1 00:00:01,000 --> 00:00:03,240 In this episode of American Greed. 2 00:00:08,100 --> 00:00:13,060 Carissa Carpenter is a budding movie mogul who wants to build the next 3 00:00:13,060 --> 00:00:19,460 Hollywood. She had this unbelievable ability to tap into people's dreams. But 4 00:00:19,460 --> 00:00:23,440 Carpenter needs the perfect spot for her billion -dollar project. 5 00:00:24,120 --> 00:00:27,120 And several small towns want a starring role. 6 00:00:27,380 --> 00:00:30,780 They thought it was real, and they thought it was going to provide 2 ,000 7 00:00:31,000 --> 00:00:36,360 And I'm honest and honorable, and I'm a good woman. Her one -woman show runs for 8 00:00:36,360 --> 00:00:37,840 nearly 20 years. 9 00:00:38,140 --> 00:00:44,780 She found an unlimited number of willing people with lots of money to say, yeah, 10 00:00:44,840 --> 00:00:49,300 I want to be part of that. But there's no Hollywood happy ending for Carpenters 11 00:00:49,300 --> 00:00:53,380 Investors. She told people that she put hundreds of millions of dollars of her 12 00:00:53,380 --> 00:00:55,520 own money into the project, and that was not the case. 13 00:00:55,980 --> 00:00:57,180 I didn't steal their money. 14 00:00:57,560 --> 00:00:58,640 They made an investment. 15 00:00:58,980 --> 00:01:02,860 What can you say? You know, some days you just got to go tip your hat to her 16 00:01:02,860 --> 00:01:04,260 ability to swindle. 17 00:01:27,910 --> 00:01:32,930 Abundant fields of sunflowers and tomato crops surround the sleepy town of 18 00:01:32,930 --> 00:01:33,930 Dixon, California. 19 00:01:35,670 --> 00:01:42,230 But in 2013, the small community 20 miles west of Sacramento is in the white 20 00:01:42,230 --> 00:01:43,230 -hot spotlight. 21 00:01:44,590 --> 00:01:49,850 The biggest movie studio in the world is going to be built in the middle of its 22 00:01:49,850 --> 00:01:50,850 fertile farmland. 23 00:01:51,450 --> 00:01:57,430 This was cast as a $2 .8 billion movie studio project. There was nothing small 24 00:01:57,430 --> 00:01:58,268 about it. 25 00:01:58,270 --> 00:02:03,630 According to the project supervisor, Carissa Carpenter, the movie studio will 26 00:02:03,630 --> 00:02:05,350 the envy of the film industry. 27 00:02:06,510 --> 00:02:09,949 She was going to build it bigger and better than anybody else in California. 28 00:02:10,169 --> 00:02:17,010 She had this team of investors who were all these Hollywood moguls who were 29 00:02:17,010 --> 00:02:18,830 going to come in and build this thing in Dixon. 30 00:02:19,590 --> 00:02:25,010 Carpenter says the new studio will provide thousands of high -paying jobs 31 00:02:25,010 --> 00:02:28,670 this community of just under 20 ,000 residents. 32 00:02:29,250 --> 00:02:34,270 The city manager and the mayor at the time were all in. They thought this was 33 00:02:34,270 --> 00:02:37,770 the greatest thing that was ever going to happen to Dixon and they were going 34 00:02:37,770 --> 00:02:38,990 be the ones who brought it home. 35 00:02:39,310 --> 00:02:45,170 There were opportunities for small businesses in town to ramp up their 36 00:02:45,170 --> 00:02:47,870 due to filmmakers being in town. 37 00:02:48,490 --> 00:02:51,950 visiting restaurants or, you know, other stores. 38 00:02:52,230 --> 00:02:56,590 They talked about how great it was going to be to have movie stars in town, Tom 39 00:02:56,590 --> 00:02:58,610 Cruise coming through, Robert De Niro. 40 00:03:00,170 --> 00:03:06,770 At a Dixon City Council meeting in March 2013, Carpenter triumphantly announces 41 00:03:06,770 --> 00:03:12,790 that her company, Morning View LLC, has successfully secured the land necessary 42 00:03:12,790 --> 00:03:15,430 to officially begin the project. 43 00:03:18,260 --> 00:03:20,080 Good evening, ladies and gentlemen. 44 00:03:20,840 --> 00:03:22,800 We did it. We got 300 acres. 45 00:03:23,140 --> 00:03:25,420 It is time for Morning View to move forward. 46 00:03:25,900 --> 00:03:31,960 Please, it's taken us 14 years and technically 16 and a half to get here. 47 00:03:31,960 --> 00:03:36,220 individuals and everybody's put every ounce of blood, sweat and tears into 48 00:03:36,220 --> 00:03:41,880 company. But Carissa Carpenter's grand statement isn't exactly the triumph it 49 00:03:41,880 --> 00:03:42,880 appears to be. 50 00:03:43,520 --> 00:03:44,940 According to federal authorities. 51 00:03:45,660 --> 00:03:50,200 Her presentation is just the latest chapter in a decades -long con. 52 00:03:50,740 --> 00:03:56,020 Ms. Carpenter's penchant for theatrics made her an almost one -of -a -kind 53 00:03:56,020 --> 00:03:58,680 fraudster, at least during my career as a prosecutor. 54 00:03:58,960 --> 00:04:04,020 I don't think there's any question she was a con artist. 55 00:04:04,340 --> 00:04:07,280 Dixon is just the most recent target of her scam. 56 00:04:07,820 --> 00:04:12,930 Since the late 1990s... Carpenter has seduced residents in more than half a 57 00:04:12,930 --> 00:04:17,649 dozen communities with the lure of Hollywood and making herself rich in the 58 00:04:17,649 --> 00:04:18,649 process. 59 00:04:19,670 --> 00:04:26,070 She had this unbelievable ability to tap into people's dreams. She would offer 60 00:04:26,070 --> 00:04:31,390 all kinds of stories about potential financiers. One of them was supposed to 61 00:04:31,390 --> 00:04:33,710 someone that was related to the Hapsburg family. 62 00:04:33,930 --> 00:04:38,190 You know, she had told us, I think on several occasions, that she was a child 63 00:04:38,190 --> 00:04:39,530 star. of some kind. 64 00:04:40,050 --> 00:04:45,590 It's true that Carpenter has some kind of ties to Hollywood, but separating 65 00:04:45,590 --> 00:04:47,970 from fiction is a tricky proposition. 66 00:04:48,930 --> 00:04:51,710 Carissa Carpenter is a very complicated woman. 67 00:04:52,730 --> 00:04:57,930 We trailed her for years, and I still don't think I have her figured out. 68 00:05:03,660 --> 00:05:09,400 In the mid -1990s, Michael Raniero is a Northern California entrepreneur and 69 00:05:09,400 --> 00:05:10,580 aspiring actor. 70 00:05:11,300 --> 00:05:15,640 By chance, he meets Caritha Carpenter on a casting call. 71 00:05:16,340 --> 00:05:22,140 I first met Caritha sort of on a dare from my wife to go out and be an actor. 72 00:05:22,280 --> 00:05:26,180 There was a casting call that she saw in the paper, seeking actors for upcoming 73 00:05:26,180 --> 00:05:27,180 film projects. 74 00:05:27,500 --> 00:05:31,320 So I went, and that's when I met Caritha. 