Original subtitles

[intriguing music plays]

[woman] I never thought that I would become a victim of romance fraud.

When I decided to tell my story to the world, it just blew up.

[dramatic music plays]

[male newsreader] The widely popular Netflix documentary Tinder Swindler

plays out like a heist movie or a sinister version of a rom-com.

[Cecilie] I fell for a man who scammed me out of $250,000.

He thought he'd broken me.

[chimes]

[Cecilie] But then so many other victims reached out wanting my help.

[woman] Hi, Cecilie.

[woman 2] My boyfriend said he was a tech millionaire.

[woman 3] His parents were sick, so he needed money to help them.

[woman 4] But it was all a lie.

[woman 5] I gave him $150,000.

[woman 6] He left me in almost $2 million of debt.

[woman 7] I really need your help.

These scammers have been getting away with this for way too long.

[upbeat music plays]

[Cecilie] I just had to do something.

Brianne Joseph is a private investigator.

You recognize this guy?

And one of the best in the world.

I'm like a pit bull. When I grab hold of something, I don't let it go.

That is what makes me a badass.

[Cecilie] She knows how to track these fraudsters down.

-[Brianne] That's him. Clear as day. -[Cecilie gasps]

[Cecilie] And get the evidence that we need.

He had a restraining order put out against him.

-[woman] He's hauling ass now. -Haul ass with him.

We're gonna find them. If he has someone with him, expose them.

[woman 2] Were the tears real?

-$750,000. -And bring them to justice.

You belong in jail.

For me, this is personal.

Breaks my heart.

I know exactly how she was feeling, how she was scared.

[sobs]

[dramatic music plays]

[woman] Like, you stole everything.

-[Brianne] He's moving really fast. -[Cecilie gasps]

-I have to say, it's evil. -[Brianne] That's him there.

[woman] Oh my God. Oh, now my heart's beating.

It's them that should be hiding in shame, not us.

He can't run forever. We gotta go now. Go, go, go!

[music intensifies]

[Brianne] Justice!

-[man] Show me your hands. Do it now! -Fuck, man.

[music fades]

[tense music plays]

[ethereal music plays]

[on phone] Hi, Cecilie. My name is Jill Schardein.

[Jill] I met a man online, Todd Dean.

We dated for almost a year.

I gave him most of my savings,

but now he's gone.

I really don't know what to do.

[Cecilie] I'm feeling nervous

because you never know what kind of headspace victims are in.

Being able to sit there and hopefully be a safe space.

That is what I want.

[Jill] The police are saying there's not enough evidence,

that it's a civil matter, so I really need your help.

[Cecilie] If we're gonna be able to help Jill,

we need to understand what is going on.

Was it fraud or was it just a relationship gone wrong?

[music fades]

This is a selfie video, and those are… those are videos of him.

[Todd] Sweet messages.

I just wish I was with you or you were with me. That's what I wish.

[romantic music plays]

[Jill] I met Todd Dean on Facebook Dating.

This was the first time that I'd gone onto a dating site.

I'd been divorced for ten years. My daughter was 17 years old.

I was very successful in my career at that point in time,

so I was excited about trying to get into the dating scene.

I guess I was looking for a family man,

attractive, someone with a career that was successful,

and when I saw Todd Dean's profile, he checked off every single box.

His pictures, he's skiing, he's hiking, he's doing yoga.

I mean, it was kind of like, "Wow. He's got it all. He's got everything."

I googled him, and there were a couple YouTube videos

where he was holding a speaking engagement about his mental health facility.

My name is Todd Dean. I'm the CEO and founder of Sanjara Wellness.

[Jill] He looked to be very successful and happy what he was doing.

Helping others with their mental health.

And I was like, "Wow, that's pretty impressive." You know?

[melancholy music plays]

[Jill] After we met, he immediately gave me his cell phone number.

[cell phone chimes]

He wanted to meet pretty quickly.

[cell phone chimes]

[Jill] So our first date, we decided on a lunch.

[quirky music plays]

[Jill] I was excited,

deciding what I was gonna wear.

I had on a red sweater and camouflage pants and boots.

We met at the restaurant. I walked in.

