All language subtitles for American Greed s05e02 Financial Guru Gone Bad.eng

In this episode of American Greed, this
man says he can make you rich. His

pitch, irresistible.

If they want their cash to go to work at
a higher interest rate, call me.

If you want to make some money signing
some papers, loan your credit, call me.

If you have some unused collateral
sitting around and you're not making any

money with it, call me. He claims to be
a real estate investor extraordinaire

until the money stops.

Well, you've got to start putting that
money to work.

That's what we needed to do.

We did.

And no one is safe from this golden
boy's allure.

He had the charm, the charisma, the
personality, the good looks.

I've seen some real pros in my life, but
he was the best of the best. And at

that point, the scales fell from my
eyes.

I realized he is a crook.

And, oh my God, we're lost.

This empty lot is all that remains of
Future Records' recording studio in

Virginia Beach.

Super producer Teddy Riley opens the
studio on the heels of producing Michael

Jackson's multi -platinum album,
Dangerous. And he goes on to produce

the biggest hits of the 90s.

First person to sing in that

studio was Bobby Brown.

But this hit maker, whose records have
sold more than 15 million copies, loses

it all.

Do you remember how we all began?

It just seems like heaven, so I did it
and do you remember?

I lost my studio in Virginia Beach to a
big scam.

This guy came in a suit, very classy.

You know, very, like, suave guy.

His name is Troy Aurelius Titus. He
portrays himself as a real estate guru

money -making magician.

It's true to an extent.

Troy Titus makes money disappear.

I launched my house, my studio, my
fiancée at the time,

and my dogs.

It's a great country song.

The story of Troy Titus begins in
Virginia Beach, Virginia.

He runs a law firm, a consulting firm,
and a title insurance company.

Millions of dollars pass through his
hands each year.

Success, it appears, comes easily to
him.

He graduated from high school when he
was 16, college when he was 20, law

when he was 23. I don't know what his IQ
was, but I couldn't

imagine it being...

much under 170, 180.

I mean, he's very smart.

Titus's real passion is speaking at
investment conferences where he preaches

gospel of easy money and real estate.

We're going to be talking about an
acquisition technique called buying with

with no cash.

At the turn of the century, the real
estate seminar business is exploding in

popularity. The biggest names pack
arenas with as many as 20 ,000

Troy Titus isn't yet in that
stratosphere of the seminar circuit, but

rising star.

He was an easy sell.

Judy Wood begins working for Titus in
the spring of 2005, booking him at

seminars across the country from
Virginia to Los Angeles.

Nine times out of ten people knew who he
was before I even got them on the

phone. Troy was just one of these
people, when he walked in the room,

shut up.

He's nice to look at. He dresses nicely.

He's very articulate.

You know, he always made people
comfortable.

According to Troy Titus, anyone can
learn to flip houses, keep the tax man

and return up to 30 % on their
investments in the process.

If you have some cash, you can buy real
estate.

And in the years between 2000 and 2007,
this actually sounds plausible.

It's just booming. You know, everybody,
you know, there were more realtors,

there was more flips, there was more
property. So, yeah, real estate was

And the seminars are rife with eager
investors.

They could range anywhere from, you
know, 25 to 30 people, or it could go

the way up to 300 people.

There were some people that were doing
it because they were serious about it,

but there were some people that were
just looking at it like, let's turn it

burn it. It's a way to make a fast buck.

Titus sells packages of books, CDs, and
DVDs. But while he plays the role of

teacher, what he's really doing at these
seminars is trolling for clients.

To every seminar that he went to, he
would put out the sign -up sheet, and

people would sign up with their name,
and obviously they would divulge their

email address, and they would also
indicate where they could be reached by

phone. Titus then calls the attendees
for a one -on -one consultation.

He would ask various questions such as,
you know, let's talk about your life.

You know, are you married? Are you
single? How many children do you have?

own any property?

Do you have a marital home? Do you have
any rental property?

So basically, he would scan, if you
would, the assets of the people. He

it mapping.

After collecting all the information he
can, Titus tells his clients he has the

perfect place for them to invest.

And that place is with him.

If they want their cash to go to work at
a higher interest rate, call me.

If you want to make some money signing
some papers, loan your credit, call me.

If you have some unused collateral
sitting around and you're not making any

money with it, call me.

Troy was so impressive.

Ronnie Stoddard is a retired nurse, and
her husband is a realtor.