75 00:05:31,870 --> 00:05:34,990 At the time, Carissa Carpenter runs a casting agency. 76 00:05:35,430 --> 00:05:40,710 He says she helps him land some bit parts in films and television series. 77 00:05:41,490 --> 00:05:46,190 She got me in a TV movie with Cheryl Ladd called Tangled Web. She got me in 78 00:05:46,190 --> 00:05:47,930 Cameron Coe film Almost Famous. 79 00:05:48,190 --> 00:05:53,770 She put me in a movie with John Travolta and Edward O 'Neill called Lucky 80 00:05:53,770 --> 00:05:54,770 Numbers. 81 00:05:54,990 --> 00:05:59,210 Carpenter tells clients she has an extensive Hollywood background. 82 00:06:00,040 --> 00:06:06,020 She claimed that she was the youngest child actress for the William Morris 83 00:06:06,020 --> 00:06:11,860 agency and that at some point she'd had an accident and so she had to switch 84 00:06:11,860 --> 00:06:14,140 from acting to being an agent. 85 00:06:14,380 --> 00:06:19,440 In the 1990s, Raniero says Carpenter's agency is well known in Northern 86 00:06:19,440 --> 00:06:23,740 California and works with a number of respectable Hollywood studios. 87 00:06:24,910 --> 00:06:29,950 Carissa Carpenter lives in an exclusive gated community in the Sacramento suburb 88 00:06:29,950 --> 00:06:31,370 of Granite Bay. 89 00:06:31,910 --> 00:06:36,010 Raniero says he's blown away when he visits the home. 90 00:06:36,490 --> 00:06:43,030 The home that she bought here in Los Lagos was probably a $4 million home. 91 00:06:43,250 --> 00:06:44,470 She had some cred. 92 00:06:44,810 --> 00:06:48,410 Kimberly West is a neighbor of Carissa's in Granite Bay. 93 00:06:48,850 --> 00:06:50,390 They strike up a friendship. 94 00:06:50,960 --> 00:06:54,720 Initially built on their husband's uncommon first name. 95 00:06:55,460 --> 00:07:01,880 When I heard her husband's name Everett, which is unusual, I was like, Everett? 96 00:07:01,920 --> 00:07:06,480 My husband's name's Everett. And so that's how we met. 97 00:07:07,080 --> 00:07:11,860 Carissa Carpenter lands her neighbor's walk -on roles in a few movies and TV 98 00:07:11,860 --> 00:07:12,860 shows. 99 00:07:13,240 --> 00:07:15,300 Dr. Quinn, medicine woman. 100 00:07:15,580 --> 00:07:17,760 In fact, someone came up one time and said, 101 00:07:18,600 --> 00:07:19,599 Are you James Seymour? 102 00:07:19,600 --> 00:07:20,600 I'm like, no. 103 00:07:22,100 --> 00:07:23,700 She's in that tent over there. 104 00:07:24,380 --> 00:07:28,800 Around this time, Carpenter tells her friends that she wants to take her 105 00:07:28,800 --> 00:07:30,580 to the next level. 106 00:07:31,240 --> 00:07:35,720 She has a dream of building her own movie studio in Northern California. 107 00:07:36,260 --> 00:07:40,580 She's pretty dynamic. She's come across like, you know, we're going to have the 108 00:07:40,580 --> 00:07:44,480 sound stages and we're going to have, it's going to be, you know, like a 109 00:07:44,480 --> 00:07:47,620 universal studio along with the sound stages. 110 00:07:48,280 --> 00:07:53,460 Kimberly says her husband, Everett Parsons, is especially intrigued by the 111 00:07:53,460 --> 00:07:57,020 proposal. He came from Texas, so he really loved cowboy movies. 112 00:07:57,220 --> 00:08:02,980 He just got really excited about the whole thing, more than I did. 113 00:08:03,840 --> 00:08:06,160 Everett Parsons is newly retired. 114 00:08:06,780 --> 00:08:11,640 After a career working for the department store Montgomery Ward, he 115 00:08:11,640 --> 00:08:13,240 took a buyout from the company. 116 00:08:14,990 --> 00:08:19,870 Kimberly says Carissa Carpenter takes a special interest in her husband when she 117 00:08:19,870 --> 00:08:21,990 learns of his financial situation. 118 00:08:23,230 --> 00:08:30,210 I know she was really pushing it whenever it got a buyout, and she 119 00:08:30,210 --> 00:08:33,490 enticing him to get more involved. 120 00:08:33,890 --> 00:08:38,730 Michael Raniero says Carissa Carpenter also pitches him on the movie studio. 121 00:08:39,450 --> 00:08:43,770 So her pitch to me was, well, first it was very secret. 122 00:08:44,270 --> 00:08:49,450 You know, can't let this out. We have the opportunity here to bring Hollywood 123 00:08:49,450 --> 00:08:52,330 Northern California and do so on a grand scale. 124 00:08:52,650 --> 00:08:58,070 The dream isn't that far -fetched. Los Angeles may be the center of the world's 125 00:08:58,070 --> 00:09:03,970 film industry, but in the 1990s, Hollywood begins to make inroads north 126 00:09:03,970 --> 00:09:04,970 border. 127 00:09:05,150 --> 00:09:08,950 Vancouver, obviously, was a location that was highly desired. 128 00:09:10,110 --> 00:09:13,330 actually a relatively short plane flight, you could tell that there was a 129 00:09:13,330 --> 00:09:14,670 tipping point happening. 130 00:09:15,130 --> 00:09:20,170 Carissa Carpenter has a grand plan to keep the movie business in the golden 131 00:09:20,170 --> 00:09:26,890 state. And she said she had done a study in 1994 where they showed the lack of 132 00:09:26,890 --> 00:09:32,190 space in Hollywood, in Los Angeles, and the weightless of people. Sometimes 133 00:09:32,190 --> 00:09:36,430 productions were waiting, you know, two, three, four years to have a soundstage 134 00:09:36,430 --> 00:09:37,630 to create their film. 135 00:09:37,990 --> 00:09:39,310 Carpenter says... 136 00:09:39,580 --> 00:09:42,660 With the right plan, they could make millions. 137 00:09:43,080 --> 00:09:47,440 So she made a pitch to me, and that's when I wrote my first check for $50 138 00:09:47,680 --> 00:09:52,240 I said I wanted in, and so I got in. She gave me my stock, and that was that. 139 00:09:52,560 --> 00:09:57,660 Michael Raniero and Everett Parsons held form a board of directors for Carissa's 140 00:09:57,660 --> 00:10:00,300 new project, Declaration Studios. 141 00:10:01,520 --> 00:10:05,660 Raniero says the project has approximately 20 initial investors. 142 00:10:07,070 --> 00:10:12,310 Carpenter claims many are big -name Hollywood players who prefer to remain 143 00:10:12,310 --> 00:10:13,310 anonymous. 144 00:10:13,750 --> 00:10:18,190 She had said that George Lucas was involved in some way. He was going to 145 00:10:18,190 --> 00:10:20,310 his clout into the project. 146 00:10:20,610 --> 00:10:25,670 She was very, very vague about all of that. He says Carissa Carpenter is also 147 00:10:25,670 --> 00:10:28,250 willing to put her money where her mouth is. 148 00:10:28,570 --> 00:10:33,230 She said she had put in close to $4 million at that point in time. 149 00:10:34,760 --> 00:10:40,220 Next on American Greed, the Declaration Studios group is ready to put their 150 00:10:40,220 --> 00:10:41,480 plans into action. 