He had on a camouflage vest, cowboy boots as well.

We… We looked great together.

We had a wonderful lunch.

I felt, like, just an instant connection.

[soft music plays]

[Jill] While we were talking,

he mentioned if I would ride out with him to see his wellness facility.

Once we toured the facility, he planted a kiss on me.

[chuckles]

Oh my gosh, I was on cloud nine. I mean, grinning from ear to ear.

[interviewer] Did you feel like a teenager?

Yeah! I felt like a teenager. Of course I did. [chuckles]

I mean, everything was fresh and new.

He was everything and more that I could have expected.

I mean, really, it was almost too good to be true.

[music fades]

[car beeps]

[doorbell chimes]

[dog barks]

Oh, they have a guard dog.

-Hello! -[Cecilie] Hi! Oh my God, he is so cute!

-So nice to meet you. -[Cecilie] Can I give you a hug?

Oh, so nice to meet you too.

[Jill] That is Ollie. Would you like something to drink?

-Water, yeah. It's hot outside. -Yes, it is so hot. [laughs]

Thank you for reaching out. How are you feeling?

-I'm a little nervous, a little. -Yeah.

-I get it. -Yeah.

Yeah. It's not an easy thing.

So, yeah.

What first attracted you to Todd? How was he as a person?

-He was so charismatic. -Yeah.

I mean, he stole the show when he walked into or out of the room.

He's 6'4", and then his personality is just…

-Is… is taller than he is. -Yeah.

So attractive.

Do you have any pictures of you guys?

-[Jill] Yeah, this was our first date. -[Cecilie] Very pretty couple.

-And these are some videos. -Oh.

-He sent to you? -Yeah.

[Todd] I miss hearing from you.

I want one of my sweet messages.

I just wish I was with you or you were with me.

That's what I wish.

How was it in between the days? Was it a lot of texting and messaging?

-Like… -Constant.

As soon as we started communicating, it was constant selfies,

constant video messages.

He was sending at least ten selfies a day, maybe sometimes more than that.

You are hilarious.

[Jill] "Good morning."

Well, good morning.

[Jill] You know, "I'm drinking coffee."

Thank you, my friend.

[Jill] Goodnight text.

Hey, are you okay? Maybe you went to bed early.

[Jill] I was excited.

That I was getting those messages all throughout the day.

What do you mean, no more selfies?

That'd be like the sun's not coming up tomorrow.

[Jill] They made me feel good. I was thinking about him all the time.

It'd been a long time since I'd felt that way.

[music fades]

-This is called love bombing. -Right.

They shower you with love and affection to draw you in and make you feel special.

I didn't know about it either. I just loved love, you know?

-Yeah, right. -I didn't see it like that.

Yeah. That's exactly what he did.

-So you went on a second date? -Yeah.

[curious music plays]

[Jill] For the second date,

he decided that he was gonna take me to get my nails done.

What girls don't wanna be pampered?

-[Todd] Have you had that color before? -No.

[Jill] He suggested the green color.

Not anything I would have ever gotten put on my nails, ever.

-[Todd] You like that color? -I love it. I absolutely love it.

But he wanted to spend time with me. He wanted to do things with me and for me.

That made me happy.

Early on, he gave me a key to his condo in downtown Nashville.

The condo matched Todd's personality to a T.

It was flashy.

During the week, I stayed at his condo, even if he wasn't there.

Essentially, kind of like we were "playing house," almost.

I was walking on clouds, literally.

It was definitely moving into what I thought was a relationship.

I was having a blast because he was fun. He was so much fun to be around.

That's the way it was in the beginning.

Romance fraud comes in many forms, but there is a playbook.

Fraudsters, they will mirror you.

They pretend to be the perfect human for you.

They prey on what all of us want in life, and that is love.

[melancholy music plays]

[Jill] I do remember we were playing music,

and he was talking more about himself and about his childhood,

kind of giving me a little bit more insight to who he was.

It really did feel good because I felt like he was, you know,

bringing me into a part of his world, right?

Even though I was a little nervous,

I opened myself up a little bit to him about my mother.

She had committed suicide in 2016.

And I've struggled with depression and mental health for years.

