All language subtitles for American Greed s07e02 The Wealth Builder Club.eng

In this episode of American Greed, meet
Randy Treadwell.

He knew all the ways to break into
people's hearts, to break down that

trust. He claims he's a financial
wizard, and he guarantees huge returns.

It was

a powerful inducement for people to give
them, you know, whatever they had,

whether it was $5 ,000 or $500 ,000.

There's programs in Europe where you can
get anywhere from 1%, 2%, and 3 % a day

on your money.

But Treadwell and his partners are
stealing millions from investors.

When victims get suspicious, Treadwell
has a plan.

Just leave them behind and start a new
company.

I was really upset because I couldn't
get my money back, but I had no idea the

massive realm of this thing.

Savannah, Georgia, 2001.

43 -year -old Randy Treadwell has led a
straight, relatively quiet life.

He's the son of a Jacksonville preacher
and lives with his third wife and their

three children.

He has been a salesman his entire adult
life.

And during his sales presentations, he's
never been shy to talk about his modest

background. I have a high school
education, no college.

The Lord's already blessed me. I've made
it a menace in my lifetime.

He sold clothes, insurance, and now
nutritional supplements.

Randy Treadwell grew up in the church,
and so Randy Treadwell was trained from

very early age on how to get a crowd
going, how to convince a crowd. That's a

lot what a preacher does.

In 2001, Treadwell decides his ability
to sell can make him much more money in

the world of finance, says former
federal prosecutor John Owens.

He's very cunning, and he was able to
take certain buzzwords you'd read about

business magazines or hear about maybe
on a radio show about finances and kind

of combine them into this mix that
sounded like he knew what he was talking

about.

Our returns are over 20 % monthly.

We pay out to our clients anywhere from
5 % a month to 8 .33 % a month. It's not

simple, but it comes down to interest.

Although he has no investing track
record.

Treadwell convinces his friend Rick
Sluder to join him in starting a new

investment company. He names it Quest
International, but it has no relation to

the telecommunications giant.

Sluder, a 44 -year -old family man who
lives 900 miles away in Tyler, Texas, is

an unlikely partner.

He was the manager of a water park at
one time. He was not the kind of guy you

would look at to think, hey, he's going
to be a great businessman.

But just like Treadwell, Sluder doesn't
let his lack of credentials slow him

down, as later recordings of his sales
pitch show.

It's 8 % plus per month best efforts.

But I can tell you it's absolutely
incredible what we've set up.

He was Randy's right -hand man.

What Rick did do was bring investors
into the scheme. He was not the main guy

the case, but he was a very important
lieutenant to make this thing work.

Sluder opens a tiny office in his
hometown of Tyler, Texas.

While Treadwell begins reeling in
investors in the southeast, Sluder sets

sights closer to home.

In the fall of 2001, Martha Rhodes is
making some big changes in her life.

For years, she's traveled the country
selling pipeline leases.

But recently, she's returned to her
hometown of Jefferson, Texas.

I was looking at other opportunities,
too, to stay home near my mother, who

wedded, and lived out in the country at
the time.

She's engaged to Dave Doris, a
successful Houston business owner. And

years, she's also made friends with
another Texan named Rick Sluder.

He and his entire family were very
religious, always at church, always

something for the church. And I felt him
to be a good friend and an upstanding

person.

Recently, Sluder's been telling her
about his new company, Quest

Martha, unhappy with her current
investment returns, is eager to listen.

I was looking for something to earn some
money because I was trying to look

toward retirement.

He tells her Quest is pursuing high
-yield overseas investments on the

exchange market to make quick returns.

Sluder explains she'll be loaning money
to Quest for 90 days.

In exchange, he guarantees she'll make a
2 % per month return.

In other words, a 26 .824 % annual
yield.

Your principal would never be in any
jeopardy at all if they didn't meet

figures or above those figures.

you would always be able to get your
principal back.

So that made me feel secure about that.

In November of 2001, she drives to his
Tyler, Texas office and writes Quest a

check for $10 ,000.

I believed it.

I believed that I could do that, and I
foolishly, you know, went ahead and

invested with him.

Martha's check is just one of many
Treadwell and Sluder cash in 2001.

There's just one catch, according to FBI
Special Agent John Ireland.

Everything Treadwell and Sluder are
promising their clients is a lie.

The investments that they were claiming
that they made that were generating

these astronomical returns just weren't
there, and they were never there.

Next on American Greed, Quest
International is just the start.

