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In this episode of American Greed, car
trouble.

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It's an urgent letter telling you your
factory warranty has expired.

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It looks legit, as if coming from
Toyota, Subaru, BMW.

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But this pitch comes from Darren
Atkinson and his brother, Corey, and

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multimillion -dollar business built on
fear and lies.

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I'm telling customers, oh, we're just
like the warranty you bought at the

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dealer. And I'm like, no, we're not.

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They promised to take care of their
customers' cars.

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Where are they going to be there when
you need us, when that vehicle breaks

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down?

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But what they take is their hard -earned
cash.

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There's a money grab, and they were
going to get it as fast as they could,

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they were going to get as much as they
could.

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Leaving them stranded.

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The sales calls, the pressure is high,
and we get sucked in.

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Any one of us can be a victim of this.

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In a suburb of St. Louis, neighbors
watch an extravagant construction

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and wonder, is it a medieval castle?

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A French chateau?

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Just a few years ago, the owner, Daring
Atkinson, was selling used cars.

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And now he's building a showcase
mansion.

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But he's also drawing the kind of
attention he does not want to have.

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Because a house like this raises the
question,

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How did a guy with little college
education from a small town in Kansas

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hands on so much money?

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The answer begins in that small town.

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About 200 miles due west from Wichita,
Garden City, Kansas is chock full of

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feedlots and grain elevators.

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It's where Darren Atkinson grows up with
three brothers.

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After high school, he puts in some time
at the community college.

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But it's clear Darren wants out of
Garden City.

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Former St. Louis Post -Dispatch reporter
Matthew Hathaway is one of the first to

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make Darren's name news.

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Very little of Darren's early life was
known in St. Louis.

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And as we dug into his background, you
definitely get the sense that he was

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maybe too big for Garden City.

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But to escape Garden City, Darren needs
to make some money, literally print his

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own currency.

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The counterfeit presses are in a back
room of a storefront building on Main

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Street.

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There he prints sheets of cash.

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It's a limited operation.

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He had $40 ,000 in cash, and there were
four serial numbers on four different

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notes.

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You wouldn't be able to spend a lot of
money anywhere without using identical

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bills.

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But Darren, who will earn a reputation
for being reckless, goes for it.

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In May 1987, he heads to Wichita with a
stash of phony money and a one -way

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plane ticket to California.

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He makes it as far as the bar at the
airport hotel.

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The money was noticed by, you know,
somebody working at the bar.

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They called the local police. They
brought in the Secret Service.

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Within 24 hours, Darren's behind bars,
and they found his printing equipment

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back in Garden City.

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At age 23 in prison, Darren writes to a
judge saying he has learned his lesson.

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He is ready to live a crime -free life.

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It's a theme he repeats later in an
interview with Matthew Hathaway.

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What he told me is that when the bars
closed behind him on his release, he was

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transformed man and that he found Jesus
in prison and that everything was

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different.

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Now, as a born -again Christian, Darren
moves to St. Louis, where he and his

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younger brother Corey open a business
selling vehicle service contracts that

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promise to cover the cost of repairs on
a used car.

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Setting up shop in a small suburban
office, they called the company National

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Auto Warranty Services and later changed
the name to U .S. Fidelis.

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Attorney David Warfield will represent
Darren's victims in bankruptcy court.

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U .S. Fidelis is just a marketing agent.
It doesn't actually write the contract

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itself. There are a number of other
companies that do that. U .S. Fidelis

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really a broker.

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What Darren and Corey were doing is they
were buying these contracts for

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anywhere from $500 to $1 ,600.

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As senior counsel for the Washington
State Attorney General, Mary Lobdell is

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fierce consumer advocate.

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Then they turned around and marked it up
two, three, four times and marketed it

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to the consumer.

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At first, consumers are carefully
selected.

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I think they bought lists.

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A list of people who bought cars on
particular dates, a list of people who

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bought particular brands of cars so they
could tailor their solicitations to

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those folks.

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And they offer the right product at the
right time.

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Everyone's worried about their car
breaking down.

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It's an expense you don't want to think
about.

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FBI Special Agent Kerry Carlson knows
how effective the U .S. Fidelis pitch

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So when you think you're buying
something that's going to protect that

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money for you, why wouldn't you do it?

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In two years, the company is exploding,
bringing in millions of dollars in

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sales.

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Outgrowing his office space and
determined to make his company a

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in the industry, Darren buys an
abandoned mall west of town.

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He pays close to $6 million in cash and
creates a state -of -the -art call

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center with more than 1 ,000 employees.

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NBC News national investigative
correspondent Jeff Rossen goes inside

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company for the Today Show.

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What struck me most was how sprawling it
is, how big it is. I've been to a lot

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of major company headquarters before.

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This was nothing like that. This was
huge and beautiful.

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In building the U .S. Fidelis compound,
Darren offers space to the Evangelical

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Element Church.

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He wants it known that his Christian
values define the operation of U .S.

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Fidelis. The company's logo even
includes a heavenly accent.

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When you hear a company is faith -based,
when there's a halo, an angel's halo

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actually in the logo, what do you think
to yourself?

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Maybe they're doing God's work. They're
at least being honest with me. I mean,

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they're not going to defraud me. They're
faith -based.

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But is there faith in Almighty God or
the Almighty Dollar?

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Next on American Greed, it's brother
against brother. Who can spend the most?

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If Darren pulled up with a brand new
Ferrari, Corey would go get, you know, a

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Lamborghini.

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In Everett, Washington, Buzz Rodland's
car dealership is a family -owned

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business that has been selling cars for
more than 100 years.

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They believe its success is based on one
thing, a customer's trust.

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So when Buzz gets a call from a long
-standing customer, he sees him

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immediately. His demeanor was very
sober, and he said, you know, I bought a

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from you with all the trust in the
world.

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And then he leans over, and he hands me
the letter, puts it in front of me, and

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he says, now explain this.

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And he was mad.

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This is what the letter looks like.

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Toyota's name is prominent, and the
message is clear.

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The car owner's factory warranty has
expired.

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But it is not from Toyota.

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It is from Darren Atkinson's warranty
company.

