All language subtitles for American Greed s11e20 Top Gun of Fraud

In this episode of American Greed, in
Alaska, Mark Avery is blowing through a

fortune in record speed.

How often do you see somebody spending
$53 million in six months?

He is grabbing up expensive toys,
motorhomes, a yacht, even snowmobiles.

That's what everybody in Alaska wants to
have, but not all of it at once.

And while Alaskans like their guns,
Avery appears to be outfitting his own

private army.

It was wall -to -wall guns and hand
grenades and everything you could think

And then suddenly, his army becomes an
airport.

He buys six helicopters, eight former
Soviet fighter jets, and a fleet of

War II fighters.

It was a rodeo every day.

We'd come to work and say, what did they
buy today?

Avery seems lost in a paramilitary
fantasy.

He said it was for secret agents between
missions. And that was like, whoa,

whoa. I'm not believing this.

And who is paying for Avery's wild
spending?

That's where his fantasy turns into
fraud.

Of all the great American bombers in
aviation history, one of the most

is a plane named the Corsair, famously
fierce fighter during World War II.

The Japanese called it Whistling Death.

But from that illustrious past in
combat, one classic Corsair takes a

fancy in October 2005.

Here at a small airport in California,
the feared fighter is reduced to a toy,

given as a birthday surprise.

It's a present with a staggering price
tag.

2 .4 million dollars.

Mark Avery has bought the plane for a
friend he has known for just over one

year, Rob Kane.

Unbelievable. Thanks, man.

Unbelievable. It's kind of the world's
most expensive bro hug, you know.

It's like, I love you, man.

I'm giving you a $2 .4 million airplane.

I want to cry, man.

This is it.

What is going on here?

The answer is found in the strange
alliance between Rob Kane and Mark

Avery grows up in San Francisco, living
a privileged life in an expensive house

near the Presidio, a neighborhood where
today houses routinely sell for millions

of dollars.

His father is Luther Avery, a prominent
attorney in town.

Probably one of the most well
-recognized and successful tax estate

attorneys in the city of San Francisco
at his time.

And part of Luther Avery's success is
built on the success of an Australian

named Stanley Smith, who made a fortune
selling iron ore to the Japanese after

World War II.

Stanley Smith was, you'd probably call
him a salt of the earth man.

He was a hardworking man.

By the 1950s, Smith is worth tens of
millions of dollars, and he decides to

share his wealth. He gives his money
away quietly.

The quote that's attributed to him is
he's not one to get up and take a bow

doing things like that.

After Stanley Smith dies in 1968, $350
million of his fortune is placed in a

charitable foundation to support those
in need.

Homeless children, people with
disabilities, veterans.

At the same time, $100 million of
Smith's money is set aside to ensure the

-being of his wife.

May Wong Smith.

For years, May's money is kept perfectly
safe.

He was invested in the most secure
method possible in cash, U .S.

there's no risk of loss whatsoever
through the term of her life.

Watching over the Smiths' millions are
three trustees charged with protecting

the money.

But they are actually milking the trusts
for all they can.

They are paid a stunning salary of $400
,000 a year.

And according to the trust agreement,
they can name their price on any

professional services they provide.

They were all living very well off of
this trust.

This was sort of a self -fulfilling,
long -term business relationship that

benefited everybody as long as they kept
it quiet, kept it secret.

Luther Avery is one of the trustees.

And by the early 90s, he is helped in
that role by his son, Mark, who is now a

lawyer, a career that is something of a
fallback.

We know from our investigation from his
own statement that he was interested in

joining the military.

So he tried that avenue and it didn't
work.

And that's because of a childhood
accident that causes an eye injury and

prevents Avery from pursuing his dreams.

If he could have been, he would have
been in the first responder world

somewhere.

He would have been in the military, or
he would have been a fireman, or he

have been a police officer.

I think those things interested him, and
he liked that world.

As he hits his mid -30s, Avery is
restless working in San Francisco.

He's looking for change.

He heads to Alaska, the last frontier.

A place where he might find the rough
and ready adventurous life he craved.

But no.

He ends up back working in law as a city
and then a state prosecutor.

