All language subtitles for American Greed s15e09 The Skys the Limit.eng

You're watching CNBC On Demand.

In this episode of American Greed, when
COVID first hits, the U .S. government

opens the money spigot. Today I'll sign
the single biggest economic relief

package in American history.

But that package leads to what is quite
possibly the largest fraud in American

history. Estimates start around $100
billion.

A staggering amount of COVID relief
money disappears into the hands of

criminals. The fraudsters are bold,
buying luxury cars, flights on private

mansions. And in the crowd of crooks,
one swindler stands out.

Richard Avazian runs a family fraud
factory designed to steal millions in

cash to spend on houses, watches, and
gold.

You know, in a crisis, most of us turn
to each other, and there are some of us

that turn on each other.

It was cruel to their fellow Americans,
people who actually needed that money to

survive.

American greed goes inside the assembly
line of fraud, inside the Avazian's

mansion. It was what they called at
trial their dream house.

Inside their private conversation.

She's not saying that because mom and
dad are coming over for dinner. There's

intent behind that.

And inside the decision to leave their
children and run. Richard tries to

justify it as if he had no choice. But
he had a choice. They chose to commit

fraud. They chose to steal money.

And they choose their place on the FBI's
notorious list.

Most Wanted.

Tonight, over 16 ,000 now dead across
America.

New York alone with more cases than any
country in the world.

Looking back to the spring of 2020 is
painful.

We are just discovering what COVID -19
can mean.

Hospitals are overflowing.

ICUs are running out of ventilators.

More than 100 ,000 Americans have died.

Entire cities are shut down.

Tens of millions of Americans are
suddenly without work.

And for some, that spells opportunity.

In Tarzana, California, in his $3
million mansion,

Richard Abazian is thrilled with the
COVID cash he is raking in.

He sends a text to his sister -in -law,
Tammy Dodgion.

Babe, I got the funds. I just checked
the accounts.

Already a convicted felon, Richard is
leading his family on a criminal

How much they send you, Tammy asks.

Like over 500 so far.

It will later become clear that Richard
is firmly dedicated to one principle.

He will never be caught.

Richard Avazian's story begins in
Yerevan, Armenia, at a time when the

still rule.

When he is 10 years old, his mother
brings Richard and his brother to

start a new life, leaving behind his
abusive father.

They set up life in the Los Angeles
area, where for years, Armenian

find a welcoming landing spot.

When he came over to the United States,
he did not speak any English.

He started in the fifth grade, and he
learned how to assimilate into the

States culture, and he loved it.

And in the country he loves, he finds
the love of his life. Her name is

Tarabellion. They are married in 2004
and have two sons and a daughter.

One of the things that he said is that
he really wanted to be the father that

never had.

He wanted to be the father that was
going to be there, be a provider, and be

role model for his children.

Yes, he will be a role model.

A role model for turning a crisis into a
chance to steal.

In 2007, Richard Avazian's cunning
business strategy starts to become

He is working in real estate.

At the time, easy -to -get subprime
mortgages are flooding the country.

So Richard sees an opportunity.

He knows the real estate market. He
knows how to work the system in order to

the money out of it.

It is time to try his hand at bank
fraud.

He knows many banks are not verifying
income, and so on an application for a

home equity line of credit, he gives his
a boost.

From $6 ,000 a month up to $44 ,000.

Bingo. The loan is approved.

Richard gets a half a million dollars.

And so next, Marietta gets in on the
game.

This time, they use her as the borrower,
and she inflates her income. And at the

time, she was making zero to none. And
using the false W -2s and the false tax

return, she gets over a million dollars.
Just like that.

But unfortunately for them, the couple
that steals together gets indicted

together on charges of bank fraud.

Five months later, Richard and Marietta
plead guilty. And Richard writes to the

sentencing judge asking to avoid jail
time.

He says that he is most afraid of being
separated from his family, the most

important people in my life.

I will never in the future do anything
to cause them pain.

It works. The judge believes him.

And the court took a flyer on him and
said, okay, I'm going to make you do

community service. I won't take you from
your family, and I hope you learn from

this.