I'd been to a trauma facility,

so I still had some traumas that I hadn't finished working through.

I felt like he could relate.

It felt amazing because now I'm starting to have feelings.

I'd only known him for a short amount of time,

but I was all in.

[music fades]

So when did he ask you for money for the first time?

-And how did that request come about? -You know…

I mean, a month and a half into the relationship,

he needed $1,000.

[soft music plays]

[Jill] Todd was telling me that he needed money for operating expenses

for his wellness facility, Sanjara.

This was gonna be a high-end wellness retreat.

He's got top-notch doctors. He's got a top-notch team.

Sanjara would be able to heal any type of issues,

whether that ranged from addiction to trauma.

I did wonder why someone with this $1.8 million property

would even need to ask me for money.

He told me that it's a startup,

and he just needs this help for finishing Sanjara.

And being that mental health has always been an area close to my heart,

it was just something that I really wanted to help with.

In the very beginning, he gave me that money back

pretty quickly, plus another 500.

Like, "Thank you. Here's a little extra for you."

You know, like, he's just being this upstanding, great guy.

But as I got more into the relationship,

he really didn't talk about anything else except for getting money in the door.

[tense music plays]

[Cecilie] Sometimes a fraudster will ask

for smaller amounts at the start and then pay them back.

It's just such a smart and simple way to win the trust of their victims.

But after a while,

they will just ask for bigger sums, and it will kind of never stop.

All I can think about is money right now.

[cell phone chimes]

[Jill] He would just keep asking, and I would keep giving.

I was not concerned about him not paying me back. I really wasn't.

He would always say he had money coming in within a week or two weeks.

It absolutely felt like we were building something together.

You know, I thought there was a bigger picture here.

Ultimately, this will open and help other people,

and maybe I can be a part of it.

And then once I was in so deep, I really didn't know how to get out of it.

[foreboding music plays]

[music fades]

-I gave him all of the money that I had. -Wow.

He said, you know, "Make sure you don't tell anyone."

[sighs] So I was dealing with this internally,

and I didn't have anyone to talk to about it.

-It was just complete anxiety. -Yeah.

That is the same methods

in abusive relationships you find in romance fraud…

-…'cause they are taking advantage of you. -Yeah.

Did you go to the police?

-I contacted the police. -Yeah?

But at that time, they just said, this is a civil matter.

This needs to be in civil court. They wouldn't give me a case number.

What do you want to do about this?

It would really mean a lot if you could help me get the police involved.

We need to gather as much evidence as we can.

-Yeah. -To build the strongest case possible.

I mean, I've tried so many other things. This is the… This is the last thing.

-So let's make it big. -Yeah.

[tense music plays]

-[Jill] I'll see you soon. Yes. -[Cecilie] For real. We'll start to work.

It's tough for her, you know? And she's been so strong. So, yeah.

Oh, emotional. [laughs nervously]

It's heavy. It's kind of heavy for me.

It's just so eerily similar to my own story.

I just know exactly the pain that she's sitting with.

Back in 2018, I met Simon Leviev on Tinder.

He was funny, charming, and handsome.

He told me that he was the CEO of a big diamond company.

And his life was just extraordinary.

He was flying private jets. He was wearing designer clothes.

And he was incredibly successful.

He just seemed like my perfect match.

But everything was a lie. Just to take my money.

The man that I loved was never real.

When it happened to me, I was incredibly alone.

And I don't want anyone else to feel that way.

[tense music continues]

And I hope that we can help Jill and give her some answers.

[intriguing music plays]

[keyboard clicks]

[cell phone vibrates]

[chimes]

[keypad clicking]

[cell phone chimes]

[music intensifies]

[Brianne] People think I'm Magnum P.I. or somebody.

Riding around in a Ferrari, solving crimes left and right.

But a private investigator is someone who uncovers the truth.

Who reveals the deceit.

Prosecuting love fraudsters is very difficult to do.

Police see it as relationship issues that need to be resolved in civil court.

In order to build a case, I need to know what was the story they told you

that made you give them the money.

And was that story based on fact or fiction?

It's not easy.

But the first phase relies on getting eyes on the perpetrator.

