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In this episode of American Greed, a
family at war.

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Michael Scripps, heir to a multi
-million dollar media empire, is charged

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stealing millions from his mother,
Melissa.

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So he gets up in the morning, yawns,
picks out, I think I will send myself

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,383.

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But for years, Melissa does not even
notice.

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She has her own issues.

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Melissa looks at me and goes, hi.

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I'm Melissa.

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Would you like to smoke some opium?

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And in this family, money is no object.

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There was talk about chartering private
jets for their pets.

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And $90 ,000 goes to one night with high
-priced strippers.

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She goes, I want tits on a platter.

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Half an hour later, here comes a
stripper with a silver platter with

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cream all over her breasts.

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But when the money is spent, everyone
gets desperate.

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He pointed the gun on himself.

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And he told me to call his mother. He
was going to kill himself and make her

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listen.

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I'm going to call Melissa Scripture.

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In the spring of 2013, in the
Philadelphia Federal Courthouse, Melissa

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heiress to one of America's great family
fortunes, takes the stand.

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She

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is here

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to testify against her only son,
Michael.

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You see your son in the courtroom here
today?

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Yes.

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She says he stole millions of dollars of
her money over five years.

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On May 2, 2002, did you authorize $3
,000 to be transferred from your

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account to your son Michael's?

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No. What about $9 ,100 on seven
penalties?

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No.

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He says she knew that he was taking the
money. And his college friend says that

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this family fight... has no place in a
criminal court.

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That is like the most despicable thing
in the world that a mother can do, is

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turn her child, her only son, over to
the authorities.

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How does a family sink this low,
especially a family that once stood so

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Melissa Scripps is the great
-granddaughter of James E. Scripps, who

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century ago started a newspaper that is
wildly popular.

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His newspaper began as the Evening News,
which had a broad circulation that

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would give you all the news of the day
in sort of layman's speak.

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And it worked, and it worked well.

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His son, William, carries on that
success, starting his own car company

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launching the first news radio station
in the U .S.

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And a fortune is made.

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By the 1920s, the family is living the
mansion life outside of Detroit.

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This is the world that Melissa Scripps
grows up in.

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Her parents lived the lifestyle of very
privileged people. They

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were one of the most prominent families
in Detroit.

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But what is important today is what the
Scripps did with the money they made.

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When people think of the Scripps family,
they don't necessarily think of how the

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money was created.

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how the money was given away.

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Scripps' money goes to start the Detroit
Institute of Arts, to support the

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Detroit Conservatory, and to create an
internationally respected school and art

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center called Cranford.

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And so, as the fourth generation of
Scripps become adults, there is much at

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stake. They had a legacy to protect, in
a sense, a very positive legacy to

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protect.

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And by the 1970s, responsibility for
protecting the Scripps family name in

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Detroit, in part, falls to Melissa
Scripps.

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Well, I think a big name can be
complicated because it's big shoes.

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Karen Weisgerber is a psychologist with
Cambium Consulting and works with high

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net worth families just like the
Scripps.

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It's like walking onto a stage that's
already been set, but you can really

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it and live it large.

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Joining Melissa Scripps on that stage is
her older brother, David.

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David has a mental disability.

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I don't know that it was ever diagnosed.
I would most closely describe it as

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like an autism situation.

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David is a kind, sweet man.

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He's a happy guy.

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Melissa Scripps permitted her attorney,
Chris Pixley, to speak on her behalf.

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Melissa, by virtue of being a woman, At
the time that she was born, wasn't

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expected necessarily to hold a job.

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She had no formal education beyond high
school.

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And that leaves Melissa in a tough
position.

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What you're essentially being told is
there's no expectation of you at all.

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It's a real question as to what you're
going to find in your life to get

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attached to and to pull you forward in
your life.

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As a young woman, Melissa lives the life
of a socialite.

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She marries at age 23, divorces and
remarries at age 25.

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Her son Michael is born in 1976.

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And then in 1986, Melissa and David get
access to seriously big money when the

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Gannett Company takes over the Scripps
family business.

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I believe the two of them before taxes
got about $100 million.

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$100 million turned over to a woman who
has virtually no preparation for what to

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do with it.

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Already from a point where you didn't
have much of an anchor point, you can be

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totally disoriented. Like your compass
loses magnetic north. You just don't

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which directions to go.

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Melissa Scripps can choose from three
directions.

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She can carry on the family legacy of
philanthropy, or she can invest the

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in ways to preserve it for future
generations.

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Or she can simply spend it.

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Once this big money came in in the mid
-80s, the stock sale, as Michael would

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say, that's when the partying really
began.

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Next on American Greed.

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Melissa Scripps likes to play the cool
mom, but is there money going up in

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smoke? I smoked my first joint with
Melissa Scripps.

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Oh, I think everybody did.

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Imagine a childhood where your mother
takes you out of school for months to

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travel around the world on the luxury
ocean liner, the Queen Elizabeth II,

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as the QE2.

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That's the life that Melissa Scripps
offers her son and daughter in 1986.

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Well, Melissa at that point in time
really didn't have a care in the world.

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had plenty of money. David had plenty of
money. They were able to do anything

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they wanted to do and not have to worry
about it.

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But Thomas Rutherford, Michael's good
friend from college, knows that there is

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another side to life with all that
money.

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He and I were actually in the Beverly
Hills Hotel at one point in the pole

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lounge. And I was talking about how cool
it was. And he's like, it's cool as an

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adult. It's like when you're living here
and you're eight years old and your mom

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takes off to Morocco for two weeks and
leaves you with a servant and you're

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bored all day long. This place sucks.

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When the family is at home, they live in
a beautiful house in Bloomfield Hills,

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Michigan, where no expense is spared.

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There is art and antiques and jewelry.

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Melissa Scripps has told me as her
counsel on more than one occasion that

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had a trust advisor that told her that
she could never in her lifetime spend

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amount of money that she had.

