1 00:00:01,000 --> 00:00:07,680 In this episode of American Greed, Dr. Fareed Fata tells his patients they have 2 00:00:07,680 --> 00:00:11,200 cancer, and he holds the keys to their survival. 3 00:00:11,820 --> 00:00:16,680 Fata would say that he had better equipment, that he had medicines others 4 00:00:16,680 --> 00:00:21,240 have. But after pumping people full of chemo for years, Fata has a secret. 5 00:00:22,000 --> 00:00:25,740 Many of his trusting patients don't even have the disease. 6 00:00:26,560 --> 00:00:29,740 That's when they hit me like, oh, two and a half years of treatments that I 7 00:00:29,740 --> 00:00:30,479 didn't need. 8 00:00:30,480 --> 00:00:35,560 The dangerous infusions Potter provides serve only one purpose, making him 9 00:00:35,560 --> 00:00:36,760 millions of dollars. 10 00:00:37,280 --> 00:00:41,060 For him, it was all about the bottom line. How much time can I put the person 11 00:00:41,060 --> 00:00:44,580 the chair? How many doses of different drugs can I give this person? And later, 12 00:00:44,700 --> 00:00:48,140 a well -dressed bank robber with plenty of flair. 13 00:00:48,780 --> 00:00:53,680 The FBI thought of that as Samuel L. Jackson in Pulp Fiction. And a menacing 14 00:00:53,680 --> 00:00:54,780 violence streak. 15 00:00:55,060 --> 00:00:59,940 He would pull out a gun, point it at the tellers, and say, I will kill you if 16 00:00:59,940 --> 00:01:04,500 you don't get me into the vault. The feds link Joseph Jose Banks to 20 bank 17 00:01:04,500 --> 00:01:07,460 robberies totaling millions of dollars in losses. 18 00:01:08,280 --> 00:01:13,040 He was probably the most successful bank robber in recent memory in the Chicago 19 00:01:13,040 --> 00:01:18,240 area. But from a cell in a high -rise jail, he shows the world he won't be 20 00:01:18,240 --> 00:01:22,600 caged. The fact that you have people willing to carve their way out of a 21 00:01:22,600 --> 00:01:27,020 facility and to rappel down a building in the middle of the downtown, it's 22 00:01:27,020 --> 00:01:30,060 almost too perfect an escape plan to have worked that properly. 23 00:01:30,260 --> 00:01:31,260 But it did. 24 00:01:49,710 --> 00:01:54,670 Robert Soberay is a former auto worker from Milford, Michigan, about an hour 25 00:01:54,670 --> 00:01:55,670 outside Detroit. 26 00:01:57,090 --> 00:02:02,410 After suffering from back problems, his doctor suspects something serious and 27 00:02:02,410 --> 00:02:07,690 refers him in 2010 to a well -known cancer specialist named Dr. Fareed Fada. 28 00:02:09,910 --> 00:02:13,750 Right away, Fada orders a painful bone marrow biopsy. 29 00:02:14,250 --> 00:02:17,690 Then he gives Soberay the news every patient fears. 30 00:02:18,570 --> 00:02:19,590 He has cancer. 31 00:02:19,850 --> 00:02:24,310 Your mind goes blank, and all you can think about is what's most important to 32 00:02:24,310 --> 00:02:29,230 you. To me, it's my wife. She's next to me, and I just held her. I didn't know 33 00:02:29,230 --> 00:02:30,230 what to do. 34 00:02:31,210 --> 00:02:35,510 Being diagnosed with cancer is a frightening experience. 35 00:02:36,110 --> 00:02:41,610 Hi, I am Dr. Farid Farah with Michigan Hematology Oncology. 36 00:02:42,110 --> 00:02:46,970 Born in Lebanon, Farid Farah comes to the U .S. in the 1990s. 37 00:02:47,290 --> 00:02:49,110 where he lands a prestigious fellowship. 38 00:02:50,030 --> 00:02:53,610 Farah had excellent credentials. He had gone to medical school in Lebanon, but 39 00:02:53,610 --> 00:02:56,810 he had trained at Sloan Kettering in New York, which is one of the most 40 00:02:56,810 --> 00:02:58,910 prestigious cancer centers in the United States. 41 00:02:59,350 --> 00:03:03,330 He was highly regarded by most of his colleagues and peers in Michigan, 42 00:03:03,330 --> 00:03:04,330 nationally. 43 00:03:04,630 --> 00:03:07,150 Farah sets up shop in the Detroit suburbs. 44 00:03:09,170 --> 00:03:14,450 At his opulent clinics, patients are willing to endure long waits to be seen 45 00:03:14,450 --> 00:03:16,150 the doctor for just minutes. 46 00:03:19,240 --> 00:03:26,040 Between 2005 and 2013, Fata builds a practice of 60 employees in seven 47 00:03:26,040 --> 00:03:30,380 offices where he sees more than 17 ,000 patients. 48 00:03:31,100 --> 00:03:34,660 He was the largest provider of oncology treatment in Michigan. 49 00:03:34,920 --> 00:03:38,600 Other doctors sent their family members to him because they thought he was the 50 00:03:38,600 --> 00:03:41,040 best in town. He had a reputation of being the best. 51 00:03:41,420 --> 00:03:46,060 Much of Fata's practice involves ordering expensive chemotherapy drugs. 52 00:03:47,520 --> 00:03:51,360 Chemotherapy treatments are all very different, but many of them are 53 00:03:51,360 --> 00:03:55,740 poisons that you hope kill the cancer faster than it kills you. 54 00:03:56,180 --> 00:03:58,620 But Fada's patients are facing death. 55 00:03:59,300 --> 00:04:04,420 And he promises them he has access to drugs and treatment plans other doctors 56 00:04:04,420 --> 00:04:05,420 don't. 57 00:04:06,460 --> 00:04:12,140 Though he's said to have a quiet bedside manner, Fada can be very persistent in 58 00:04:12,140 --> 00:04:15,280 making sure patients take the drugs he says they need. 59 00:04:16,300 --> 00:04:20,279 He would alternate between being very comforting and then threatening. When 60 00:04:20,279 --> 00:04:23,760 staff challenged his treatment, he would say things like, did you go to Sloan 61 00:04:23,760 --> 00:04:26,160 Kettering? You don't know. I'm the doctor. 62 00:04:26,540 --> 00:04:30,260 When his patients began to push back on his treatment, he would tell them they 63 00:04:30,260 --> 00:04:34,760 would die without him. When patients agree to take the chemo Fata says is 64 00:04:34,760 --> 00:04:39,520 necessary, he bills their insurance thousands of dollars per treatment. 65 00:04:40,760 --> 00:04:44,740 Eventually, the doctor becomes one of the top Medicare billers in the nation. 66 00:04:45,260 --> 00:04:49,840 He actually billed over $500 million to Blue Cross and Medicare during the time 67 00:04:49,840 --> 00:04:50,840 that he was practicing. 68 00:04:51,660 --> 00:04:55,600 What he bills and what he receives are not the same. 69 00:04:56,120 --> 00:04:57,820 But Fata does all right. 70 00:04:58,080 --> 00:05:02,140 I actually thought, well, he actually knows something that we don't. I mean, 71 00:05:02,140 --> 00:05:04,260 could be Bill Gates of oncology. 72 00:05:04,520 --> 00:05:07,260 Between August 2007 and July 2013, 73 00:05:08,000 --> 00:05:13,660 Fata received $91 million in reimbursements from Medicare alone. 74 00:05:14,350 --> 00:05:19,050 Fada went from a small one -person practitioner to having approximately $17 75 00:05:19,050 --> 00:05:21,430 million or more in his possession. 