151 00:10:42,400 --> 00:10:46,460 But unforeseen circumstances derailed the project. 152 00:10:47,240 --> 00:10:53,080 Anytime she was backed into a corner, she would say that she was having open 153 00:10:53,080 --> 00:10:57,100 heart surgery. It was hard to keep track of what all the health problems were. 154 00:11:14,760 --> 00:11:21,260 Carissa Carpenter has her executive team in place and by 1999 is in search of 155 00:11:21,260 --> 00:11:25,900 the perfect location for her dream movie project, Declaration Studios. 156 00:11:27,320 --> 00:11:30,740 She, I think, really believed that she was going to do something amazing. 157 00:11:31,400 --> 00:11:34,440 Carpenter is the project's chief executive officer. 158 00:11:35,440 --> 00:11:40,200 Carissa in stature, she only stands maybe slightly north of five feet tall. 159 00:11:40,200 --> 00:11:41,200 she's not super tall. 160 00:11:42,020 --> 00:11:43,200 She's a bundle of energy. 161 00:11:44,000 --> 00:11:46,660 She comes off very intelligent, very dynamic. 162 00:11:47,200 --> 00:11:49,920 She liked being in the limelight. 163 00:11:50,940 --> 00:11:55,540 The group sets its sights on vacant land just east of Sacramento. 164 00:11:58,300 --> 00:12:03,020 There was a property in El Dorado Hills that was exactly what she wanted. 165 00:12:04,000 --> 00:12:08,240 Huge tract of land out there, and she was very, very excited about it. 166 00:12:08,460 --> 00:12:10,380 The land is hilly and rugged. 167 00:12:10,910 --> 00:12:14,870 but is wide open and could provide the perfect spot for the studio. 168 00:12:15,170 --> 00:12:21,330 And she had one of the biggest developers in town helping her to look 169 00:12:21,330 --> 00:12:26,190 land. He told me that he had heard George Lucas had flown in twice on his 170 00:12:26,190 --> 00:12:30,470 helicopter to look the property over. Over the next year, the group takes 171 00:12:30,470 --> 00:12:32,190 to secure the land rights. 172 00:12:33,070 --> 00:12:38,690 Michael Raniero says he puts in another $50 ,000 to help the venture move 173 00:12:38,690 --> 00:12:39,690 forward. 174 00:12:40,140 --> 00:12:43,520 So when the additional 50 came in and I had the chance to get more shares and 175 00:12:43,520 --> 00:12:45,120 increase my ownership, 176 00:12:46,020 --> 00:12:50,480 of course, I'm in. I see everything that's happening. This is going to close 177 00:12:50,480 --> 00:12:51,540 quickly. I can feel it. 178 00:12:52,000 --> 00:12:56,140 Everett Parsons puts in a couple hundred thousand dollars of his own. 179 00:12:56,500 --> 00:13:01,600 You know, I knew money was really tight because he'd given most of it to her, as 180 00:13:01,600 --> 00:13:03,300 he called it, you know, investing in that project. 181 00:13:03,800 --> 00:13:06,620 But the project is spending a lot of money. 182 00:13:07,210 --> 00:13:08,250 She had attorneys involved. 183 00:13:08,450 --> 00:13:09,450 She had accountants involved. 184 00:13:09,550 --> 00:13:11,490 She had architects involved. 185 00:13:11,710 --> 00:13:15,110 She always paid top dollar for the advice that she was getting. 186 00:13:15,430 --> 00:13:19,490 Carissa Carpenter's personal expenses are also extensive. 187 00:13:20,590 --> 00:13:27,570 Expenses such as stays at the finest hotel, designer clothing, even horses. 188 00:13:28,530 --> 00:13:33,150 If you are giving an investment, that's for capital to use in the business, 189 00:13:33,250 --> 00:13:38,040 right? Not for the owner of that business to, you know, live in luxury 190 00:13:38,460 --> 00:13:43,560 We had advised her, look, take a salary, spend it however you like. 191 00:13:44,240 --> 00:13:49,740 But when you ask for reimbursement for the company for something that might not 192 00:13:49,740 --> 00:13:54,900 quite be a business expense, that's not quite how you do it because that can be 193 00:13:54,900 --> 00:13:55,900 questioned. 194 00:13:56,110 --> 00:13:57,870 She also likes to travel. 195 00:13:58,090 --> 00:14:02,350 She traveled a lot to Europe. She would often use that as an excuse or a lure 196 00:14:02,350 --> 00:14:08,610 for investors, telling them that she had financiers in Europe who were going to 197 00:14:08,610 --> 00:14:11,990 fund the project. But really, she was just using investor money to fund her 198 00:14:11,990 --> 00:14:12,990 lifestyle. 199 00:14:13,010 --> 00:14:17,130 Kimberly West says that she and her husband, Everett Parsons, accompanied 200 00:14:17,130 --> 00:14:19,630 Carissa on one trip to London. 201 00:14:20,170 --> 00:14:24,450 We had a beautiful dinner with the Lloyds in London. They brought out some 202 00:14:24,450 --> 00:14:28,190 -end $400 bottles. Well, we paid for that anyway. 203 00:14:28,490 --> 00:14:32,010 But we had this lovely dinner by the London Bridge. 204 00:14:32,550 --> 00:14:38,650 Carissa Carpenter eventually divorces her husband, ditches Granite Bay, and 205 00:14:38,650 --> 00:14:43,510 her sights on Southern California. When she was negotiating one of the deals, 206 00:14:43,630 --> 00:14:46,330 she was staying at the Beverly Hilton at that time. 207 00:14:46,760 --> 00:14:49,480 She would be taking meetings and meeting with investors and people. 208 00:14:49,800 --> 00:14:51,620 So she said she had to be down there. 209 00:14:52,180 --> 00:14:57,360 Everett Parsons declines an on -camera interview with American Greed, but tells 210 00:14:57,360 --> 00:15:02,860 us on the phone that he personally pays for her weeks -long stay at the Beverly 211 00:15:02,860 --> 00:15:06,420 Hilton. He even gives Carissa his wife's car. 212 00:15:06,820 --> 00:15:08,980 I mean, he even gave her my Mercedes. 213 00:15:09,300 --> 00:15:11,720 I mean, he'd be paying next thing I know. He's paying her. 214 00:15:12,080 --> 00:15:17,360 phone bills and their rent and all kinds of crazy things. 215 00:15:17,660 --> 00:15:21,200 Carpenter also claims to have extensive medical bills. 216 00:15:21,560 --> 00:15:28,520 She had every ailment imaginable from heart to cancer, things I've never heard 217 00:15:28,520 --> 00:15:32,600 of. She told us on several occasions she'd had a hysterectomy, and I think 218 00:15:32,600 --> 00:15:33,800 only get to have one of those. 219 00:15:34,160 --> 00:15:39,620 In an exclusive interview with American Greed, Carpenter insists her medical 220 00:15:39,620 --> 00:15:40,960 issues are legitimate. 221 00:15:41,520 --> 00:15:45,540 My medical issues are consistent and have been since 1991. 