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And Melissa puts that advice to a
dangerous test.

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She amasses a collection of teddy bears,
rumored to be worth tens of thousands

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of dollars.

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And she appears to have an obsession
with all things royal.

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She buys Queen Victoria's nightgown and
Elizabeth II's coronation chair.

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And Melissa is exceedingly generous with
her children, giving them so much.

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Michael cultivates an expensive interest
in military history.

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Michael collected war memorabilia and
different swords from the Revolutionary

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time, swords and different items and
artifacts from the Civil War.

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These items were worth tens of thousands
of dollars.

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He is allowed to live like everyone else
in the family, as if the money will

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never run out.

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That's what you're raised in, and that's
the role modeling you have.

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You really don't have much other way to
think about it. So it will seem like

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that's your normal.

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And also normal for the Scripps
household is the smell of marijuana.

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You know, by Melissa's own testimony,
she had a healthy, you know, marijuana

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habit, and she did smoke marijuana every
day.

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By the time Michael is a teenager, his
house is known as the fun house.

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Jill Spencer is one of Michael's first
girlfriends.

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Stepping into the Scripps house was like
stepping into freedom for a

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kid. I mean, you could do anything, say
anything, act any way you wanted to.

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And his friends know that Michael's
mother is the cool mom who likes to get

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high.

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I smoked my first joint with Melissa's
first.

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Oh, I think everybody did.

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My exposure to it.

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And Melissa is not only cool, she is
generous, which to Jill feels like too

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too young.

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I think it was Valentine's Day. I was 14
years old, and Michael gave me a pearl

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necklace with diamonds in between the
front three pearls.

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And I was standing in the kitchen, and
Melissa said, do you like your necklace?

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And I said, I love it. It's gorgeous.
And she said, it's real.

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But Melissa is also unpredictable.

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One day, she catches Spencer in
Michael's room and drags her out.

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By the hair.

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By my hair.

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It was very traumatizing.

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I think it was maybe three or four days
I finally went over there and she acted

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like nothing happened and that's when
she gave me my first pair of diamond

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earrings.

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Now on her fourth husband, a bartender
from the QE2, Melissa often leaves him

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home to care for her two children.

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According to Michael, When he is 16 and
his mother is gone, he and a few friends

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head to Chicago and check into a luxury
hotel with Melissa's Centurion American

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Express card.

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Years later, Michael tells his friend
Ben DeHaven that he was generous with

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mother's money.

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There was a bar tab that people were
dumping Louis Trey shots out, and almost

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every person who walked in got sent a
bottle of Dom P or Cristal or, you know,

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whatever.

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After a few days, the bill is up to $35
,000.

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American Express contacts Melissa to see
if the charges are permissible.

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And she said, I'm very well aware that
my son has my credit card.

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He has permission to use it. And she
told the manager then, she said, I'd be

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glad to pay that entire bill as soon as
you can have someone on your team

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explain to me.

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how four 16 -year -old boys ran up a
bill and not once did anyone in your

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establishment ask for an ID.

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And so she had to pay for the room, but
that was it.

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But according to Melissa, Michael's
reckless behavior is sometimes far more

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threatening.

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Michael had a fascination with guns.

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Michael liked to...

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walk around the house with loaded guns.
Michael liked to point loaded guns at

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people.

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There are many references made by the
family that Michael terrorized them as

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was growing up.

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Michael denies that, but he does run
into trouble.

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He attends Cranbrook, the school started
by his great -great aunt and uncle.

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But his status as a member of the
Founders' family doesn't save him from

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expelled.

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I think Michael just pushed the limit. I
think he tested authority. I think he,

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you know, wanted to see how far he could
get.

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By the time Michael is 18, his
stepfather files for divorce, writing

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been dealing with Michael's aberrational
and violent behavior.

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And that Melissa is back on the QE2,
where she is having an affair with a 28

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-year -old crew member.

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When his divorce is final, he leaves
behind a household in chaos, where the

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family members, by all appearances, are
set on a course for mutual destruction.

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Next on American Greed, Scripps family
night at the club.

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Strip club, that is.

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And there was some question about what
the actual cost was, at which point poor

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Michael disclosed to his mother that he
thought it was somewhere upwards of...

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$80 ,000?

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If anyone is ever on the lookout for a
prominent old money family, one of the

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last places they may expect to find one
is at a strip club in Atlanta.

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But in 1999, that is where Michael
Stripp, now a college senior, his mother

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Melissa, and his Uncle David are having
a night out.

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Thomas Rutherford is with him tonight.

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It wasn't seedy and weird. I mean, it
sounds weird to go to a strip club with

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one's mother.

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And I thought it was weird, too, on some
level. But it was fine.

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At one point, one of the strippers asks
Melissa what she would like.

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And she goes, I want tits on a platter.

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And that's all she said in a jocular
manner. So, of course, Half an hour

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here comes a stripper with a silver
platter with whipped cream all over her

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breasts.

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It's just a fun Strip's family night.

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David Strip also enjoys himself, as he
always does on nights out with Michael.

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He adored Michael. He looked up to
Michael. I mean, Michael was his

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to the outside world.

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So where David did not have the ability
to drive, Michael would say, hey, I'm

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just going to wait for a while.

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The bill at the Atlanta strip club
totals an astounding $90 ,000.

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And it is David who pays.

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00:16:33,700 --> 00:16:36,200
He has the largest trust fund in the
family.

230
00:16:36,520 --> 00:16:40,220
And with Melissa guiding his life, he is
living large.

231
00:16:40,660 --> 00:16:44,000
They have been on the QE2 cruise ship
several times.

232
00:16:44,920 --> 00:16:48,280
They now own several houses on the
island of St. Martin.

233
00:16:49,400 --> 00:16:52,960
The excessive spending is in evidence
everywhere.

234
00:16:53,930 --> 00:16:58,350
It might be an amazing special occasion
to have a bottle of Lafitte Rothschild.