To find out if they are who they say they are.

[on phone] Hi, it's Michael.

Hey, Mike, it's Bri.

-Hey, how are you doing? -I'm good.

Look, I need your help with a surveillance case. Are you available?

-Yeah. -Awesome.

So, problem is we have to find this guy first. [laughs]

We don't know where he is. So you got something to write with?

-I'm ready. -All right. Perfect.

So his name is Todd Dean.

[curious music plays]

[Cecilie] Let's get going. We have work to do.

[Brianne] Let's see what we can find on this guy.

[Cecilie] He has a LinkedIn.

I'll find his Facebook page.

When I get a new case in, my primary goal is discovery.

On LinkedIn he has over, like, 500-plus connections.

[Brianne] I wanna know everything I possibly can about a suspect.

What's their online presence?

Who are their contacts? Who are their associates?

He has his position like CEO and founder of Sanjara Wellness.

The charismatic leader

with a tremendous network of friends and business associates.

"A proven visionary and leader."

-He sounds like a big shot. -Yeah.

[Cecilie] He looks legit, but is he?

[Brianne] Oh look, we have videos of him.

[Todd] People today are struggling, with their issues, with their families,

with their jobs, with addictions, with mental health, with stress.

And they're looking for a place of peace and solutions and results.

Sanjara Experience represents that.

I'm Dr. Jeffrey Fan.

This has been one of the most amazing experiences.

Eastern philosophies, some new ways of handling folks,

helping them live their best lives.

The world needs a place like Sanjara. It will be unlike anything else.

Creating an environment and the curricula.

People's lives are gonna be changed being a part of it,

so can't wait to be a part.

[Cecilie] Wow.

So many professionals and doctors and psychologists.

All of these really big people that are giving these amazing testimonials.

Yeah.

I think for sure we need to talk to some of these people, figure out who they are.

[line ringing]

Hi, my name is Brianne.

I'm a private investigator, and I'm investigating Todd Dean.

I am doing an investigation into Todd Dean and Sanjara Wellness.

I got your name from a promotional video that I watched,

and I wanted to ask you a few questions about Sanjara.

[male] Sorry, I think you have the wrong number.

[Brianne] Give me a call back, please.

Another no hit.

[Cecilie] No one is answering.

-[Brianne] No? -[Cecilie] It just drops.

[line ringing]

Hi, Josh. My name is Brianne.

I'm a private investigator, and I'm investigating Todd Dean.

I think your company created the video for Sanjara?

[Josh] Yeah, I shot that back in 2021.

[Brianne] Okay, perfect.

[Josh] The video was really supposed to be for investors, for funding.

He was, like, more of the CEO type of guy.

He brought the people to try to make it work.

The professionals, did they appear really genuine?

[Josh] For the most part, yeah.

Um, they really talked about their fields of study

and how they would want to utilize it in Sanjara.

A lot of them, I guess, were just trying to see how this would work out.

[Brianne] What was your opinion of Todd Dean when you first met him?

[Josh] He was different.

He was charming, and he was pretty flirty with quite a few women there.

To be honest, the whole thing was weird. Like, it really did feel kind of cultish.

Okay, one last question. How did you get involved in this project?

[Josh] Through Sheena. She is Todd's assistant.

She reached out to me. She, like, ran the show.

[Brianne] Okay. What was Sheena's last name?

-[Josh] I can't think of it right now. -You can't remember her last name? Okay.

[Josh] I haven't talked to her since.

Thank you so much. I appreciate it.

Bye.

Finally.

Yes. Finally, somebody's willing to talk.

We need to find Sheena.

She's definitely someone that we wanna talk to.

[intriguing music plays]

[chimes]

[chimes]

[Cecilie] Straight ahead. Then to the left here.

So, our local P.I., Michael, has a lead on Todd.

The thing about these leads is that we have to act on them really quickly

because one minute they're here and the next minute they're gone.

-[Brianne] Hey, Michael. -How you doing?

-So, have you found our guy yet? -We're working on it.

Yeah, there's a couple different things. Here's his residence.

-[Brianne] It's an apartment complex? -[Michael] Yeah.

Everyone's saying he lives there.