222 00:15:46,360 --> 00:15:50,380 I've had 51 major events since 1991. 223 00:15:51,080 --> 00:15:57,180 So I have worked through and continue to work regardless even if I was in the 224 00:15:57,180 --> 00:16:02,500 hospital. She also disputes the accusation that she misused investor 225 00:16:03,480 --> 00:16:04,660 No, that's not true. 226 00:16:05,040 --> 00:16:09,840 Let me explain. I sold and loaned. 227 00:16:10,320 --> 00:16:13,380 On a portion of my percentage of stock. 228 00:16:13,940 --> 00:16:20,540 Now, when you're doing a private placement memorandum, you can borrow 229 00:16:20,540 --> 00:16:23,280 loan on money on your personal stock. 230 00:16:23,740 --> 00:16:29,260 In late 2000, the Declaration Studios Group receives unexpected bad news. 231 00:16:29,800 --> 00:16:34,960 The El Dorado Hills site allegedly has environmental problems. 232 00:16:35,540 --> 00:16:38,480 El Dorado Hills, we hit asbestos. 233 00:16:40,220 --> 00:16:47,080 It was at that point where costs 234 00:16:47,080 --> 00:16:51,700 started rising. So to get that abated, you know, the cost of the project was 235 00:16:51,700 --> 00:16:52,699 starting to increase. 236 00:16:52,700 --> 00:16:54,380 But the group is in luck. 237 00:16:55,300 --> 00:17:00,520 Next on American Read, Carissa Carpenter quickly lines up a new location. 238 00:17:00,960 --> 00:17:04,180 She had the land together. She had the people together. She thought that. 239 00:17:04,589 --> 00:17:10,630 The financiers would come in, say this is perfect, and we'd be off to the 240 00:17:26,410 --> 00:17:31,530 After an initial setback, Carissa Carpenter has a new location for her 241 00:17:31,530 --> 00:17:32,530 studio. 242 00:17:32,640 --> 00:17:35,420 just north of Sacramento in Sutter County. 243 00:17:36,140 --> 00:17:40,000 She even gets a full -page spread in the local newspaper. 244 00:17:40,340 --> 00:17:43,100 And I'll never forget the picture. It was on the front page of the Sacramento 245 00:17:43,100 --> 00:17:48,420 Bee. And it showed her in the middle of the Sutter property with an umbrella, 246 00:17:48,540 --> 00:17:54,700 and it said Dreamer on it. She was so happy with that article. 247 00:17:54,980 --> 00:17:58,840 She described this Disneyland -like... 248 00:17:59,750 --> 00:18:05,550 village she was going to build with a studio on this farmland. 249 00:18:06,870 --> 00:18:10,750 Carpenter tells the paper that the project has major backers. 250 00:18:11,290 --> 00:18:16,310 She said that she could get the White House on the phone to clear any hurdles. 251 00:18:16,370 --> 00:18:17,850 She could get George Bush on the phone. 252 00:18:18,050 --> 00:18:20,170 But the excitement is short -lived. 253 00:18:20,590 --> 00:18:24,690 Just like the El Dorado Hills project, there seems to be a problem. 254 00:18:25,370 --> 00:18:28,190 Carissa tells her board she needs more money. 255 00:18:28,520 --> 00:18:29,780 to see the project through. 256 00:18:30,400 --> 00:18:36,420 We were in contract to buy the property, and she put an amount down when she 257 00:18:36,420 --> 00:18:43,200 signed the contract, and then six months later, $150 ,000 was due as good faith 258 00:18:43,200 --> 00:18:46,060 to continue the transaction. 259 00:18:46,660 --> 00:18:51,560 Michael Raniero contributes another $50 ,000 to keep the dream alive. 260 00:18:52,080 --> 00:18:55,180 Other board members put up the remaining money. 261 00:18:56,400 --> 00:18:59,080 If we hadn't have done that, we would have lost this property. 262 00:19:00,160 --> 00:19:06,480 So we were kind of, we were forced into it, in my perspective. 263 00:19:07,200 --> 00:19:13,040 Raniero says he drops a total of $150 ,000 into Declaration Studios. 264 00:19:14,460 --> 00:19:19,920 Everett Parsons tells American Greed he invests over $400 ,000. 265 00:19:20,840 --> 00:19:22,340 He just ran out of money. 266 00:19:22,720 --> 00:19:24,700 We had no more money to give her. 267 00:19:25,230 --> 00:19:29,490 He ran out of money. He kept going until it was gone. 268 00:19:30,210 --> 00:19:34,930 Despite their investments, the Declaration Studios project in Sutter 269 00:19:34,930 --> 00:19:40,870 falls apart when the board says Carissa Carpenter failed to close the deal. 270 00:19:41,190 --> 00:19:45,230 When we lost that last deal, then things got really weird. Things got real. 271 00:19:45,450 --> 00:19:49,110 Her board of directors got wind of the fact that she was spending money 272 00:19:49,110 --> 00:19:52,430 extravagantly, and they confronted her on it. And we all resigned on the same 273 00:19:52,430 --> 00:19:53,339 day. 274 00:19:53,340 --> 00:19:56,860 The whole board left on the same day. And then she disappeared. The planning 275 00:19:56,860 --> 00:20:01,760 people in Sutter County said, yeah, she was going through the permit process and 276 00:20:01,760 --> 00:20:03,060 then vanished. 277 00:20:03,480 --> 00:20:09,880 Late in 2001, Carissa surprisingly resurfaces almost 3 ,000 miles away 278 00:20:09,880 --> 00:20:11,560 in South Carolina. 279 00:20:12,020 --> 00:20:14,580 But her dream has changed slightly. 280 00:20:15,560 --> 00:20:19,240 She tells a new group of potential investors that she wants to build an 281 00:20:19,240 --> 00:20:23,260 animation studio that will rival the Walt Disney Corporation. 282 00:20:24,020 --> 00:20:30,200 She went to South Carolina. She managed to meet with the governor of South 283 00:20:30,200 --> 00:20:34,660 Carolina to discuss building a movie studio there. She met with all the 284 00:20:34,660 --> 00:20:35,660 and shakers there. 285 00:20:36,000 --> 00:20:40,740 Carpenter is a special guest at dinner parties and is given a helicopter tour 286 00:20:40,740 --> 00:20:44,480 across the state to scout locations for her studio. 287 00:20:45,240 --> 00:20:49,380 And they wined and dined her there because there was a California woman who 288 00:20:49,380 --> 00:20:51,740 going to build a movie studio in South Carolina. It was going to be great. 289 00:20:52,300 --> 00:20:57,540 But the South Carolina project falls apart when local officials say Carissa 290 00:20:57,540 --> 00:21:01,580 Carpenter fails to make down payments and misses deadlines. 291 00:21:02,300 --> 00:21:06,900 The heat was really turned up on her because the people that she was dealing 292 00:21:06,900 --> 00:21:10,040 with in South Carolina were not like me where... 293 00:21:10,350 --> 00:21:11,690 I made a bad decision. 