235
00:16:59,310 --> 00:17:05,589
A $700 to $1 ,600 bottle of wine is not
generally in my normal Friday night

236
00:17:05,589 --> 00:17:11,829
wheelhouse. There were cases of that
stuff sitting around, just sitting

237
00:17:13,770 --> 00:17:19,390
There was talk about chartering private
jets for their pets, dogs that were

238
00:17:19,390 --> 00:17:22,650
being flown down to their ocean -flight
villas in St. Martin.

239
00:17:23,349 --> 00:17:29,370
I believe that there was a request for a
chartered jet to fly a family turtle, a

240
00:17:29,370 --> 00:17:31,530
tortoise, down to St. Martin.

241
00:17:32,610 --> 00:17:37,730
It was like a race to get rid of your
money.

242
00:17:38,690 --> 00:17:40,630
That's the best way I could describe it.

243
00:17:42,270 --> 00:17:47,750
And not surprisingly, the never -ending
supply of money is running low.

244
00:17:48,540 --> 00:17:52,300
Across the board, Melissa's financial
advisors were telling her the money was

245
00:17:52,300 --> 00:17:56,200
going to run out, that she needs to
control her spending.

246
00:17:56,640 --> 00:18:00,760
She was just dismissive, according to
what they testified to. She just

247
00:18:00,760 --> 00:18:02,080
listen. She would get angry.

248
00:18:03,880 --> 00:18:10,720
By 2002, in just 16 years, David and
Melissa's $100 million fortune is

249
00:18:10,720 --> 00:18:13,260
now down to a little more than $9
million.

250
00:18:14,320 --> 00:18:19,640
and her trust officers at Bank One are
putting pressure on her to control her

251
00:18:19,640 --> 00:18:25,180
spending. Sometime around that same time
frame, one of Michael's college friends

252
00:18:25,180 --> 00:18:29,960
became a broker with Merrill Lynch, and
he knew that the Scripps family had a

253
00:18:29,960 --> 00:18:35,180
lot of money and that they were of
extreme wealth, and he wanted to bring

254
00:18:35,180 --> 00:18:36,260
accounts to Merrill Lynch.

255
00:18:37,780 --> 00:18:42,380
The college friend is Richard Gleason,
known as Duke.

256
00:18:43,210 --> 00:18:44,310
He's a sad sack.

257
00:18:44,610 --> 00:18:48,570
You know, he really is. He's had
drinking problems, like gambling

258
00:18:49,350 --> 00:18:55,830
His personnel file shows reprimand after
reprimand. And I think he just needed

259
00:18:55,830 --> 00:19:00,870
this one home run to solidify him, you
know, in this organization.

260
00:19:02,550 --> 00:19:06,210
That home run is landing the Scripps
family accounts.

261
00:19:07,710 --> 00:19:11,270
And so in 2002, Legion traveled to St.
Martin.

262
00:19:11,920 --> 00:19:16,620
smokes marijuana with Melissa, and
eventually persuades her to move her

263
00:19:16,620 --> 00:19:19,960
and David's money into his care at
Merrill Lynch.

264
00:19:20,580 --> 00:19:24,780
Just over $2 million from Melissa and $7
million from David.

265
00:19:25,560 --> 00:19:29,500
That means that all the family money is
in the care of Michael's good friend.

266
00:19:30,460 --> 00:19:35,060
And in the coming years, Michael's
relationship with Melissa, which has

267
00:19:35,060 --> 00:19:38,520
been difficult, begins to run especially
hot and cold.

268
00:19:39,460 --> 00:19:42,060
Some friends see moments of great care.

269
00:19:42,360 --> 00:19:46,680
He said, Michael, I love you and I miss
you, but I will buy you a Learjet if you

270
00:19:46,680 --> 00:19:48,800
will just come see me more. Your mother
misses you.

271
00:19:49,120 --> 00:19:51,500
So, absolutely, man, she loved that kid.

272
00:19:53,360 --> 00:19:56,680
But there are also moments of hideous
anger.

273
00:19:57,760 --> 00:20:02,820
I don't know what hit her, if it was too
much wine or the pot or what, but I saw

274
00:20:02,820 --> 00:20:06,200
it. It was like her eyes went blank.

275
00:20:07,540 --> 00:20:09,900
And it was like... full -on anger.

276
00:20:10,820 --> 00:20:15,440
The thing that popped out of my mind was
something I've heard her repeat, which

277
00:20:15,440 --> 00:20:17,340
is, I wish I would have had an abortion.

278
00:20:20,140 --> 00:20:25,880
Next on American Greed, Michael's script
brings home his new girlfriend.

279
00:20:26,580 --> 00:20:33,300
To me, I'm an all -around entertainer. I
just happen to use sex as a medium in a

280
00:20:33,300 --> 00:20:34,300
lot of ways.

281
00:20:47,180 --> 00:20:51,620
The Copley Plaza Hotel in Boston is one
of the most elegant hotels in town.

282
00:20:51,880 --> 00:20:58,540
And it is here in November 2003 that
Michael Scripps, now 27, meets his

283
00:20:58,540 --> 00:20:59,540
future girlfriend.

284
00:21:00,840 --> 00:21:04,520
The woman he is meeting is an escort.
Her price?

285
00:21:05,080 --> 00:21:06,640
$500 for the night.

286
00:21:08,480 --> 00:21:10,480
Her name is Jenna Bearden.

287
00:21:10,820 --> 00:21:14,740
Later, she changes it legally to Jenna
Scripps.

288
00:21:16,200 --> 00:21:22,440
Even at that first meeting, Michael was
very obviously

289
00:21:22,440 --> 00:21:28,180
someone that came from money. I mean,
how many

290
00:21:28,180 --> 00:21:32,820
20 -somethings are driving a $90 ,000
Jaguar, you know?

291
00:21:35,060 --> 00:21:36,640
The night goes well.