So, I've watched this residence a lot,

and I have never once seen him come out of it, driving or walking.

I think, he's underground right now.

-He's avoiding as many people as possible. -[Brianne] Okay.

[Michael] This picture where he takes his hat off looks a lot like him,

but just not 100% yet.

So, we're still ironing it out.

It's that we've seen him both, you know, bald, hair…

-[Brianne] Yeah. -With a goatee.

I feel like sometimes he can be a chameleon almost.

-[Michael] And he mixes it up. -[Cecilie] Yeah.

So, where's our best opportunity to catch this guy?

[Michael] So, I would say we need to focus on his poker playing.

We know that he likes to play poker,

but we haven't seen him at many of the poker locations yet,

so we keep making the rounds.

But we have a tip that he may be there tonight.

[Brianne] I think it'll be worthwhile for us to set up some surveillance on him.

All right. Thank you so much. See you soon, okay?

[tense music plays]

So, we're on this for 4.6 miles.

-[Brianne] Okay. -[Cecilie] Yeah.

-Like kind of to the right. Sorry. -Continue where? To the right? Okay.

[Brianne] It's important to get eyes on a perpetrator

because you want to establish a pattern of behavior.

[Cecilie] Okay, here.

The intention is to get into their world.

Is that him? There? Brianne?

Do you see?

-[Brianne] That's not it. Not it. -[Cecilie] Not him.

You have to be careful because you wanna be discreet,

and you don't want your cover blown.

Maybe. [gasps]

Doesn't look the build.

-No. -No, they're passing up the Acura.

[Brianne] Oh, look at that man. He's looking at us.

-Who? Who? -[Brianne] That guy. Well, maybe not.

He's curious. He's definitely curious.

Okay. [clears throat]

Is that Todd?

[Brianne] That's him.

-[Cecilie] It's him. -[Brianne] Oh my God. Let's follow him.

[dramatic music plays]

-[Brianne] Keep your eyes on him. -[Cecilie] Yeah, he's going.

Right, right, right

and right again.

-Yeah? -Yep.

[Cecilie] There's the car directly in front of us now.

He's driving fast.

-[Brianne] He's two cars in front of you. -[Cecilie] Yeah.

-[Brianne] He is way too far ahead up now. -[Cecilie] Yeah.

[Brianne] You can see his right mirror.

-See his mirror? -[Cecilie] Yeah.

-Keep your eye on a piece of his car. -[Cecilie] Okay.

[Brianne] Keep your eye on that. We got a visual again, so it's good.

[Cecilie gasps] He's taking off.

-[Brianne] Scottsville, Franklin exit. -[Cecilie] Yeah.

It just looks a lot more countryside.

[Brianne] Keep your eyes on him 'cause I'm losing a blind spot.

[music fades]

[Brianne] I don't have a visual of him at all. Do you?

[Cecilie] Yeah, we lost sight of him now.

Oh. [gasps]

[Brianne] What's the numbers on there?

[Cecilie] Yeah, that's him.

-[Brianne] Okay, look at that. -[Cecilie] It's Sanjara.

It's Sanjara.

[soft music plays]

[Jill] We would go to Sanjara several times a week

because I would help him mow and do yard work.

We were getting along wonderfully,

but then… he completely ended the relationship.

[somber music plays]

[Jill] I mean, I was heartbroken.

I just wasn't expecting it.

I felt like it was the end

until he started texting me again saying, "Come back."

I'm thinking, well, maybe he's changed his mind.

He just started the relationship right back up.

Everything was the same.

Except now I felt like I was walking on eggshells,

feeling very insecure and not good about myself.

[Cecilie] They reel you in with love and attention.

Once you're hooked, they will unexpectedly pull away.

Suddenly you're the one chasing their love and affection,

and that's the power shift that they want.

You're not thinking straight.

That's when they can get even more money from you.

[foreboding music plays]

He wasn't physically abusing me,

but, I mean, there was some sort of mental abuse going on.

You know you're not acting yourself with me this morning.

Just saying, something's going on.

I think that I was trying to hang on to any thread of relationship

that there could be there,

which also essentially put me into,

I think, anything that he would ask for, I would do.