Eventually, he tries his hand at small
business.

Avery at various points had tried to
start a number of businesses.

And none of them succeeded.

Because he just...

didn't have good business plans, and he
didn't do follow -up.

In 2001, he is living in a duplex on a
busy street with his wife and children.

He's broke.

Our investigation revealed that he was
significantly in debt from real estate,

loans, just consumer, average consumer
purchases.

And then Avery gets the bailout he
needs.

His father, Luther Avery, dies.

And Mark inherits his father's position
as a trustee for the Stanley and May

Smith funds.

with a salary of $600 ,000 a year.

$50 ,000 a month.

That's a lot of money to think about.

Now, with a sizable and reliable income,
Avery leaves the duplex and upgrades to

a 5 ,000 -square -foot house outside of
Anchorage.

The former Mr. Avery said when he became
a trustee, it was like going from the

ghetto to the White House because their
standard of living changed tremendously.

And while buying his new house, Avery
meets the son of his real estate agent,

Rob Kane, a man who claims he lives the
life Avery can only dream of.

Kane says he is an FBI informant, a
former Navy SEAL who works covertly for

CIA. He was once a commander in the
Philippine Coast Guard and has a

to prove it.

He was a physically imposing guy who
had...

Incredible stories about his own
background, about being a paid U .S.

working in the Philippines undercover
for the U .S. government.

Bill Barstow, now retired, worked for 30
years as a federal financial trustee

for Alaska.

When you hear these bizarre things, on
the other side, there was always some

kernel truth that you might think, well,
maybe.

Maybe there's something there.

And there is something there.

Cain has worked in the Philippines. He
has sold information to the FBI.

However... He wasn't on the United
States government's books as an

any capacity, but he would just run
around the world and try to collect

information on people and sell it to
whoever would buy it.

But for Mark Avery, there is enough
truth in Cain's stories to become a

in almost everything Cain says.

Finally, it seems he has a genuine
connection to the macho world he wanted

part of.

But I think Rob tried to portray himself
as a CIA operative more than anything

else. So now all of a sudden you've got
that, you know, kind of black ops world

out there that I think that got him
excited.

By 2005, Mark Avery has a new friend,
but he also has an old problem.

He is in deep debt once again.

He had accumulated approximately $600
,000 in various personal debt, credit

cards, vehicles, things of that nature.

Most people could get by on $600 ,000 a
year, but not Mark Avery.

What it says is that he's a compulsive
spender, that nothing was ever enough.

And now, as he looks for his next influx
of cash, he turns to the $100 million

that belongs to May Wong Smith.

At this point, May is 82, living in the
Bahamas.

She is suffering from Alzheimer's
disease.

And Avery comes up with a scheme that
will eventually give him direct access

her millions to finance his next
business.

He's not thinking of May Smith anymore.

This is about Mark Avery and Mark
Avery's plans.

And in May 2005, he puts his plans in
action.

He meets with his co -trustees and sells
them on a wild idea to borrow $50

million against Mae Smith's trust to buy
a pair of Gulfstream jets that they can

all use when checking on nonprofits
around the world.

That made no sense because you could go
to a pay -by -the -flight jet and say, I

want 400 hours a year, and whenever you
want a plane, there's a Learjet there

for you to do whatever you want.

But Avery argues the trust can actually
make money on the jets by renting them

out as charters and for medevac
purposes.

It's a clever pitch that adds one more
perk to the trustee's job.

And so they go along with Avery's
scheme.

I think the idea of flying around in a
private jet would be appealing to

if it was offered to them. But it
certainly was appealing.

Back in Alaska, Avery seems unworried
about a $50 million loan.

And that's because Rob Kane assures him
he can open doors throughout the world.

But what Avery doesn't know is that
according to federal investigators, Rob

is not to be trusted.

The United States government and other
governments had found Mr. Kane to be a

fabricator, a liar, habitual at that,
that he was a thief and a con man.

and had absolutely no credibility with
the United States government.

And so in the summer of 2005, half of
the money that was to be spent only for

the care of Mae Smith is now in the
hands of a man who is perpetually in

financial hot water.

