All language subtitles for American Greed s13e12 The Luxury Curse Scam.eng

In this episode of American Greed, radio
host Dawn Bennett is a famous financial

advisor. This is a time period to
control your own financial destiny. Who

listeners and clients her sporty online
startup is the next big thing.

Think like Lululemon on steroids.

To investors, she claims outrageous
profits.

That $3 million is worth over $6
million.

You're crazy to fuck with it. But the
feds say she's running a $20 million

You don't steal $20 million without
having a certain amount of charm.

She was spending millions upon millions
of dollars on expenses that exclusively

benefited herself.

And when investigators close in, she
conjures supernatural forces to save

herself. We can only imagine that Ms.
Bennett cast this spell dozens of times.

Usually situations aren't that dire.
Usually people don't let them get that

Oh, my God.

In the Tony, D .C. suburb of Chevy
Chase, Maryland, FBI agents executing a

search warrant raid two luxury
penthouses on August 2, 2017.

They're looking for evidence of a
financial fraud that's cost dozens of

investors $20 million.

In keeping with their suspicions, they
uncover incredible spending.

It looked like I was walking into the
ladies' department at Neiman Marcus.

There was an entire large closet full of
high -end ladies' shoes, Noah Blahnik,

Jimmy Choo, Christian Louboutin.

But what they find in two freezers is
beyond anything they could have

We found some strange things.

That was the only time in my career at
the FBI that I've come across anything.

even remotely close to that.

Their sinister discoveries suggest the
private desperation and epic downfall of

a woman who was once a darling of Wall
Street.

We run a portfolio that's balanced, and
we do it at 30 % less risk than the S &P

500, and we're up over 25%. In the late
2000s, Dawn Bennett.

CEO of Bennett Group Financial Services
appears to be the poster child for

success. She was very high profile. She
knew how to use the media to

get on programs and get quoted in
publications. She was seen as somebody

really had figured it out.

An accomplished woman in a male
-dominated world, Bennett commands

With TV appearances and her very own
weekly radio show.

Hi, everybody. This is Dawn Bennett.
Welcome to Financial Mythbusting.

Dawn Bennett's radio show, Financial
Mythbusting, is one of these programs

where you buy the airtime. They tended
to be a little bit political sometimes.

She was, I think, leaned a little bit to
the right.

Bennett began her career in 1987,
working at different firms, including

Mason, before launching her own advisory
business, Bennett Group Financial

Services, in 2006.

This former client, we'll call Carl, who
asked to be filmed in shadow, hires her

in 1995 after a recommendation from his
aunt.

Don's very outgoing, very intelligent.

We've talked for a long time about just
anything.

With consistently positive results, he
stays with her when she goes out on her

own. The whole time I was with her, we
were buying stocks, buying mutual funds,

buying platinum, buying gold, selling
stuff as needed.

Bennett's Washington, D .C. firm grows
with lightning speed.

And in 2009, with a purported $1 .1
billion under management, financial

Barron's names her number five on its
list.

of the top 100 female advisors.

And later that year, number 26 overall.

Part of the Barron's list criteria was
assets under management. It's not their

only criteria, but it's one of the
criteria to get on their list.

Bennett revels in the rankings.

In a press release, Bennett says, it's
an honor to be chosen among the

of financial advisors in the country.

by such a prestigious financial magazine
as Barron's.

That honor is one that Bennett will
repeatedly use to make both existing and

potential clients believe that they're
in the hands of one of the industry's

best.

She would always call me with how
wonderful she was.

I'm number 13 in the country, top
financial advisors, top female, top

that. And that's part of the thing that
led me to trust her.

is that I wasn't her only investor.

Former model and television personality
Steve Santagotti is the author of the

New York Times bestseller, The Manual.

A true bad boy explains how men think,
date, and mate, and what women can do to

come out on top.

The guy always pays for the first date.
That is true as ever. Oh, come on. Any

guy that doesn't should be slapped
around. You can get a Ph .D. in

and you'll never know what I know about
women by actually living it and by doing

it, so to speak.