They are looking to supplement their
savings by investing in real estate.

They meet Titus at a 2005 seminar, and
like so many others, fall instant victim

to his charm.

Young, intelligent,

vibrant, very...

personable, and really heartfelt in
terms of wanting to help everybody.

Can I help you make more money than
you're making now?

Would you like to make more money than
you're making now? He spent about a half

hour with my husband and me, and we were
in a situation where we had no income

coming in, but we did have money to
invest.

And so he just said, well, you've got to
start putting that money to work.

That's what we needed to do.

We did.

Stoddard and her husband invest $170
,000 with Troy Titus.

They believe the money will go toward
fixing up two distressed properties in

Virginia Beach.

For someone looking to make a new career
in real estate, it seems like a golden

opportunity.

Troy said he would be my mentor.

He was going to teach me how the
business worked.

And so I would learn how to do deals.

Stoddard believes that once the property
is rehabbed, she'll sell it for a nice

profit, and the community will be better
off.

And that was the impression that Troy
gave, that everybody would win with his

deals. And that was part of the term.

Troy Titus claims to be all things to
all people. If you're scraping by on a

fixed income, he says he'll make you
rich. If you're broke, he'll make you

whole. People with a $750 ,000 property
or a $1 .5 million property can have

financial problems.

The message resonates with Teddy Riley,
who has recently fallen on hard time.

The 90s are very good to Riley.

In 1991, he produces Michael Jackson's
eighth album, Dangerous. And in 1997, he

reaches the pinnacle when his work with
Blackstreet wins him a Grammy.

Riley can now write his own ticket.

With a Grammy on his shelf.

The Music Business American Express
black card.

That's what it's like.

But by 2005, the black card is maxed
out.

Riley owes more than $3 million in
mortgages and back taxes.

His Virginia Beach studio, New Jack
Swing Future Records, has more liens

it than it's worth.

And creditors have put a claim on his $1
.5 million house.

It was actually going up for
foreclosure.

I wanted to be patient with them because
it takes time. They had to do their due

diligence.

Soon, Riley hears about a man who can
solve his real estate problems, Troy

Titus. If you hear the word problem,
folks, you're telling everybody you

If you hear the word problem in real
estate, call me. Think of me. Call me.

Titus tells Riley he can clear all the
liens off Riley's home and studio.

I thought he was an honest guy.

You know, being an attorney, I thought,
you know.

I didn't have anything to worry about.

You know, I thought he was really like
this guy that could really make things

happen.

Unbeknownst to Riley, Titus plans to
apply a unique process he calls a

controlled foreclosure.

Controlled foreclosures are a very
interesting way to acquire real estate.

The mechanics of a controlled
foreclosure can make your head spin.

You want it to be a legal, quiet sale.

Now, the word quiet sale can also mean
an illegal foreclosure. So I'm talking

about a legal quiet sale.

Everything was very vague. It was kind
of like nailing jello to a tree. You

couldn't quite get it pinned down.

When American Greed returns, he claims
to be cutting deals left and right. But

Titus's investors wonder, where is their
money? This guy is doing something.

Crazy to all of us.

And it came to the light like big time.

And later, greed knows no bounds as
Titus prays on the sick and the weak.

I got home and I stayed in bed for like
two weeks.

In 2005, self -proclaimed real estate
expert Troy Titus is traveling across

country and raking in cash through his
seminars.

His message of easy money in real estate
appeals to people in the financial

bind, people like music producer Teddy
Riley.

I can only remember he was a friend.

I thought he was a friend. I thought he
was one that was, you know, helping me

out. Riley owes nearly $2 million in
back taxes to the IRS.

His house is in the early stages of
foreclosure, and his studio has more

than it's worth. But Titus has a bailout
plan.

He tells Riley he just needs some
investors and a little time.

He told me I would be able to keep the
studio.

I would be able to maintain all the
things that I have and keep it, as long

at a certain point we start paying the
investors back that put the money in it.

So I said, fine, as long as I don't have
to worry.

About my children and the home.

And he said, you don't have to worry. No
problem.

Like many of Titus's other clients,
Riley's formed a bond with Titus and

he's found his financial savior.

I thought he was a real friend.

Like, I actually thought he was cool.

You know, like everything was great, you
know.

When I said that, finally I think I got
my...

somebody to help me and, you know, back
me on what I want to do now in the music

industry.

I thought I had it.

Thinking he's on the road to recovery,
Riley heads to California to produce a

project he believes will get him back in
the black.