76 00:05:21,710 --> 00:05:24,330 And that's not even counting what his practices were worth. 77 00:05:24,550 --> 00:05:29,270 Fada lives with his wife and three children in a 6 ,000 -square -foot 78 00:05:29,270 --> 00:05:31,970 purchased for $1 .5 million. 79 00:05:32,610 --> 00:05:36,910 He owns property in his native country, Lebanon, and at one point considers 80 00:05:36,910 --> 00:05:38,970 buying a castle there as well. 81 00:05:39,870 --> 00:05:41,570 But in 2010... 82 00:05:42,090 --> 00:05:47,730 An experienced oncology nurse named Angela Swantek notices that in Fata's 83 00:05:47,730 --> 00:05:50,490 kingdom, all may not be what it seems. 84 00:05:51,170 --> 00:05:56,070 That year, Swantek interviews for a position as an infusion nurse at one of 85 00:05:56,070 --> 00:05:57,070 Fata's clinics. 86 00:05:57,630 --> 00:06:03,010 I showed up about 8 .30 in the morning, and already all of the chairs were full. 87 00:06:03,310 --> 00:06:06,690 I thought, wow, this is going to be great. This is going to be nice and 88 00:06:06,690 --> 00:06:07,669 like to be busy. 89 00:06:07,670 --> 00:06:10,290 When Swantek returns for a second time... 90 00:06:10,620 --> 00:06:14,440 She gets a look inside one of the doctor's busy infusion rooms. 91 00:06:15,020 --> 00:06:19,360 I noticed things as soon as I walked into the office. Within probably the 92 00:06:19,360 --> 00:06:23,240 20 minutes, I thought, there's no way I could work here because of the way that 93 00:06:23,240 --> 00:06:24,240 they do things. 94 00:06:24,580 --> 00:06:27,500 Swantec has worked in oncology for almost 20 years. 95 00:06:28,100 --> 00:06:33,840 In addition to disposing of chemo incorrectly, she says she notices drugs 96 00:06:33,840 --> 00:06:36,780 given for longer amounts of time than recommended. 97 00:06:37,680 --> 00:06:41,620 So the light bulb went off that I know what he's doing. Instead of giving 98 00:06:41,620 --> 00:06:45,660 something over five minutes, he did it in an hour. So he could bill the 99 00:06:45,660 --> 00:06:47,120 insurance company for more money. 100 00:06:47,600 --> 00:06:52,220 I thought somebody needs to do something to help those patients because they 101 00:06:52,220 --> 00:06:54,900 have no idea that they're getting inappropriate care. 102 00:06:55,540 --> 00:07:00,620 The next week, Swantec sends a written complaint to the state of Michigan. 103 00:07:01,920 --> 00:07:04,900 Patients are being harmed because the chemotherapy. 104 00:07:05,900 --> 00:07:09,700 and supportive therapy they are being given are being given incorrectly. 105 00:07:10,140 --> 00:07:15,340 I have been an oncology nurse for 19 years. I feel this physician is doing 106 00:07:15,340 --> 00:07:20,480 patients more harm than good and needs to be investigated by the state, OSHA, 107 00:07:20,640 --> 00:07:22,760 Medicare, and Blue Cross Blue Shield. 108 00:07:23,220 --> 00:07:29,620 A year later, in May 2011, she gets a letter back from the state saying their 109 00:07:29,620 --> 00:07:34,820 investigation has found no violations and that the FATA file has been closed. 110 00:07:38,440 --> 00:07:42,460 It's unfortunate because the nurse is on to something. 111 00:07:43,000 --> 00:07:47,800 In most oncology practices, infusion chairs are where healing begins. 112 00:07:48,820 --> 00:07:53,460 But Dr. Fareed Fata seems to see his chairs in a different light. 113 00:07:54,260 --> 00:07:58,620 He saw dollar signs in every chair. And the longer the person sat in the chair, 114 00:07:58,760 --> 00:08:00,620 the more dollar signs were in his eyes. 115 00:08:01,140 --> 00:08:04,620 Fata makes money not just with the expensive drugs he administers. 116 00:08:05,180 --> 00:08:09,560 but also with the amount of time patients spend in each chair. 117 00:08:10,100 --> 00:08:15,960 In one instance, Fada asks a nurse how much more he can charge by adding an 118 00:08:15,960 --> 00:08:17,840 extra hour to an infusion. 119 00:08:18,220 --> 00:08:21,600 She did the research and told Dr. Fada that it was only $22 difference. 120 00:08:21,920 --> 00:08:23,520 And he said, no, it's not $22. 121 00:08:24,000 --> 00:08:27,920 It's 22 and 22 and 22 and 22. 122 00:08:30,420 --> 00:08:32,000 Next on American Greed. 123 00:08:32,940 --> 00:08:38,159 Find out just how far Dr. Fareed Fada will go in order to make cancer pay. 124 00:08:38,760 --> 00:08:41,320 Look at my dad. He's almost 90 years old. 125 00:08:41,679 --> 00:08:43,940 Can't he just die with dignity and in peace? 126 00:08:56,200 --> 00:09:01,500 The aura of authority around cancer specialist Fareed Fada is powerful. 127 00:09:02,250 --> 00:09:06,870 So on those rare occasions when a patient declines cancer treatment, it's 128 00:09:06,870 --> 00:09:08,650 something that really sticks out. 129 00:09:10,250 --> 00:09:15,490 Fada's former practice manager, George Karachi, recalls a time when he sees his 130 00:09:15,490 --> 00:09:18,390 boss after one patient turns him down. 131 00:09:19,170 --> 00:09:23,130 He looked not like a doctor who was concerned about his patient, more like 132 00:09:23,130 --> 00:09:25,510 had lost his sale. And he said, we're all misunderstood. 133 00:09:26,150 --> 00:09:28,810 Jesus, Buddha, Muhammad, they're all misunderstood. 134 00:09:29,050 --> 00:09:30,270 And so is Fada. 135 00:09:30,790 --> 00:09:34,440 Yes. Farah and profits go together well. 136 00:09:34,740 --> 00:09:36,860 He'll stop at nothing to get them. 137 00:09:38,200 --> 00:09:43,260 Among those who keep the money flowing is patient Robert Soberay. 138 00:09:43,560 --> 00:09:50,080 February 7, 2012, Zometa infusion. March 8, Zometa infusion. April 139 00:09:50,080 --> 00:09:52,000 5, Zometa infusion. 140 00:09:52,200 --> 00:09:59,090 May 3, Zometa. Each time Soberay gets an infusion of the drug Zometa, Fata bills 141 00:09:59,090 --> 00:10:02,050 his insurance $1 ,120. 142 00:10:03,350 --> 00:10:07,210 After taking it, Soberay begins to notice problems. 143 00:10:07,930 --> 00:10:11,430 I had a tooth break off. It just broke off right at the gum line. Couldn't 144 00:10:11,430 --> 00:10:12,510 figure out what the heck's going on. 145 00:10:12,810 --> 00:10:16,690 And my jaw was hurting during this time, too, this period. My jaw was hurting. I 146 00:10:16,690 --> 00:10:18,610 reached out to Dr. Fata, and he goes, I don't know what it is. 147 00:10:18,850 --> 00:10:20,510 I don't know. I used to see a dentist. 148 00:10:20,770 --> 00:10:25,910 What it is is a well -known potential side effect of Zometa, but Fata ignores 149 00:10:25,910 --> 00:10:26,910 the warning signs. 150 00:10:27,420 --> 00:10:30,320 About every month or two, I'd lose another tooth. 151 00:10:30,860 --> 00:10:36,220 I had one that come out with the whole socket and all and put a hole up into my 152 00:10:36,220 --> 00:10:40,380 sinuses. Eventually, Sovereign loses all but two of his teeth. 