292
00:21:37,080 --> 00:21:43,300
And just as he did as a 14 -year -old
boy, he gives his new girlfriend

293
00:21:44,360 --> 00:21:50,100
The next day, he showed up with a
Cartier necklace

294
00:21:50,100 --> 00:21:56,260
with a pavé diamond and platinum pendant
with the two seeds on it.

295
00:21:56,720 --> 00:22:01,200
That was kind of the beginning of the
romance.

296
00:22:03,640 --> 00:22:08,320
As a regular at strip clubs, Michael is
drawn to sex workers.

297
00:22:08,680 --> 00:22:13,440
In choosing Jenna, he is dating not just
an escort, but a porn star.

298
00:22:13,880 --> 00:22:16,240
Her stage name is Kiki Dare.

299
00:22:17,180 --> 00:22:24,020
To me, I'm an all -around entertainer. I
just happen to use sex as a medium in a

300
00:22:24,020 --> 00:22:25,020
lot of ways.

301
00:22:26,640 --> 00:22:31,880
Shortly after Michael meets Jenna, he
invites her to Michigan to meet his

302
00:22:31,880 --> 00:22:35,180
mother. Everyone's upstairs in Melissa's
room.

303
00:22:36,120 --> 00:22:39,080
And there's Michael, hammered.

304
00:22:39,630 --> 00:22:43,650
Had been drinking red wine and eating
pain pills.

305
00:22:44,630 --> 00:22:48,930
And I kid you not, I wish I could make
this up.

306
00:22:49,490 --> 00:22:52,570
Melissa looks at me and goes, hi, I'm
Melissa.

307
00:22:52,810 --> 00:22:54,390
Would you like to smoke some opium?

308
00:22:55,870 --> 00:22:59,370
So that was my introduction to the
Scripps family.

309
00:23:01,730 --> 00:23:07,070
But if Jenna has a low opinion of
Melissa, it is not hard to imagine what

310
00:23:07,070 --> 00:23:08,770
Melissa thinks of Jenna.

311
00:23:09,290 --> 00:23:12,410
Oh, a Scripps has no business being
anywhere near Kiki Dare.

312
00:23:12,630 --> 00:23:18,590
A Scripps is above all other people. I
mean, in Melissa's mind, she was

313
00:23:20,130 --> 00:23:25,710
At one point, the ill will between
Melissa and Jenna literally comes to

314
00:23:25,710 --> 00:23:28,510
after a dinner out in St. Martin.

315
00:23:28,830 --> 00:23:35,390
We're walking towards the car, and next
thing I know, Melissa walks up, and

316
00:23:35,390 --> 00:23:38,010
she literally does this.

317
00:23:38,700 --> 00:23:42,180
You little whore. And slaps me in the
face three times.

318
00:23:42,640 --> 00:23:44,140
And I didn't even think.

319
00:23:44,400 --> 00:23:51,400
I just... I didn't mean to, but I

320
00:23:51,400 --> 00:23:52,400
gave her a black eye.

321
00:23:54,640 --> 00:24:00,160
Dating a porn star may not be the
typical route to domestic tranquility.

322
00:24:00,160 --> 00:24:03,940
Michael tells friends that all he wants
is a simple life.

323
00:24:04,350 --> 00:24:10,450
Michael's ambition, insofar as he
disclosed it to me, consisted of to have

324
00:24:10,450 --> 00:24:16,970
family that he could give some structure
to and have a loving family, be in one

325
00:24:16,970 --> 00:24:20,890
place, have a child, and the child not
grow up the way he did.

326
00:24:21,790 --> 00:24:26,990
But his friends are skeptical about his
choice of Kiki Dare for that kind of

327
00:24:26,990 --> 00:24:27,990
life.

328
00:24:28,070 --> 00:24:33,290
I said, you know, are you dating this
person, like, just to agitate your

329
00:24:33,950 --> 00:24:38,070
You know, and of course, he said, oh,
no, you know, I love her.

330
00:24:38,370 --> 00:24:44,370
You know, name one quality that makes
her a good wife or a mother. One, just

331
00:24:44,370 --> 00:24:46,170
give me one. And of course, he couldn't.

332
00:24:46,790 --> 00:24:52,510
But for years, Michael and Jenna stay
together, despite a sometimes brutally

333
00:24:52,510 --> 00:24:53,670
destructive relationship.

334
00:24:54,470 --> 00:24:59,730
New Orleans police reports show arrests
on both sides for domestic violence.

335
00:25:00,230 --> 00:25:02,430
I'm not going to sit here and say that.

336
00:25:03,050 --> 00:25:09,490
It was roses and Cinderella and
beautiful. No, it was chaotic and it was

337
00:25:10,030 --> 00:25:16,230
And I'm not proud of certain things that
I did and said during that period.

338
00:25:18,210 --> 00:25:21,310
By 2003, Michael has gotten an MBA.

339
00:25:22,290 --> 00:25:28,150
He is running a business, Scripps
Properties, renovating run -down

340
00:25:28,150 --> 00:25:29,150
selling them.

341
00:25:29,270 --> 00:25:34,010
But it's clear that the income from his
business could not be supporting his

342
00:25:34,010 --> 00:25:39,170
lifestyle. The Kentucky Derby is always
the first weekend of May, so it would be

343
00:25:39,170 --> 00:25:41,090
that spring we went to the Derby.

344
00:25:41,830 --> 00:25:43,610
We've been near the Afton.

345
00:25:43,810 --> 00:25:45,510
There again, had a great time.

346
00:25:47,750 --> 00:25:50,590
So, where is the money coming from?

347
00:25:51,330 --> 00:25:52,470
From Merrill Lynch.

348
00:25:52,770 --> 00:25:55,450
From the trust accounts of his mother
and his uncle.