After the publication of his book,
Santagati becomes well -known as a

relationship expert who makes frequent
appearances.

Sharing his decidedly male perspective.

That's a really scary thing, especially
for men, because we have to be lulled

into commitment. You're not going to
think we have commitment phobia, are

No, not at all. I would never say that
on TV.

But before his book is published, he has
a chance encounter in the lobby of a

publicist's office with Dawn Bennett,
who's just starting out on her own.

Dawn Bennett's in there. She's very
buttoned up.

And, of course, we start talking.

And I asked her what she does, and she
said she's a financial advisor.

So I started asking her questions. She
goes, well, I'm starting my own thing.

Santagati says he expresses interest in
having Bennett manage his funds, but

knows he probably doesn't have enough
capital.

She goes, no, I'll take you on.

She goes, absolutely, because you're
just, you know, I'm just starting, and

normally you're right, a million dollars
is the least we'll take.

My whole relationship with Don Bennett
started off with me believing she...

was doing me a favor by taking in such a
small fry that all her investors were

big, smart, multi -multi -millionaires,
and that I was just a little guy that

she was doing a favor for.

Santagati eventually gives Bennett all
the funds from his book, TV appearances,

and the sale of a home he built in
Vermont.

I didn't need much money to survive, so
I would just take everything and give it

to Don.

I literally believe that putting my
money with Don Bennett was as safe as

putting it in the bank. And Don made you
feel that way.

He says he appreciates what he believes
to be Bennett's conservative approach.

As Bennett tells Barron's in 2009, I'm
competitive, but I'm not going to chase

greed.

While Bennett says she won't chase
greed, she doesn't shy from excess as

evidenced by the spoils of her wealth.

She had office space in Chevy Chase in
an expensive retail location.

She had two penthouse condos right down
the road, also in Chevy Chase, that

overlooked Washington, D .C. She had
three different automobiles, expensive

automobiles. She was very well put
together, very well dressed.

Perhaps most extravagantly, Bennett
rents a luxury suite at the Dallas

Stadium. for $500 ,000 a year.

The length of the lease was 20 years, so
ultimately that was a $10 million

purchase that she made.

For clients and listeners who tune into
her weekly radio show called Financial

Mythbusting, Bennett represents herself
as a guru in her field.

This is a time period to control your
own financial destiny.

But when American Greed returns...

Some investors will discover perhaps the
biggest financial myth that needs

busting is that of Dawn Bennett herself,
and some clients will pay the price.

I worked with some of the biggest names
in television, and now I'm living in a

van?

With a portfolio nearing a purported $2
billion in assets under management, Dawn

Bennett is once again named to Barron's
list of top financial advisors.

In 2011, she's ranked number two in all
of Washington, D .C.

On her weekly radio show, she regularly
touts her firm's accolades and

successes.

That's what we're practicing with the $1
.5 billion that we have right now with

money under management and growing.

Client Steve Santagati doesn't think
he's taken any risks.

With his entire life savings in the
hands of a pro like Don Bennett, he says

never thinks twice about the security of
his nest egg.

Santagati gives Bennett a total of $1 .1
million, and at first, she gets it up

to $1 .5.

But in 2011, things began to change.

And I just started watching everything
go down.

First, it was dropping in like $10 ,000
or $20 ,000 increments.

And I didn't really get too nervous
about that.

And then it started dropping hundreds of
thousands.

And I'm watching it go down, tune, tune,
tune, tune. I'm like, oh, my God, I'm

down to like $700 ,000. I'm down to $600
,000. I'm down to $540 ,000.

As his account dips below $200 ,000,

an 85 % plummet, Santagati calls on a
friend in finance to look at what's

happened.

And he looked at it, and he was like,
oh, my God.

According to Santagati, he will learn
that Bennett concentrated him in

investments without explaining the
stakes, even though he insisted on being

conservative and that she borrowed
heavily on margin against his account.

He says... to generate more commissions.