But the lesson Richard and Marietta
learned, crime pays.

Eight years after their felony
convictions, Richard and Marietta are

multi -million dollar house in Encino.

Presumably, they can afford it because
Richard is a success working in a number

of seemingly legitimate businesses.

Richard Avazian presented himself to the
world as a serial entrepreneur and

angel investor who was interested
primarily in the tech industry.

But appearances can be deceiving.

Evidence shows that despite their
previous convictions, Richard and

actually expand and refine their
mortgage fraud operation.

They had essentially a well -oiled
machine to commit fraud. We call it the

assembly line of fraud.

That assembly line is comprised of a
huge array of stolen identities,

documents, and bank accounts created for
one purpose.

to steal millions of dollars in loans
they never intend to pay back.

Just a few blocks away are their co
-conspirators, Richard's brother,

and his sister -in -law, Tammy Dodgion.

This is a criminal enterprise that is
all in the family.

Not only do they have the relationships
that most American families have with

their spouses or with their brothers or
sisters or brother and sister -in -laws,

But here they're all partners in crime.
And this was a family business and that

business was fraught.

And their best business opportunity is
about to fall into their laps.

Up next, Richard cracks the code to
unlock COVID cash.

To them it was a game. How much could
they take and how fast could they get

Later, with the FBI at the door, what is
Marietta hiding?

By all appearances, Richard Abazian
lives by the motto, in every crisis lies

criminal opportunity.

And in 2020, that cynical view pits him
against small business owners across the

country who are finally back on their
feet following the Great Recession.

Before the pandemic, we were making a
lot of progress.

Marquise Harris Dawson represents South
L .A. in the Los Angeles City Council.

Certainly we had problems that any low
-income community of color in this

country has, but we were making
progress.

Take, for example, this small
restaurant, Madears.

For 18 years, owner Kerry Reese served
Southern -style food, grits, and oxtails

to loyal customers.

We did very well.

2019 was one of our biggest years, and I
was very encouraged.

Each day was becoming a better day.

That is, until COVID -19 arrives.

As the crisis sweeps the nation, the
toll is growing by the hour. Another 2

lives lost nationally since yesterday as
this wildfire of misery burns across

the country. I'm very scared that if
this doesn't stop soon, we're going to

up with a much bigger problem.

And California becomes the first state
to issue a stay -at -home order.

That directive goes into force and
effect this evening, and we are

that the people of the state of
California will abide by it.

For businesses everywhere, the news is
alarming, frightening.

At Madears, it feels like a gut punch.

I furloughed 50 % of my staff at that
point because I didn't know.

how long that the full -on closure was
going to last.

And I didn't have the kind of backup
funds to continue to pay people, and

there's no money coming in.

And then in March, a lifeline is thrown
out.

My fellow Americans, tonight I want to
speak with you about our nation's

unprecedented response to the
coronavirus outbreak.

President Trump announces that he is
authorizing billions of dollars for

relief.

For struggling businesses across the
country, it offers a chance to survive.

But up in Encino, for the Avazian
family, with an impressive track record

milking a crisis, the global pandemic is
the opportunity of a lifetime.

Immediately, Richard texts Tammy Dadian,
his sister -in -law. Did you hear Trump

today? He's passing a bill to give small
businesses $80 billion.

Tammy responds, we can totally do this.

She understands immediately that it is
time to pivot from mortgage fraud to

will be the next hot crime, COVID fraud.

Two weeks later, when Congress passes
the $2 .2 trillion CARES Act, it's clear

the potential is huge.

Six hundred sixty nine billion dollars
in loans for the Paycheck Protection

Program, PPP, and 20 billion dollars for
economic injury disaster loans,

EIDL. Because the relief money needs to
get out the door fast, the approval

process is deliberately easy.

The Small Business Administration, in
sending that money out, largely relied

an honor system.

They basically said to people, apply.

and sign and tell us that you're really
entitled to the money.

That is an open invitation to someone
like Richard Avazian.

He gets to work right away.

He tells Tammy, this program is over by
the end of the month, so get as much as

you can.