349
00:25:55,880 --> 00:26:00,360
It's easy. According to federal
prosecutors, he just contacts Duke

350
00:26:00,360 --> 00:26:04,760
assistant and asks her to make a
transfer between accounts.

351
00:26:05,260 --> 00:26:10,780
So he gets up in the morning, yawns,
picks out. I think I will send myself

352
00:26:10,780 --> 00:26:14,900
,383. And literally, and that's what he
does.

353
00:26:15,540 --> 00:26:18,580
That was the work for the day. I guess
you go and get lunch at that point. I

354
00:26:18,580 --> 00:26:19,580
don't know how it worked.

355
00:26:20,360 --> 00:26:24,300
There were days when there were three
and four and five transactions.

356
00:26:25,320 --> 00:26:30,060
totaling tens of thousands of dollars
that were flowing out of these accounts

357
00:26:30,060 --> 00:26:31,060
Michael's account.

358
00:26:32,080 --> 00:26:36,860
It goes on for five years until August
2006.

359
00:26:37,420 --> 00:26:43,280
It's Michael's birthday, and he puts in
a request for $40 ,000 from his uncle's

360
00:26:43,280 --> 00:26:44,280
account.

361
00:26:45,240 --> 00:26:49,240
Later in St. Martin, Melissa happens to
open one of David's Merrill Lynch

362
00:26:49,240 --> 00:26:51,300
statements and sees the transfer.

363
00:26:52,490 --> 00:26:57,410
She contacts Marilyn and eventually
learns that in five years, Michael has

364
00:26:57,410 --> 00:27:01,770
transferred more than $2 million from
her and David's accounts to his own.

365
00:27:02,410 --> 00:27:07,830
And she learns that the money that she
was told would never run out is nearly

366
00:27:07,830 --> 00:27:08,830
gone.

367
00:27:08,990 --> 00:27:14,830
As of the middle of 2006, the accounts
have been pretty much depleted.

368
00:27:15,090 --> 00:27:18,790
There is not a lot of money left in the
Scripps accounts.

369
00:27:20,490 --> 00:27:24,910
One day that fall, Jenna returns to the
apartment she shares with Michael.

370
00:27:25,650 --> 00:27:28,130
He looked at me and he said, there's no
more money.

371
00:27:29,070 --> 00:27:30,610
And I asked him what he meant.

372
00:27:31,610 --> 00:27:34,210
He said, you don't understand. There's
no more money.

373
00:27:34,550 --> 00:27:35,550
It's all gone.

374
00:27:37,530 --> 00:27:42,450
Michael disputes her story. But Jenna
says she listens to the voicemail from

375
00:27:42,450 --> 00:27:46,910
Melissa saying Michael has robbed her
and the family is broke.

376
00:27:48,040 --> 00:27:49,560
He was really upset.

377
00:27:51,700 --> 00:27:54,080
He always had lots and lots of guns.

378
00:27:55,760 --> 00:28:00,560
And I remember him pointing the gun at
me.

379
00:28:01,460 --> 00:28:03,460
I remember just feeling panic.

380
00:28:05,460 --> 00:28:12,040
And next thing I know, he pointed the
gun on himself, and he had it like that

381
00:28:12,040 --> 00:28:13,260
to his head.

382
00:28:15,620 --> 00:28:18,280
And he told me to call his mother in St.
Martin.

383
00:28:18,980 --> 00:28:23,920
And he was going to kill himself and
make her listen.

384
00:28:26,100 --> 00:28:31,460
And it took a lot to get the gun from
him that night.

385
00:28:33,340 --> 00:28:36,420
Up next, Melissa makes a bold move.

386
00:28:37,840 --> 00:28:41,200
I mean, you might be pissed at him. You
might just shown him. You might hate him

387
00:28:41,200 --> 00:28:42,740
for the rest of your life for stealing
all this money.

388
00:28:43,470 --> 00:28:45,050
Seriously? The FBI?

389
00:28:45,610 --> 00:28:46,750
Who does that?

390
00:28:48,130 --> 00:28:53,110
Hear Melissa Scripps' testimony about
her dwindling finances at AmericanGreed

391
00:28:53,110 --> 00:28:55,090
.CNBCPrime .com.

392
00:29:03,090 --> 00:29:08,950
On the island of St. Martin at the end
of 2006, Melissa Scripps is reeling from

393
00:29:08,950 --> 00:29:11,910
the news that her money is nearly gone.

394
00:29:12,840 --> 00:29:18,140
And while she blames Michael for helping
himself to her money, she also blames

395
00:29:18,140 --> 00:29:19,240
Merrill Lynch.

396
00:29:19,560 --> 00:29:23,760
Merrill Lynch certainly, you know, had
knowledge of all of the transfers that

397
00:29:23,760 --> 00:29:26,280
were being placed between all of these
accounts.

398
00:29:26,480 --> 00:29:29,520
And it all happened right in front of
the Merrill Lynch trust officers.

399
00:29:31,980 --> 00:29:37,400
After searching for an attorney for more
than a year, she finds Chris Pixley in

400
00:29:37,400 --> 00:29:38,400
Atlanta.

401
00:29:39,050 --> 00:29:44,730
According to the FBI, Pixley finds a
smoking gun for the government's case, a

402
00:29:44,730 --> 00:29:49,610
document that gives Michael Scripps
power of attorney over his Uncle David's

403
00:29:49,610 --> 00:29:50,610
money.

404
00:29:50,670 --> 00:29:57,050
The cornerstone of the Justice
Department's case was the power of

405
00:29:57,050 --> 00:30:02,070
purportedly signed by David Scripps in
the state of Pennsylvania.

406
00:30:03,739 --> 00:30:10,460
notarized by an assistant to the
financial advisor at Merrill Lynch at a

407
00:30:10,460 --> 00:30:15,180
and time when David was in fact on the
island of St. Martin using his bank card

408
00:30:15,180 --> 00:30:18,700
to make cash withdrawals and to go to
restaurants.