And working with him is a man described
as a liar.

They are a dangerous combination.

Up next, what are Cain and Avery really
up to?

It was kind of a scary time for me
because I didn't trust these gentlemen

wasn't sure what they were doing.

In Alaska, in the early summer of 2005,

Mark Avery has access to $50 million,
money and trust for the care of an

woman. But the day after Avery gets his
hands on it, he uses it to take care of

himself.

Avery pays off a mortgage, credit cards,
auto loans.

He ends up paying off $400 ,000 of
personal debt. That's the first thing he

does.

Two weeks later, Avery heads to
Whittier.

known as the Gateway to Prince William
Sound.

There, he buys a 47 -foot yacht with a
price tag of $230 ,000.

Next, it's a patrol boat known as a
moose boat, typically used by law

enforcement. The cost, $500 ,000.

And there are more goodies for Avery.
Two motorhomes, one for him and one for

Rob Kane.

And multiple snowmobiles and ATVs.

That's what everybody in Alaska wants to
have.

But not all of it at once.

And not all of it at all.

But you can see that that's where his
mind was. I'm going to get this $50

million. I'm going to treat it as my
own.

And then, later in June, Avery has a new
idea.

Instead of buying a jet or two, how
about buying his own aviation company?

He set his eyes on Security Aviation,
one of Alaska's most respected air

companies.

The owner is willing to sell the company
to Avery for $7 million.

Avery pays him $8 million.

He wanted the company, and he didn't
want to negotiate.

So another million dollars to him, and
it wasn't his money, really didn't

matter.

At Avery's side, every step of the way
is Rob Kane.

I don't know exactly what his position
was on paper, but everybody that seemed

to work there looked at Avery and Kane
as one and one A.

Avery primarily stays in the background,
but Kane is in everyone's face.

He was very dominating.

He had a very commanding presence.

Deborah Moradian is the bookkeeper and
human resources manager for security

aviation. He was intimidating.

He was.

Kane asks to be called Commander Kane, a
reminder of the distinguished military

career he claims to have.

And whenever anyone will listen, Kane
has a story to tell about his days as a

secret government operative.

I remember one in particular, just bits
and pieces of it, where he was being

chased in the jungle.

He and his group of men with machine
guns and machetes.

Mark Avery believes those stories.

And, trusting Kane's competence and
connections, he relies on him for almost

every decision he makes about his
business.

Mark found his access to be so valuable
that he would do anything to keep him

close and to keep him employed and use
him as a source.

He buys a $700 ,000 house for Kane.

and gives him $20 ,000 a month in
salary.

Cain insists that it be paid in cash.

If you're a spy and you've got this
persona that you've got to be able to

and run at any time, that you've got to
keep it in cash, it's got to be off

paper. And that's what he told
everybody.

People are unsure about Rob Cain, but
the initial business plans for security

aviation seem solid.

Douglas Gallant owns the hangar where
Security Aviation keeps its fleet.

They had a good idea, and that was to
provide consolidated medevac service all

over the state and then get bigger
planes in, more planes.

It sounded good.

Right away, they bring in the long
-range jets that fit with their plans.

But soon, the purchases start to feel
excessive.

Avery buys not just one helicopter, but
six helicopters.

Soon, a PT -26 training crane used
during World War II shows up.

And later, a real prize.

The bomber that won the war, a P -51
Mustang.

It's a bad plane.

I don't care what you fly, how little
you fly, how much you fly, your dream is

to get a P -51D.

No problem.

Avery puts down $1 million, and the
bomber is his.

It was a rodeo every day. Every day was
a circus.

We'd come to work and say, what happened
last night? What did they buy today?

And while it seems Avery and Kane are
building an Air Force, they also have a

preoccupation with high -level security.

It was the most intense security system
I've ever seen.

Come into an interlock, you'd go to a
gate.

You make video contact. They open the
outer gate and close it. They make more

careful video contact.

Security systems are one thing, but guns
on the roof?

They wanted to put a sniper position on
the roof of the hangar because it

afforded an excellent view of most of
the runways.