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If this gentleman would believe it,
anybody would believe it.

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He just thought that the factory...

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was telling him he no longer had a
warranty and he had a brand new car.

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And that is the key to the success of
Darren's business.

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Deceit. Exploiting the reputations of
brands like Toyota, BMW, Subaru, and

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Chrysler, the company implies a
relationship it does not have.

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Even using the term warranty is
misleading.

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Only a manufacturer can offer a
warranty. It's like a term of art.

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Darren Corey would do is create
confusion by calling the product they

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selling a warranty.

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And one more thing to know.

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It's against the law to sell something
as a warranty if it's a service

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But the Atkinson brothers appear to be
above the law.

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And because the deception is so
effective, Darren goes big.

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plastering the country with his
misleading notices.

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This mailing part of the business became
so important that U .S. Fidelis

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actually built its own printing plant in
the back of its office and created tens

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of millions of individual mailers that
went to consumers.

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Potential consumers get the letter and
fall easily for Darren's trick.

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They call the U .S. Fidelis call center
where the tricks keep coming.

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Many of the calls are recorded.

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The voices have been altered to protect
identities.

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The salespeople work in teams, passing
callers around in

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a choreographed charade.

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Our cutoff is typically 36 ,000 miles
for the bumper to bumper.

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So what I'm going to do is grab a
manager because you're only at 40 ,000.

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They'd put them on hold and everybody
would laugh and tell stories about what

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they did that weekend.

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Come back on the line and say, I just
talked to my supervisor.

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We can fudge it just this one time.

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That's okay.

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That's fine. Yeah, I got my manager to
prove it.

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In interviews with former employees,
Jeff Rossin hears what really drives

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Darren's faith -based business.

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It was get the money, get the money, get
the money.

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This is all about the sales.

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Sales, sales, sales.

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That's how I made my money, was selling.

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They said they wouldn't get paid unless
they billed consumers out of money. So

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really there was this massive pressure
on them that if they want to pay their

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own bills, they need to defraud you and
they need to defraud me.

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And so they don't give up.

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This call takes almost two hours of
unrelenting pressure.

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The contract starts at $2 ,675 and
quickly drops to $2 ,475.

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It is obvious the caller cannot afford
the contract,

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but the salesman pushes on.

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Let me just check with my manager.

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It doesn't matter if they have the money
or not. You get the dollar now.

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Beat them up a little bit.

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You know, paint pictures. Build value.

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Put them on the long side of the road
with their kids.

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Let's go with a breakdown.

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Bam. Clump, clump. You cut down. You're
on the highway.

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And just keep the cost moving down.

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At $1 ,675, sold.

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I mean, we had one complaint come in
where they sold it to an elderly woman

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had no vehicle.

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And they knew she had no vehicle, but
they sold it to her.

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And what are the consumers buying?

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If you open up the manual, it has a
section that regards the factory

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All we're doing is extending that
warranty.

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So it's a bumper -to -bumper policy.

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Well, not exactly.

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Adam and Ingrid Sasse get the letter
from Darren's company just as the

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on their 2001 Saab is about to expire.

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And so they take the bait and call.

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It wasn't a hard sell. We knew our
warranty was expiring.

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Her words were, it was bumper to bumper
coverage.

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Adam is a mechanic, and he's also in the
Navy.

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He worries their car will break down
while he is on deployment.

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So even though it is a stretch for their
budget, he pays almost $2 ,500 for a U

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.S. Fidelis contract.

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So our expectation was to be able to,
you know, spend a very large chunk of

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money and get that peace of mind that we
had already had with the factory

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warranty.

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But when a problem comes up with the
turbocharger and the dealer tells the

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Sassy's that their new warranty won't
cover the repair, they look closer at

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contract.

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Here, it says that leaking seals or
gaskets are not covered. So much for

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to bumper.

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The list of components actually covered
is limited. Even the cost of diagnosing

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a problem will not be paid.

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It makes no sense to me that somebody,
if they really knew what they were

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buying, that they would purchase the
product that was being sold by U .S.

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Fidelity.

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But in 2006, the sales force is on a
roll.

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Did you want to do that with a Visa or
MasterCard?

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The company is bringing in an average of
$10 million in revenue each month.

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And Darren and Corey Atkinson are
spending it as fast as it comes in the

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IRS criminal agent Jennifer Dreyer will
eventually track the money.

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00:14:24,120 --> 00:14:27,820
Anytime they wanted something, they just
went to the controller and asked for a

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00:14:27,820 --> 00:14:28,920
check. I need $1 million.

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00:14:29,120 --> 00:14:33,880
I need $250 ,000. Cut a check to whoever
it might be.

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00:14:35,530 --> 00:14:38,710
And what do they spend it on? The usual
items.

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Cars. I recall at one point, Corey
bought two Lamborghinis in less than two

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weeks.

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And boats.

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One of the large purchases that they did
buy was a bat boat. And it was a large

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cigar boat that they put on the Lake of
the Ozarks. And it looked like Gotham

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City on the side. It was a million
dollar.

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They were absolutely kids in a candy
store. It was almost to the point they

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00:15:10,000 --> 00:15:12,360
so much money they didn't know what to
do with it.

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Darren actually wanted to build a garage
under his house

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that was sort of like the Batcave, so
that when the brush parted and the doors

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00:15:25,320 --> 00:15:29,720
came up, he would drive out from
underneath, much like Batman did in the

229
00:15:29,720 --> 00:15:30,720
television shows.

230
00:15:32,460 --> 00:15:35,780
Fueling the spending spree seems to be
sibling rivalry.

231
00:15:36,480 --> 00:15:40,520
It just seems like each brother was
trying to one -up each other. If Corey

232
00:15:40,520 --> 00:15:45,860
in and asked for $25 ,000 from the
company just for a check, Darren would

233
00:15:45,860 --> 00:15:50,060
three hours a day later, I want my $25
,000. If Darren pulled up with a brand

234
00:15:50,060 --> 00:15:53,000
-new Ferrari, Corey would go get, you
know, a Lamborghini.

235
00:15:54,700 --> 00:15:59,020
Up next, the hell of trying to cancel a
U .S. Fidelis contract.