Knowing that doors were closing on them,
knowing that the program was not going

to last forever, if they were going to
fulfill their criminal dreams, they'd

have to move quickly and move broadly,
and they did just that.

Early on, Richard learns that the EIDL
program issues a $10 ,000 cash advance.

Richard texts Tammy, if you don't
qualify for loan, you keep the 10K.

She's honored.

Okay, so let's do for all this idiots.

10K is 10K, she answers.

Those idiots are a cast of characters
the Avazians have assembled to front

fraud.

Many are actual legitimate businesses
whose identity they steal outright.

Others are synthetic identities.

When I say synthetic, I mean not just a
completely 100 % fake identity, but an

identity that is made up of fake parts
and real parts, which is particularly

dangerous because there are parts that
can be verified, and yet it's not a real

identity. Like this person, Yulia Zadko.

She comes to the United States from
Ukraine on a student visa and gets a

security number.

But she stays for just four months and
never comes back.

There is little risk that she will learn
her name is used over and over to steal

from the U .S. government.

We think that they knew her and that
when she left, they took that identity

she had and used it to commit fraud. And
how many did they use it to commit

fraud? They turned her into a man.

And soon, Yulia Zadko, the man, wins
approval for COVID relief money for a

number of businesses.

Top quality contracting, timeline
transport, touring info solutions.

Total take for that one idiot, $1 .2
million.

And right behind Zadko is another
student, Victoria Kaishko, also from

She, too, is a versatile business
person, the owner of Journeyman

and Runyon Tax Service and Fiber One
Media.

Many of the identities are holdovers
from previous loan frauds. Already bank

accounts, even websites, are in place.

They're primed. They literally are set
up to roll out as many loan applications

as possible.

And that is just what they do.

In the first month, they seek approval
on 43 loans, attempting to rake in more

than $5 million.

Richard texts, I did two yesterday and
got docs today. One of them already

funded in the account.

It's crazy.

They're literally laughing about it,
because to them it's free money, when in

reality this was supposed to be money to
keep people off the street.

And it is money that may soon run out.

With the pressure on...

Richard and Tammy are in constant minute
-by -minute touch in their typo -laden

text messages.

Tamara clearly respects Richard. She
clearly looks to him for guidance.

At one point, Tammy asks Richard, how
many times can people apple for the

relief? He knows exactly what she is
asking.

She was, in many ways, his second
lieutenant.

And he repeatedly makes it clear he is
in charge.

At one point he asks, who told you to do
those numbers?

Tammy answers, me, myself, LOL.

Richard snaps back, no, I told you, I
have the freaking formula.

Hello?

He does have the formula. And his
ability to game the system even

investigators. What impressed me the
most was their savviness to understand

the EIN...

was the key in this process.

EIN, employee identification number.
That's the one number the program

check to make sure an application is not
a duplicate.

Richard figures it out. He tells Tammy,
go to bluevine .com right now and apply.

They are approving and closing within 24
hours.

Tammy, with same info?

Yeah. Just change your EIN by one
number. They don't check for...

And, Tam, it's all automated.

So they were able to apply for multiple
loans using the same company name, but

simply varying the tax identification
number, oftentimes by just one digit.

As their strategies pay off, Richard and
Tammy are both working through the

night.

Richard, I didn't sleep all night. I was
working 24 hours straight.

Tammy? I applied at 3 a .m. for my B of
A in Wells, LOL.

Their greed was unbridled, and it was
cruel to their fellow Americans. People

who actually needed that money to
survive were, in their mind,

people that they were racing against to
try to get as much money as they

possibly could so that they could keep
it for themselves.

And while Richard and Tammy celebrate
their victories, their competitors,

business owners, are losing the game.

Carrie Reese gets money for COVID
relief, but it is not enough to pay her

And so she applies again.

I didn't get that because they said the
money had already been depleted.

And the stress becomes intolerable.

The most precarious situation was all of
the pre -designated payments that were

coming through.

And there was no money to cover them.
And so then you get into this spiral of

overdraft fees or return check fees, and
it was just, I was like, stop, please,

just stop.

And the future?

Bleak. I saw my retirement dreams just
melt away.