And over at the security aviation office
close to downtown, there is also heavy

security and lots of guns.

There were gentlemen walking around.
They were all dressed like they were in

military, and some of them had rifles on
their backs.

One gentleman had a room that was just
full of ammunition.

It was wall -to -wall weapons and guns
and hand grenades and just everything

you could think of. It was kind of a
scary time for me because I didn't trust

these gentlemen, and I wasn't sure what
they were doing.

And while employees wonder what's
happening, Avery and Kane, now fast

are living the good life.

They had two very large houses, 5 ,000
square feet plus, overlooking a valley

north of Anchorage and Eagle River.

Two Class A motorhomes, which they used,
a yacht, snow machines, trips to

Disneyland on the Gulf Stream, no
charge.

There is just one thing Avery needs to
do.

Report to the other trustees in San
Francisco.

He waits until the end of July and then
fills them in about security aviation.

He assures them his business venture
will make a profit, but he has already

gotten his hands on $43 million of the
$50 million he was allowed.

At that point, I suspect the trustees
just felt like there wasn't much they

could do other than hope this was going
to work out.

Up next.

A fleet of fighter jets arrives, and no
one knows why.

I don't think they had any plan
whatsoever for how to use them.

On a spring afternoon outside of
Anchorage, retired Air Force pilot Joe

is heading out to spend a weekend
hunting.

And like many Alaskans, his
transportation is his own small plane.

Forty years ago, Griffith was piloting
an entirely different kind of aircraft.

Over three tours in Vietnam, he flew
close to 300 combat missions.

I love fighters.

I just have a fond spot in my heart
because I've spent a lot of hours in

and they've brought me back from the
Badlands many, many times.

And so in August 2005, he is thrilled
when he pays a visit to Security

and sees the new jets the company has
just bought.

Boy, it looked like a really neat
airplane to me.

They are fighter, Czechoslovakian L
-39s.

The Soviets used them for combat
training.

And when the Soviet Union collapsed,
they threw the jets onto the open

Eventually, Mark Avery buys eight L
-39s, and the question is, why?

I think they bought them initially
because they had a lot of money, and

thought they were cute airplanes.

I don't think they had any plan
whatsoever for how to use them.

There was no business plan. I asked him
that.

His response was...

Since we had it, they would come.

It seems with Rob Payne's encouragement,
Mark Avery has bought himself a small

air force that has no purpose.

And so when Joe Griffith is hired to fly
the jets, he comes up with ideas.

The jets could be used by the air force
as opposition aircraft to train pilots

for combat.

Or maybe they could tow targets so
pilots can practice shooting at a moving

enemy in the air.

Believe me, that's a whole different bag
than shooting at a fixed target on the

ground. As word spreads that security
aviation is putting up a fleet of

jets, experienced pilots from across the
country arrive in anchoring.

It's some good guys, the real deal. I
mean, we're combat veterans and doing

civilian work in Afghanistan and Iraq.

Find me.

Mark Avery finds himself in the high
-action military world where he always

wanted to be.

I think that's the world he enjoyed.

I think, at the end of the day, why he
spent all this money.

Because he could, in effect, buy himself
into that world.

But as the weeks go by, there is a
realization that what is happening here

not be real.

They virtually proved everything I
submitted, but it was really hard to get

rolling.

Increasingly, it feels to employees at
Security Aviation like some kind of game

created by Rob Kane.

He lived in a world that to some degree
wasn't real, but he was living out real

time. And I thought Mark Avery was like
Walter Mitty. He wanted to be like Rob

Kane. And in Kane's world, he and Avery
will soon be running secret missions for

the U .S. government.

Eventually, news of their plans leaks
out.

It was their goal to operate these
aircraft under the guise of medevac so

that they could fly internationally into
hot zones and extract

dignitaries and then also to possibly
extract terrorists

and take them to various locations for
interrogation.

through some sort of joint venture
between the FBI and the CIA.

Now the security systems, the armory of
weapons, even the sniper position begin

to make sense.

If you were bringing really bad people
through there, or you're bringing people

of high value through there, you'd want
to protect them. And Avery is on board

with the Black Ops mission.