409
00:30:20,100 --> 00:30:25,960
The Merrill Lynch notary later admits
she notarized the document without David

410
00:30:25,960 --> 00:30:29,640
there, saying she acted on Michael's
instructions.

411
00:30:30,460 --> 00:30:32,260
In late September 2008,

412
00:30:32,960 --> 00:30:37,400
Pixley lays out his complaint to Merrill
Lynch and presents his demand for

413
00:30:37,400 --> 00:30:40,000
damages, and a settlement is reached.

414
00:30:40,380 --> 00:30:44,680
Under the terms of the settlement
agreement, Merrill Lynch is prepared to

415
00:30:44,680 --> 00:30:48,600
Mrs. Script approximately $6 million of
money back.

416
00:30:49,680 --> 00:30:55,880
But before the money is turned over,
Melissa and David must report in detail

417
00:30:55,880 --> 00:30:58,360
alleged fraud to the U .S. Department of
Justice.

418
00:30:59,080 --> 00:31:04,640
And they must also reasonably cooperate
with any criminal prosecution of

419
00:31:04,640 --> 00:31:09,600
Michael. So essentially, Melissa Scripps
was not going to receive the $6 million

420
00:31:09,600 --> 00:31:14,180
settlement without agreeing that she
would press charges, criminal charges,

421
00:31:14,420 --> 00:31:15,480
against her son.

422
00:31:16,780 --> 00:31:23,300
And so in December 2008, after signing
the settlement agreement, Melissa

423
00:31:23,300 --> 00:31:26,480
takes what might be a family dispute
settled in civil court.

424
00:31:27,020 --> 00:31:32,320
to an entirely different venue as she
meets with federal prosecutors and the

425
00:31:32,320 --> 00:31:33,940
to turn over her son.

426
00:31:34,400 --> 00:31:39,520
We did speak with Melissa and David to
make sure that they were saying, yes,

427
00:31:39,580 --> 00:31:43,460
this was done, and this was done without
our knowledge and our consent.

428
00:31:45,000 --> 00:31:49,420
Her attorney is adamant that Melissa did
not betray her son.

429
00:31:50,010 --> 00:31:53,830
Where does the betrayal start? Does it
start with the person who clandestinely,

430
00:31:53,850 --> 00:31:57,030
through forgeries and self -dealing,
steals millions of dollars?

431
00:31:57,430 --> 00:32:03,410
Or is the betrayal on the part of the
person that says, stop, that's not going

432
00:32:03,410 --> 00:32:04,810
to go on any longer?

433
00:32:05,370 --> 00:32:10,550
But the timing of her meeting with the
feds leaves Melissa open to the

434
00:32:10,550 --> 00:32:14,310
that she turned her son in to get the
settlement money.

435
00:32:14,840 --> 00:32:19,240
She had never contacted any federal
prosecutors, even from the time that she

436
00:32:19,240 --> 00:32:23,800
says she discovered the theft by her son
in 2006.

437
00:32:24,460 --> 00:32:29,740
The first time she takes any step to do
so is after she enters into the

438
00:32:29,740 --> 00:32:31,360
settlement agreement with Merrill Lynch.

439
00:32:32,080 --> 00:32:33,760
And let's say you end up with $100
million.

440
00:32:34,660 --> 00:32:39,260
Not only is there $100 million in the
pot, the pot is making quite a bit of

441
00:32:39,260 --> 00:32:42,120
money. And when you reach the point of
desperation...

442
00:32:42,490 --> 00:32:46,010
In your life, where you've gone through
all of it, all hundred, plus the

443
00:32:46,010 --> 00:32:50,470
interest it was making, and it's time to
either be destitute and to hear her

444
00:32:50,470 --> 00:32:54,930
tell it, go live under a bridge, or put
your child in federal prison, and you

445
00:32:54,930 --> 00:32:58,410
think the more likable of those two
options is to watch your only son go

446
00:32:58,410 --> 00:33:03,290
the wall with monsters and murderers,
that is the most morally bankrupt thing

447
00:33:03,290 --> 00:33:04,290
can possibly imagine.

448
00:33:05,770 --> 00:33:08,850
Meanwhile, Michael is rebuilding his
life.

449
00:33:09,350 --> 00:33:11,510
He and Jenna end their relationship.

450
00:33:13,420 --> 00:33:19,920
He goes to work for Smith Barney and
eventually marries. And in 2012, he

451
00:33:19,920 --> 00:33:20,920
a father.

452
00:33:22,120 --> 00:33:27,880
The woman that he's married to, she's
really supportive, and she had a job

453
00:33:27,880 --> 00:33:34,660
they met. You know, like, she came from
a nice family, and, you know, she wasn't

454
00:33:34,660 --> 00:33:35,860
the sex industry worker.

455
00:33:36,140 --> 00:33:39,620
I mean, it's a pretty big step up.

456
00:33:40,490 --> 00:33:46,010
But despite the turnaround in his life,
his mother's meeting with the FBI four

457
00:33:46,010 --> 00:33:48,550
years earlier finally pays off.

458
00:33:50,290 --> 00:33:55,930
In June 2012, Michael Scripps is
indicted on charges of wire fraud in a

459
00:33:55,930 --> 00:33:59,170
in which it is alleged he stole more
than $3 million.

460
00:34:00,330 --> 00:34:04,130
Duke Gleeson is also indicted on two
counts of wire fraud.

461
00:34:06,710 --> 00:34:07,710
Up next.

462
00:34:08,400 --> 00:34:09,980
The verdict is in.

463
00:34:10,679 --> 00:34:15,600
I couldn't believe that a family
argument had gotten this far at hand.

464
00:34:28,340 --> 00:34:34,360
April 2013 in Philadelphia, seven years
after Melissa Scripps called Michael to

465
00:34:34,360 --> 00:34:35,739
accuse him of robbing her.

466
00:34:36,520 --> 00:34:38,139
his criminal trial begins.