236
00:16:00,100 --> 00:16:01,100
I'm going to let him know.

237
00:16:01,440 --> 00:16:03,520
I don't want his warranty.

238
00:16:04,060 --> 00:16:05,900
I get off my charge now.

239
00:16:06,160 --> 00:16:07,860
Well, there's nothing I can do about
that, ma 'am.

240
00:16:19,760 --> 00:16:26,080
In 2006 in St. Louis at the U .S.
Fidelis Call Center, employees are

241
00:16:26,080 --> 00:16:27,580
thousands of deals a month.

242
00:16:28,060 --> 00:16:32,160
You can do Visa or MasterCard, or we do
take American Express or Discover.

243
00:16:32,480 --> 00:16:35,120
Making sales no matter what.

244
00:16:35,380 --> 00:16:39,540
I sold a lady a policy thinking she was
buying car insurance.

245
00:16:40,780 --> 00:16:42,720
And she had Alzheimer's.

246
00:16:44,360 --> 00:16:47,880
But across town, another call center is
also busy.

247
00:16:48,710 --> 00:16:52,330
Registering thousands of complaints
against U .S. Fidelis.

248
00:16:53,990 --> 00:17:00,610
This is the St. Louis office for the
Better Business Bureau.

249
00:17:00,890 --> 00:17:02,470
Michelle Corey is the president.

250
00:17:03,210 --> 00:17:07,849
We only received at the Better Business
Bureau a small percentage of customers

251
00:17:07,849 --> 00:17:08,849
that had complaints.

252
00:17:09,349 --> 00:17:11,089
And we received thousands.

253
00:17:12,089 --> 00:17:14,470
The complaints all tell the same story.

254
00:17:14,920 --> 00:17:18,720
Misleading mailings, high -pressure
sales, and broken promises.

255
00:17:19,280 --> 00:17:24,920
We found some consumers purchasing
coverage for $2 ,000 and their vehicle

256
00:17:24,920 --> 00:17:26,819
have only been valued at $1 ,500.

257
00:17:28,580 --> 00:17:34,780
Ingrid and Adam Sasse spent almost $2
,500 on an extended service contract

258
00:17:34,780 --> 00:17:37,040
to find out it is virtually worthless.

259
00:17:37,680 --> 00:17:42,400
Once we realized, well, it didn't cover
electrical and it didn't cover turbos

260
00:17:42,400 --> 00:17:43,560
and it didn't cover...

261
00:17:44,320 --> 00:17:46,920
Pretty much a lot of the car.

262
00:17:47,640 --> 00:17:50,480
We realized, well, this isn't a very
good fit for us.

263
00:17:50,780 --> 00:17:51,980
Let's get our money back.

264
00:17:52,860 --> 00:17:57,820
And right there on the contract is the
clause, the right to cancel, which is

265
00:17:57,820 --> 00:17:59,220
mandated by state law.

266
00:17:59,980 --> 00:18:06,520
The reason for this is otherwise the
product would be insurance and it would

267
00:18:06,520 --> 00:18:09,920
have been regulated by the insurance
divisions of each of the states.

268
00:18:10,990 --> 00:18:15,130
The sellers of vehicle service contracts
did not want that to be the case, so

269
00:18:15,130 --> 00:18:16,690
they made the product cancelable.

270
00:18:18,050 --> 00:18:20,510
Or supposedly cancelable.

271
00:18:21,450 --> 00:18:26,090
In practice, U .S. Fidelis makes it
nearly impossible for the customers to

272
00:18:26,090 --> 00:18:27,090
out of their contracts.

273
00:18:28,350 --> 00:18:30,150
Free service. Thank you for holding.

274
00:18:30,370 --> 00:18:34,310
This caller wants to cancel a contract
she never authorized.

275
00:18:35,170 --> 00:18:39,690
I asked him not to bill me, so I called
him back.

276
00:18:40,810 --> 00:18:44,030
But the salesman goes ahead and charges
the card.

277
00:18:48,230 --> 00:18:48,910
But

278
00:18:48,910 --> 00:18:55,850
this

279
00:18:55,850 --> 00:19:00,130
woman can't cancel because her husband's
name is also on the credit card.

280
00:19:02,890 --> 00:19:09,890
For half an hour, she gets tossed from
one salesperson to another.

281
00:19:12,580 --> 00:19:15,800
In an exercise of complete frustration.

282
00:19:20,300 --> 00:19:27,060
In some cases, I really believe people
gave up. Like, fine, just keep my money

283
00:19:27,060 --> 00:19:30,720
for this month. It wasn't worth the
hassle of trying to get the cancel.

284
00:19:32,420 --> 00:19:36,740
Ingrid and Adam Sasse are given a
relatively easy time of it.

285
00:19:37,290 --> 00:19:42,470
We were told that we needed to mail in a
written letter requesting cancellation

286
00:19:42,470 --> 00:19:45,430
with a notarized odometer reading.

287
00:19:45,710 --> 00:19:47,490
That wasn't a problem for us.

288
00:19:49,310 --> 00:19:54,170
But when they finally get their money
back, it is $732 short.

289
00:19:55,310 --> 00:20:00,810
The amount was one -third of the whole
cost of the policy, and that is a

290
00:20:00,810 --> 00:20:04,590
significant portion of money to us. We
did not have...

291
00:20:05,269 --> 00:20:09,510
$700 laying around that we could just
throw away because they couldn't give us

292
00:20:09,510 --> 00:20:11,910
good answer as to why we couldn't have
our money back.

293
00:20:13,690 --> 00:20:17,970
The real reason the Sazzy's can't get
their money back is that defrauding

294
00:20:17,970 --> 00:20:20,490
customers is Darren's company policy.

295
00:20:21,030 --> 00:20:22,730
The policy was no refunds.

296
00:20:23,530 --> 00:20:26,950
No refunds. We're not, you know, we're
not quitters. We're not going to let

297
00:20:26,950 --> 00:20:30,390
happen. We don't want to give refunds.
That was the whole goal is not to give

298
00:20:30,390 --> 00:20:35,710
refunds. I mean, in the end, you know,
it was a... Well, we'll give refunds,

299
00:20:35,710 --> 00:20:37,350
we're holding 40 % of it.