153 00:10:41,420 --> 00:10:46,120 It felt like torture. I kept asking myself, what did I ever do? Why me? 154 00:10:47,700 --> 00:10:53,160 Not knowing how far his doctor will go to make some extra cash, Sober Ray has 155 00:10:53,160 --> 00:10:57,420 kept on these dangerous cancer -fighting drugs for two and a half years. 156 00:10:58,080 --> 00:11:04,980 It was two and a half years of bull that I didn't need any of it because I 157 00:11:04,980 --> 00:11:06,920 didn't have cancer. I didn't use it for anything. 158 00:11:07,420 --> 00:11:10,220 I didn't need to have a bone marrow biopsy because I didn't have cancer. 159 00:11:10,700 --> 00:11:16,040 In his efforts to keep patients coming in and bills going out, Vara has been 160 00:11:16,040 --> 00:11:18,280 doing the unthinkable for years. 161 00:11:19,300 --> 00:11:20,740 Patients who didn't have cancer at all. 162 00:11:21,050 --> 00:11:25,350 were poisoned with chemotherapy. Some people were on chemotherapy for years, 163 00:11:25,350 --> 00:11:27,130 years, three years, that they didn't need to be on. 164 00:11:27,570 --> 00:11:33,590 Fata subjects hundreds of patients to dangerously potent chemo drugs they 165 00:11:33,590 --> 00:11:37,530 need. When you read his patient file and understood where the money was to be 166 00:11:37,530 --> 00:11:40,850 made, then you could understand why he ordered the treatment, because it made 167 00:11:40,850 --> 00:11:41,850 sense medically. 168 00:11:42,050 --> 00:11:46,590 Court records say that over -treated patients will eventually suffer from 169 00:11:46,590 --> 00:11:47,970 congestive heart failure. 170 00:11:49,200 --> 00:11:55,980 Kidney dysfunction, blood clots, osteoporosis, pain in their 171 00:11:55,980 --> 00:12:02,100 muscles, joints, and bones, weakness, weakened immune systems, permanent 172 00:12:02,100 --> 00:12:05,800 baldness, loss of teeth, and loss of memory. 173 00:12:07,600 --> 00:12:13,400 Vada also gives patients a litany of other non -chemo infusions, such as 174 00:12:13,540 --> 00:12:14,580 which they don't need. 175 00:12:15,280 --> 00:12:18,600 He will stop at nothing to send out one more bill. 176 00:12:19,300 --> 00:12:22,900 There was one individual who was getting iron he didn't need. 177 00:12:23,220 --> 00:12:27,560 He was in his 80s. He fell and hit his head. He did have cancer, but he was 178 00:12:27,560 --> 00:12:32,280 given iron before the EMTs were allowed to take him to the ER, and he also later 179 00:12:32,280 --> 00:12:38,980 died. And still, in some cases, Fata is taking something more than just his 180 00:12:38,980 --> 00:12:40,780 patient's health and money. 181 00:12:41,860 --> 00:12:44,420 The one thing Dad was cheated out of the most, 182 00:12:45,500 --> 00:12:46,920 What it does. 183 00:12:48,860 --> 00:12:53,660 Sidney Centilli won a Purple Heart during World War II at the Battle of 184 00:12:54,700 --> 00:13:00,180 After the war, Centilli moves to Clarkston, Michigan, where he and his 185 00:13:00,180 --> 00:13:05,340 raise five girls, including Diane Centilli and Barbara LaBossonere. 186 00:13:05,780 --> 00:13:10,040 Remember, he loved classical music. Yeah. I listen to that on my radio. 187 00:13:10,320 --> 00:13:12,420 Yeah. I think of him. Yeah. 188 00:13:13,080 --> 00:13:19,240 At age 87, doctors tell Santilli he has stage 4 pancreatic cancer that's spread 189 00:13:19,240 --> 00:13:20,240 to his liver. 190 00:13:20,780 --> 00:13:24,000 They tell him he has less than six months to live. 191 00:13:25,740 --> 00:13:30,880 Hoping for a miracle, though, Santilli goes to see another doctor who says he 192 00:13:30,880 --> 00:13:34,640 can do what others can't. Dr. Farah. 193 00:13:35,210 --> 00:13:40,050 Explained to my father that he currently had other stage four metastatic 194 00:13:40,050 --> 00:13:43,390 pancreatic cancer patients that were already 12 months out. 195 00:13:44,250 --> 00:13:46,130 So that gave my dad hope. 196 00:13:46,810 --> 00:13:52,250 LaBoisinere says Fada's treatment involves many, many rounds of 197 00:13:52,250 --> 00:13:53,250 other drugs. 198 00:13:53,530 --> 00:13:56,250 Once he started with Dr. Fada, he was sick all the time. 199 00:13:56,680 --> 00:14:01,500 He'd be up sitting at night with the chills and fever, and his bones would 200 00:14:01,500 --> 00:14:04,360 He couldn't eat. He was losing weight rapidly. 201 00:14:05,600 --> 00:14:10,840 After a few rounds of treatments until he has had enough, he's decided to 202 00:14:10,840 --> 00:14:13,580 a shorter life free of chemo's pain. 203 00:14:14,900 --> 00:14:19,100 But when he meets with Farah to say so, he gets incredible news. 204 00:14:20,320 --> 00:14:22,380 He walked in, and he said, 205 00:14:24,650 --> 00:14:27,430 The cancer's gone from your liver. It's cured. 206 00:14:27,670 --> 00:14:28,670 It's gone. 207 00:14:29,610 --> 00:14:34,570 When they left there, they actually stopped and got balloons and a cake and 208 00:14:34,570 --> 00:14:36,670 a celebration back at my mom and dad's house. 209 00:14:37,850 --> 00:14:42,990 Though Farah says he's cured his patient, he orders a new round of 210 00:14:42,990 --> 00:14:47,990 treatments he can bill for until he grows sicker, then checks into a 211 00:14:47,990 --> 00:14:52,050 where he's visited by the doctor who he thinks is his savior. 212 00:14:52,600 --> 00:14:58,980 My dad looked at him with hopeful eyes, and Dr. Fata said, well, you've got, 213 00:14:59,100 --> 00:15:01,720 I think, about two to three days to live. 214 00:15:01,960 --> 00:15:05,920 He patted my dad on the shoulder, and they walked out of the room. And then my 215 00:15:05,920 --> 00:15:06,920 dad looked at me. 216 00:15:07,420 --> 00:15:09,780 He goes, what happened? 217 00:15:11,340 --> 00:15:12,340 What happened? 218 00:15:13,660 --> 00:15:18,300 Centelli died just days later, on Pearl Harbor Day, 2011. 219 00:15:19,500 --> 00:15:23,640 His name is now memorialized on this veteran's wall at a local cemetery. 220 00:15:25,060 --> 00:15:27,760 Thank you for your service, Dad. Love you, Dad. 221 00:15:28,280 --> 00:15:33,760 Centilli is just one of many terminal cancer patients, cheated of the truth 222 00:15:33,760 --> 00:15:36,860 out of time in order to pad Fata's wallet. 223 00:15:37,280 --> 00:15:42,160 Dad never had the opportunity to accept the fact that he was going to die, to 224 00:15:42,160 --> 00:15:47,880 prepare himself for death, to make peace with himself, to have last rites 225 00:15:47,880 --> 00:15:48,880 properly. 226 00:15:49,150 --> 00:15:52,330 For that, I really can't forgive Dr. Fata. 227 00:15:54,590 --> 00:15:57,390 Next on American Greed, Dr. 228 00:15:57,610 --> 00:16:03,490 Fata's scam comes crashing down and the feds take a look at his diagnosis for 229 00:16:03,490 --> 00:16:04,490 dollars scheme. 