Mark, Thut, Rob hung the moon.

You could not tell him any different. He
was convinced that Rob knew what was

going on.

Later, Avery is asked about the downtown
office building.

His response was, they had bedrooms and
a gym and showers.

And I said, what for? And he said, it
was for safe houses for secret

agents between missions. And that was
like, whoa, whoa.

I'm not believing this.

But Avery has faith in Rob Kane, and he
goes along, footing the bill for what

Rob Kane tells him is possible.

It was a fantasy in his mind, but I
think he convinced himself of it to a

certain extent.

Perhaps the best evidence that Kane and
Avery are living in a world of their own

comes in October 2005, when Kane makes
it known he wants another renowned World

War II fighter bomber, a Corsair.

So what would you do with a Corsair? You
can't fly it. None of these guys had

pilot's licenses.

The Corsair is powerful and exceedingly
dangerous to fly.

In the Navy, it was known as the ensign
killer.

But what Kane wants, Avery provides.

He makes that Corsair a birthday
surprise.

This is yours.

Avery has spent $2 .4 million on this
present for Kane.

Uh -oh.

Thanks, man.

Unbelievable. And more than 4 ,000 miles
away in a house in the Bahamas, Mae

Smith has no idea that millions of
dollars saved for her care is going to

fun and games of two men in Anchorage,
Alaska.

I think buying an exotic World War II
fighter that's rare.

that you can't even fly, even if you
were a good pilot, was about as far

of benefiting Mae Smith as one could
possibly imagine.

Up next, the cost of their mission goes
up.

I told the guy who was going to fly
them, you're taking your life in your

hands.

Anchorage, with a population of 300
,000, is the largest city in Alaska.

But people who live here describe it as
a small town where news of any curiosity

spreads quickly.

At the end of 2005, security aviation is
the talk of the town.

We're getting reports from concerned
citizens about these fighter jets.

Guys driving around in dark SUVs with a
pistol holster on each leg, with machine

guns talking about possibly bringing
terrorists through Anchorage, and people

were getting concerned.

The impression given off by security
aviation is that the business is part of

shadowy operation that needs to be kept
secret.

It wasn't at all. It was all totally
legitimate, except that...

Rob kept it looking like it was some
kind of clandestine military operation.

And that was a terrible mistake.

And I told Mark that. I said, Mark, this
is a mistake.

You need to override Rob.

But Mark never overrode Rob on anything.
If Rob said it, it was golden.

Meanwhile, Griffith is doing all he can
to get the L -39s in good working order.

The most recent jets purchased are in
bad shape.

When I powered up the first one, half
the avionics in it, the instrumentation

didn't work.

So I refused to fly them.

And then in January, a young pilot named
Stephen Freeman shows up at the

security aviation hangar. He is working
for the Illinois company that sold Avery

a few of the L -39s.

There is a dispute about payment, and
Freeman is here on behalf of the seller

repossess one of the jets.

I told the guy who was going to fly
them, I says, those airplanes aren't

airworthy. They've not been flown in
months.

They were disassembled and reassembled
here. You're taking your life in your

hands. The pilot disregards Griffith's
warning and takes off.

He got to catch a can, got in the
weather, probably iced up a little bit.

According to the report from the
National Transportation Safety Board, at

as Freeman approaches the airport, the
air traffic controller tells him it

doesn't look real favorable for a
contact approach.

I'll turn the lights up to high for you.

Freeman answers, okay, thanks.

At 1247, he says, I got the field in
sight.

I'm sure he had inadequate
instrumentation to do an instrument

At 12 .48, another pilot reports that
Freeman is over the water by the narrow.

The air traffic controller tells Freeman
to make an immediate climb.

Moments later, when he asks for
Freeman's position, there is no

Freeman crashes into a mobile home park.

He is killed.

The NTSB rules that the accident is due
to pilot error.

That was a very sad thing. I went to his
funeral in North of Houston.

He had a young wife and a couple of
kids, and he knew better.

For the federal investigators watching
Avery and Kane, the death of Stephen

Freeman means it's time to act.