467
00:34:39,540 --> 00:34:43,380
And on the fifth day, Melissa is called
to the stand.

468
00:34:44,360 --> 00:34:48,900
Right away, she testifies to something
that Michael believes is a patent lie.

469
00:34:49,860 --> 00:34:54,500
She says his scheme to steal her money
began in that strip club in Atlanta,

470
00:34:54,860 --> 00:34:56,860
arguing it was a setup.

471
00:34:57,780 --> 00:35:02,200
Michael told me that we'd go out to
dinner if he knew of a good restaurant.

472
00:35:03,140 --> 00:35:04,140
What happened?

473
00:35:05,770 --> 00:35:10,010
The limousine took us straight to a
gentleman's club, a strip club.

474
00:35:13,750 --> 00:35:16,430
Thomas Rutherford says, no way.

475
00:35:17,190 --> 00:35:22,570
I was there, and I am absolutely certain
there was no plot to blackmail Melissa.

476
00:35:22,970 --> 00:35:24,830
The strip club idea came up.

477
00:35:25,030 --> 00:35:30,230
Everybody blessed it. No one was coerced
into it. So that is completely untrue,

478
00:35:30,270 --> 00:35:31,290
top to bottom.

479
00:35:34,000 --> 00:35:38,960
And that is the nature of the trial.
Much of it revolves around Melissa's

480
00:35:38,960 --> 00:35:40,060
against Michael.

481
00:35:40,980 --> 00:35:46,080
Melissa says when trust officers at Bank
One question her spending, Michael

482
00:35:46,080 --> 00:35:51,920
throws pictures of the $90 ,000 strip
club outing on the table, embarrassing

483
00:35:51,920 --> 00:35:52,920
deeply.

484
00:36:05,900 --> 00:36:10,520
And that, she says, is the reason she
turns her money over to Michael's friend

485
00:36:10,520 --> 00:36:12,660
Duke Gleeson at Merrill Lynch.

486
00:36:13,220 --> 00:36:14,460
Michael disagrees.

487
00:36:14,940 --> 00:36:19,680
There was information that Mrs. Scripps
wanted to move her money from Bank One

488
00:36:19,680 --> 00:36:24,680
because the trust officers were not
allowing the family to spend as much and

489
00:36:24,680 --> 00:36:26,580
freely as what they wanted to.

490
00:36:27,220 --> 00:36:32,240
Early on in the trial, Michael's former
girlfriend Jenna testifies about money

491
00:36:32,240 --> 00:36:33,640
he spent on her.

492
00:36:34,200 --> 00:36:35,900
As Michael glares.

493
00:36:36,400 --> 00:36:42,320
It's not like there was any trace of the

494
00:36:42,320 --> 00:36:47,540
person that I knew. I mean, his eyes
were so cold.

495
00:36:48,940 --> 00:36:51,900
On day three, Duke Gleeson takes the
stand.

496
00:36:52,360 --> 00:36:57,500
He is pleaded guilty and testifies with
the promise of a reduced sentence if all

497
00:36:57,500 --> 00:36:58,500
goes well.

498
00:36:58,990 --> 00:37:03,630
He says he was receiving kickbacks from
Michael for helping to grease the wheels

499
00:37:03,630 --> 00:37:04,970
at Merrill Lynch.

500
00:37:05,370 --> 00:37:10,390
I had nowhere else to turn for the
money.

501
00:37:10,670 --> 00:37:16,570
I asked Michael for the money, and he
gave me $8 ,000.

502
00:37:17,670 --> 00:37:21,510
Did you do whatever he told you in terms
of transferring this money after that?

503
00:37:22,190 --> 00:37:23,190
Yes, I did.

504
00:37:25,970 --> 00:37:27,790
And then there are documents.

505
00:37:28,380 --> 00:37:31,540
like Michael's power of attorney over
David Scripps' account.

506
00:37:33,120 --> 00:37:37,780
David never signed a power of attorney,
and the allegations are that Michael

507
00:37:37,780 --> 00:37:40,440
forged David's signature on that power
of attorney.

508
00:37:42,280 --> 00:37:45,540
But for Michael's defense team, the
documents prove nothing.

509
00:37:45,940 --> 00:37:48,700
Michael admits he took the money.

510
00:37:48,940 --> 00:37:52,680
There was no dispute that he had gotten
this money from his family and that he'd

511
00:37:52,680 --> 00:37:53,578
spent it.

512
00:37:53,580 --> 00:37:57,980
And the challenge was to prove that his
mother was aware of his spending habits

513
00:37:57,980 --> 00:37:59,860
and that she acquiesced in that.

514
00:38:00,360 --> 00:38:05,040
Michael says that some of the money was
used to cover costs of purchases he made

515
00:38:05,040 --> 00:38:07,940
for his mother, like the coronation
chair.

516
00:38:09,300 --> 00:38:13,660
But Michael's primary defense is that he
was living life as he had been taught

517
00:38:13,660 --> 00:38:18,560
to live it, as they all lived it, and
that the never -ending pot was always

518
00:38:18,560 --> 00:38:20,720
accessible to everyone in the family.

519
00:38:21,320 --> 00:38:24,980
And, he says, Merrill Lynch documents
reflect that.

520
00:38:25,340 --> 00:38:30,260
In this document, we have a wire
transfer from David to Melissa Scripps

521
00:38:30,260 --> 00:38:36,140
,000. We have a standing letter of
authorization from Melissa Scripps to

522
00:38:36,140 --> 00:38:38,580
Michael's sisters for $100 ,000.

523
00:38:39,360 --> 00:38:45,340
But then we also have Michael Scripps to
David Scripps for $6 ,000.

524
00:38:46,020 --> 00:38:49,320
So I think what this shows is just, you
know, it was Michael.

525
00:38:49,760 --> 00:38:54,280
Michael's position had been that this
was one pot of money that was used by

526
00:38:54,280 --> 00:38:57,000
of the family members for whatever they
wanted.