230 00:16:04,970 --> 00:16:09,370 Fata was not on the peripheries or on the blinds. He wasn't even close to the 231 00:16:09,370 --> 00:16:11,470 line. He was so far past the line, he couldn't see it. 232 00:16:24,140 --> 00:16:29,680 For many years, Dr. Fareed Fata is a master at keeping outsiders from looking 233 00:16:29,680 --> 00:16:31,280 closely at his business. 234 00:16:32,060 --> 00:16:36,060 He held everything really close to his vest. It would take him months to 235 00:16:36,060 --> 00:16:38,400 records if a patient left the practice and went somewhere else. 236 00:16:38,600 --> 00:16:41,380 In retrospect, we probably know today why. 237 00:16:41,720 --> 00:16:45,380 He didn't want other physicians seeing his patients. Because if other 238 00:16:45,380 --> 00:16:48,580 saw what was in their files, there would have been more questions raised than 239 00:16:48,580 --> 00:16:49,079 there were. 240 00:16:49,080 --> 00:16:51,660 But what about the people inside the practice? 241 00:16:52,220 --> 00:16:57,180 There were RNs, there were other doctors that worked in their practice, and they 242 00:16:57,180 --> 00:16:59,760 knew. They knew, and I know they knew. 243 00:17:00,000 --> 00:17:04,660 While this is the sentiment of many of Fata's patients, the feds say the doctor 244 00:17:04,660 --> 00:17:09,880 is well -versed at hiding his deceit. There wasn't one person besides him that 245 00:17:09,880 --> 00:17:10,880 had all the information. 246 00:17:10,920 --> 00:17:14,200 Maybe a nurse over here had a nugget, maybe a biller over here had a nugget, 247 00:17:14,200 --> 00:17:17,839 a nugget of what? They don't know if there's a bigger problem here or if this 248 00:17:17,839 --> 00:17:19,000 just is one small mistake. 249 00:17:19,359 --> 00:17:20,619 They were separated. 250 00:17:21,210 --> 00:17:22,210 On purpose. 251 00:17:22,470 --> 00:17:28,290 According to practice manager George Karachay, Farah and his wife, who acts 252 00:17:28,290 --> 00:17:32,910 his CFO, imposed draconian measures to keep staff from talking. 253 00:17:33,290 --> 00:17:36,950 They didn't like the staff mingling and having private conversations. 254 00:17:37,310 --> 00:17:40,570 They didn't like them to have discussions unless it was absolutely 255 00:17:40,930 --> 00:17:44,630 And they enforced that through the use of cameras and microphones strategically 256 00:17:44,630 --> 00:17:46,510 placed throughout the center. 257 00:17:46,790 --> 00:17:48,750 Despite all this plotting... 258 00:17:49,100 --> 00:17:51,220 The truth can't stay hidden forever. 259 00:17:53,060 --> 00:17:59,220 While Farah is on vacation in 2013, one of his employees, Dr. Sol Mongley, 260 00:17:59,360 --> 00:18:03,120 examines one of his boss's so -called cancer patients. 261 00:18:03,580 --> 00:18:07,620 She did not have cancer. Sol Mongley sees this on the chart and tells her not 262 00:18:07,620 --> 00:18:10,320 ever come back to Dr. Farah again, that she does not have cancer. 263 00:18:10,860 --> 00:18:16,480 In July 2013, Karachi discusses the situation with Dr. Mongley. 264 00:18:17,420 --> 00:18:21,100 I asked him what was on his mind, and he said, Dr. Prada is administering 265 00:18:21,100 --> 00:18:26,920 chemotherapy to patients without need. When I heard that, I said to myself, you 266 00:18:26,920 --> 00:18:31,160 know, this is really wild. 267 00:18:31,600 --> 00:18:37,360 Other employees corroborate some of Mongley's allegations, and Karadjie 268 00:18:37,360 --> 00:18:38,580 whistleblower lawsuit. 269 00:18:43,230 --> 00:18:48,110 With his lawyer, he tells the feds about Farah's unimaginable deceit. 270 00:18:49,510 --> 00:18:53,830 I hoped that they were wrong, and I thought we could be wrong. I thought we 271 00:18:53,830 --> 00:18:57,990 could go out and we would have aches on our face and look like idiots because we 272 00:18:57,990 --> 00:19:00,730 had gone out and asked questions about the prominent oncologist. 273 00:19:01,170 --> 00:19:04,690 But on the other hand, if they were true, we had to do it. We had to go out 274 00:19:04,690 --> 00:19:08,290 ask the questions. We had to go out and find out if this was really happening. 275 00:19:08,940 --> 00:19:13,760 Days later, agents conduct simultaneous interviews with eight of Fata's 276 00:19:13,760 --> 00:19:14,760 employees. 277 00:19:15,560 --> 00:19:19,940 A lot of times when people come in and talk to us, maybe 20 % of what they say 278 00:19:19,940 --> 00:19:24,740 is accurate, but in this case, everything the office manager told us 279 00:19:24,740 --> 00:19:25,740 accurate. 280 00:19:25,980 --> 00:19:31,480 Though the full extent of Fata's fraud is not yet known, the feds have enough 281 00:19:31,480 --> 00:19:32,480 act. 282 00:19:33,540 --> 00:19:39,500 Just days after hearing from whistleblower George Carace, Agents raid 283 00:19:39,500 --> 00:19:43,860 clinics and his house and seize millions of dollars from various accounts. 284 00:19:45,000 --> 00:19:51,120 Agents Brian Drake and Abhijit Dixit are on scene to put the once revered doctor 285 00:19:51,120 --> 00:19:52,120 in cuffs. 286 00:19:53,100 --> 00:19:57,980 Neither his wife nor any other employee is charged for playing a role in the 287 00:19:57,980 --> 00:19:58,980 crime. 288 00:20:00,180 --> 00:20:06,020 As word begins to spread, the medical community and Farrer's patients are left 289 00:20:06,020 --> 00:20:07,020 in shock. 290 00:20:07,880 --> 00:20:12,240 The feds say Dr. Farid Fada was one greedy, dishonest doctor. 291 00:20:12,700 --> 00:20:16,520 Working with a victim witness coordinator in the U .S. Attorney's 292 00:20:16,700 --> 00:20:20,280 patients are given their files to take for a second opinion. 293 00:20:21,360 --> 00:20:25,140 Among the patients who go to a new doctor is Robert Sovereign. 294 00:20:25,560 --> 00:20:28,920 I told him, first of all, you know, I was a modest patient. He goes, okay, how 295 00:20:28,920 --> 00:20:29,920 do you know you got cancer? 296 00:20:30,740 --> 00:20:35,100 I goes, that's what he told me. He says, you don't have cancer. He says, there's 297 00:20:35,100 --> 00:20:37,100 nothing wrong with you. He goes, there is now. 298 00:20:37,740 --> 00:20:41,820 It was a shock, a big shock. It's probably worse than hearing that you got 299 00:20:41,820 --> 00:20:44,440 cancer because you don't know what's going to happen. 300 00:20:44,720 --> 00:20:49,300 Though Fauna's treatment caused him his teeth, court records say he likely had 301 00:20:49,300 --> 00:20:50,780 little more than inflammation. 302 00:20:52,160 --> 00:20:55,640 Soon, stories like Soberay's come streaming in. 303 00:20:56,120 --> 00:21:01,260 As patients started to see new doctors, we got calls from what we called second 304 00:21:01,260 --> 00:21:04,680 opinion doctors. They're new treating physicians, and if they took in 20 or 30 305 00:21:04,680 --> 00:21:08,700 patients, they would call us and say, I have a problem here. I have 30 of Dr. 306 00:21:08,860 --> 00:21:10,900 Farah's patients and 20 never should have been treated. 