300
00:20:38,030 --> 00:20:42,990
The policy is so well established at U
.S. Fidelis, it doesn't even bother to

301
00:20:42,990 --> 00:20:47,410
save money for refunds. Had U .S.
Fidelis been managed correctly, they

302
00:20:47,410 --> 00:20:52,490
have maintained a reserve for future
cancellations. In fact, no significant

303
00:20:52,490 --> 00:20:54,170
reserve was ever maintained.

304
00:20:54,570 --> 00:20:59,390
The brothers just took the cash out of
the company, regardless of the fact that

305
00:20:59,390 --> 00:21:00,950
the consumer had the right to cancel.

306
00:21:02,410 --> 00:21:08,450
By 2007, Darren and Corey have taken
more than $13 million each from the

307
00:21:08,450 --> 00:21:11,810
company, and that is causing a serious
cash shortage each month.

308
00:21:12,430 --> 00:21:13,430
Here's why.

309
00:21:14,070 --> 00:21:18,730
Most consumers make a down payment over
the phone and then finance the rest.

310
00:21:19,510 --> 00:21:26,510
They make their monthly payments to a
separate independent

311
00:21:26,510 --> 00:21:29,070
finance company called MEPCO.

312
00:21:30,040 --> 00:21:34,740
But what becomes a problem is that once
MEPCO gets its first payment, it

313
00:21:34,740 --> 00:21:38,460
advances U .S. Fidelis all of its
commission up front.

314
00:21:38,780 --> 00:21:42,320
But the consumer still had the right to
cancel that contract for the next 23

315
00:21:42,320 --> 00:21:47,340
months. And if the consumer canceled the
contract, then the consumer did not

316
00:21:47,340 --> 00:21:48,880
have to pay anything more to MEPCO.

317
00:21:50,300 --> 00:21:56,120
Now, MEPCO needs to be reimbursed for
the advance it gave to U .S. Fidelis.

318
00:21:56,120 --> 00:22:01,060
so each month, as new customers buy
contracts, MEPCO deducts the money it is

319
00:22:01,060 --> 00:22:04,100
owed from the commission it sends U .S.
Fidelis.

320
00:22:04,340 --> 00:22:08,660
This is where it kind of took the terms
of the Ponzi scheme. So yesterday's

321
00:22:08,660 --> 00:22:11,300
cancellations were paid for by
tomorrow's sales.

322
00:22:12,980 --> 00:22:16,660
That works, as long as sales outnumber
cancellations.

323
00:22:17,660 --> 00:22:22,360
But by the spring of 2007, cancellations
begin to rise and the company's monthly

324
00:22:22,360 --> 00:22:24,040
income starts to fall.

325
00:22:26,040 --> 00:22:31,420
In May, the company's CFO warns, our
cash position is getting very thin.

326
00:22:32,360 --> 00:22:37,240
In September, he projects, we won't have
enough cash to make payroll postage

327
00:22:37,240 --> 00:22:38,240
this week.

328
00:22:39,100 --> 00:22:41,220
And where is the company's money?

329
00:22:41,800 --> 00:22:46,100
Well, Corey has been building a multi
-million dollar house in one suburb.

330
00:22:47,200 --> 00:22:50,040
And Darren's is under construction not
far away.

331
00:22:50,740 --> 00:22:53,240
And let's not forget the vacation
houses.

332
00:22:54,340 --> 00:22:55,740
Darren's is in the Cayman Islands.

333
00:22:56,580 --> 00:22:58,400
Corey's is near Lake Tahoe.

334
00:22:58,820 --> 00:23:02,300
It was a cash grab. It was a money grab,
and they were going to get it as fast

335
00:23:02,300 --> 00:23:04,360
as they could, and they were going to
get as much as they could.

336
00:23:04,580 --> 00:23:08,360
When it first started, it grew so fast
that I think their mentality was, the

337
00:23:08,360 --> 00:23:11,160
money's never going to run out. We're
always going to be able to make sales.

338
00:23:13,070 --> 00:23:18,230
And if making more sales means breaking
a few more laws, so be it.

339
00:23:20,390 --> 00:23:24,530
Next on American Greed, burning through
millions on a mansion.

340
00:23:25,910 --> 00:23:31,430
This house was built on the backs of the
American people, driving a used

341
00:23:31,430 --> 00:23:33,630
vehicle, trying to keep their car on the
road.

342
00:23:45,680 --> 00:23:51,420
By 2008, U .S. Fidelis is desperate to
reach new customers and dramatically

343
00:23:51,420 --> 00:23:55,560
increase sales to offset an ever
-increasing rate of cancellations.

344
00:23:55,760 --> 00:23:59,980
Taking heat from consumers, angry at the
misleading letters they have been

345
00:23:59,980 --> 00:24:04,520
sending out, they come up with a new
plan of attack, utilizing one of the

346
00:24:04,520 --> 00:24:09,340
annoying inventions of modern
communication, the robocall.

347
00:24:13,000 --> 00:24:18,520
It's been estimated that they made over
1 billion robocalls throughout the

348
00:24:18,520 --> 00:24:20,060
United States and parts of Canada.

349
00:24:21,100 --> 00:24:24,400
The incessant calls trigger a flood of
complaints.

350
00:24:25,080 --> 00:24:28,480
This is someone who said they received
hundreds and possibly thousands of

351
00:24:28,480 --> 00:24:32,700
harassing and threatening phone calls,
50 to 100 calls a day. The language was

352
00:24:32,700 --> 00:24:34,400
abusive. It was terrorism.

353
00:24:34,700 --> 00:24:35,960
No, please make it stop.

354
00:24:38,060 --> 00:24:41,680
And once again, U .S. Fidelis is
breaking the law.

355
00:24:43,720 --> 00:24:48,920
Reputable telemarketers have to use a do
not call list, right? They totally

356
00:24:48,920 --> 00:24:49,920
ignored that.

357
00:24:50,380 --> 00:24:55,600
Under law, you're not allowed to
robodial or telemarket to a cell phone.