The administration at the time, the FBI,
the head of our office, elected because

of the death that this had gone on far
enough.

The response comes early on the morning
of February 3rd.

I came around the corner of my dog, and
there was like 100 federal agents there

in black outfits with balaclavas and M
-16s.

I thought that wasn't a good sign.

Clearly, the feds had pulled out all the
stuff.

It was probably the largest search
warrant operation in the history of the

state. While the search goes on at the
airport, The FBI also searches Rob

house.

Kane is later interviewed by a local
news station.

I got a pretty good sense of what's
going on when my dogs are barking at,

know, darkness in the morning.

Inside his house, agents find what they
call an amateur spy kit, bounty hunter

badges, fake Navy SEAL identification,
and FBI badges.

But the FBI's most sensational discovery
is found back at the hangar.

Two rocket pod launchers designed for
the L -39s that could carry missiles

capable of serious damage.

And with rumors spreading of a secret
paramilitary operation going on at

Security Aviation, the government
respond.

The concern was that under federal law,
they had not been demilitarized.

And they could have been certainly hung
on several of the aircraft that Mr.

Avery had purchased.

And so in February, the Fed seized the L
-39s. And Rob Kane and Security

Aviation are indicted on charges of
unlawful possession of destructive

Joe Griffith, called as a witness for
the defense, argues that the rocket pods

are just for show.

I brought a cardboard box in with some
PVC.

shoved through it, and I said, those
rocket pods that you're calling

weapons are no more dangerous than that
cardboard box with the plastic pipe

stuck through them. And the jury loved
it.

After a day of deliberation, the jury
agrees with Griffith. The rocket pods

not dangerous.

Kane is free to go.

It certainly gave the investigation and
the office a black eye.

But after the rocket pod debacle, the
feds turned their full attention to the

biggest question.

Where is Mark Avery getting his money?

It was always the real story was the
financial fraud story.

And that's the part that you can't talk
about because it's under investigation.

Up next, Avery's desperation moves into
high gear.

When they wanted to sell planes they
really hadn't ever touched.

Wow.

By the spring of 2006, there is a
perceptible change at security aviation.

It seems that the days of wild spending
are over.

Eight months or so into the operation,
it became apparent that...

They were having trouble paying their
bills, fuel bills, parts bills.

And then there is the inevitable
announcement.

One day, the employees were all called
to the hangar, and there was an

announcement made that payroll would not
happen as scheduled and that it would

be happening soon.

Obviously, nobody was happy about that.

Employees called us. It was just a
surreal time.

where, you know, one day money seems
like there's no object, and then the

day the people are getting laid off.

Soon it becomes clear Avery is not
running a business.

He is just spending money.

Well, I don't think he had any business
sense. You know, I don't think he was

doing any projections of, you know,
profitability on any of this.

In just six months, Mark Avery has done
what no one could guess is possible.

He has burned through all of the money
entrusted to him.

How often do you see somebody spending
$53 million in six months? I mean,

just, that's incredible.

It's really hard to fathom. And as Avery
desperately looks for cash to pay his

bills, he turns to his most extravagant
purchases.

When they wanted to sell planes they
really had never touched, I thought,

So I put them together with the broker
that found the course there, and he

just... lowball the living stuff right
out of them. They took it. He paid $2 .4

million for the Corsair birthday
present. He dumps it for $1 million.

He paid $1 million for the Mustang.

It goes for $800 ,000.

But the money that comes in is too
little too late.

Avery's real problems are just
beginning.

He has never spelled out for the other
trustees exactly how he is spending the

money. The investigation showed Mark
never emailed the trustees and said,

I'm buying this today and here's why.
I'm buying this today and here's why.

He had every opportunity to do that and
he never did.

And when his fellow trustees finally
learned that Avery spent May Smith's

to pay off personal loans and to buy
himself toys.

They strip him of his position as a
trustee and his $600 ,000 a year salary.

Mark Avery is broke again.

Mark Avery, before he was a trustee, was
broke.

Once he got the $600 ,000 a year as a
trustee, he was still broke. And then by

the time the case was over, he was still
broke, even after the $50 million.