And as Santagati is losing money, he
believes Bennett is making it hand over

fist, raking in $350 ,000 in fees on his
account alone.

Santagati eventually pulls his last bit
of money from the firm.

After 1 .5 at my highest, I ended up
with $180

,000 left.

That's it.

My whole life's work, everything from
paper route to the book, all that money,

everything you've done for your entire
life was gone.

Don Bennett claims Santagati wanted a
highly aggressive portfolio, which

Santagati says simply isn't true.

Without steady income from his career,
Santagati sells everything he owns and

uses what's left to buy a 300 -square
-foot shack in Maine with no heat and an

outdoor shower.

He plans to live there in the summer.
Then he converts a Ford transit van that

he can live in the rest of the year.

Santagati is dumbfounded at his reversal
of fortune.

I worked with some of the biggest names
in television, and now I'm living in a

van?

It wasn't drugs. It wasn't alcohol.

It wasn't gambling.

It wasn't bad relationships.

It was a crook.

I was robbed.

He's not alone.

Other Bennett clients say they are
suffering staggering losses as well.

Several, including Santagati, filed
complaints with the Financial Industry

Regulatory Authority.

As shown in this FINRA broker check
report, Bennett fights the allegations.

When the complaints from customers
started to mount, they started to show

really, really egregious stuff.

Simultaneously, The Securities and
Exchange Commission is examining claims

Bennett has made about her assets under
management and client performance.

But by then, Bennett, a former
competitive swimmer, is diving headfirst

another pool.

In 2010, Bennett launches a side
business, an online luxury sports gear

clothing retailer, DJBennett .com.

She cast DJ Bennett as a company that
would give Under Armour a run for its

money. Think like Lululemon on steroids.

We're talking ski pants that are
hundreds of dollars and tennis shoes

and boots that were in the thousands of
dollars. So she was looking for a very

upscale clientele.

This video on the site's homepage sells
customers on the DJ Bennett lifestyle.

plainly lays out who she was looking for
as her target clientele. It was people

who had a lot of money and a lot of free
time on their hands.

To complement her online luxury retail
business, she opens an appointment -only

showroom adjacent to her investment firm
in the Chevy Chase Pavilion.

There, Bennett serves up champagne and
craft beer while clients peruse the

products.

Bennett repeatedly says that her retail
business will rival Under Armour, and

soon she'll offer some of her brokerage
clients an extraordinary opportunity to

get in on the ground floor.

When American Greed returns, suspicions
of fraud.

I said, Don, are you Madoffing me right
now?

I said, how is this legal?

And later, just what is Bennett keeping
in her freezers?

Dawn Bennett is still running her
financial advisory business and her

radio program.

But she wants more.

She's also launched an upscale online
retailer, DJBennett .com.

The website's professional promotional
video appears designed to attract a

wealthy clientele.

But by December 2014, Bennett learned
she's under investigation by regulators.

when she gives testimony to FINRA.

She was already in getting into some
deep water or some hot water with

regulators. They were already looking
into her claims of having more assets

under management than she had, claims of
having better investment performance

than she had.

Furthermore, clients at her advisory
firm have begun to abandon her.

According to the SEC, by 2015, Bennett
herself is only earning around $100 ,000

in annual commissions.

Her financial advisory business was
tanking. You know, the amount of money

she was managing was evaporating very
quickly, and she

was losing money.

She sunk a lot of money into her
sporting goods business.

And so she reached a point where,
according to investigators, that she was

dire financial straits, but still living
a very posh lifestyle.

A lifestyle that includes that personal
$500 ,000 annual lease for a skybox at

the Dallas Cowboys Stadium.

Bennett falls behind on the rent.

Making matters worse, Bennett's online
high -end retail business is a flop.

DJBennett .com was losing millions of
dollars year after year. In 2012, the

business lost over $1 .4 million.

In 2013, it did even worse.

And then by 2015, it was losing over $6
.5 million annually.

Strapped for cash and under mounting
pressure, Bennett begins actively luring

investors in her DJBennett luxury
sporting goods business.

using a business plan that promises high
profits.