307 00:21:11,240 --> 00:21:17,880 As evidence mounts against him, Farah pleads guilty in September 2014 to 13 308 00:21:17,880 --> 00:21:23,100 charges of health care fraud, two counts of money laundering, and one count of 309 00:21:23,100 --> 00:21:25,740 conspiracy to pay and receive kickbacks. 310 00:21:26,380 --> 00:21:32,300 Nearly a year later at sentencing, Farah admits he fraudulently received... $17 311 00:21:32,300 --> 00:21:36,260 .6 million from Medicare and private insurers. 312 00:21:36,620 --> 00:21:42,060 He says he misused his healing gift in pursuit of power and greed. 313 00:21:43,000 --> 00:21:48,640 In the end, the judge calls his crime horrific and unprecedented and sentences 314 00:21:48,640 --> 00:21:52,160 him to 45 years in federal prison. 315 00:21:52,960 --> 00:21:54,860 I would have loved to see him get life. 316 00:21:55,140 --> 00:21:58,800 And if they had capital punishment, let's go for it. 317 00:21:59,300 --> 00:22:03,520 For what he's done, Not only to me, thousands of people. 318 00:22:03,860 --> 00:22:05,900 They said he had, what, 17 ,000 patients? 319 00:22:06,580 --> 00:22:08,320 And that's a lot of people. 320 00:22:09,020 --> 00:22:10,200 How long did he go for? 321 00:22:11,860 --> 00:22:12,860 Now I'm starting to get upset. 322 00:22:17,160 --> 00:22:22,420 Years after Fata's arrest, his former patients gather at events like this 323 00:22:23,560 --> 00:22:28,780 The government has identified 550 victims and says it's likely there are 324 00:22:28,780 --> 00:22:31,020 hundreds or even thousands more. 325 00:22:32,280 --> 00:22:38,640 The doctor who violated his oath to do no harm has cost them in many ways. 326 00:22:38,920 --> 00:22:43,160 There are health problems caused by years of unnecessary infusions. 327 00:22:44,400 --> 00:22:48,540 There are mental health effects for victims and their families. 328 00:22:50,410 --> 00:22:54,830 And then there are the financial woes for people like Robert Soberay, who has 329 00:22:54,830 --> 00:22:59,390 resorted to a page on GoFundMe .com to help raise $50 ,000. 330 00:23:00,050 --> 00:23:05,270 It's money he says he needs to pay old bills and deal with his ongoing medical 331 00:23:05,270 --> 00:23:10,770 problems. On top of this is the anxiety of not knowing what the future holds for 332 00:23:10,770 --> 00:23:13,310 his unnecessarily overtreated body. 333 00:23:14,090 --> 00:23:16,450 People look for closure in that, and I'm not going to have closure. 334 00:23:16,810 --> 00:23:19,650 Every day I wake up thinking, you know, is there anything else could happen to 335 00:23:19,650 --> 00:23:20,650 me? I don't know. 336 00:23:20,770 --> 00:23:24,190 Like I said, I feel better than I did, but I'm still scared. 337 00:23:24,550 --> 00:23:29,430 Today, Soberay says there's one thing new patients should do if they ever hear 338 00:23:29,430 --> 00:23:31,850 their doctor say, you have cancer. 339 00:23:32,290 --> 00:23:34,810 Don't believe them. Go get a second or third opinion. 340 00:23:35,690 --> 00:23:36,690 Doubt them. 341 00:23:37,470 --> 00:23:39,270 Every doctor you meet, doubt that doctor. 342 00:23:39,790 --> 00:23:41,970 I will never trust one doctor again. 343 00:23:46,760 --> 00:23:52,520 Up next, with a gun in hand, a violent thief leaves Chicago bank tellers 344 00:23:52,520 --> 00:23:56,640 reeling. There's just money floating everywhere in the room. You're panicking 345 00:23:56,640 --> 00:24:00,080 and pulling up bricks of money and shoving it into a bag. It's literally, I 346 00:24:00,080 --> 00:24:02,520 don't know how much, but there were 20, 10 money everywhere. 347 00:24:17,580 --> 00:24:22,340 It's a cold December day at this Citibank branch on Chicago's north side. 348 00:24:23,520 --> 00:24:29,280 Jim Love is working inside when he notices a strangely attired man 349 00:24:29,920 --> 00:24:34,220 He's walking in full suit, afro wig, sunglasses on, and my first reaction was 350 00:24:34,220 --> 00:24:37,200 laugh, going, good luck with this guy. I mean, I'm glad I don't have to deal 351 00:24:37,200 --> 00:24:40,820 with him. It soon becomes clear that this is no laughing matter. 352 00:24:41,550 --> 00:24:46,450 My next real memory is suddenly seeing a flash. It's this big blur of Afro wig, 353 00:24:46,590 --> 00:24:50,610 brown clothing. And within a matter of seconds, I turn around and there's a big 354 00:24:50,610 --> 00:24:53,370 silver gun in my face telling me to get down on the floor. 355 00:24:54,050 --> 00:24:59,690 The robber orders the employees to open the bank's ATMs and its vault, then 356 00:24:59,690 --> 00:25:02,630 subdues a customer who happens to wander in. 357 00:25:03,950 --> 00:25:08,730 Speaking gruffly and trying to move fast, the robber hits Love with his gun. 358 00:25:09,710 --> 00:25:12,970 and another employee collapses in apparent distress. 359 00:25:14,510 --> 00:25:17,690 All I thought was, I don't know how I'm going to get out of this. I didn't want 360 00:25:17,690 --> 00:25:20,850 to die, and I felt that at that point, things were going to get bad. I mean, 361 00:25:20,850 --> 00:25:22,670 guy was pretty crazy. 362 00:25:22,890 --> 00:25:27,770 When the robber leaves, his final take adds up to $317 ,000. 363 00:25:29,430 --> 00:25:31,510 Not bad for a few minutes' work. 364 00:25:34,510 --> 00:25:37,750 For Love, it's not until he gets home that night... 365 00:25:37,980 --> 00:25:40,560 that he's hit with the gravity of what's happened. 366 00:25:41,560 --> 00:25:45,800 That morning was just another morning, and it could have been my last, and I 367 00:25:45,800 --> 00:25:46,800 don't remember it. 368 00:25:47,180 --> 00:25:51,560 And just the thought of being that I'm going to go home, I'm actually going to 369 00:25:51,560 --> 00:25:57,860 go home, is just the most wonderful feeling in the world, that I get to 370 00:25:57,860 --> 00:25:58,860 again. 371 00:25:59,040 --> 00:26:04,180 Love is not the only person to look down the barrel of this robber's gun and see 372 00:26:04,180 --> 00:26:06,480 the possibility of death staring back. 373 00:26:08,170 --> 00:26:13,070 About seven months later, at another Citibank ranch not far from the first, 374 00:26:13,070 --> 00:26:17,250 robber walks off with a little more than $272 ,000. 375 00:26:19,630 --> 00:26:23,230 This time, he's wearing a slightly different disguise. 376 00:26:23,670 --> 00:26:27,610 But the way he operates bears his unique signature. 377 00:26:28,410 --> 00:26:32,470 His M .O. was to walk into the bank heavily disguised. 