294 00:21:11,890 --> 00:21:15,870 Time to move on. They felt that they were wrong. They felt that they were 295 00:21:15,870 --> 00:21:18,330 misled. And then that project fizzled. 296 00:21:18,630 --> 00:21:20,170 She just disappeared. 297 00:21:21,230 --> 00:21:26,830 Next on American Greed, Carissa Carpenter's scheme has unexpected 298 00:21:27,630 --> 00:21:31,430 Anyway, I just can't take it anymore. 299 00:21:31,750 --> 00:21:34,010 I was shocked. I was devastated. 300 00:21:52,360 --> 00:21:57,700 After the failures of the El Dorado and Sutter County projects, the financial 301 00:21:57,700 --> 00:22:00,640 situation in the Parsons' home is tense. 302 00:22:01,380 --> 00:22:06,880 I was getting pretty upset financially trying to hold the fort myself. So I was 303 00:22:06,880 --> 00:22:10,760 getting pretty upset with him. Like, what a waste. 304 00:22:11,240 --> 00:22:13,760 You know, he worked so hard his whole life. 305 00:22:14,360 --> 00:22:17,720 But what happens next is even more unexpected. 306 00:22:18,480 --> 00:22:20,340 One afternoon in 2002, 307 00:22:21,230 --> 00:22:25,470 Kimberly West is stunned when her husband fails to pick her up from work. 308 00:22:26,230 --> 00:22:31,290 I didn't know where he was. My daughter came and got me. She took me home, and 309 00:22:31,290 --> 00:22:34,090 we just chatted for a long time, and I'm like, where is he? 310 00:22:35,050 --> 00:22:38,690 She eventually sees there's a message on her answering machine. 311 00:22:52,360 --> 00:22:59,160 I was so... I couldn't believe it. I 312 00:22:59,160 --> 00:23:00,160 was, like, in shock. 313 00:23:00,340 --> 00:23:04,720 Kimberly says her husband leaves due to his financial setbacks. 314 00:23:05,360 --> 00:23:11,540 Everett Parsons tells FBI investigators that his investments with Carpenter cost 315 00:23:11,540 --> 00:23:12,540 him his marriage. 316 00:23:12,900 --> 00:23:14,200 I was devastated. 317 00:23:14,420 --> 00:23:16,980 First thing that went through my mind, I said, uh... 318 00:23:17,310 --> 00:23:20,530 Besides him being my husband, I thought, I just lost my best friend. 319 00:23:21,090 --> 00:23:22,950 The couple eventually divorced. 320 00:23:24,050 --> 00:23:30,710 As for Carissa Carpenter, by 2004, she set her sights on a new location south 321 00:23:30,710 --> 00:23:31,710 of Sacramento. 322 00:23:32,450 --> 00:23:37,670 She was purporting to build a $3 .49 billion city, 323 00:23:39,290 --> 00:23:43,270 essentially. It was going to have a movie studio. It was going to have golf 324 00:23:43,270 --> 00:23:45,290 courses. It was going to have hotels. 325 00:23:46,220 --> 00:23:50,900 The River Islands development is an actual massive planned community just 326 00:23:50,900 --> 00:23:52,080 outside of Stockton. 327 00:23:52,580 --> 00:23:57,660 There was only one problem with that deal, is that she had no connection to 328 00:23:57,660 --> 00:23:59,260 River Islands project whatsoever. 329 00:23:59,900 --> 00:24:04,120 Susan Deloso is the president of the River Islands development. 330 00:24:04,680 --> 00:24:10,300 She says the executive team does initially take meetings with Carissa 331 00:24:10,300 --> 00:24:11,300 in 2004. 332 00:24:12,910 --> 00:24:16,770 And that's when she approached us about putting a movie studio in the business 333 00:24:16,770 --> 00:24:20,630 park, which would have brought lots of jobs and lots of fame. And so we were 334 00:24:20,630 --> 00:24:21,730 definitely eager to talk to her. 335 00:24:22,590 --> 00:24:28,330 Well, everyone in my team, including my lawyers, had tons of meetings with these 336 00:24:28,330 --> 00:24:33,410 people. But the proposed deal falls through when Carpenter's actions once 337 00:24:33,410 --> 00:24:35,130 fail to match her rhetoric. 338 00:24:35,980 --> 00:24:40,580 She would always miss dates by being in the hospital or she had a strange 339 00:24:40,580 --> 00:24:44,920 disease that was rare. And when things would come up that she would have to 340 00:24:44,920 --> 00:24:49,080 provide some financing or come up with some of the cash that we had agreed to, 341 00:24:49,580 --> 00:24:50,580 it just never happened. 342 00:24:50,860 --> 00:24:55,220 However, Carissa Carpenter is determined to see her dream through. 343 00:24:55,560 --> 00:25:01,000 Over the next few years, federal authorities say she hijacks the 344 00:25:01,000 --> 00:25:02,000 business plan. 345 00:25:05,930 --> 00:25:10,570 real work that was being done by real companies and purloining it and making 346 00:25:10,570 --> 00:25:11,570 part of her scheme. 347 00:25:11,910 --> 00:25:12,950 Well, this is really interesting. 348 00:25:13,170 --> 00:25:17,590 So over the years, Carissa apparently put together two marketing brochures. 349 00:25:17,690 --> 00:25:22,070 There are definitely maps and pictures from the project that she took off our 350 00:25:22,070 --> 00:25:23,070 website. 351 00:25:23,190 --> 00:25:28,170 Carpenter's brochures make it seem like the River Islands project is her vision. 352 00:25:28,730 --> 00:25:34,750 She tells people that she drops $123 million of her own money into the 353 00:25:34,750 --> 00:25:35,750 development. 354 00:25:36,460 --> 00:25:41,200 She's absolutely making false statements about how much money she's obtained and 355 00:25:41,200 --> 00:25:46,300 what's included in these documents is completely fraudulent about any 356 00:25:46,540 --> 00:25:52,180 To fund her latest project, federal authorities say she looks outside of 357 00:25:52,180 --> 00:25:58,000 California. Over the next six years, she finds a trove of willing investors in 358 00:25:58,000 --> 00:26:04,000 Utah. It's my understanding that she had a connection with Utah brokers, and 359 00:26:04,000 --> 00:26:08,660 they were looking for an investment for their clients. And Ms. Carpenter happily 360 00:26:08,660 --> 00:26:14,100 supplied them with tales of this development and even offered stock in 361 00:26:14,100 --> 00:26:15,079 -believe company. 362 00:26:15,080 --> 00:26:18,160 Eric Fry is one of the Utah investors. 363 00:26:18,760 --> 00:26:24,440 He says he first encounters Carpenter during a pitch meeting in a hotel around 364 00:26:24,440 --> 00:26:25,440 2006. 365 00:26:26,200 --> 00:26:30,080 So we go down there, and she's there, of course, and, you know, it's all about 366 00:26:30,080 --> 00:26:34,460 her and her childhood and how she was the only blue -eyed blonde in all of 367 00:26:34,460 --> 00:26:36,140 Japan, so they just ate her up. 368 00:26:36,740 --> 00:26:41,160 Fry says she's persuasive. She claimed she was going to own the utility 369 00:26:41,160 --> 00:26:45,220 districts and get us, you know, every time a toilet flush, we'd get paid. 370 00:26:45,220 --> 00:26:48,040 time a light turned on, you know, we were going to make money off of that. 371 00:26:48,460 --> 00:26:54,020 Fry says he takes out a home equity loan and invests $125 ,000. 