but they set
that aside because this was how they

made money.

Despite being warned by police, the
Vassars continue working with the

fraudsters.

She knew what she was doing and knew
that the money she was wiring was coming

from innocent women, mostly women, all
around the world.

We put together all the amount of money
that came in and all the amount of money

that went out. And when you add it up,
it was at least $1 .1 million.

Law enforcement executes a search
warrant on the Vassar home.

When we entered the home that day, we
saw...

Just right out on the counters, a lot of
money remitter paperwork and receipts

of money getting repackaged and shipped
out.

From 2009 to 2012, an astonishing 374
victims throughout

the United States and from 40 other
countries were taken advantage of by the

Vassars and the scammers they worked
for.

Tracy Vassar pockets at least $150 ,000
for her role in the scam that cost

victims more than $1 million.

She was very critical in terms of this
scam working.

And she's the one who received all the
stolen money. Even though she may not

have retained a large percentage of it,
she received it.

saw the amount of money that could come
in, and she didn't have to do much for

it.

Both Tracy and her mother are arrested,
and in a phone call from jail, the two

discuss how they feel about the victims
they helped scam.

Oh, well, geez, you poor, poor victim.

Why aren't you accountable for your own
actions?

Yeah, whatever.

Tracy Vassar pleads guilty to
racketeering and is sentenced to 15

prison in order to pay more than $1
million in restitution.

Her mother, Karen, also pleads guilty to
racketeering and is sentenced to 12

years in prison.

Despite her plea in a letter to American
Greed, Tracy maintains she is still

just a victim herself.

Her letter states, She

continues on explaining her story

and writes,

Her characterization of herself as

being a victim.

It's a very small part, and it's only at
the very beginning of how she probably

got into this, but she ignored that
afterwards.

According to the FBI, a troubling number
of victims lose millions every year to

these romance scammers, including Lilo
Schuster, who hasn't seen any of her

almost $23 ,000 back.

I don't believe in saying, why did this
happen to me? I believe in going, you

know what? What did I not do?

There's crappy people out there, and
there's great people too.

And when you have a barometer within you
at some level where you have to really

listen to that, and I didn't, and I paid
the price for that.

Next. When money is no object. They had
so much cash in these clinics, they kept

the cash in garbage bags. The object is
to get more.

There's not many people who were able to
scam as well as he did. Enter the dark

side. American Greed, next on CNBC.

That's a capitalist for you right there.