Many are clients who hired her as their
financial advisor.

I had no issues with Dawn, no reason to
distrust her. I've been with her since

1995.

After a relationship of 20 years, Carl
is intrigued when Bennett offers him an

investment opportunity in her retail
venture, DJBennett .com.

According to the information she shows
him, The company is thriving.

She told me how she was doing more
business in the DJBennett .com than she

on the Bennett Group Financial Services.

And the majority of the business was
from China.

It's the same pitch that she makes to
her other investors.

She tells them, listen.

This is a great investment, just like I
would invest your retirement funds or

life savings into something else through
the relationship that we already have.

But instead of putting into outside
stocks or some other investment,

you can put it into my company, and I
will guarantee you a return.

Bennett asks investors to buy
convertible and promissory notes.

Loans for which he guarantees an
unbelievable rate of interest.

So Ms. Bennett would promise them 15 %
annual returns and also the opportunity

to either withdraw the money at any time
or to convert the debt into equity

and actual ownership in this company
that Ms. Bennett claimed was exceeding

expectations. For some, the offer at
first sounds a bit too good to be true.

There was one period of time where I
specifically asked her, you know, Don,

you Madoffing me right now? I said, how
can you tell me that it's a 15 % return?

I said, how is this legal?

And she's told me that this is my money.
This is the company's money.

I can give you whatever return I want to
on the money.

Bennett supplies investors with
financial statements that show a

company.

According to the financial statements
that Dawn Bennett was providing to her

investors, DJBennett .com was making
money hand over fist, year after year.

top of that, the projected revenues that
were in these financial statements were

just through the roof.

Carl transfers everything he has with
Bennett Group Financial Services and

invests it all in DJ Bennett.

I was the largest investor.

I made five, six different investments.

Many of her investors find Bennett
incredibly convincing.

In emails later used against Bennett in
court, one client declines her offer

because he needs the funds to care for
his bedridden wife.

But Bennett will not take no for an
answer and eventually wears him down.

He let her know about his wife's
condition and about their financial

circumstances and his wife's predicament
and that he couldn't tolerate any risk.

And even knowing that, Bennett still
took the entirety of his life

savings, I think almost $850 ,000 to
invest in her failing business and

DJBennett .com. There were examples
of...

Dawn Bennett being remarkably
aggressive, especially when she was

effort at less sophisticated investors.

On one occasion, she physically drove
the victim to the bank in order to

have that victim wire out money.

There's surveillance footage from the
bank where Ms. Bennett is right there at

the teller stand with the victim.

As Bennett concentrates her efforts on
her retail business, her advisory firm

remains under scrutiny.

In September 2015,

the SEC announces charges that from at
least 2009 to 2011, Bennett and Bennett

Group Financial Services woefully misled
the public.

Bennett had claimed to have between $1
.1 and $2 billion under management at

firm. But when investigators start to
dig, they can't find she ever had more

than $407 million.

According to SEC filings, those
fabrications were submitted to Barron's

ultimately used to secure Bennett's high
rankings on the publication's top

financial advisors list.

She inflated her assets to get on the
list, and then once she was on the list,

she would use that status.

and her assets, her inflated assets, on
her radio program and other marketing

programs. So it was basically, she had
her own little system there just feeding

on itself, which was all really based on
the initial lie.

At the time, Barron's tells Investment
News that they compare the numbers

advisors submit against the SEC
database.

They were kind of stuck in the situation
of using the assets under management

that Don Bennett was reporting to
regulators.

The SEC also contends Bennett lied about
clients' performance to bolster her

stature.

To clients and D .J. Bennett investors,
Bennett rushes the charges off.

She said the reason for it was that she
was very outspoken about President

Obama's way of looking at finance. She
described it as a witch hunt.

Next on American Greed, Bennett turns to
an unlikely place to solve her

problems.

but they're only getting worse.

Came back from lunch one day and had a
voicemail from the FBI. We need to speak

with you and know this is not a joke.