372 00:26:55,860 --> 00:27:02,060 Authorities say Carpenter raises over $1 million from the Utah Investment Group. 373 00:27:02,660 --> 00:27:06,720 One of the big spending sprees was right after she collected the money out of 374 00:27:06,720 --> 00:27:10,320 Salt Lake. You know, there were diamonds, there were fancy dogs. 375 00:27:10,560 --> 00:27:15,420 There was one boyfriend she had, and she promised him... 376 00:27:16,230 --> 00:27:20,010 that once the company got going, he was going to get a Maserati. 377 00:27:20,270 --> 00:27:25,390 A few investors actually make the trip to California to see their investment in 378 00:27:25,390 --> 00:27:30,710 person. I had a gentleman from Utah who showed up at our front door, and he 379 00:27:30,710 --> 00:27:34,530 basically walked in and said, Hey, I'm an owner. I'm an owner. Show me the 380 00:27:34,870 --> 00:27:38,590 And so I chatted with him and said, What do you mean you're an owner? We don't 381 00:27:38,590 --> 00:27:42,590 have any outside investors in our project. But he was a little dismayed 382 00:27:42,590 --> 00:27:43,590 left my office. 383 00:27:44,080 --> 00:27:48,820 The Utah Investment Group says they tried to confront Carpenter, but she 384 00:27:48,820 --> 00:27:52,200 numerous excuses and eventually vanishes. 385 00:27:53,820 --> 00:27:58,500 The River Islands executives say they sent Carpenter numerous cease and desist 386 00:27:58,500 --> 00:28:00,860 letters and even contact the FBI. 387 00:28:01,360 --> 00:28:04,900 Unfortunately, it didn't lead anywhere. They may have opened a case, but we 388 00:28:04,900 --> 00:28:07,340 never really heard back from the FBI of any follow through. 389 00:28:08,300 --> 00:28:12,680 Next on American Greed, a little digging into Carissa's past. 390 00:28:13,320 --> 00:28:14,980 uncovers a lot of dirt. 391 00:28:15,680 --> 00:28:21,660 We found a series of liens of that bill that hadn't been paid. She just didn't 392 00:28:21,660 --> 00:28:22,660 pay her bills. 393 00:28:37,060 --> 00:28:42,220 After the River Island debacle, Carpenter resurfaces in the East Bay. 394 00:28:42,860 --> 00:28:45,220 Vallejo, California, in 2010. 395 00:28:46,500 --> 00:28:51,920 She pitches her movie studio for Mare Island, a former naval base that's been 396 00:28:51,920 --> 00:28:53,260 vacant for over a decade. 397 00:28:53,980 --> 00:28:58,520 Vallejo was a town with severe financial problems. They'd been in bankruptcy. 398 00:28:59,060 --> 00:29:03,240 And so she came to town and said, I'm going to build this project. 399 00:29:03,660 --> 00:29:09,060 Once again, Carpenter lines up legitimate development teams and 400 00:29:09,060 --> 00:29:10,120 her dream project. 401 00:29:10,990 --> 00:29:14,010 So a lot of times what would happen with these companies is they would do some 402 00:29:14,010 --> 00:29:17,910 preliminary work with the hope that someday if the project actually came to 403 00:29:17,910 --> 00:29:21,630 fruition, they would get a large payout at the end. What Ms. Carpenter would do 404 00:29:21,630 --> 00:29:25,210 was make it appear that they were substantially involved. 405 00:29:25,650 --> 00:29:29,410 The feds say Carpenter once again misses crucial deadlines. 406 00:29:30,290 --> 00:29:33,410 No one would be willing to move forward because they had reached a point where 407 00:29:33,410 --> 00:29:37,330 simply they needed to see the money. It was time to put up or shut up. And so 408 00:29:37,330 --> 00:29:39,650 Ms. Carpenter would then move off to another location. 409 00:29:40,520 --> 00:29:45,040 telling her investors that something had happened, but she'd found the next 410 00:29:45,040 --> 00:29:46,520 golden location. 411 00:29:46,900 --> 00:29:53,840 In 2013, that golden location is Dixon, the farming community just west of 412 00:29:53,840 --> 00:29:54,840 Sacramento. 413 00:29:55,200 --> 00:30:01,120 And it's really hit with a bang because people always, I think a lot of 414 00:30:01,120 --> 00:30:06,280 Dixonites have big hopes of development coming to Dixon, like a major industry 415 00:30:06,280 --> 00:30:07,540 or something like that. 416 00:30:07,980 --> 00:30:13,060 Bill Paul is a local author who has written a book about Carissa Carpenter's 417 00:30:13,060 --> 00:30:14,800 grand plans for Dixon. 418 00:30:15,040 --> 00:30:19,580 Carissa Carpenter knew how to put buttons to get people to react here in 419 00:30:19,580 --> 00:30:24,400 city. There were promises of jobs for a lot of local people. 420 00:30:24,680 --> 00:30:31,620 She had real solid members of her team. Her lawyer was a former legislator 421 00:30:31,620 --> 00:30:35,020 here, the head of the state Republican Party. These were real players. 422 00:30:35,680 --> 00:30:41,100 Carissa tells officials that she needs 300 acres in Dixon before her plans can 423 00:30:41,100 --> 00:30:42,100 move forward. 424 00:30:42,400 --> 00:30:47,360 They spent a lot of time trying to convince landowners to sell or initially 425 00:30:47,360 --> 00:30:48,420 sign letters of intent. 426 00:30:49,060 --> 00:30:53,580 American Greed reaches out to several Dixon City officials about their 427 00:30:53,580 --> 00:30:57,300 interactions with Carpenter, but they decline comment. 428 00:30:57,690 --> 00:31:02,510 We uncovered no evidence that Ms. Carpenter ever took any real steps to 429 00:31:02,510 --> 00:31:07,650 the property. In fact, those involved said it became really obvious that this 430 00:31:07,650 --> 00:31:12,350 was not a legitimate or serious effort to buy land, despite what she was 431 00:31:12,350 --> 00:31:13,910 the city council and others. 432 00:31:14,190 --> 00:31:19,290 During this time, Sacramento Bee journalist Margie Lundstrom says she 433 00:31:19,290 --> 00:31:22,250 an anonymous tip from a Dixon City official. 434 00:31:23,350 --> 00:31:26,790 I remember when I got the original tip saying, 435 00:31:27,610 --> 00:31:28,850 Something isn't right here. 436 00:31:29,110 --> 00:31:35,290 $2 .8 billion studio in a small town down the road. At the time, that was 437 00:31:35,290 --> 00:31:40,130 six times the price of the new arena that was going in in Sacramento for the 438 00:31:40,130 --> 00:31:41,109 Sacramento Kings. 439 00:31:41,110 --> 00:31:43,670 I mean, it just on its face didn't make sense. 