Meanwhile, Titus looks to raise cash
from investors by guaranteeing a 15 %

profit in a unique acquisition process
called a controlled foreclosure. If you

choose to use controlled foreclosure as
an acquisition technique, you will find

yourself set apart from your competition
because you're going to be able to

acquire real estate using a technique
that the vast majority of real estate

investors don't know exists.

Investors don't know it exists because
it's largely hatched from Titus' own

inventive mind.

The idea behind a controlled foreclosure
is to buy a distressed property for a

fraction of what it's really worth.

In Teddy Riley's case, Titus would first
buy one of Riley's mortgages that's in

default. It's a very powerful position
to be in.

You are now a mortgage company with the
unstoppable right to foreclose on the

property.

Next, Titus typically forecloses on the
property with the intention of buying it

back himself.

He creates a new company under his
control to buy the property from the

foreclosing entity, which he also
controls.

In theory, when Riley's property goes up
for auction, Titus will be the only

person bidding.

He explains the process in one of his
seminars.

So, first thing that I did is scheduled
the sale.

Using a paper of general circulation,
but not the big paper. It was another

newspaper of general circulation.

You read your rules in each state and
determine what you can and cannot do to

make your sale public and yet as quiet
as possible under the rules.

Hoping that I wouldn't have a lot of
people show up at the sale. Hoping I was

the only one to show up at the sale. And
if other bidders do show up, his

solution is simple.

Cancel the sale and reschedule.

Eventually, people just stopped showing
up at these sales.

Once Titus is the only bidder, he can
take control of the property, and it has

only cost him what he paid for the
original mortgage.

We call this controlled foreclosure for
a reason.

We are controlling every aspect of the
deal to make sure that you get your

intended result.

When Titus pitches this technique to
investors, they jump at the chance to

invest.

In theory, investors will end up with a
debt -free house and recording studio,

bought for a fraction of what they're
actually worth, and therefore will be

to sell them for a nice profit.

But then Titus does something odd.

He doesn't just raise enough money to
cover the purchase. In the case of the

studio, he raises over three times what
the studio is actually worth.

For each investor, Titus prepares a deed
of trust saying he or she holds a lien

on the property.

But Titus never files many of those
deeds with the court clerk.

So the investors have no way of knowing
that the property is severely over

-leveraged. The total amount of liens
against the studio were $2 .4 million

approximately, and the city had it
accessed about $440 ,000.

That bears repeating.

Titus compiles $2 .4 million of debt on
a property worth only $440 ,000.

Even if the property is sold, it would
never be sold for enough to pay back all

the investors.

Troy gets control of the property or the
appearance of a control of property,

tries to raise money or raises money
during the process, and then to pacify

satisfy the investors who invest in
that, hands out deeds of trust which are

unrecorded and worthless in order to
secure the deal.

If that doesn't seem suspicious enough,
Titus never makes any effort whatsoever

towards buying either the home or the
studio.

You know, he raises the money.

The money comes in, but Troy never
follows through. So there's no resolve

situation being any better than it was.

And the money is all raised in Riley's
name, meaning Riley is the one

potentially responsible for the $2 .4
million.

It's a typical example of how Troy Titus
gets his money.

other people's cash, and other people's
credit, and other people's

collateral. It's an equal opportunity
fraud.

Investor's money doesn't go where it's
supposed to. It's backed by collateral

that doesn't have the value to back it.
And the property owner is the one left

on the hook.

Everyone loses, except Troy Titus.

About a year after Titus first tells
Riley he has nothing to worry about,

investors begin calling an unsuspecting
Riley in California to ask about their

investments.

They called and they were like, you
know, well, how can we, you know, settle

this? I'm like, what do you mean? I
said, you know, I really don't know what

you're talking about, but if you can
enlighten me.

Around the same time, Riley gets another
phone call.

Actually, one of my group members from
Blackstreet called me.

And he said, yo, girlfriend of mine
called me and said, your house has been

auctioned off. She's a realtor.

I said, no, you're kidding me.

So I started calling Troy, like, what's
going on? And he never called me back.

He disappeared. And I said, oh, wow,
something's wrong. Yeah.

Something is definitely wrong.

When American Greed returns, Titus
thinks up an even more devious plan.

He was scamming these elders and willers
out of all the money they had, cancer

patients, and ensuring no remorse.

How low will Titus sink to steal
investors' money?