378 00:26:32,730 --> 00:26:35,510 usually with a creative disguise that he created himself. 379 00:26:35,770 --> 00:26:40,430 He would leap over the counter in a single bound. We're talking about 380 00:26:40,430 --> 00:26:42,790 here who has extreme physical ability. 381 00:26:43,090 --> 00:26:47,450 And then he would point the gun at one of the tellers or one of the workers, 382 00:26:47,650 --> 00:26:52,930 scare that person, and then he would lead them into the vault and at gunpoint 383 00:26:52,930 --> 00:26:57,630 demand that they open the vaults. These so -called takeover -style robberies are 384 00:26:57,630 --> 00:26:59,390 much more rare and dangerous. 385 00:27:00,010 --> 00:27:02,410 Then a robbery carried out with a threatening note. 386 00:27:03,390 --> 00:27:08,090 In a city that's known its fair share of crooks, the man behind these crimes 387 00:27:08,090 --> 00:27:12,050 earns himself a reputation as one of the best. 388 00:27:12,390 --> 00:27:17,330 He was probably the most successful bank robber in recent memory in the Chicago 389 00:27:17,330 --> 00:27:22,430 area. The FBI linked the robber to over 20 bank robberies, totaling millions of 390 00:27:22,430 --> 00:27:23,430 dollars in losses. 391 00:27:24,360 --> 00:27:28,620 The robbers' creative disguises, which looked like they came from a thrift 392 00:27:28,620 --> 00:27:32,720 store, earned him the nickname the second -hand bandit. 393 00:27:33,040 --> 00:27:36,880 He was a construction worker, and one of them with literally a two -by -four on 394 00:27:36,880 --> 00:27:40,720 his shoulder. There was another one where he had a fisherman's cap with a 395 00:27:40,720 --> 00:27:41,720 and a pipe. 396 00:27:41,840 --> 00:27:46,700 Another one where he had a big Afro -style wig with another large beard and 397 00:27:46,700 --> 00:27:51,900 sunglasses. We, and I know the FBI, thought of that as Samuel L. Jackson in 398 00:27:51,900 --> 00:27:58,700 Fiction. And you will know my name is the Lord when I lay my vengeance upon 399 00:27:58,700 --> 00:28:01,560 thee. This robber had a flair for the dramatic. 400 00:28:02,100 --> 00:28:07,120 Though his disguises may seem comical, those who find themselves in front of 401 00:28:07,120 --> 00:28:09,120 gun are hardly amused. 402 00:28:09,680 --> 00:28:14,840 There was one victim in particular from one of the robberies. She was just never 403 00:28:14,840 --> 00:28:15,819 the same again. 404 00:28:15,820 --> 00:28:22,800 She broke down, and she has been suffering consequences and mental 405 00:28:22,800 --> 00:28:24,080 from that time ever since. 406 00:28:24,780 --> 00:28:28,760 So who is the man dubbed the secondhand bandit? 407 00:28:29,760 --> 00:28:34,260 Chicago police detective Dominic Ciccola leads an effort to try to figure that 408 00:28:34,260 --> 00:28:35,260 out. 409 00:28:35,630 --> 00:28:41,390 Sekola gets a break when DNA evidence left on a juice bottle links a career 410 00:28:41,390 --> 00:28:46,890 criminal named Joseph Jose Banks to an attempted robbery at a restaurant on 411 00:28:46,890 --> 00:28:48,190 Chicago's north side. 412 00:28:49,130 --> 00:28:55,850 After arresting him, Sekola talks to Banks' associates and begins to suspect 413 00:28:55,850 --> 00:28:59,350 may be doing more than knocking over breakfast joints. 414 00:28:59,750 --> 00:29:01,310 Mr. Banks had a cousin. 415 00:29:01,790 --> 00:29:05,810 who was eventually picked up and charged and convicted of bank robbery, and he 416 00:29:05,810 --> 00:29:08,110 did admit that he did some bank robberies with Jose Banks. 417 00:29:08,550 --> 00:29:14,030 The informant says Banks led about 10 takeover -style robberies in Chicago in 418 00:29:14,030 --> 00:29:15,890 2004 and 2005. 419 00:29:16,790 --> 00:29:18,650 And while Banks is behind bars, 420 00:29:19,430 --> 00:29:21,690 Ciccola notices a pattern. 421 00:29:22,010 --> 00:29:27,190 When Mr. Banks was in custody awaiting trial, all the robberies, the takeover 422 00:29:27,190 --> 00:29:29,070 -style robberies in particular, had ceased. 423 00:29:30,540 --> 00:29:35,380 Though police now have a suspect, they still need more info to say that the 424 00:29:35,380 --> 00:29:37,760 second -hand bandit is Jose Banks. 425 00:29:38,580 --> 00:29:43,060 After all, he hardly seems like your typical stick -up man. 426 00:29:43,680 --> 00:29:49,620 Jose Banks fashioned himself to be a clothing designer, a trendy guy who's 427 00:29:49,620 --> 00:29:50,920 to make a splash. 428 00:29:51,280 --> 00:29:54,440 And this was a way for him to finance his business. 429 00:29:57,880 --> 00:29:58,880 Up next. 430 00:29:59,820 --> 00:30:05,540 With their sights set on Joseph Banks, authorities find proof that he is the 431 00:30:05,540 --> 00:30:11,460 secondhand bandit. It is very hard for a jury to not get picked on that 432 00:30:11,460 --> 00:30:12,460 evidence. 433 00:30:22,120 --> 00:30:25,260 Locked up on allegations he robbed a restaurant. 434 00:30:25,930 --> 00:30:30,630 Joseph Jose Banks has become a suspect in the secondhand bandit case. 435 00:30:31,950 --> 00:30:37,730 But much to Detective Dominic Ciccola's dismay, he's acquitted of the restaurant 436 00:30:37,730 --> 00:30:42,710 robbery charges due to lack of sufficient evidence in January 2007. 437 00:30:44,250 --> 00:30:48,690 Months later, the takeover -style bank robberies pop up again. 438 00:30:49,070 --> 00:30:54,030 When Jose Banks was released, based on the disguise, the subject war, the way 439 00:30:54,030 --> 00:30:58,640 moved, the weapon, the area where it was committed, I had a strong feeling this 440 00:30:58,640 --> 00:30:59,640 was Jose Banks. 441 00:30:59,660 --> 00:31:04,840 Though Banks is now being tailed, he's able to successfully hit two targets. 442 00:31:05,440 --> 00:31:11,480 At another attempted robbery, he causes a four -hour standoff before police 443 00:31:11,480 --> 00:31:13,940 realize he's already ducked out. 444 00:31:15,300 --> 00:31:20,940 Ciccola is now working on the FBI's Violent Crimes Task Force, and he slowly 445 00:31:20,940 --> 00:31:22,920 builds a case against Banks. 446 00:31:24,110 --> 00:31:27,410 Cell phone data places him in the area of one robbery. 447 00:31:29,450 --> 00:31:35,410 And surveillance video shows him inside a thrift store buying clothes that are 448 00:31:35,410 --> 00:31:37,830 seen in a robbery committed weeks later. 449 00:31:38,230 --> 00:31:42,810 What's more, victims are beginning to get a good look at his face. 450 00:31:43,770 --> 00:31:47,870 Mr. Banks made some mistakes towards the end. I think greed got to him. He was 451 00:31:47,870 --> 00:31:49,410 overconfident that he would never be caught. 