440 00:31:44,410 --> 00:31:49,610 Over the next several months, Margie Lundstrom and Sam Stanton, a husband and 441 00:31:49,610 --> 00:31:53,470 wife reporting team, dig into Carissa Carpenter's background. 442 00:31:54,170 --> 00:31:56,310 The more we looked, the more... 443 00:31:56,810 --> 00:32:03,030 Odd, it seemed, and I found a court file in Los Angeles involving the sale of an 444 00:32:03,030 --> 00:32:09,870 $18 .5 million Beverly Hills mansion to her, in which, you know, she never 445 00:32:09,870 --> 00:32:13,950 paid for the mansion. And so once I read those documents, I thought, okay, 446 00:32:14,050 --> 00:32:15,050 there's something here. 447 00:32:15,330 --> 00:32:19,690 According to their investigation, Carpenter is a serial grifter. 448 00:32:20,730 --> 00:32:23,790 A default car loan, an eviction notice. 449 00:32:24,490 --> 00:32:30,290 file after file after file with her not paying her bills. A picture was starting 450 00:32:30,290 --> 00:32:31,269 to develop. 451 00:32:31,270 --> 00:32:37,370 The reporters identify at least 19 tax liens and dozens of civil actions 452 00:32:37,370 --> 00:32:39,650 Carpenter over the past 20 years. 453 00:32:40,150 --> 00:32:45,390 She owes over $50 ,000 to a dentist in Beverly Hills. 454 00:32:46,430 --> 00:32:51,250 And everywhere I looked, there was another case against her involving 455 00:32:52,330 --> 00:32:56,810 furniture she hadn't paid for or cosmetic surgeries she hadn't paid for 456 00:32:56,810 --> 00:32:57,810 bounced checks. 457 00:32:58,170 --> 00:33:03,450 And at some point we thought, well, we need to get to her and ask her about 458 00:33:03,450 --> 00:33:07,370 because at the time she was telling Dixon that she was going to build this 459 00:33:07,370 --> 00:33:09,350 massive multi -billion dollar studio. 460 00:33:09,810 --> 00:33:15,970 In the spring of 2013, Sam Stanton lands an interview with Carissa Carpenter. 461 00:33:16,190 --> 00:33:18,350 So I drove to Los Angeles to interview her. 462 00:33:18,730 --> 00:33:23,350 And I thought, well, I'll be going to her movie studio or somewhere in 463 00:33:23,350 --> 00:33:24,450 Hollywood, presumably. 464 00:33:24,730 --> 00:33:29,830 And instead, we met at a TGI Fridays in Simi Valley. 465 00:33:30,190 --> 00:33:34,630 Stanton says Carpenter thinks the interview is another puff piece on her 466 00:33:34,630 --> 00:33:37,990 venture. But the interview quickly turned serious. 467 00:33:38,910 --> 00:33:43,830 I spent quite a bit of time asking her about the plans and the project and her 468 00:33:43,830 --> 00:33:45,830 investors. And after... 469 00:33:46,650 --> 00:33:51,550 About an hour, I switched gears and said, you know, tell me about these 470 00:33:51,550 --> 00:33:55,130 you don't pay and these checks that bounce and these court cases against 471 00:33:55,690 --> 00:34:00,230 And I'm honest and honorable and I'm a good woman. And everybody that's been 472 00:34:00,230 --> 00:34:03,890 with this program and this project from day one has stayed with me. 473 00:34:04,270 --> 00:34:09,770 Stanton asks Carpenter about the $50 ,000 she owes to the Beverly Hills 474 00:34:13,260 --> 00:34:14,960 There's a case pending against you now. 475 00:34:21,639 --> 00:34:22,639 Right. 476 00:34:24,760 --> 00:34:30,380 My teeth all broke from falling and cracked open all my teeth in my mouth. 477 00:34:31,260 --> 00:34:32,960 And he didn't finish the work. 478 00:34:33,820 --> 00:34:37,900 And I had four abscesses that went into an infection into my heart. So I have 479 00:34:37,900 --> 00:34:39,060 not been able to get that finished. 480 00:34:39,400 --> 00:34:41,500 And when I get well, I'll pay up. 481 00:34:42,190 --> 00:34:46,230 Stanton says Carissa Carpenter has an excuse for everything. 482 00:34:46,969 --> 00:34:49,370 Yeah, her identity had been stolen. 483 00:34:49,929 --> 00:34:53,389 She was working with the Secret Service. She was working with Interpol. 484 00:34:54,210 --> 00:34:56,070 There was always an excuse. 485 00:34:56,570 --> 00:35:00,190 Carpenter says the River Islands fiasco was just a misunderstanding. 486 00:35:01,450 --> 00:35:04,750 We were in the process of trying to finance it, and everything went sideways 487 00:35:04,750 --> 00:35:06,370 when the real estate market broke. 488 00:35:06,610 --> 00:35:10,210 We lost our financing, which is why we didn't end up closing. 489 00:35:10,760 --> 00:35:16,160 In 2013, the reporter's story about Carissa Carpenter and her shady past is 490 00:35:16,160 --> 00:35:18,780 featured on the front page of the Sacramento Bee. 491 00:35:19,620 --> 00:35:22,520 In Dixon, the piece hits hard. 492 00:35:23,000 --> 00:35:26,480 The Sacramento Bee articles came like a bombshell. 493 00:35:26,720 --> 00:35:30,320 Many residents don't want to believe what the reporters find. 494 00:35:30,760 --> 00:35:36,020 They blame the newspaper for trying to sabotage the proposed movie studio and 495 00:35:36,020 --> 00:35:37,700 Dixon's chance at millions. 496 00:35:38,520 --> 00:35:42,260 The reporting was very accurate. It was very detailed, very in -depth. 497 00:35:42,640 --> 00:35:47,300 But even so, there were some in the community who said, oh, it was a hit 498 00:35:47,660 --> 00:35:49,100 You know, they're out to get her. 499 00:35:49,660 --> 00:35:55,080 Next on American Read, Carissa Carpenter does whatever it takes to stay out of 500 00:35:55,080 --> 00:35:56,080 prison. 501 00:35:56,540 --> 00:36:01,740 She claimed, for example, that she needed money to join an order of knights 502 00:36:01,740 --> 00:36:06,740 would provide her a title of baroness. And if she could just get this cloak. 503 00:36:07,320 --> 00:36:12,720 and become Lady Carissa, as she referred to herself, she would be immune from 504 00:36:12,720 --> 00:36:13,720 prosecution. 505 00:36:31,500 --> 00:36:36,580 After the publication of the Sacramento Bee Exposé, federal authorities begin an 506 00:36:36,580 --> 00:36:38,940 investigation of Carissa Carpenter. 507 00:36:40,220 --> 00:36:46,940 What was revealed is she's just a charlatan who really had no substance 508 00:36:46,940 --> 00:36:51,760 all about selling the dream and getting lots of people's money to fund her out 509 00:36:51,760 --> 00:36:52,760 -of -control lifestyle. 510 00:36:52,780 --> 00:36:55,280 And that appears to have been her entire career. 511 00:36:55,680 --> 00:36:59,460 We interviewed witnesses back to the 80s. 512 00:36:59,960 --> 00:37:02,880 So it seems to have been quite a long -running scheme. 