Then, at one point,

he was telling me that he needed money for the mortgage of Sanjara Wellness.

They increased the mortgage this month, which I didn't realize, so it's, uh…

The only thing that I could think of at that time

was taking money out of my retirement,

and I was able to get him $12,500.

[music fades]

His reaction was…

You know, he was more so disappointed that he would have liked to have had more.

[gentle music plays]

I had been dating Todd for almost a year,

and he was getting pretty desperate for money.

You feel like sending me $25?

But, at that point, I gave him everything that I had.

I needed to borrow money to pay my mortgage because I'd given it to Todd.

So he asked if there was any way I could ask my daughter to give him money,

and at that time she was 17.

[sniffles]

I told him no. [sobs]

But…

I didn't have control over it, and I'm just thankful for that

because I don't know what I would have done

if I would've been in control of it.

And that scares me.

It just shows to you that he will take money from anyone.

I realized, "Oh my gosh, I cannot believe that I've fallen for this man."

Finally, I got to a point that enough was enough.

And I was done.

That was the end of any type of communication or relationship

that I had with Todd.

I was finished.

[intriguing music plays]

[Brianne] Now that we've got eyes on Todd,

we need to see if there's anyone else that could substantiate Jill's claims.

According to Josh,

the cameraman for Sanjara's promotional video,

there's a woman named Sheena.

She's supposedly his "personal assistant."

We need to find her. She might have some inside information.

-[Cecilie] Yeah. -[Brianne] Yeah.

[Brianne] Which one is our Sheena?

Oh, you know, there's a million Sheenas. Like, really?

[Cecilie] Finding a needle in a haystack.

-[Brianne] Absolutely. -[Cecilie] Oh yeah.

[phone dialling]

[Brianne] The number is disconnected.

The call failed.

[phone dialling]

[Brianne] Another no-answer.

Oh, look, look, look.

I found her.

I got her.

Yes! Oh, it's absolutely her. Look.

Look. "Executive assistant at Sanjara Wellness."

[Cecilie] Sanjara Wellness. Yes.

[Brianne] And she's got pictures at Sanjara.

[Cecilie] Oh, yeah.

[line ringing]

[Brianne clears throat, hums]

[woman] Hi.

Hi, is this Sheena?

[Sheena] It is.

My name is Brianne. Do you know a Todd Dean?

[Sheena] I do, yeah.

[soft music plays]

Sheena is out of the country. Good Lord, Sheena.

Oh, looks like we're approaching something.

[knocks on door]

-Hi. Yes. -[Brianne] Sheena?

-Hi, I'm Brianne. May I come in? -It's Brianne?

-Come on in. -[Brianne] Thank you.

-Oh, you've got a little baby. -[Sheena] Yes. How are you?

[Brianne] I'm doing well.

Are these your kids as well?

Yeah, so that's… I have actually three girls and four boys.

Look, I can only imagine what breakfast looks like around here.

I have two, so I know my hands are always full with two.

I can't imagine.

Well, thank you again for, um, agreeing to meet with me on such short notice.

-I really appreciate that. -My pleasure.

I'm investigating Todd Dean.

And just trying to find out a little bit more information about him.

-Yeah. -And Sanjara in general.

-Okay. -Um… How do you know Todd?

I just happened to be scrolling on Facebook,

and in one of the Nashville groups, there was a post.

It said, "I need part-time office assistant."

-[Brianne] Okay. -And it happened to be Todd Dean.

So I did a phone interview,

and within a couple of hours, he was like, "I wanna hire you."

-[Brianne] Okay. -And I was like, "Okay, perfect."

Tell me, what exactly is Sanjara?

What it is and what it's supposed to be are two different things.

-Okay. -It was a wellness experience.

It's where people would go to kind of get their bearings back.

But when we started talking about the finances of Sanjara as a business,

that's when I realized it wasn't exactly what I thought it was.

[inhales] I started questioning, like, how were we gonna pay things

and do things if there's no money?

-Right. -And so he started showing me…

"Well, I just get money from investors." It was like, "What are they investing in?"

And he's like, "Sanjara."