And it's like, what do I do now?

Meanwhile, Richard writes Tammy.

I got the keys today on the house.

Apparently, his lifestyle is in for a
major upgrade.

Up next, a shocking exploitation of a
death in the family.

There is little point in staying up all
night to steal millions of dollars if

one cannot truly enjoy the rewards of
stolen money.

And so, in June 2020, Richard and
Marietta do just that.

They move into their new Tuscan -style
villa in Tarzana.

The price tag?

More than $3 million.

It was what they called at trial their
dream house.

It's a big moment for the Avazian
family.

Tammy texts Richard, I love you, my big
brother, and truly happy for you for

this new achievement in your life.

She adds, anyone of the looser who have
their eye on you.

You know, people like us, the
government.

Richard answers as if he is accepting an
award for businessman of the year.

Thanks, it's not just me.

Trust me, you, Art, everyone I care
about, plays a big role in my life that

drives me to achieve.

It's a telling line.

It shows that Richard is proud of his
criminal accomplishments.

They are a measure of his success as the
leader of the family business.

The family business is whatever it takes
to keep the money, to keep the lavish

lifestyle, the houses that they're used
to.

It's not about being a good father or a
good role model or following the rules.

It's about a result.

It doesn't matter how you get there.

And as the COVID money pours in, Richard
is making enormous investments in

watches, very expensive watches.

He needed someplace to park his money
because he can't take stolen money and

just go down to the bank and deposit it
in his savings account. He's got to put

it somewhere.

And these watches are a way to do that.

He and his watch dealer shoot photos
back and forth via text message.

Richard says, get me a price on these.

When the dealer suggests a watch costing
$130 ,000, Richard gives a thumbs up.

And why not? The flow of money is fast
and steady.

Sign today, Richard says.

Tammy, LOL.

To them it was a game.

And how much could they take? And how
fast could they get it?

And they are always on the lookout for
the new identity to steal.

In July, they break ground on a new
opportunity.

It's a particularly grim opportunity.

In July 2020, Meredith Terabellion's
father died.

Within three days.

Richard Avazian opened bank accounts in
his name and began applying for pandemic

relief funds using his name and using a
company called Monteros.

The dead man's take, $534 ,000.

It's a pretty blatant example of how far
they were willing to go to steal more

money in this case, is to take their
dead relative's name three days after

pass away, when normal people would be
grieving and they were using that name

steal money.

And shortly after the COVID relief money
hits the bank, his daughter, a .k .a.

Victoria Kaichko, spends that money on
furniture and jewelry.

Lots of jewelry.

$60 ,000 here, $62 ,000 there.

Cash courtesy of the Paycheck Protection
Program.

And it kind of gives you an insight into
the mentality of these fraudsters,

which is my needs are more important.

My wants are more important.

My dream house is more important. My AP
watch that's hundreds of thousands of

dollars, that is more important than the
businesses going out of business and

the homeless that are gathering outside
of the lakes and the streets of L .A.

And for business owners across L .A. and
their employees, it is getting rough

out there.

In this year, 7 ,500 Los Angeles County
businesses permanently close, more than

in any other U .S. city.

And many are just barely hanging on,
like Third Street Dance in Los Angeles.

For 40 years, it is a beloved fixture in
the community, now owned by Leslie

Ferreira. This place has been around
forever, and people don't just come here

dance. People come here to have
friendships, to become part of a

But when COVID shuts her down, Leslie
joins thousands of other business owners

scrambling for money.

I absolutely was afraid, 100%. I mean, I
don't think any small business owner

out there wasn't afraid of pandemic.

To keep her business alive, she begins
holding classes outside in the parking

lot. and she gets a PPP loan.

It covers expenses for one month.

When she is eligible for the second, she
learns the government funding has run

out. And so, with no other choice, she
starts to go through her personal

savings. No one wants to be going into
their personal savings to be paying for

their business.

But I also knew that I had to get
through it.

She does get through it.

And later, she is stunned to learn about
the fraudsters living just a few miles

away. I'm sure they went by tons of
businesses and drove by and just saw

after sign of closing and closing and
for lease because people went under and

they just continued to do that. It's
really upsetting, yeah.