In the serene San Juan Islands of
Washington State, Ben Collins operates

website puja .net.

A spiritual man who discovered Hinduism
in his youth, Collins founded the site

to center on puja and yaga rituals,
traditional ceremonies involving

to deities.

Generically speaking, the goal of any of
these rituals is to remove obstacles to

success in life.

For a small fee, Collins arranges for
these rituals to be done by priests at

temples in India.

In mid -2015, Collins notices his site
has a new customer, financial advisor

entrepreneur Don Bennett.

Don found us on the Internet, although I
don't know exactly how or why in the

beginning, but she started
participating.

And after a few months... She was
spending more money than most people do.

So I gave her a call and said, you know,
I'm Ben Collins. You know, how can I

help you?

Bennett tells Collins she's being
investigated by the SEC, but she paints

herself as the victim.

She emails him, I am in a very tough
fight going against my enemies, and I

all the help I can get.

She wants to see what she could do to
increase her prosperity and solve these

problems with the SEC.

She never shares whether she identifies
as Hindu. But soon, Bennett is spending

$1 ,000 a day for 100 priests to pray on
her behalf.

I would say to her, Don, you know, you
don't have to do this much.

You know, why not dial it back a little,
take a long -range view.

And she said, no, Ben, the money is not
the point. At my peak, I was making a

million dollars a month.

Don't worry about the money.

Quite honestly, Don could be a bit of a
bully. She could be extremely insistent

on getting whatever it was she wanted.

In only two years, Bennett pays Collins
more than $800 ,000 for the rituals.

We were supporting probably 200 priests.

And their families, for two years we
provided them with some very steady and

reasonable income.

So some good came out of it from our
side.

Despite the prayers, regulators don't
back off.

In late 2015, an employee at a bank in
Maryland becomes suspicious when an 80

-year -old customer comes in requesting
a withdrawal to invest in Bennett's

online startup, DJBennett .com.

The elderly woman provided some
financials that Don Bennett had given

DJBennett .com, which caused the bank
branch representative to do some quick

research. And the bank branch
representative found the 2015 SEC press

into the investigation into Bennett
Group Financial Services.

And at that point, the bank branch
representative actually called the SEC.

The SEC then also begins to investigate
DJBennett .com and ultimately calls

in the FBI.

Came back from lunch one day and had a
voicemail.

This is Agent Custer from the FBI. We
need to speak with you and know this is

not a joke.

Until then, Ben Collins has no idea that
the money Bennett paid him is coming

from investors who believe they are
funding Bennett's luxury retail sporting

goods venture.

D .J. Bennett.

He immediately cuts off contact with her
and cooperates with investigators.

As the FBI discovers, India is not the
only place investor funds are going.

Bank records reveal that funds from
investor deposits come in and go

out to pay law firms representing
Bennett, the mortgages on her

and her personal credit cards.

And there were hundreds of thousands of
dollars spent on places and things such

as cosmetic procedures, Neiman Marcus.

Over $130 ,000 were spent on these gems
that were supposed to have

mystical or spiritual properties. One
stone in particular was a 21 -carat

sapphire. They cost over $80 ,000 of
investor money.

Investor funds also go directly to the
Dallas Cowboys, to whom Bennett owes

hundreds of thousands of dollars on her
luxury suite lease.

The timing of the money coming in and
the money going out was almost

instantaneous.

Almost as if she was waiting for the
money to come in and she knew exactly

she had to do with it.

Other funds go to pay earlier investors.

One day I came into work and the FBI was
in my office and they pulled out a

binder and they said that Don Bennett is
running a Ponzi scheme.

I didn't believe them.

Meanwhile, when investors and creditors
try to reach Bennett to redeem their

funds, she dodges them as an FBI wiretap
reveals.

Good morning, Bennett Group. How may I
help you?

I would like to speak with Dawn Bennett.
I'm a client.

She is out on travel at the moment. Can
I take a message and relay it to her?

Where is she traveling? Out of the
country?

She's out of the country at the moment.

In Asia.

I'm sorry.