513 00:37:03,220 --> 00:37:09,300 In 2014, federal prosecutors in Sacramento hit Carissa Carpenter with a 514 00:37:09,300 --> 00:37:14,720 -count indictment, charging her with mail fraud, wire fraud, and making a 515 00:37:14,720 --> 00:37:16,220 statement to a government agent. 516 00:37:17,460 --> 00:37:22,200 She was lying on documents and then sending those documents either in e 517 00:37:22,200 --> 00:37:26,120 to folks in other states to perpetuate the scheme. 518 00:37:26,840 --> 00:37:31,840 The government officially says Carpenter pockets over $3 .5 million. 519 00:37:33,680 --> 00:37:37,700 That was official. That's the official kind of number. There's certainly a 520 00:37:37,700 --> 00:37:41,540 chance that it could be more. Federal authorities say that Carpenter spends 521 00:37:41,540 --> 00:37:47,800 investor money on herself rather than the development of any movie studio, and 522 00:37:47,800 --> 00:37:51,540 that she never actually invests any of her own money into the project. 523 00:37:52,270 --> 00:37:57,050 She would live a fairly luxurious lifestyle, and it was essentially this 524 00:37:57,050 --> 00:37:58,730 only business and only source of income. 525 00:37:59,090 --> 00:38:04,410 We identified numerous instances of investor money being used to pay off or 526 00:38:04,410 --> 00:38:05,410 credit cards. 527 00:38:05,750 --> 00:38:11,370 She lived kind of always on the edge with respect to her finances, living a 528 00:38:11,370 --> 00:38:15,070 she couldn't afford, but for the fact that she was able to take investor 529 00:38:15,570 --> 00:38:18,270 Federal investigators contact George Lucas. 530 00:38:18,910 --> 00:38:23,610 The Hollywood legend submits a declaration to the court saying he's 531 00:38:23,610 --> 00:38:24,610 met Carpenter. 532 00:38:26,310 --> 00:38:31,730 We were able to obtain a declaration from Mr. Lucas who attested that he was 533 00:38:31,730 --> 00:38:35,910 involved in Ms. Carpenter's project at all and had no intention of being 534 00:38:35,910 --> 00:38:36,908 involved. 535 00:38:36,910 --> 00:38:42,290 After her indictment, Carpenter begins making regular court appearances, but 536 00:38:42,290 --> 00:38:47,250 many devolve into spectacles. Ms. Carpenter, at least in my opinion... 537 00:38:47,560 --> 00:38:52,080 attempted to faint three times at three different proceedings. 538 00:38:52,420 --> 00:38:57,300 One time an ambulance came and went up to the 14th floor of the courthouse, 539 00:38:57,300 --> 00:39:02,260 whatever it was, put her on a stretcher, took her down to the first floor, put 540 00:39:02,260 --> 00:39:03,260 her in an ambulance. 541 00:39:03,740 --> 00:39:08,280 One time she tries to dodge prosecution by becoming a member of the Knights 542 00:39:08,280 --> 00:39:11,740 Templar, the ancient and mysterious religious order. 543 00:39:13,360 --> 00:39:19,620 She had somehow became convinced that she could escape prosecution by becoming 544 00:39:19,620 --> 00:39:22,940 baroness. To become a baroness, she had to purchase a cloak. 545 00:39:23,460 --> 00:39:29,500 And if she could just get this cloak and become Lady Carissa, as she referred to 546 00:39:29,500 --> 00:39:31,920 herself, she would be immune from prosecution. 547 00:39:32,980 --> 00:39:38,920 After years of delays, in July of 2018, Carpenter pleads guilty to two counts of 548 00:39:38,920 --> 00:39:42,320 mail fraud and one count of lying to a government agent. 549 00:39:42,990 --> 00:39:45,450 The rest of the charges against her are dropped. 550 00:39:45,990 --> 00:39:49,030 She's sentenced to six and a half years in prison. 551 00:39:49,710 --> 00:39:56,310 The feds say her scam lasts approximately 17 years and involves 552 00:39:56,310 --> 00:39:57,310 victims. 553 00:39:57,970 --> 00:40:01,930 The day of her sentencing, I couldn't believe it. They were talking about the 554 00:40:01,930 --> 00:40:07,350 different victims, and they were reading off names we had never heard of. 555 00:40:07,810 --> 00:40:10,230 It's unbelievable, the amount of people. 556 00:40:10,730 --> 00:40:14,390 Carpenter is incarcerated at a federal medical center in Texas. 557 00:40:15,310 --> 00:40:18,130 American Greed reaches out to her in prison. 558 00:40:18,550 --> 00:40:23,330 She tells us that she never intentionally set out to deceive 559 00:40:24,270 --> 00:40:27,350 I didn't steal their money. They made an investment. 560 00:40:27,570 --> 00:40:29,210 Could I have made better decisions? 561 00:40:29,590 --> 00:40:35,850 Yes. Was I responsible at the end? Because as a CEO and chairman, 562 00:40:36,070 --> 00:40:38,690 I am responsible. 563 00:40:39,610 --> 00:40:43,570 Given the chance, Carpenter says she would have conducted business 564 00:40:44,210 --> 00:40:46,070 I wouldn't have trusted a lot of people. 565 00:40:48,850 --> 00:40:52,310 I probably would have stopped after the first city. 566 00:40:52,530 --> 00:40:55,250 I think the company grew, and it grew. 567 00:40:55,910 --> 00:41:02,450 And the larger we got, the greedier people got, and the more stars in the 568 00:41:03,090 --> 00:41:05,870 Carpenter says her health is failing in prison. 569 00:41:06,600 --> 00:41:09,820 But if she survives, she says she has one goal. 570 00:41:11,020 --> 00:41:15,420 I wish I was able to make good on my promises. 571 00:41:15,880 --> 00:41:18,020 If I stay alive, I will. 572 00:41:18,460 --> 00:41:23,580 And I will do everything I can with every penny I've got to make things 573 00:41:23,800 --> 00:41:26,320 I don't know how, but I'm going to try. 574 00:41:28,240 --> 00:41:31,320 Many victims say they doubt that will happen. 575 00:41:31,860 --> 00:41:35,400 And the reviews are in on this Hollywood flop. 576 00:41:36,300 --> 00:41:41,540 And the only restitution investors believe they'll ever receive is the 577 00:41:41,540 --> 00:41:44,260 Carissa Carpenter behind bars. 578 00:41:45,860 --> 00:41:49,800 I feel like she got what she deserved at this point. I still have a lot of 579 00:41:49,800 --> 00:41:54,880 unanswered questions, but it is really gratifying that right now she is in 580 00:41:54,880 --> 00:42:00,140 prison and there's, to our knowledge, nobody else turning over $150 ,000 to 581 00:42:00,140 --> 00:42:03,620 for a movie studio that may or may not be built. 582 00:42:04,250 --> 00:42:07,730 So there was just a lot of pain associated with it. She caused a lot of 583 00:42:07,750 --> 00:42:11,550 And knowing she's in jail and in prison, I mean, yeah, I don't wish that upon 584 00:42:11,550 --> 00:42:14,190 anyone. But at the same time, shame on her.