358
00:24:56,240 --> 00:24:58,420
They totally ignored that.

359
00:24:58,880 --> 00:25:03,980
The law didn't mean anything to them. It
just was a matter of getting the money

360
00:25:03,980 --> 00:25:04,980
in the door.

361
00:25:06,440 --> 00:25:11,140
And the U .S. Fidelity sales team looks
for money in every remote corner of the

362
00:25:11,140 --> 00:25:12,140
country.

363
00:25:13,210 --> 00:25:16,630
Eventually, they make their way to
Windyville, Missouri.

364
00:25:17,730 --> 00:25:20,950
At the end of a long country road miles
out of town,

365
00:25:21,690 --> 00:25:23,750
Frances Tindall takes the call.

366
00:25:24,410 --> 00:25:26,570
I almost felt like it was a godsend.

367
00:25:27,150 --> 00:25:32,730
If I make this monthly payment, then if
anything goes wrong with the van, then I

368
00:25:32,730 --> 00:25:33,930
can get it fixed.

369
00:25:35,210 --> 00:25:40,890
Frances lives 16 miles from the closest
grocery store, 25 miles from the closest

370
00:25:40,890 --> 00:25:46,600
hospital. These days, her 1999 Chevy van
is the only mode of transportation for

371
00:25:46,600 --> 00:25:50,500
her and her best friend, who needs to be
driven to dialysis.

372
00:25:51,080 --> 00:25:55,900
For the U .S. Fidelis salesman, that
information is the perfect opening.

373
00:25:56,460 --> 00:25:58,160
He played that to the hilt.

374
00:25:59,020 --> 00:26:01,480
We'll take care of your vehicle no
matter what.

375
00:26:02,060 --> 00:26:04,720
You won't have to worry about it. You've
got a lot of other things to worry

376
00:26:04,720 --> 00:26:05,720
about.

377
00:26:06,960 --> 00:26:12,400
She signs up because with the U .S.
Fidelis sales team, it's always now or

378
00:26:12,400 --> 00:26:13,400
never.

379
00:26:13,520 --> 00:26:17,140
And with your vehicle being over 10
years old, we won't be able to offer the

380
00:26:17,140 --> 00:26:18,460
coverage on the vehicle again.

381
00:26:19,020 --> 00:26:24,500
It was like, if you want this 25 %
discount, then we need to get you signed

382
00:26:24,500 --> 00:26:26,480
just as soon as we possibly can.

383
00:26:27,820 --> 00:26:30,560
The contract costs more than $2 ,000.

384
00:26:31,320 --> 00:26:35,300
Each month, just over $80 will be
withdrawn from her bank account.

385
00:26:35,600 --> 00:26:39,520
more than 10 % of her $800 a month
disability income.

386
00:26:40,240 --> 00:26:43,680
A few weeks later, she gets a letter and
a card.

387
00:26:44,260 --> 00:26:50,200
It says, congratulations on the purchase
of your extended warranty for your

388
00:26:50,200 --> 00:26:56,240
Chevy Ventura. But U .S. Fidelis does
not include the actual contract, which

389
00:26:56,240 --> 00:26:57,240
not unusual.

390
00:26:57,550 --> 00:27:02,750
They often didn't send the contract to
the consumer after they did the deal, so

391
00:27:02,750 --> 00:27:05,530
the consumer never really knew what they
got.

392
00:27:06,310 --> 00:27:12,010
And so Frances has no idea that she is
actually buying a new product Darren is

393
00:27:12,010 --> 00:27:14,450
using to exploit people just like her.

394
00:27:15,510 --> 00:27:22,190
Usually, a service contract won't cover
a vehicle that has more than 100 ,000

395
00:27:22,190 --> 00:27:23,190
miles on it.

396
00:27:23,710 --> 00:27:28,470
So if somebody's got a junk car, you're
talking to the person on the phone, you

397
00:27:28,470 --> 00:27:30,070
want to be able to sell them something.

398
00:27:31,850 --> 00:27:37,110
And so they sell the consumer an actual
product, what they call an engine

399
00:27:37,110 --> 00:27:42,390
additive. Chemical analysis reveals the
product is really just a bottle of soap

400
00:27:42,390 --> 00:27:44,330
water worth about $2.

401
00:27:45,490 --> 00:27:49,670
The consumer was supposed to put the
soap water into the automobile.

402
00:27:50,440 --> 00:27:55,260
And U .S. Fidelis then warranted that
nothing would go wrong with the car.

403
00:27:56,160 --> 00:28:01,320
The advantage for Darren is that product
warranties don't have to include an

404
00:28:01,320 --> 00:28:03,120
unrestricted right to cancel.

405
00:28:03,340 --> 00:28:07,100
They can be full of exclusions, and the
consumer is stuck.

406
00:28:07,940 --> 00:28:13,980
In just a few years, U .S. Fidelis sells
more than 100 ,000 additive warranties

407
00:28:13,980 --> 00:28:15,780
to people like Francis Tindall.

408
00:28:16,620 --> 00:28:21,300
For two years, she scrimps and saves and
makes all her monthly payments.

409
00:28:22,640 --> 00:28:24,620
I made the last payment the first part
of November.

410
00:28:25,440 --> 00:28:29,640
My van went into the shop on the 10th,
15th of November.

411
00:28:31,380 --> 00:28:33,180
She needs a new radiator.

412
00:28:33,440 --> 00:28:37,800
She tells the mechanic to go ahead and
fix the car because she has a warranty.

413
00:28:38,360 --> 00:28:43,760
That's when the mechanic called them to
get verification on it.

414
00:28:44,140 --> 00:28:47,460
And he called me and said, they're not
covering any of this.

415
00:28:48,920 --> 00:28:54,420
She asked U .S. Fidelis for a copy of
her contract and finally sees what they

416
00:28:54,420 --> 00:28:55,520
say she bought.

417
00:28:56,000 --> 00:28:59,960
I never even seen this paper until the
contract was paid for.

418
00:29:00,780 --> 00:29:05,880
And I had no clue as to what they were
even talking about when I got this.

419
00:29:07,060 --> 00:29:11,880
It is one of the additive warranties,
but she never received the additive.