She was very sick last week and now all
of a sudden she's out of the country?

Yes. A fairly routine example was If an
investor called and said, you know, I

need my money back, that employee would
tell the investor, well, Don Bennett's

in China.

But according to the FBI, during those
time periods, Bennett never leaves the U

.S.

We found credit card expenditures at
times where she represented, she was out

the country, you know, at Starbucks down
the street.

There was one particular...

time period where she told me she was
one place and I talked to them. They

no, she's not.

Would it surprise you to know that she
never went to China?

And then I said, okay.

That was where the lie was revealed.

Next on American Greed, investigators
execute a search warrant and the case

takes a dark and surprising turn.

It said something like, I cross and
cover you. I command you not to speak. I

command you to hold your tongue.

Dawn Bennett was once a respected power
player in the financial industry.

But in July 2016,

the SEC bars Bennett from the securities
industry for inflating her assets under

management. and client performance at
her financial advisory firm.

At the same time, the FBI is conducting
a criminal investigation into a possible

Ponzi scheme involving Bennett's retail
sportswear business, DJ Bennett.

On August 2, 2017, FBI agents raid
Bennett's office and her two penthouse

condos in Chevy Chase.

Their findings include evidence of both
excess...

and guilt.

In the office, they uncover what appears
to be a list of excuses an employee was

to provide to callers who were
attempting to reach Bennett.

One of the penthouses, Bennett's
residence, is filled with valuable Asian

-influenced furniture and art.

And the other?

The other one she used almost
exclusively as a closet.

And the closet had all sorts of designer
items in it.

There were over 700 pairs of these high
-end shoes, some of which still had the

$1 ,000 price tag still on them. At
first glance, you could say, well,

that was the inventory for her company.
But as it turned out, all of those shoes

were the same size, and they were her
shoe size.

But perhaps the strangest evidence comes
from the kitchen and a back room.

There, investigators find two freezers
jammed with mason jars, the lids each

labeled with mysterious letters.

So when we opened the mason jars, there
was this kind of sandy sludge, and it

didn't smell very good.

Nearby, they find biographical
information on SEC attorneys

Bennett's case.

Attorneys whose initials match the
letters on the mason jars.

And they find instructions for a beef
tongue shut up hoodoo spell.

It was a printout from a website in
which a person could cast a spell

using certain ingredients, which
included beef tongue, lemon juice, red

say the magic words.

I'm paraphrasing here, but it said
something like, I cross and cover you.

I command you not to speak. I command
you to hold your tongue.

We can only imagine that Ms. Bennett
cast this spell dozens of times to

thwart the government investigation
against her and to get the SEC to hold

tongue. Anyone who would be...

Utilizing the beef tongue shut up spell
would be someone who is in a very dire

situation.

Sarah Best is a hoodoo practitioner and
owner of Conjured Cadea, which sells

potions and objects used in the creation
of spells.

Best says hoodoo should not be confused
with voodoo, which is an actual

religion.

Hoodoo is an earth magical practice.

It's a folk magic tradition that
utilizes natural objects, curios,

herbs, to bring about a desired effect.

She's not connected to Bennett's case,
but knows the beef tongue shut up spell

Bennett seemed to perform.

Typically, it would be used to stop
somebody from slandering you or

about you.

It could also be used to, we would use
the term, shut someone up.

or if maybe they were going to speak
against you in a court case.

According to Best, those performing the
spell would first acquire a tongue from

a butcher.

You would cut a slit down the center of
the beef tongue, and in the slit you

would put a photo or a name paper, we
would call it, of the person that you

would want to stop from speaking against
you.

And then you would sew it up.

Best says the spell is nothing to mess
with. She's only done it once.

And she says it's very unusual if
Bennett did it multiple times.

It's a very serious working and it's not
something that's taken lightly.

Usually situations aren't that dire.
Usually people don't let them get that

When the FBI's findings are later
released, former Bennett clients are

That was kind of...

Way out there.

That was in the wackadoodle range, to be
honest.