She's right.

Richard Abazian is out driving.

He has a watch to pick up.

Up next, Richard has no idea, but the
FBI is watching.

This car shows up, and it's a Mercedes G
-Class SUV.

This person get out.

In Palm Desert, 150 miles east of the
Abazian Fraud Factory,

Donald Zabala runs a small construction
company.

For 40 years, he makes a good living. He
has a great credit score, no debt, no

complaints from customers.

And that makes him a sitting duck for
the fraud family.

His first clue comes in 2019 when his
mail is mysteriously redirected to an

unknown address.

I got a late payment on one of my bills,
and then I got another one, and I

couldn't figure it out.

And then it gets worse. He is threatened
and accused of things he has nothing to

do with.

We started getting calls that people
wanted to sue us because we were putting

liens on their houses and taking out
loans that we didn't take out.

In time, he learns, like dozens of other
honest business owners, he is just a

tool in the assembly line of fraud.

The Avazians entangle him in an unknown
number of schemes and at least three

loans for COVID relief for a total take
of $445 ,000.

All I know is they just tried to steal
everything they could from me and from

the government.

Meanwhile, Richard warns Tammy, I got
rid of everything on Sabala.

The reason?

Sabala put out a fraud alert and knows
something is going on.

In fact, at this point, a lot of people
know something is going on, including

the major fraud unit at the Department
of Justice.

In June 2020, we received a tip that
there was a possible loan fraud ring

involving about 17 different loans at
the time.

Very quickly, two names stand out.

Yulia Zatko and Victoria Kaishko.

We know all of these loans are
fraudulent.

Big question is, who's really behind it?
Who's driving the boat?

One legitimate company Victoria Kaishko
claims to own is Runyon Tax Service.

And so, IRS criminal investigator
Jeffrey Clark heads out to the address

on the application.

It's an outdoor furniture store.

This is a good representation of many of
the other locations I went to also.

Most of them were other businesses. They
were vacant office buildings.

The businesses weren't at the locations.

And it never been. It's just false,
false, false, false. There's nothing

the applications.

And so the investigators take the most
promising route. They follow the money.

They see that Yulia Zatko's company,
Timeline Transport, deposits $149 ,000

an account at Radius Bank.

We look at the bank account. We see the
$149 ,000 come in. I saw $100 ,000 being

wired out almost immediately, like
within a day or two, to an escrow

The escrow company explains the money is
for the purchase of a house. Purchase

of a house in whose names?

Richard of Ozian, Marietta Terabellian.

And there it is.

The first connection that ties Yulia
Zatko to very real people, Richard and

Marietta. And then as we dug into who
Richard Avazian and Marietta Terabellian

were, career criminals, career
fraudsters. And from there, the

takes off.

We find that additional money that was
fraudulently obtained using the name

Yulia Zatko was used to purchase
watches. That takes us to the

But the watch dealer has never heard of
Yulia Zatko.

I said, well, here's the day the money
was transferred. Here's the amount. They

looked at their bank records, and the
first thing they said was, oh, that's

Richard.

The dealer reports that he is about to
FedEx a watch to Richard, and on the day

of the delivery, the FBI is waiting and
watching.

This car shows up, and it's a Mercedes G
-class SUV, which we call it a G

-wagon. It's, you know, it's $100 ,000,
$150 ,000 vehicle.

You see this person get out. You're
like, oh, I wonder if that's... Our guy.

The driver of the G -Wagon goes in and
collects his package.

When we went to FedEx later and asked,
well, who picked that up or what ID was

presented, it was an ID for Richard
Avazian.

And one more thing about that G -Wagon.
I checked the license plate, and that

license plate comes back to Fiber One
Media.

Fiber One Media had applied for a number
of different loans in the name of

Victoria Kaishko.

Meanwhile, back at the assembly line,
frustration is mounting.

Banks' fraud detectors are waking up.

So banks themselves have their own
checks and balances and checks to make

that fraudulent funds aren't coming in.
So, for example, if your average balance

is $3 ,000 a month and you suddenly have
$300 ,000, that raises some red flags.