420
00:29:12,590 --> 00:29:16,250
And she was never told that she is
required to keep records of her oil

421
00:29:16,890 --> 00:29:19,050
She has five receipts out of seven.

422
00:29:19,650 --> 00:29:20,650
Claim denied.

423
00:29:21,390 --> 00:29:27,630
I felt like U .S. Fidelis just stripped
me of all my freedom.

424
00:29:28,730 --> 00:29:31,570
If they took care of that, I'd still
have a vehicle.

425
00:29:32,570 --> 00:29:35,770
I wouldn't be dependent on anybody.

426
00:29:37,690 --> 00:29:39,510
And now I'm dependent on everybody.

427
00:29:40,460 --> 00:29:43,900
Some of these victims, their lives were
ruined by this. This wasn't just a

428
00:29:43,900 --> 00:29:47,700
matter of, oh, I have a nice car and I
can't get my turbocharged engine back in

429
00:29:47,700 --> 00:29:51,520
it. These are people who thought they
were keeping themselves safe and lost

430
00:29:51,520 --> 00:29:52,560
everything in the process.

431
00:29:54,400 --> 00:29:58,300
And where did Francis Tindall's precious
$2 ,000 end up?

432
00:29:58,580 --> 00:30:03,040
It is entirely possible that it was
thrown into the personal spending kitty

433
00:30:03,040 --> 00:30:08,820
Darren Atkinson, who uses $26 million to
build his extraordinary house.

434
00:30:09,500 --> 00:30:14,200
It's more than 20 ,000 square feet with
a bowling alley, a movie theater, two

435
00:30:14,200 --> 00:30:17,020
swimming pools, and 14 bathrooms.

436
00:30:18,020 --> 00:30:20,900
Some of the construction bills were just
staggering.

437
00:30:21,460 --> 00:30:25,900
You know, hundreds of thousands of
dollars to a blacksmith to make, you

438
00:30:25,920 --> 00:30:30,880
wrought iron fences and millions of
dollars in custom cabinetry.

439
00:30:32,040 --> 00:30:37,080
In some rooms, the floors are made of
leather. The marble extends to the

440
00:30:37,080 --> 00:30:40,470
ceiling. The staircase alone cost $1
million.

441
00:30:42,390 --> 00:30:47,250
The house is set in a neighborhood where
there is little pretense. It is

442
00:30:47,250 --> 00:30:51,930
entirely out of place, and to many, it
represents only one thing.

443
00:30:52,310 --> 00:30:54,330
Greed. Unbridled greed.

444
00:30:55,310 --> 00:31:00,990
This house was built on the backs of the
American people, of middle -class

445
00:31:00,990 --> 00:31:05,470
America driving a used vehicle, trying
to keep their car on the road.

446
00:31:08,010 --> 00:31:09,010
This house was built.

447
00:31:11,030 --> 00:31:16,170
Next on American Greed, questions about
Darren make national news.

448
00:31:16,670 --> 00:31:20,410
The hypocrisy of this really got my
attention. You know, a faith -based

449
00:31:20,590 --> 00:31:25,210
the owner was living in this $26 million
mansion complete with a bowling alley.

450
00:31:25,250 --> 00:31:26,390
Where is this money coming from?

451
00:31:27,450 --> 00:31:34,250
Take a tour of extravagance inside
Darren's castle on AmericanGreed .CNBC

452
00:31:35,590 --> 00:31:36,590
Feeling greedy?

453
00:31:37,550 --> 00:31:40,390
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-scenes dirt?

454
00:31:41,090 --> 00:31:45,410
Follow us at AmericanGreedTV on Twitter.
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455
00:31:53,850 --> 00:31:59,090
Six years after it opens for business, U
.S. Fidelis is a national leader in the

456
00:31:59,090 --> 00:32:04,810
vehicle service contract industry, now
sponsoring a NASCAR race team. It looks

457
00:32:04,810 --> 00:32:06,310
like the picture of success.

458
00:32:07,370 --> 00:32:10,630
But for every five contracts sold, three
are canceled.

459
00:32:10,890 --> 00:32:15,890
For years, consumers have been catching
on to the deceitful game Darren Atkinson

460
00:32:15,890 --> 00:32:17,110
and his brother are playing.

461
00:32:18,870 --> 00:32:22,790
We were getting off -the -chart
complaints from consumers and from the

462
00:32:22,790 --> 00:32:29,370
dealers. And then we send out an email
notice to other states saying, I'm going

463
00:32:29,370 --> 00:32:30,370
to open an investigation.

464
00:32:30,790 --> 00:32:32,230
Do you want to join us?

465
00:32:33,610 --> 00:32:35,330
42 states say yes.

466
00:32:36,780 --> 00:32:41,660
U .S. Fidelis is also facing criminal
charges in Missouri, lawsuits from

467
00:32:41,660 --> 00:32:47,600
consumers, and from Verizon over the
robocall, and from BMW for trademark

468
00:32:47,600 --> 00:32:48,600
violations.

469
00:32:50,420 --> 00:32:52,500
The company needs a game plan.

470
00:32:53,220 --> 00:32:57,980
They hire a new CEO, Chris Riley, to
straighten out the mess.

471
00:32:58,340 --> 00:33:02,360
This was a crisis. This was crazy.

472
00:33:03,160 --> 00:33:07,460
Every day, I never knew what was going
to walk into my office.

473
00:33:07,660 --> 00:33:09,140
We were the ones negotiating.

474
00:33:09,420 --> 00:33:13,860
Riley works to clean up the company, but
he has a powerful opponent in the

475
00:33:13,860 --> 00:33:15,000
Better Business Bureau.

476
00:33:16,200 --> 00:33:21,360
The Better Business Bureau decided to
really go out on a crusade to denounce U

477
00:33:21,360 --> 00:33:24,920
.S. Fidelis' business practices to
expose their fraudulent activities.

478
00:33:25,240 --> 00:33:30,500
We reached out to local media, national
media, asking that they join us in

479
00:33:30,500 --> 00:33:31,820
exposing this company.

480
00:33:34,000 --> 00:33:38,440
Matthew Hathaway at the St. Louis Post
-Dispatch gives it front -page coverage.