Up next on American Greed, Bennett may
have tried to shut up investigators, but

she can't seem to hold her own tongue.

But I'm asking you as my friend to keep
it committed until October 31st. Please.

I can't do it.

Oh, God, help me.

The government has amassed a
preponderance of evidence that Don

running a fraud.

But there's one more nail to be hammered
into the coffin.

Investor Carl agrees to record his
conversations with Bennett for the FBI.

Every conversation was, we're doing
really well.

But when Carl asks for some of his money
back... There were times when Don

Bennett was saying it was impossible
because for...

sort of obscure financial reasons. We
won't be able to return the money to you

right away.

I'm asking you as my friend to keep it
committed until October 31st, please.

I can't do it.

Oh, God, help me.

Is there any way that you can?

Anyway, I'm just begging you because I
really do not have the time to sit there

and, you know, reorganize a financial
thing right now. I just don't. And for

the right reasons.

And then there were other times when Don
Bennett was communicating to this

investor that this is a terrible idea
for you because we're making so much

at this company that you don't want to
withdraw your money. I'm only asking for

my money.

Oh, by the way, I know. But here's part
two.

I have made you, this company, still,
because of your equity step -up, that $3

million is worth over $6 million.

You're crazy to fuck with it.

On August 25th, 2017, investigators
arrest Bennett at a rented vacation home

Santa Fe, New Mexico.

Bennett is charged with 17 counts,
including wire fraud, bank fraud, and

false statements on a loan application.

According to the government, from
December 2014 through April 2017,

Bennett ran a Ponzi scheme.

And investor funds meant as loans to her
retail sportswear company were actually

going to fund her lavish lifestyle, as
well as pay back earlier investors.

Prosecutors alleged that at least 46
people invested $20 million in the

At her trial, the jury never hears about
Bennett's alleged hoodoo practice.

Instead, a parade of victims testify.

that they trusted Bennett with their
life savings and ended up losing it all.

This was money that these folks had set
aside for ailing family members, for

their own long -term care, for their
grandchildren's education, so that they

could retire and so that they wouldn't
have to return to the workplace.

So the loss of these funds was just
absolutely devastating.

Bennett does not testify.

But her attorneys argue that, like
Amazon once was, DJBennett .com was a

that someday would have been a huge
success, and that she herself had sucked

millions of her own dollars into the
venture.

Don Bennett's defense was that I wasn't
lying.

I told these investors that the company
was successful, and I believe it was

successful. I believe it was going to be
successful.

Sure, I wasn't making...

massive profits, but I viewed my company
as a startup, she would say.

But the jury doesn't buy it.

The evidence showed that while she was
promising to use her investors' money

solely to further the business interests
of her investors and of DJBennett .com,

that she was spending millions upon
millions of dollars on expenses that

exclusively benefited herself.

In October 2018, Bennett is found guilty
on all 17 counts.

She's later sentenced to 20 years in
prison and ordered to pay $14 .5 million

in restitution.

Dawn Bennett does not respond to
American Greed's requests for an

But at her sentencing, Bennett states, I
am so profoundly humiliated that it

will be difficult to ever shake off.

She's appealing her case.

Carl only gets back a quarter of what he
invested.

Made me feel like a fool, obviously.

All my plans, everything that I had
tried to accomplish, I had done.

And then, okay, it's gone. I need to
start over again.

Former client Steve Santagotti never
invests in Bennett's sporting goods

But he still considers himself one of
her victims.

And in March 2017, prior to Bennett's
arrest, a FINRA arbitration panel

awarding Santagati $1 million to cover
his losses and legal fees.

The award is paid out by insurance.

Now, in coastal Maine, Santagati lives a
simple life in a small house he built

by himself.

But he'll never forget the toll that
hiring Don Bennett took on him.

I would love to see Dawn Bennett face to
face again in jail.

Not so I could go there and go, I told
you so.

Ha ha ha.

Look at you, you scumbag.

I want to look her in the eyes.

A victim of her theft.

And just be able to say, I know.

We all know who you are now.

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