527
00:38:58,200 --> 00:39:03,240
The never -ending supply of money seems
to have mattered only when it was gone.

528
00:39:03,800 --> 00:39:08,240
What really changed was that the money
ran out, and there was never a problem

529
00:39:08,240 --> 00:39:10,680
with the spending when there was money
to spend.

530
00:39:11,600 --> 00:39:17,060
And all Melissa had to do to know what
Michael was doing was track down her

531
00:39:17,060 --> 00:39:18,640
statements and David's.

532
00:39:18,890 --> 00:39:19,769
and read them.

533
00:39:19,770 --> 00:39:23,990
Every one of these transfers were
reflected on bank statements that had

534
00:39:23,990 --> 00:39:26,690
sent to her over a number of years.

535
00:39:27,450 --> 00:39:31,550
If you're trying to steal money from
someone and you're trying to hide it, it

536
00:39:31,550 --> 00:39:35,890
seems a very strange way to do it by
having each and every one of these

537
00:39:35,890 --> 00:39:40,150
transfers listed on bank statements that
are sent to the person from whom you're

538
00:39:40,150 --> 00:39:41,150
allegedly stealing.

539
00:39:42,690 --> 00:39:46,510
For almost five years, no one questioned
Michael's spending.

540
00:39:47,020 --> 00:39:50,120
Until he had spent $3 .6 million.

541
00:39:50,860 --> 00:39:52,820
But it was not his money to spend.

542
00:39:54,100 --> 00:39:59,940
David makes that clear when he testifies
and says, very simply, he did not know

543
00:39:59,940 --> 00:40:01,660
Michael was spending his money.

544
00:40:02,020 --> 00:40:04,660
I think there was a lot of jury sympathy
for David.

545
00:40:05,000 --> 00:40:08,020
And they felt like his money had been
spent.

546
00:40:08,440 --> 00:40:13,140
And so, you know, somebody had to be
held responsible for the fact that his

547
00:40:13,140 --> 00:40:14,140
money was gone.

548
00:40:14,160 --> 00:40:16,100
The real victim was David.

549
00:40:16,590 --> 00:40:22,690
And David could not fend for himself.
David did not have the wherewithal to go

550
00:40:22,690 --> 00:40:23,690
out and make a living.

551
00:40:23,890 --> 00:40:26,630
And, you know, that's pretty atrocious.

552
00:40:28,270 --> 00:40:34,770
In the end, Michael is convicted on all
seven counts of wire fraud and is

553
00:40:34,770 --> 00:40:38,030
sentenced to nine years in federal
prison.

554
00:40:38,530 --> 00:40:42,690
I was speechless. I couldn't believe
that a family argument had gotten this

555
00:40:42,690 --> 00:40:43,690
out of hand.

556
00:40:43,760 --> 00:40:48,300
At some point, a parent has to think to
themselves, I have taught this child, if

557
00:40:48,300 --> 00:40:52,440
not by instruction, then by example. I
have shown this child that it's okay to

558
00:40:52,440 --> 00:40:53,480
piss away $97 million.

559
00:40:53,860 --> 00:40:57,800
And now I actually have the temerity to
be offended and hurt that he pissed away

560
00:40:57,800 --> 00:40:58,800
three?

561
00:41:00,620 --> 00:41:04,780
Melissa and David Scripps are still
living on St. Martin.

562
00:41:05,540 --> 00:41:10,420
Following his testimony, Duke Gleason
receives a sentence of one year and a

563
00:41:10,420 --> 00:41:11,420
in prison.

564
00:41:11,740 --> 00:41:17,090
And today, While Michael serves his time
in the federal pen, it is impossible

565
00:41:17,090 --> 00:41:23,130
not to think back to where all this
began, with the entrepreneurial spirit

566
00:41:23,130 --> 00:41:24,510
more than a century ago.

567
00:41:25,290 --> 00:41:29,510
Somewhere along the line, the power of
the family story and the intention of

568
00:41:29,510 --> 00:41:32,970
money and the purpose of it became
diluted, and other...

569
00:41:33,360 --> 00:41:37,640
motivations began to overtake it. So the
motivation of self -gratification and

570
00:41:37,640 --> 00:41:42,180
living large and overtook the original
sort of philanthropic intent of the

571
00:41:42,180 --> 00:41:46,800
money. When money becomes decoupled of
any purpose or any sort of reason or

572
00:41:46,800 --> 00:41:49,280
cause, it can unfortunately end up like
this.

573
00:41:53,020 --> 00:41:59,500
Over time, the house in Bloomfield Hills
falls into disrepair and ends up in

574
00:41:59,500 --> 00:42:00,500
foreclosure.

575
00:42:02,030 --> 00:42:09,010
And even those who are wary of Melissa
Scripps are sorry for what greed has

576
00:42:09,010 --> 00:42:10,010
to the family.

577
00:42:10,170 --> 00:42:14,790
I feel bad that her money is gone, but I
feel bad that she's lost a son. And I

578
00:42:14,790 --> 00:42:16,370
feel bad that Michael's lost a mother.

579
00:42:16,950 --> 00:42:20,850
And they're not going to get that back.
And no amount of money is going to get

580
00:42:20,850 --> 00:42:21,850
that back for them.

581
00:42:23,190 --> 00:42:25,320
Next. When money is no object.

582
00:42:25,560 --> 00:42:28,860
They had so much cash in these clinics,
they kept the cash in garbage bags.

583
00:42:29,080 --> 00:42:30,720
The object is to get more.

584
00:42:31,220 --> 00:42:34,700
There's not many people who were able to
scam as well as he did. Enter the dark

585
00:42:34,700 --> 00:42:37,720
side. American Greed, next on CNBC.

586
00:42:38,240 --> 00:42:42,680
From executive producer LeBron James,
Delan Hustle. Premiere episodes