And that's what's happening with all
these accounts because you're getting so

much money. They're a victim of their
own success.

and the money's getting stuck.

And Tammy and Richard are furious.

In their minds, they are entitled to
that money. They are the ones who stole

In late September, Tammy sends off a
text.

We need your help.

This Capital One restricted the account
that I finally opened.

Richard answers, Babe going crazy, I
have five accounts frozen from Chime.

It's exhausting. It is time for a break.

Up next, what not to take through U .S.
Customs. That's the definition of red

-handed. That's getting caught red
-handed.

Want more greed?

Follow us on Instagram, connect on
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Podcast wherever you get your podcasts.

We'll be right back.

By October 2020, any hope of a quick
ending to the pandemic has long faded.

morning, COVID infections are climbing
at an alarming rate in the U .S., now

crossing the 9 million mark, with cases
rising in nearly every state.

The spread unrelenting.

But alongside countless stories of pain
and suffering are stories of people

responding to the pandemic in the most
positive ways.

Now, Americans are creating new ways to
help our nation's health care workers

and first responders.

It's just a way that everybody can get
involved and show some solidarity right

now.

In South L .A., Marquise Harris Dawson
joins that spirit, bringing people

together to help each other.

His idea?

Giving money to restaurants to deliver
meals to seniors who are fearful about

leaving their homes.

It's a lifesaver.

So many restaurants called us and said,
you know, when we got the call from your

office, we were already closing our
books and preparing to close our bank

accounts and shut down the business.

This briefed life into our business.

Terry Reese jumps at the chance to get
Madears operating again.

She enlists her grandsons to help
deliver the food.

And they join an army of people across
the country who stand in stark contrast

to the deceit and greed of fraudsters
exploiting the crisis.

Like those in their dream house in
Tarzana.

While the pandemic rages outside their
doors, Richard Abazian and Marietta

Terabellion pack up their bags and their
secret stash of COVID cash and head off

to Turks and Caicos.

From his chair on the beach, Richard
texts Tammy a picture of his view and

What's up, Tams? You up?

I'm three hours ahead here.

And even on vacation, the fraud business
never stops.

And one of the things that he was doing
while he was sitting on the beach was

texting Tammy about how to use the money
to purchase yet another house, yet

another luxury home, using money that
they had stolen from the American

government and from the banks.

Trouble is waiting for Richard and
Marietta back in the States. The FBI has

asked customs to look out for the
fraudsters.

And so in Miami, after border agents
perform a secondary inspection of the

Avazian's belongings, they call Justin
Palmerton at the FBI.

And they said, hey, there's something
going on here. You guys, like, normally

when we see what we've seen on these
people, you guys come and arrest them

immediately.

What are they seeing?

Credit cards.

Seriously incriminating credit cards.

In the names of Yulia Zatko and Victoria
Kaichko.

That's the definition of red -handed.

That's getting caught red -handed.

The dream vacation is now a nightmare.

Richard and Marietta are arrested.

They are taken to the Broward County
Jail.

There, Marietta makes two phone calls.
She is told it is a recorded line.

But still, she says what she should not
say.

Marietta Terabellian uses the phrase,
you know the charge. And the reason she

uses that phrase is because she knows
the charge.

It reveals her state of mind.

It reveals her consciousness of guilt.

And then she continues in Armenian.

Clean the house.

She's not saying that because Mom and
Dad are coming over for dinner.

There's an intent behind that.

That's someone who knows that she's done
something wrong, and she knows they

need to cover their tracks.

And now the FBI needs to move quickly.

And so two weeks after the arrest in
Miami, on the morning of November 5th,

FBI SWAT team makes its way up the long
driveway to the dream house.

Above, FBI aerial surveillance catches
something unusual.

In the back, you see Marietta come out
with a bag of something.

And she goes over to these bushes on the
backside of the house, and you see her

move the bushes aside and throw
something in there.

An agent later walks by the bushes. He
sees a bag filled with cash.

We poured it out. We did a quick count.
It looked like what appeared to be $500

,000, so about half a million dollars in
cash.