481
00:33:39,920 --> 00:33:43,380
Then NBC's Jeff Rossen is drawn to the
story.

482
00:33:43,860 --> 00:33:47,820
The hypocrisy of this really got my
attention. You know, a faith -based

483
00:33:47,820 --> 00:33:49,720
accused of defrauding customers.

484
00:33:49,980 --> 00:33:55,500
The fact that the owner was living in
this $26 million mansion complete with a

485
00:33:55,500 --> 00:33:57,260
bowling alley. Where is this money
coming from?

486
00:33:58,740 --> 00:34:01,920
Rossen's story on the Today Show airs in
April.

487
00:34:02,330 --> 00:34:06,190
When her car overheated last month, her
warranty was useless.

488
00:34:06,510 --> 00:34:11,409
If anything is going to kick off a rash
of cancellations, it's a story like this

489
00:34:11,409 --> 00:34:12,770
one on national television.

490
00:34:14,030 --> 00:34:19,090
The Better Business Bureau already has 1
,100 complaints against U .S. Fidelity.

491
00:34:19,690 --> 00:34:25,210
At that point, people really had an idea
that this company was not all that it

492
00:34:25,210 --> 00:34:29,270
was cracked up to be. These vehicle
service contracts were not worth the

493
00:34:29,270 --> 00:34:32,810
they were written on, and people started
canceling and really screaming.

494
00:34:33,889 --> 00:34:38,530
In response, U .S. Fidelis ramps up its
advertising on television.

495
00:34:39,290 --> 00:34:43,110
This is not the same warranty car
dealers offer. It's better. Some of the

496
00:34:43,110 --> 00:34:47,310
advertising took place on late night
television and they reached out to

497
00:34:47,310 --> 00:34:51,250
basically anybody who they could get to
put that down payment and make that

498
00:34:51,250 --> 00:34:56,690
first payment was kind of their focus.
Get that funding from MEPCO up front and

499
00:34:56,690 --> 00:34:58,430
keep the company cash flush.

500
00:35:00,290 --> 00:35:02,410
But the strategy backfired.

501
00:35:03,190 --> 00:35:07,470
In July, we receive our cancellation
bill for June.

502
00:35:08,140 --> 00:35:14,840
And instead of the 29 % that it was for
the first five months of the year,

503
00:35:14,980 --> 00:35:18,620
it was 57%. Double.

504
00:35:20,020 --> 00:35:23,060
Riley discovers the TV ads are the
problem.

505
00:35:23,420 --> 00:35:29,100
We were capturing a completely different
customer. And the cancellations, when

506
00:35:29,100 --> 00:35:33,640
we did our audit, were primarily people
who couldn't afford this contract any

507
00:35:33,640 --> 00:35:34,640
longer.

508
00:35:35,760 --> 00:35:41,100
And now, because so many customers have
canceled, U .S. Fidelis owes the finance

509
00:35:41,100 --> 00:35:44,560
company MEPCO twice as much as it
anticipated.

510
00:35:45,120 --> 00:35:49,160
How much can you save? It's important to
remember U .S. Fidelis really didn't

511
00:35:49,160 --> 00:35:54,920
have a source of income other than the
amounts that MEPCO advanced to them. So

512
00:35:54,920 --> 00:36:01,620
by September or October of 2009, U .S.
Fidelis had no cash flow coming in from

513
00:36:01,620 --> 00:36:02,620
MEPCO whatsoever.

514
00:36:04,230 --> 00:36:09,030
And there is no money in reserve. To
keep the business operating, U .S.

515
00:36:09,030 --> 00:36:12,830
offers the deed to its headquarters as
collateral to MEPCO.

516
00:36:13,650 --> 00:36:16,750
But by December, MEPCO has had enough.

517
00:36:17,330 --> 00:36:18,730
I received the email.

518
00:36:19,330 --> 00:36:26,250
I think it was Pearl Harbor Day,
December 7th. And MEPCO

519
00:36:26,250 --> 00:36:30,350
made a decision. We're not going to give
you your current funding. We're

520
00:36:30,350 --> 00:36:31,710
anticipating cancellations.

521
00:36:32,410 --> 00:36:36,630
That meant I could not pay advertising.
That meant that we had to stop selling.

522
00:36:38,690 --> 00:36:42,150
U .S. Fidelis is out of money and out of
business.

523
00:36:42,550 --> 00:36:46,810
And while it is easy to blame the bad
publicity and poor marketing, the

524
00:36:46,810 --> 00:36:49,330
problem is that the owner spent all the
money.

525
00:36:49,850 --> 00:36:53,590
As everybody says, they were like kids
in a candy store.

526
00:36:54,400 --> 00:36:57,160
MEPCO was the parent, and Darren and
Corey were the teenagers.

527
00:36:57,500 --> 00:37:02,900
You don't tell your child at age 14, I'm
going to give you $1 ,000 a month.

528
00:37:03,120 --> 00:37:05,560
Now, make sure that you save enough for
college.

529
00:37:05,920 --> 00:37:07,440
That's not what parents do.

530
00:37:07,900 --> 00:37:14,100
And so what happened? The parents gave
them $100 million, and the teenagers

531
00:37:14,100 --> 00:37:15,100
spent it.

532
00:37:17,360 --> 00:37:22,640
Next on American Green, one more little
lie from the Atkinson boys.

533
00:37:23,390 --> 00:37:27,590
On the 2006 tax return they filed, they
reported taxable income of zero.

534
00:37:40,470 --> 00:37:47,050
In early 2010, seven years after it
opened for business, U .S. Fidelis has

535
00:37:47,050 --> 00:37:49,170
from boom to bust.

536
00:37:49,960 --> 00:37:53,940
In March, when the company files for
bankruptcy, an independent financial

537
00:37:53,940 --> 00:37:59,260
analysis adds up Darren and Corey's
personal withdrawals. The grand total?

538
00:37:59,780 --> 00:38:02,320
More than $101 million.

539
00:38:02,900 --> 00:38:07,120
And now they owe tens of millions to
MEPCO and consumers.

540
00:38:07,360 --> 00:38:09,820
The brothers surrender their assets.