452 00:31:49,920 --> 00:31:53,160 He would stay in these banks sometimes for up to eight minutes, which is a long 453 00:31:53,160 --> 00:31:57,620 time. So some people got some different looks at him, and we did some photo 454 00:31:57,620 --> 00:32:00,380 arrays, and people were able to identify him. 455 00:32:00,900 --> 00:32:05,500 With these positive IDs, the feds arrest Banks in September 2008. 456 00:32:06,880 --> 00:32:12,120 When they search his property, they find a fake beard and a ski mask. 457 00:32:13,800 --> 00:32:17,920 And evidence leads them to a safe deposit box that he has opened. 458 00:32:19,260 --> 00:32:24,320 Inside, cops find $42 ,000 from an earlier bank robbery. 459 00:32:25,560 --> 00:32:32,100 Certainly the discovery of the sequentially numbered crisp new bills in 460 00:32:32,100 --> 00:32:35,940 Banks' safe deposit box was an important step in the investigation. 461 00:32:36,680 --> 00:32:38,920 It directly linked Mr. 462 00:32:39,160 --> 00:32:40,780 Banks to a bank robbery. 463 00:32:41,480 --> 00:32:46,960 After his arrest, authorities bring Banks to Chicago's Metropolitan 464 00:32:46,960 --> 00:32:47,960 Center. 465 00:32:48,240 --> 00:32:53,100 A well -known building, says NBC Chicago reporter Charlie Wojciechowski. 466 00:32:54,160 --> 00:32:56,440 This is a rather famous building in downtown Chicago. 467 00:32:56,880 --> 00:33:00,900 It rises up right in the middle of the South Loop, and because of the way it's 468 00:33:00,900 --> 00:33:04,480 designed with the very thin windows, everyone knows what that is. That's the 469 00:33:04,480 --> 00:33:05,480 downtown jail. 470 00:33:05,960 --> 00:33:10,360 It's here that Banks shares a cell with another unrelated bank robber. 471 00:33:10,580 --> 00:33:12,980 Ken Conley walked into a bank that... 472 00:33:13,240 --> 00:33:18,120 was located in a chain of grocery stores in the south suburbs of Chicago. 473 00:33:18,460 --> 00:33:22,920 He walked up to the teller, and he told the teller, I've got six bullets in the 474 00:33:22,920 --> 00:33:25,860 gun. If you don't give it to me, I'll put them in your head. 475 00:33:26,980 --> 00:33:32,760 Connolly's take is just shy of $4 ,000, a pittance compared to his cellmate. 476 00:33:33,320 --> 00:33:38,680 But the two get to know each other during the years that Banks spends 477 00:33:38,680 --> 00:33:40,220 leading up to trial. 478 00:33:41,260 --> 00:33:46,720 During this time, Banks fires a litany of lawyers, and when he goes to trial in 479 00:33:46,720 --> 00:33:49,400 late 2012, he represents himself. 480 00:33:52,020 --> 00:33:57,620 Following a four -day trial, a jury takes just two hours to find Banks 481 00:33:57,620 --> 00:34:01,580 two counts of bank robbery and two counts of attempted bank robbery. 482 00:34:02,740 --> 00:34:07,720 As the trial wraps up, the second -hand bandit gets in the last word. 483 00:34:08,949 --> 00:34:13,370 After the jury came back with a guilty verdict, the defendant said that you'll 484 00:34:13,370 --> 00:34:14,370 be hearing from me. 485 00:34:14,710 --> 00:34:19,010 And I remember, without showing it on my face at the time in front of the jury, 486 00:34:19,110 --> 00:34:23,750 thinking, yeah, okay, man, you're going to be in prison for 30 years. 487 00:34:24,250 --> 00:34:25,250 I'll see you then. 488 00:34:29,570 --> 00:34:34,250 Up next, news of the secondhand bandits' even grander second act. 489 00:34:34,760 --> 00:34:38,600 begins to spread. I slammed on my brakes, pulled off to the side of the 490 00:34:38,639 --> 00:34:40,639 and I'm going, what just happened? 491 00:34:56,620 --> 00:35:03,190 On December 18th, 2012, FBI Special Agent Tim Batcham is assigned 492 00:35:03,190 --> 00:35:08,530 to handle crime investigations inside Chicago's high -rise Metropolitan 493 00:35:08,530 --> 00:35:10,090 Correctional Center. 494 00:35:11,810 --> 00:35:15,890 Five days after Joseph Banks tells a courtroom, you'll hear from me, 495 00:35:16,810 --> 00:35:19,450 Tim Batcher finds out what he may have meant. 496 00:35:19,790 --> 00:35:24,610 I was contacted by my supervisor, and he said we had an escape at the MCC. 497 00:35:24,950 --> 00:35:26,770 And I asked him if it was a walkaway. 498 00:35:26,990 --> 00:35:30,790 And he said, no, we had two inmates go down the side of the building. 499 00:35:31,280 --> 00:35:32,740 And I said, there's no way. 500 00:35:34,020 --> 00:35:38,300 Something dangling 17 stories out of Joseph Banks and Ken Conley's cell 501 00:35:38,300 --> 00:35:40,720 indicates that there is a way. 502 00:35:42,880 --> 00:35:48,260 NBC News Chicago reporter Charlie Wojcicki is one of the first people on 503 00:35:49,480 --> 00:35:52,860 There wasn't police cordon around the building, so we actually got really 504 00:35:52,880 --> 00:35:54,840 We were right across the street from the building, right in front of a pawn 505 00:35:54,840 --> 00:35:57,260 shop. And we looked up, and there's a rope. 506 00:35:57,770 --> 00:36:01,710 dangling from one of the windows. Oh, my goodness. They rappelled down the side 507 00:36:01,710 --> 00:36:02,448 of the building. 508 00:36:02,450 --> 00:36:06,150 I can't tell you how long they worked on it because I don't know, but it 509 00:36:06,150 --> 00:36:08,050 certainly was not an overnight endeavor. 510 00:36:08,710 --> 00:36:15,210 It is hard for me to imagine someone getting through the window of a cell at 511 00:36:15,210 --> 00:36:16,650 Metropolitan Correctional Center. 512 00:36:16,990 --> 00:36:20,050 These are windows that are not normal windows. They're custom -made. They're 513 00:36:20,050 --> 00:36:23,990 very thin. So a normal person really couldn't squeeze through a window that 514 00:36:23,990 --> 00:36:26,370 unless they altered some of the stone around it. 515 00:36:26,990 --> 00:36:31,950 A portion of the window at the very bottom was removed. The concrete was 516 00:36:31,950 --> 00:36:35,310 away just enough to where they could fit their bodies out. 517 00:36:35,930 --> 00:36:39,950 When I looked at it, I thought of, wow, this is like shock and redemption. 518 00:36:42,490 --> 00:36:46,550 Making that hole and hiding it took some ingenuity. 519 00:36:47,070 --> 00:36:52,350 Must fake is a prison term for doing with what you have, just kind of making 520 00:36:52,350 --> 00:36:53,350 something work. 521 00:36:54,170 --> 00:36:57,770 They were able to mush fake some tools out of some metal and get the concrete 522 00:36:57,770 --> 00:36:58,770 chipped away. 523 00:36:58,890 --> 00:37:05,750 My understanding is that Mr. Banks and his cellmate created a fake bar that 524 00:37:05,750 --> 00:37:10,610 could insert into the spot where the bar was supposed to be so that it wouldn't 525 00:37:10,610 --> 00:37:15,530 look obvious that they had removed the bar from the window. Having chipped 526 00:37:15,530 --> 00:37:21,610 way out and removed part of the window, they've also figured out a way down. It 527 00:37:21,610 --> 00:37:25,960 was... A real ramshackle rope. This didn't look like anything you'd buy at a 528 00:37:25,960 --> 00:37:26,678 true value. 