But it's at Tammy and Art's house that
the most damning evidence is found.

We found the driver's licenses, credit
cards, notary stamps.

checks in the names of businesses that
were used to obtain funds.

The assembly line of fraud, as the
prosecutors had coined it, was right

Up next, Richard and Marietta make a
stunning decision.

I called LAPD. They went there, rang the
doorbell. Nobody answered it. Nobody

was there.

In November 2020, 12 days after the
dream house is searched, Richard

Marietta Terabellian, Artur Avazian, and
Tammy Dadian are indicted on multiple

counts, including bank and wire fraud.

At the time, it is becoming increasingly
clear that in their pursuit of easy

COVID money, they are far from alone.

The fraudsters are bold, buying luxury
cars, flights on private jets, mansions.

All bought by people who scam taxpayer
money set aside for COVID relief.

Estimates start around $100 billion,
with some stretching to $400 billion.

likely the largest fraud in American
history.

And the federal government is working to
track down every stolen dollar it can

find. We found one address in San
Francisco.

that was used 1 ,300 times in
applications for PPP loans.

We saw a gas station whose telephone
number was used 150 times.

And among the many COVID fraud cases the
government is pursuing, the Avazian's

is one of the first COVID fraud cases to
go to trial.

The trial begins in the spring of 2021.

And that is when the Avazians turn on
each other.

At trial, the primary defense was that
somebody else had done it. They pointed

to the other members of the conspiracy
to suggest that they were in fact the

culprits.

Marietta's defense is that she is just a
stay -at -home mom, not a participant

in Richard's crimes.

And Archer points the finger at Tammy, a
wife he wants to divorce.

Tammy pleads guilty, but says it was
really Richard's scam.

And essentially what they formed was a
circular firing squad.

But still, they are all found guilty on
multiple charges.

Immediately after the conviction, the
government asks that Richard and Archer

placed in federal custody.

And the trial had demonstrated they had
the capability to flee because they had

mastered the art of coming up with and
using fake identities and also hiding

money. that they could then use to fund
their escape.

The judge disagrees, and he releases
Richard and Marietta with monitors

to their ankles.

They return to their dream house to
await sentencing.

But getting caught for his crimes is
never in Richard's plans.

I got a call from a probation officer
who's watching Richard and said, hey, I

just got a notification that Richard's
ankle bracelet was cut off, and I can't

get a hold of him.

I called LAPD. They went there, rang the
doorbell. Nobody answered it.

Nobody was there.

Richard and Marietta have disappeared,
and they have left a note for their

teenage children explaining why they
will not find us home today.

It is impossible not to be reminded of
Richard's 2012 letter to the judge in

which he promised never to cause his
family pain again.

This time he writes that he has been
working and sacrificing since the day

were born, but now he brings danger and
fear to their lives.

In that letter they left to their
children, Richard tries to justify it as

had no choice. He had to leave, but he
had a choice.

Both himself and Mary had a terrible
life. They had a choice.

They chose to commit fraud. They chose
to steal money.

And for that, Richard is sentenced in
absentia to 17 years in prison and

Marietta to six years.

Archer of ASEAN is sentenced to five
years, Tammy to nearly 11.

On the day she is scheduled to surrender
to begin her sentence...

Jeffrey Clark heads to the federal
courthouse to wait for her. So I'm at

third floor. I'm waiting and waiting.

I called the probation person back who
indicated that she had called her

times and tomorrow was not answering her
phone.

She is last seen meeting with her lawyer
in Beverly Hills.

She leaves the building and simply
disappears.

She joins Richard and Marietta on the
FBI's most wanted list.

In all, the government finds that the
Avazians make off with more than $17

million.

You were just kind of overwhelmed at,
like, the brazenness of what they were

doing, as well as the scope. You're
like, man, why couldn't they just stop

just a couple million?

How can people be so greedy?

For some, the answer to that question is
as old as time.

Well, you know, in a crisis, most of us
turn to each other.

And there are some of us that turn on
each other.

I think that's as old as human beings
surviving together.

And this pandemic was no different.

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