And I was like, "So they're investing in an idea." And…

Don't ever say that to him. He hates that.

-Because to him, Sanjara is real. -Yeah.

-But it's never opened. -Oh wow. Okay.

-It seems like scamming is what it is. -That is scamming.

Especially with a business that's not even open.

-Where are you spending the money? -Right.

I did eventually gain access to bank accounts and stuff like that,

and I would question, "Well, where is the money going?"

-"We had $50,000 four days ago." -Yeah.

And now we're scrambling because we have $500.

Yeah. And did you ever get any answers?

We actually had disagreements

about personal transactions going through the business account.

Every penny of that investor money

should be going into rehabbing the building.

So, obviously, he was getting money from investors.

Quote, unquote, "Investors."

But what about personal loans or donations from other people?

Were there just girlfriends, maybe?

Was he getting money from people like that as well?

Absolutely.

Prior to me coming on board with him,

he had apparently borrowed some money from mostly women.

And they were private loans.

-So there was, uh, Karen. -Okay.

And after I came on board with him, we got Jill.

There was several of them I know of.

-Have you talked to any of these women? -No.

Do you recall, um, like, how much money he was getting just out of these women?

So, we were bringing in anywhere from $50,000 to $100,000 a month.

-Wow. And from investors? -From investors.

Okay.

Do you have any, like, documents,

or any kind of documentation of any of these things regarding him financially?

Yeah.

-And so these are the checking accounts. -Okay.

-Oh, okay. -For the business.

So this is one of our bridge loans.

-It's a 50,000. -Okay.

And then we would just have all these, like, $22, $10, $21, $50, $31.

When he transfers them to his personal account…

Wow. So there are several transactions like this?

-Mm-hmm. -[Brianne] Girl, this man…

[Sheena] "ATM withdrawal, $1,000."

-Yeah, straight to his personal account. -Yeah.

They were investing in the promise of helping other people

with mental health wellness.

He always preyed on the people that…

-Were vulnerable. -Yeah.

[Sheena] It felt like he was turning Sanjara into a hunting ground.

So he could find all of the vulnerable women

because that's what he was looking for.

[line ringing]

[Cecilie] Hello?

Cecilie, we have the smoking gun.

Sheena thinks Sanjara is a scam.

She thinks that he used Sanjara to take advantage of vulnerable women.

-To manipulate them and take their money. -That's disgusting.

We have bank statements that could potentially show

that the money that he received from Sanjara went straight to his pockets.

I'm very fucking angry.

[Brianne] Sheena mentioned someone named Karen from Idaho.

She may be another victim.

I have her details. I need you to go talk to her.

[Cecilie] I think this is what is needed.

[dramatic music plays]

[Cecilie] Hi!

-Hi. Cecilie, hi! I'm Karen. -Karen. So nice to meet you.

-Can I give you a hug? -Yes, come on in. I'm holding the door.

-What a place. Yeah. -Make yourself comfortable. Thank you.

-Here you go. -Thank you.

So, if you can just take me back then. I just know that you knew Todd.

When I met him, it was years before Sanjara.

I was in Sun Valley skiing, and he jumped on the lift with me.

We chatted.

He asked where I was from and what did I do and was I married.

And he seemed nice enough.

So we finished skiing, and we walked into the lodge and, um.

Right away it seemed like he knew people. People were drawn to him.

Yeah. What is it about him? Kind of like you were just…

He was really charming, and there's a… a charisma there.

He told me that he was from Seattle and he was an entrepreneur.

He said that he had a house in Sun Valley right on the river

but he also had his condo in Seattle.

I lived in Sun Valley for a long time as a second home.

So I knew that was not the kind of place you would hang out

if you didn't have any money.

-Yeah. -He seemed to be a successful businessman.

He said he was working on all these different investment projects.

And that seemed pretty exciting to me. And so, the first time it was like…

Hey, do you wanna…

-Maybe you wanna get in on this. -Hmm.

Like, maybe-- Like he was doing me a favor.

-Like, this is not open to everybody but… -Wow, that's interesting. That is.

"If you want, I could probably get you in for maybe, like, $5,000."

-I was like, "Okay, I could do that." -Mm.