529 00:37:26,680 --> 00:37:28,700 It was made of fabric strips. 530 00:37:29,260 --> 00:37:34,000 So rather than save a bed sheet, save a pillowcase, you just tear off a little 531 00:37:34,000 --> 00:37:38,540 piece of it and save that. And because of that, no one caught on to it. 532 00:37:38,840 --> 00:37:41,820 The rope was made of what we believe is bed sheets. 533 00:37:42,080 --> 00:37:47,100 They were braided. There was portions of it that had dental floss to kind of sew 534 00:37:47,100 --> 00:37:49,480 in there and reinforce the actual rope. 535 00:37:50,220 --> 00:37:54,820 Well, one thing we know for sure, Mr. Banks was the one who designed the rope 536 00:37:54,820 --> 00:38:00,080 that was used to get out. He admitted that, but he didn't need to admit it to 537 00:38:00,080 --> 00:38:02,700 know that the guy who was the clothing designer was the one putting that 538 00:38:02,700 --> 00:38:03,700 together. 539 00:38:05,920 --> 00:38:11,080 Banks and Conley's escape from cell 1707 is a feat of daring that clearly 540 00:38:11,080 --> 00:38:15,340 impresses even those whose job it was to put them away. 541 00:38:16,240 --> 00:38:21,640 I stuck my head out the hole and looked down. I thought, No way. Not a chance 542 00:38:21,640 --> 00:38:23,340 would I ever do that. 543 00:38:23,660 --> 00:38:28,580 I cannot imagine having the courage to scale down the side of a building like 544 00:38:28,580 --> 00:38:32,240 that from 17 stories up. It was a pretty amazing feat. 545 00:38:32,520 --> 00:38:37,500 When they hit the ground at around 2 .40 a .m., Conley and Banks, now wearing 546 00:38:37,500 --> 00:38:40,980 street clothes, walk to Michigan Avenue and hail a cab. 547 00:38:42,220 --> 00:38:46,440 Oddly, jail surveillance cameras capture Banks and Conley on the street. 548 00:38:47,040 --> 00:38:51,580 and a head count at 5 a .m. comes up two prisoners short. 549 00:38:52,200 --> 00:38:57,620 But no one at the jail raises an alarm until it becomes glaringly obvious 550 00:38:57,620 --> 00:39:01,480 happened. This wasn't supposed to be able to happen, yet still it did. 551 00:39:01,700 --> 00:39:05,780 Was there someone on the inside who helped them cover up the fact that they 552 00:39:05,780 --> 00:39:07,040 chipping away at the walls? 553 00:39:07,360 --> 00:39:11,500 Was the fact that recent government budget cuts had caused a staffing 554 00:39:11,900 --> 00:39:15,140 at the MCC, did that contribute to their ability to escape? 555 00:39:15,380 --> 00:39:16,820 Those questions never really got answered. 556 00:39:17,860 --> 00:39:22,600 The Bureau of Prisons did not return multiple requests from American Greed 557 00:39:22,600 --> 00:39:28,020 comment. And the response to a Freedom of Information Act request was almost 558 00:39:28,020 --> 00:39:29,800 entirely redacted. 559 00:39:31,320 --> 00:39:36,620 What is known, though, is that the first day, cops began scouring the city. 560 00:39:37,580 --> 00:39:42,560 Hours after the initial discovery, The search leads to Conley's mother's house 561 00:39:42,560 --> 00:39:43,600 in the Chicago suburbs. 562 00:39:44,000 --> 00:39:46,600 From there, the trail goes cold. 563 00:39:47,000 --> 00:39:52,680 To be frank, with the amount of money that Banks had at his disposal, I 564 00:39:52,680 --> 00:39:55,660 he could be literally anywhere. 565 00:39:56,020 --> 00:40:01,660 But just days after the escape, authorities learn that Banks hasn't gone 566 00:40:02,180 --> 00:40:06,540 For many men, love is an undoing, and I think Mr. Banks was... 567 00:40:07,000 --> 00:40:09,580 looking for his girl somewhere on the north side of Chicago. 568 00:40:10,420 --> 00:40:16,360 Late at night on December 20th, law enforcement, guns drawn, enter an 569 00:40:16,360 --> 00:40:17,360 in this building. 570 00:40:18,520 --> 00:40:23,500 Moments later, they come out with Banks, who's in cuffs, but looks calm. 571 00:40:24,200 --> 00:40:28,180 This is kind of the neighborhood he grew up in, and it's probably a little less 572 00:40:28,180 --> 00:40:30,200 than five miles from the Metropolitan Correctional Center. 573 00:40:30,650 --> 00:40:34,990 You think you have this elaborate plan to get out of prison. You scale 17 574 00:40:34,990 --> 00:40:37,850 stories down the side of a building. I thought that the plan would have been a 575 00:40:37,850 --> 00:40:39,030 little better once they hit the ground. 576 00:40:39,710 --> 00:40:43,070 Ken Conley still remains at large for two more weeks. 577 00:40:43,790 --> 00:40:50,230 Then, on January 4, 2013, local police arrest him at the Scenic Trees apartment 578 00:40:50,230 --> 00:40:53,950 complex in Palos Hills, outside Chicago. 579 00:40:54,990 --> 00:40:59,050 When FBI agent Tim Batcha is transporting him back to the MCC, 580 00:40:59,770 --> 00:41:02,290 Conley has some choice words for him. 581 00:41:02,710 --> 00:41:05,770 He said, I ought to choke you out, you ain't. 582 00:41:06,790 --> 00:41:11,890 And he looked at me a little later and said, I did it once, what makes you 583 00:41:11,890 --> 00:41:14,610 I won't do it again? I took it as he was referring to escaping. 584 00:41:18,070 --> 00:41:22,950 But there will most likely be no more escape attempts for Conley or Banks. 585 00:41:23,910 --> 00:41:27,530 Both men are now behind bars at the Bureau of Prisons notorious... 586 00:41:27,740 --> 00:41:30,340 Supermax facility in Florence, Colorado. 587 00:41:31,760 --> 00:41:37,520 Conley is serving 23 and a half years for his bank robbery and the escape 588 00:41:37,520 --> 00:41:42,600 attempt. Banks is serving out a 36 -year term for the bank robbery charges. 589 00:41:43,300 --> 00:41:47,880 His lawyers say he no longer has access to needle and thread. 590 00:41:48,480 --> 00:41:54,420 But in 2014, he finds a new outlet for his creativity, a bold lawsuit. 591 00:41:55,080 --> 00:41:58,120 which he illustrates with pictures of his breakout. 592 00:41:58,460 --> 00:42:04,020 He turned around and sued the jail for allowing him to escape, that they didn't 593 00:42:04,020 --> 00:42:08,300 do a good enough job protecting him from himself and the possibility he might 594 00:42:08,300 --> 00:42:09,300 commit other crimes. 595 00:42:09,460 --> 00:42:11,380 The judge very quickly threw that out. 596 00:42:14,380 --> 00:42:20,420 On the next American Greed, with a $100 million family fortune, nothing is off 597 00:42:20,420 --> 00:42:24,620 limits. But when the cash flow stops, a vicious feud begins. 598 00:42:25,200 --> 00:42:26,820 American Greed, next. 599 00:42:27,320 --> 00:42:29,200 CNBC, get yours. 600 00:42:29,440 --> 00:42:33,760 From executive producer LeBron James, Stephen Huffle. Premiere episodes 601 00:42:33,760 --> 00:42:34,760 Wednesday to 10.