Looking at him, I just felt like I was
looking at a suit with nothing in it.

You know, a shell of a man with no
heart, no compassion, and no soul.

In Virginia Beach, Virginia, self
-proclaimed real estate guru Troy Titus

running a multi -million dollar
investment fraud.

He says he's got a cure for whatever
financially ails you. If you need more

income flowing in, he knows how you can
get it. If you're too deep in debt, he

knows how to wipe it all away.

Troy was just down home and friendly and
just eager to help. He really wanted to

help the world.

Helping the world is the pitch, anyway.

For years, Titus has been promising
investors like Ronnie Stoddard short

investments with high payouts. But he
can't make good on his promises or his

payments.

Where is the money going?

He uses a lot for lifestyle because he
does live very well.

And he takes a lot of trips and dresses
well, lives well.

and has a high opinion of himself so he
can keep that air of success going.

To make matters worse, for a real estate
guru, he seems to have problems

completing real estate transactions.

Actually, we all thought that he had
ADHD.

And a lot of very bright people do.

And that's what I put his
disorganization down to.

Some of the projects that he invested
in, he would put money into and then

abandon, and so there would be no sale
or no profit generated from that. But he

still owed the investors money in order
to keep everything rolling.

Then he would have to continually pay
them down or pay them off with new

that was coming in.

In short, Titus is running a classic
Ponzi scheme.

He constantly needs to raise money from
new investors to pay off what he owes

previous investors.

And apparently he believes he's slick
enough to pull it off.

I look at every crook and I say, well,
there's another crook that thought he

smarter than the one that just got
caught.

Lonnie Scruggs is a Virginia Beach
resident with more than 30 years'

in real estate when he decides to invest
$500 ,000 with Titus in 2004.

I used to tell this to a lot of people.

If you spent two hours with him and
didn't know him, give me a red to write

a check. That's how convincing he was.

He had the charm, the charisma, the
personality, the good looks.

I've seen some real pros in my life, but
he was the best of the best.

Scruggs thinks that Titus will use the
money to lend to people who are looking

for short -term loans but don't want to
go through a traditional bank.

In exchange for lending the money, Titus
promises Scruggs a 25 % return.

The terms were that he would make a...

monthly interest -only payments on that
$500 ,000 and wire the money right into

my bank account.

And for the first probably over a year,
maybe close to a year and a half, he

did. Scruggs doesn't know it at the
time, but his investment isn't going to

borrowers needing short -term loans.

It's going to Titus's previous investors
that are still owed money.

At the time, I thought he was going to
be making some investments in some of

these deals he was running by me. Well,
I'm sure now.

that he used it to pay some of the
wolves that was nibbling at him.

And the money coming back to Scruggs
isn't from the interest on his

Titus is simply getting it from the next
investors in line, no matter how

desperate the next investors may be.

In 2004, San Francisco resident Gina
Katigback is diagnosed with colon

She immediately quits a demanding
corporate job to focus on her health.

It was my second cancer, so I knew that
I needed to be able

to have my own control of my time.

And he was aware of this when I had met
him.

Gina meets Troy Titus at one of his
seminars in 2005.

Titus says he has a plan that will give
her much -needed income and allow her

the flexibility and time to beat the
cancer.

Gina takes out $50 ,000 from her
retirement savings and sends it to

believing it will be used to refurbish a
property in New Jersey.

The cancer patient will never see that
money again.

Los Angeles residents Sharon Honing and
her mother Mary are two more investors

that Titus lures into his web.

In 2005, they attend one of Titus'
seminars.

Oh, he was phenomenal.

He's very charismatic.

He holds himself very well. He can
engage a crowd very well.

They sit down with Titus to discuss
their dire financial situation.

Sharon's 78 -year -old father, Ben, is
in hospice.

His medical care, at a cost of $54 ,000
a year, will quickly drain the family's

finances.

And so we were trying to figure out,
well, what can we do?

He suggested that, okay, well, how about
if we make it so that you can earn $160

,000 a year so that you can take care of
all of your monthly stuff and have a

little bit left over.

Feeling desperate to make money quickly,
Mary takes out a mortgage on her and

her daughter Sharon's house and sends
Titus $515 ,000, essentially her entire

net worth.

Like Scruggs, the Honings expect titers
to lend their money to borrowers in

exchange for high returns.

They also expect monthly interest
payments from their investment. Before

things get rocky.