541
00:38:10,360 --> 00:38:15,480
We took back yachts, boats, cars, go
-karts.

542
00:38:16,090 --> 00:38:20,710
Darren and Corey were go -kart
aficionados. There were go -karts

543
00:38:20,710 --> 00:38:23,630
the U .S. Fidelis headquarters.

544
00:38:25,090 --> 00:38:30,730
Later, when the toys are put on the
auction block, almost 5 ,000 people show

545
00:38:31,450 --> 00:38:34,310
It's been a real big crowd today. I've
been to a lot of state sales, and this

546
00:38:34,310 --> 00:38:40,270
has been just huge. Bidding was very
spirited. We actually received more for

547
00:38:40,270 --> 00:38:43,690
cars than their Blue Book value would
indicate.

548
00:38:44,360 --> 00:38:48,940
Because Darren and Corey had become so
notorious, and there was a certain

549
00:38:48,940 --> 00:38:51,260
of buying some of the assets that were
taken back.

550
00:38:53,600 --> 00:38:57,760
As the spending habits of Darren and
Corey become legend, they inevitably

551
00:38:57,760 --> 00:39:02,500
attract an investigation by the IRS, and
another secret comes out.

552
00:39:03,080 --> 00:39:07,180
They both received millions and millions
of dollars, tens of millions of dollars

553
00:39:07,180 --> 00:39:11,320
every year out of the company, but it
never showed up on their tax returns.

554
00:39:12,860 --> 00:39:13,860
For example.

555
00:39:14,300 --> 00:39:19,280
Here is the tax return from 2006 when
they both are building multi -million

556
00:39:19,280 --> 00:39:20,280
dollar houses.

557
00:39:20,480 --> 00:39:24,760
The 2006 tax return they filed, they
reported taxable income of zero.

558
00:39:25,980 --> 00:39:30,840
What they received in distributions from
the company was over $13 million.

559
00:39:32,940 --> 00:39:36,480
To a grand jury, it sounds like tax
evasion.

560
00:39:38,280 --> 00:39:42,840
Darren and Corey are indicted by both
federal and state of Missouri

561
00:39:43,140 --> 00:39:47,860
They plead guilty to charges of filing
false tax returns, stealing from

562
00:39:47,860 --> 00:39:49,640
consumers, and consumer fraud.

563
00:39:51,100 --> 00:39:54,740
Darren is sentenced to eight years,
Corey, four years.

564
00:39:56,120 --> 00:40:00,440
Meanwhile, Darren's mega mansion sits on
the market for months.

565
00:40:01,300 --> 00:40:03,780
Eventually, it sells for over $4
million.

566
00:40:05,610 --> 00:40:09,870
The money goes into the pot to be
divided among those on a long list of

567
00:40:09,870 --> 00:40:10,870
creditors.

568
00:40:11,190 --> 00:40:16,930
That includes almost 20 ,000 U .S.
Fidelis customers who divvy up $13

569
00:40:18,410 --> 00:40:24,030
Our goal would have been to give them
every dime back, every consumer get

570
00:40:24,030 --> 00:40:27,230
money back, but there wasn't enough
money at the end of the day.

571
00:40:29,330 --> 00:40:32,230
After their lawyers send threatening
letters...

572
00:40:32,440 --> 00:40:35,500
Ingrid and Adam Sasse get all of their
money back.

573
00:40:36,620 --> 00:40:40,980
Metco, which is still owed millions of
dollars, is given Darren's Cayman Island

574
00:40:40,980 --> 00:40:43,020
house as part of its settlement.

575
00:40:44,160 --> 00:40:49,620
And Frances Tindall receives $251 from
the restitution fund.

576
00:40:50,540 --> 00:40:54,660
Today, she looks back on her experience
and knows she has learned a lesson about

577
00:40:54,660 --> 00:40:56,480
life outside of Windyville.

578
00:40:57,240 --> 00:41:00,600
Living out in the country, you never
really realize how...

579
00:41:01,240 --> 00:41:08,140
greedy people get or how many greedy
people there are because this is my

580
00:41:08,600 --> 00:41:12,060
I don't need a lot of money to live in
my world.

581
00:41:13,080 --> 00:41:18,580
I don't need fancy clothes and a big
house and a fancy car and I'm happy.

582
00:41:19,820 --> 00:41:24,260
But so many people think that if they
don't have that almighty dollar, they're

583
00:41:24,260 --> 00:41:25,260
not happy.

584
00:41:25,560 --> 00:41:30,020
So they will stomp all over anybody that

585
00:41:31,660 --> 00:41:34,620
gets in their way of that dollar.

586
00:41:36,940 --> 00:41:41,480
Ironically, as he heads off to prison,
Darren Atkinson might agree with her.

587
00:41:42,340 --> 00:41:47,700
At his sentencing hearing, he says, I
was greedy and selfish about how I run

588
00:41:47,700 --> 00:41:52,040
business. Living in a mansion and having
everything money could buy did not make

589
00:41:52,040 --> 00:41:53,040
me happy.

590
00:41:53,060 --> 00:41:56,920
To the contrary, I was more miserable
than ever before.

591
00:41:57,770 --> 00:42:01,630
I think of Darren Atkinson as somebody
who was trying to reinvent himself. He

592
00:42:01,630 --> 00:42:03,130
was trying to reinvent himself in
Kansas.

593
00:42:03,450 --> 00:42:07,370
He was trying to reinvent himself in
prison when he found Christianity.

594
00:42:08,050 --> 00:42:13,010
To simply be very wealthy and successful
in a slimy industry wasn't good enough.

595
00:42:13,290 --> 00:42:17,530
He wanted to be well -known, and he
wanted to be famous, and he wanted to be

596
00:42:17,530 --> 00:42:19,950
thought of as a business leader.

597
00:42:21,390 --> 00:42:25,790
In 2019, Darren will be released from
federal prison and will have another

598
00:42:25,790 --> 00:42:27,270
chance at reinvention.

599
00:42:28,550 --> 00:42:32,510
If history is any indication, he may
have big plans.

600
00:42:48,680 --> 00:42:53,200
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