And so Avery declares bankruptcy.

Bill Barstow, as the bankruptcy trustee,
starts to unravel the mystery of the

millions that's disappeared in just a
matter of months.

No one could believe that this man could
spend that kind of money in such a

short period of time and that he must
have hidden some of it.

As Barstow's investigation moves forward
and Avery understands the case against

him, He decides to cooperate.

He pled guilty to being essentially a
bad trustee under the wire fraud

that he did not provide Mae Smith with
honest services.

Avery is sentenced to eight years, and
he heads to federal prison in Latuna,

Texas.

Two years go by, and suddenly in 2010,
there is one more bizarre twist in Mark

Avery's strange saga.

The U .S. Supreme Court makes a ruling
that invalidates all convictions for

honest services fraud.

Avery successfully appeals his
conviction.

He's a free man.

It seems at this moment that he can
start life over with a relatively clean

slate.

Up next, can the government make one
more try to lock up Mark Avery?

Maybe a picture is worth a thousand
words. A video now is maybe worth 10

In

the

fall of 2013, Mark Avery is a free man,
now living in California.

It seems his multimillion -dollar
spending spree in Anchorage is a thing

past. But federal investigators have a
different idea.

Amongst the office, we elected to
recharge him with straight -up theft,

fraud, and money laundering, not denial
of honest services that you were a bad

trustee. Instead, the charge was you're
a thief.

Avery is indicted in October 2013.

And in February 2016,

his trial opens at the federal
courthouse in Anchorage.

Avery takes the stand and points the
finger at his former friend, Rob Kane.

I was a bit of a sucker, Avery says.

He said that Rob knew all these people,
and he told me we could do all these

different things, and I believed that he
was going to come through. But that is

a very tough argument for Avery to sell.

Ultimately, he was the president of the
company. He was the one that borrowed

the money.

He was the head of the ship.

Avery's defense team also argues that
his intentions were good. He was trying

help the trust by making wise
investments.

But the jury has shown the video of the
birthday surprise.

This is yours, bro.

Maybe a picture is worth a thousand
words. A video now is maybe worth ten

thousand.

Thanks, man.

Unbelievable.

But perhaps the biggest moment in the
trial comes when his ex -wife testified.

She was in a lot of pain, and the jury
had a lot of connection with her because

she was almost asking them in her
testimony, why?

Why are we doing all these things?

We were happy when we didn't have the
money. We lived modestly.

Why all these things?

It is the question on everyone's mind.

Why?

What Mark Avery did was an example of
unmitigated,

compulsive spending.

For some people, nothing is ever enough.

Mark Avery wanted to be a big man in the
community.

And when he got the opportunity to spend
$53 million, that will make you a big

man in any community, especially
Anchorage, Alaska.

But he didn't have a way out once that
was done.

After two weeks of trial, the jury finds
Mark Avery guilty.

He is convicted of 11 counts, including
three counts of wire fraud and six

counts of money laundering.

He is sentenced to 13 years and four
months in federal prison.

And Rob Kane, he is not criminally
charged in the case.

He leaves Anchorage and goes to live
with his mother in Arizona.

He did not respond to requests for
comment.

But there is good news for security
aviation.

The original owner buys back the
company.

Today, the business is thriving.

They got the bad guys, cut it out and
got the company back where it belonged.

In the Bahamas, Mae Smith dies in 2006.

What is left in her fund is transferred
to the charitable trust.

And that means the money Mark Avery
squandered is money that should have

people who Stanley Smith wanted to help.

So there's $50 million lost to people
somewhere that would have benefited from

that money directly and then compounded
over time. So their victims out there

are untold. Mark Avery still maintains
he is not guilty of the charges against

him. and is appealing his conviction.

And so, while he keeps his case alive,
in Alaska, his story is remembered as a

bizarre episode of reckless spending,
waste, and greed.

On the next American Greed, he makes
millions scamming the U .S. government,

story that inspired the motion picture.
Once a gunrunner, always a gunrunner.

Meet the real war dogs.

American Greed, next.

CNBC, get yours.

Thank you.