-There were a couple of those projects. -Okay.

That were really small startups that--

I mean, he wasn't asking me for $100,000.

But they were all little ones.

And they started adding up.

There was a point that I started feeling like,

"This is… doesn't smell right to me." And I started keeping track of everything.

All of a sudden,

you know, all the red flags that I had pushed down into the sand,

I looked back and all I saw was red.

That was when I knew I had in fact been scammed.

[curious music plays]

[Karen] For some reason, he agreed to sign this document

that admits and acknowledges that he owes me the money.

Here, there it is. $24,920.

What I think is that he agreed to sign it

because he felt it would make him look legit.

He did pay a few times. Then he defaulted.

I said to my lawyer, "What do I do?" He said, "You can either let it go,

or you can now file the default judgment."

"Then that's a permanent court record."

As soon as that judgment was filed, that was when I started getting contacted

by people who were searching him

to see if he was legit, and that's how it really started.

How many victims are there in this?

There's so many.

What I would love from you, if you would be willing,

is to give a statement about your experience.

And put me in touch with the other women.

Of course.

[tense music plays]

[chimes]

[chimes]

[Brianne] The police historically don't take these cases seriously.

So it's on us to make it airtight.

Our challenge is to prove that they're not alone

in what they're accusing this person of.

If we can corroborate their stories and show a clear pattern of behavior,

that'll help us prove that Todd is a fraudster.

Hi.

Hi, there you are.

-Hi. -My God.

-Hi, wonderful to meet you. -You too.

We're doing now an investigation into Todd Dean.

He makes himself look real good, right?

Oh, CEO of Sanjara. Charming, handsome, very professional.

He started sending me texts every single day, multiple times a day.

He flatters you to death, makes you feel like a million dollars.

"You are so, so beautiful. You are so, so pretty."

He preys on women who are newly out of a really tough breakup or divorce.

I had just gotten out of a divorce.

I was in the process of ending a very toxic relationship.

He'll ask you those questions about mental health and trauma

to really bring down your guard,

um, and make you even more vulnerable to him, right?

He didn't want me to think for myself.

It was more like, I want to control you.

Then he built his trust by grooming them, and then he asked for the money.

He called me up, like, in desperation, saying that he needed money.

It was only going to be for like 48 hours.

He texted me in the morning. I thought, "Oh great, a text from Todd."

Instead it was a request for $10,000.

I wired him $10,000 with the understanding that he would pay it back.

within 48 hours.

Never once did he even try to pay me back.

Would you be willing to give a statement on your experience with him?

Yeah, there's no accountability that's been placed on him yet.

[Theresa] 100%, yes.

If he is not stopped

by the police, by the judicial system,

he will continue this.

[Brianne] This is serious stuff. He's done this with so many women.

It's clearly his MO. This is how he operates.

He needs to be stopped. Like, he can't keep getting away with this.

[Brianne] Criminals think, "I got away with it once. I'll do it again."

And they feel untouchable.

So what's helpful in cases like this is establishing whether or not

the perpetrator is currently engaging

in criminal activity and defrauding someone.

Because if they are, the police are more likely to act quickly.

This could really help make or break a case.

[tense music plays]

[chimes]

[chimes]

[Brianne] That's his vehicle right there. Right?

[Cecilie] Can you park there?

Can you put the camera down?

[chimes]

[chimes]

[chimes]

[chimes]

[Jill] Now the mask is off,

and now I can see him for what he really is.

He's good at identifying his victims.

He knows how to work a room. He's very good at the lies that he tells.

-[Cecilie] If he has someone with him. -[Brianne] Oh.

-Wow. -[chimes]

He understood that a lot of women were fragile.

A lot of women did struggle with self-esteem and self-confidence.

I started realizing that this was what he did for a living.

And he was a predator.

[music fades]

[dramatic music plays]

[chimes]

[Jill] It's sickening that he continues to do this

and is allowed to get away with it.

He's a monster. You know, who's next?

[chimes]

[Cecilie] Game is over.

[chimes]

[chimes]

He's heading towards the door.

He's walking out with someone.

[music intensifies]

[intriguing music plays]

[music intensifies]

[music fades]