She did get one monthly check. I think
that she got the second check that

cleared, and then the third one was the
one that started to not work.

The check bounces.

He kept telling us that the check...

You know the old saying, the check's in
the mail kind of thing?

The Honings decide it's a good time to
take a trip out to Virginia to see what

Titus is up to.

Always happy to entertain an audience,
Titus thinks it's a fantastic idea.

He sent us a whole agenda of day by day
by week. I think we were there for a

week. And this day we're going to do
this. This day we're going to do this.

It is a whirlwind tour.

They see Titus' properties, have dinner
with his family, and even go to church,

where Titus is in the choir.

Titus' image as a God -fearing
conservative Christian is reassuring to

his investors.

In my mind, if you...

Believe in God and Christ, then you're
going to live a certain type of

and you're going to have a certain type
of integrity. And so that definitely

gave a little bit more, what's the word
I'm looking for, a little bit more

essence to who he was.

And Titus, of course, promises Mary that
he'll make good on the bounce check.

Before we left on that trip to come
home, he actually wrote her out a new

That was a little bit more than the
check that she was expecting.

The Honings leave Virginia not only
satisfied but impressed.

It doesn't last long.

Titus tells Mary that it will take a
week for the funds to clear.

So when the end of the week comes, Mary
goes to the bank to try to deposit the

check.

Mom went to the bank to see if the check
was cashable. No, it's not. And she

checked a number of times. I don't
remember how many times she actually

with the bank to see if the funds were
there, but the funds were never there.

Having cash on hand is a constant
problem for Titus.

There would be gaps.

in time where there would be no more
investors, therefore no new monies are

coming in, therefore he has to put
people off for several months.

She's contacting Troy and she says, hey,
I need the money ASAP.

The nursing home is threatening
collections.

They're going to sue me for almost $30
,000. Call me immediately.

Did not get a phone call back from Troy.

If the pressure got too great, one of
Troy's greatest things was not

to his clients. And so he wouldn't
return their calls. He wouldn't answer

calls. He wouldn't get back to them or
just put them off.

Sharon sends message after message to
Titus.

Hey, Troy, what's up?

Mom is extremely concerned because the
money has not shown up at the bank yet.

She's actually getting a little frantic
and wondering what's going on. I'm

starting to feel like a broken record.
Mom is starting to get very depressed

scared about this situation. We've heard
nothing from you about this. You are

not responding in any fashion and it's
extremely rude.

It turns out the Honings aren't the only
ones who can't get a hold of Titus.

When American Greed returns, with more
and more desperate investors banging on

his door, can Troy Titus keep them from
knocking it down?

It's the summer of 2006, and real estate
investor Troy Titus is in trouble.

For more than two years, Titus has been
orchestrating a classic Ponzi scheme.

He's been promising returns to investors
that he can't deliver.

And instead of coming clean, he takes
money from new investors to pay the

previous ones.

I guess he just got in a hole, and
instead of trying to get out of it but

digging, he just kept digging a hole.

Lonnie Scruggs invests $500 ,000 with
Titus in late 2004, expecting monthly

interest payments of 25%. For a little
over a year, the payments come right on

time. But in 2006, they suddenly dry up.

It was always the same answer. He's got
this super deal working. In another

couple of weeks, he's going to be able
to pay me up to $150 ,000 or whatever

number was.

Of course, that never came.

Scruggs starts reaching out to other
Titus investors, many of whom are

or infirm, and discovers that many
people are having the same problem he

Yeah, that's when I started going after
him. I notified everybody I knew, spread

the word, you know, here's the evidence.
If you've got any questions, call me.

And it was embarrassing for me to go
public nationwide and say, you know, I

suckered for a half a million dollars.
But when I found out that he was

these elderly willers, Out of all the
money they had, cancer patients, and

showing no remorse, there was no option.
I mean, I had to do it.

In August of 2006, Scruggs calls the FBI
field office in Norfolk, Virginia.

Lonnie was one of the first calls that
we got, and so other calls had come into

the office, and we were just getting
underway as far as getting out and

all the people and finding out what the
story was out there.

The FBI goes on to interview dozens of
investors.

Very few had to be convinced that they
were defrauded.

They realized either from the lack of
paper or from Troy's non -response or

talking with other victims that they had
found out that they had been defrauded

and they were convinced that Troy had
ripped them off and they probably

be getting their money back.

I was going into the...

One of the investors the FBI speaks with
is cancer patient Gina Katikbak.

She initially invests $50 ,000 in a
property in New Jersey, but begins

the runaround from Titus when asking for
collateral and her payments.

He has a good way of giving me slick
explanations, too, because he would do

sleight -of -hand thing. He would go,
oh, look, you know, like that.

He would change the subject very, very
cleanly. And I'm going, wait, did he

answer my question?

I don't think he answered my question.

Sleight of hand is a good way to
describe what happens next.

Titus says he'll transfer Gina's
original investment along with an

investment of $120 ,000 to music
producer Teddy Riley's studio.

He said this deal is actually much, much
better. He'll make more money, Gina,

because we can...

Market this because it's a historical
landmark.

Whether it's actually an historical
landmark or not, it makes little

since Titus doesn't put any of Gina's
money towards buying it.

Her investment simply feeds the Ponzi
scheme.

After the FBI reaches out to her and
explains what they believe Titus is

Gina eventually accepts that her $170
,000 is as good as gone.

I got home and I stayed in bed for like
two weeks.

Like, I could not get up. I was just, I
was literally sick.

And that's when I started to worry about
my own health. Like, I thought, I'm

going to write this off. I'm just going
to give it up. Like, if it comes

through, it comes through.

But I'm no longer going to invest any
energy in it because it's going to make

sick.

And to make matters worse, the money is
borrowed in Riley's name.

meaning Riley is on the hook for the $2
.4 million.

Riley's house is now gone, too. Despite
promises, Titus did nothing to protect

it, and creditors foreclosed.

I had to file bankruptcy because it was
all my responsibility.

Despite Titus's world imploding, one
investor still has faith.

Ronnie Stoddard is in Virginia, where
Titus is supposedly teaching her the ins

and outs of real estate investing.

She has already invested $170 ,000 with
Titus on two houses that are supposed to

be refurbished and sold.

And as far as she can tell, everything
is moving along perfectly until she is

contacted by another investor.

One of the investors with Troy kept
complaining to me, Troy has borrowed

but I'm not getting security.

I don't have collateral for my loans.

In an effort to raise more money, Titus
sends this investor collateral on

properties that Titus has no claim to.

Stoddard tells the angry investor to
send in copies of his deeds.

So he scanned it in, he emailed it to
me, and I will never forget sitting on

floor and reading through all the
alleged collateral.

that he had sent on this property and
realizing that Troy did not own one

single piece of it.

Everything he had sent him was bogus.

And at that point, I mean the
expression, the scales fell from my

I realized, oh my God, he is a crook.

And, oh my God.

We're lost.

Word about Titus is spreading, and it
leaves too few investors to bilk. And as

soon as the investors dry up, so does
the cash.

Titus has been paying money out as soon
as it comes in. He's kept nothing

stashed away.

Remarkably, after scamming approximately
40 people for more than $8 million,

Titus has practically nothing to show
for it.

He didn't have a home at this time.

He had no cars in his name at this time
either. He was driving a car that had

been given to him by his parents.

The end of Titus' Ponzi scheme comes,
and prosecutors are ready to move.

On September 19, 2008, Titus is hit with
an indictment for fraud.

Four days later, he's arrested.

He is taken to the city jail in
Portsmouth, Virginia, to await his bond

But where most see a cage, Troy Titus,
king of the seminar, sees a captive

audience.

When American greed returns, even in
jail, Troy Titus goes looking for

investors.

Once a high flyer in the real estate
seminar circuit, Troy Titus now sits in

Portsmouth, Virginia jail cell after his
arrest for an $8 .7 million Ponzi

scheme. On September 26, 2008, as his
lawyers prepare for trial, he's released

on a $5 ,000 bond.

The federal judge, however, gives Titus
a stern warning.

He is to have nothing to do with other
people's money. No money management,

investment, or solicitation.

But Titus is addicted to other people's
money.

Even while in jail awaiting bond, Titus
is luring investors.

While he was incarcerated in the
Portsmouth jail, he

had talked to a couple people regarding
brokering parties to get together for

the purposes of raising money.

Once released, Titus attempts to broker
a deal between two inmates in jail and a

friend of his at a financial company.

Yeah, yeah, nothing fazed him. Nothing
fazed him.

I mean, he had more breath than anybody
I've ever seen.

I mean, when a federal judge tells you,
don't go back out there and get yourself

involved in this type of business. Stay
away from it. And he goes on back out

and his business is usual.

It's a direct violation of his bond.

When the judge finds out, Titus is sent
back to jail to await his trial.

I've said a number of times I've never
seen a man so intelligent that could act

so stupid.

On November 10, 2009, the trial begins.

Troy Aurelius Titus is facing 49
charges, including bank fraud, mail

fraud, and money laundering.

And by all appearances, Titus thinks
he's going to beat it.

He lets the government's plea offer die
on the table.

His defense was that basically that he
was a victim of his own

success and that the people didn't
understand the transactions

that they were involved in. The heart of
the government's case is the testimony

of Titus' victims.

For many, it's the first time they've
seen Titus in years.

Still got that confident, you know,
cocky smile or smirk on his face.

I guarantee if he walked in here right
now, he'd want to shake your hand and

like nothing ever happened.

Titus even tells his children that he
will be home for Christmas.

But it is just one more delusion.

On December 18, 2009, he is found guilty
on 33 of the 49 counts.

Sharon Honing, whose mother lost her
life savings to Titus, Can't help but

celebrate.

It was like, oh, man, yes.

Sentencing is scheduled for four months
later.

Titus's victims are invited to write
impact statements to the judge.

Dear Judge Jackson, now is a good time
to write this victim impact statement as

I'm crying over transferring more money
out of the meager savings we have left

to pay for our mortgage that's worth
more than the house is worth.

Troy completely betrayed my trust and
abused me as well as others.

I met Troy in 2005, the year when I was
recovering from colon cancer.

What is so sad about Troy is that he
does not seem to think he's done

wrong. I put my full trust in him and I
considered him my friend.

Please keep him away from society as
long as you can.

On April 15, 2010, the sentence comes
down.

30 years in prison and $5 .1 million in
restitution.

Titus' thousand -watt smile is no longer
so bright.

The last time I saw him in the courtroom
when he got sentenced, you know, he

looked a lot different from the Troy of
old. Looking at him, I just felt like I

was looking at a suit with nothing in
it.

You know, a shell of a man with no
heart, no compassion, and no soul.

There's nothing left of Teddy Riley's
recording studio now. It is destroyed in

the fire before it is scheduled to be
auctioned off.

Riley also loses his Virginia Beach home
to foreclosure and declares bankruptcy.

Nevertheless, Riley rebounds. He lives
in Los Angeles and his career is back on

the upswing.

But I got to work with Robin Thicke, the
biggest artist in the world,

Lady Gaga.

I'm doing what I love to do still.

So I got my life back.

Gina Katikbak loses nearly all of her
$170 ,000 through her dealings with

Like so many others, her investment in
Riley's studio is backed by worthless

pieces of paper.

She now lives with her parents while she
tries to get back on her feet.

I have good parents that help me out
again.

And now I'm in recovery.

Most importantly, the cancer is in
remission.

You know what the thing is, after all
that, that's only money. Because I'm

healthy. I'm alive.

For Ronnie Stoddard, things are more
difficult.

After she realizes the extent of the
fraud, she tries to salvage her

by rehabbing and selling the two
properties she has invested in.

After months of back -breaking labor,
and after depleting her savings, as well

as borrowing money from her mother, the
properties are still worth less than her

investment.

And so we sold it at a huge loss, and
all

of our money is gone.

All the money that I borrowed from my
mom is gone.

All of our life savings are gone.

All of our security is gone.

There's nothing.

Sharon Honing's father dies in 2006, but
the bills never go away.

Nearly all of the $515 ,000 Mary raises
by mortgaging her two houses is gone.

This is my mom's primary residence that
she lived in for over 30 years.

And it is now for sale because it got
foreclosed on.

Mary moves in with Sharon, but in July
they lose that house as well.

Now we live about...

One block around the corner in a single
studio apartment. My mom and I share the

bed, yeah.

Mentally, spiritually, we're okay.

And we know that we will be okay.

It's just that as far as the finances
go, they're not happening.

Troy Titus declines to speak with
American Greed.

With a 30 -year sentence in federal
prison, he won't be released until he's

than 70 years old.

His victims are left asking themselves
how they were led so far astray.

It just makes me disappointed.

You know, I was let down.

But there's nothing you could do about
it.

You know what I'm saying? I just hope,
you know, the Lord have mercy on him.

Well, see, I don't think he thinks he
did anything wrong.

See, all he wanted to do was help
people.

So how could he do anything wrong?

And besides which, he's going to pay us
back.

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