You've already made your 14 % in 60
days. You now have your billion back,

now you're going into another program
that pays higher.

Randy Treadwell and Rick Fluter parlay
their beginner's luck into a $65 million

scam. I don't know if it was beginner's
luck or if these guys really had very,

very special talent, but these guys were
Hall of Famers after their rookie

season.

Martha Rhodes has just written a $10
,000 investment check to Quest

International.

Days later, her friend, Rick Sluder,
Quest International's second -in

asks for more.

To convince her, he puts Rhodes on the
phone with his boss, Randy Treadwell.

We talked extensively on the phone. He
told me more and more about all this and

how wonderful it was, and they'd added
some investments.

FBI Special Agent John Ireland says
Randy Treadwell's sales talents could

convince even the most skeptical to
invest.

Randy was the guy that got on the
telephone when the deal needed to be

when the pitched investor really needed
to be reeled in.

Subsequently, I went ahead and wired
some money to Georgia.

Another $10 ,000.

It seems like a smart move.

The paperwork Rhodes is receiving says
she's already making an 8 % return on

first investment.

Flush with success, Martha becomes an
inadvertent quest salesman herself when

she convinces her mother to invest $10
,000 as well.

I made the mistake of discussing this
with my mother and showed her my

statements, and I was really excited
about it, and so she decided to put some

money in it, very regretfully so.

Believing that the money is pouring in,
Martha sends another $15 ,000 check in

December.

Nine months later, her $35 ,000
investment has more than doubled, at

paper. They gave me all these
statements, and I sat there and believed

Operating from unimpressive offices like
this one in Tyler, Texas, Randy

Treadwell and Rick Sluder realize they
want to lure bigger investors.

They'll need to take their show on the
road.

Our returns are over 20 % monthly.

We pay out to our clients anywhere from
5 % a month to 8 .33 % a month.

They begin hosting seminars that some
clients record in restaurants, hotel

conference rooms, and especially
churches.

They pitch to anyone who will listen,
according to former federal prosecutor

John Owens.

It started at the very local level,
started in the south, people at church,

people in the Savannah area.

But then it started spreading because
the word got out, hey, these guys have a

great investment program. They're guys
you can trust. They're Christians.

And then it started spreading around the
country.

They use a variety of stories to hook
investors.

But recorded sales meetings suggest the
basic pitch is universal.

They've never paid less than their
projected rates, and they guarantee

monthly returns.

There was no couching. This was not, we
are going to do our best to return the

following to you, or we anticipate that
we can make this money for you. The

statement was very definitive.

We can do this. You will not lose money.

And at the end of the day, those are
powerful statements.

When asked why he's sharing such a
successful program with small investors

he could be making billions on Wall
Street, Treadwell says it's because he

simply wants to help the little man.

It's astounding. I mean, really, to be
able to sit across from somebody and to

just blatantly lie, and then not to do
it once.

but to do it hundreds of times.

Treadwell and Sluder tell clients Quest
is pooling their funds to engage in buy

-sell transactions in overseas bank
trading programs.

The pitch is complicated, but it sounds
reasonable enough to trick even savvy

investors, says FBI Special Agent
Maurice Hattier.

Buy it at $1 and sell it for $1 .20, and
because of the volume of money that

they had involved through all these
clients.

that they were able to make substantial
returns.

It's a classic hustle known as a prime
bank scam.

The con plays to investors by supposedly
offering access to super -secret

financial programs that only the rich
and powerful know about.

Any time someone tells you they have a
special relationship with a bank, that

it's through the backside of banking or
it's through a European banker, stay

away.

In fact...

Sluder and Treadwell are only investing
enough to keep up appearances.

The rest of the money is disappearing as
quickly as it comes in.

This thing was illegitimate from the
beginning and just got bigger and bigger

and bigger and bigger and bigger as time
went by.

But when people start asking for their
returns, Treadwell and Sluder have a

problem. Cash flow.

What had happened was that the schedule
that they had put out for payment of

returns, they just couldn't meet. They
couldn't meet it with the amount of

that they were bringing in.

If their scheme collapses, Treadwell and
Sluder will probably go to prison.

But in 2002, they come up with an
ingenious way out and invite their

join them with a newer, bigger version
of Quest they name Wealth Builders Club.

Essentially, it was the same group of
people.

Same pitch, just different names,
different bank accounts.

Amazingly, even unhappy clients follow,
unwilling to risk losing their

investments altogether.

In one clever move, Treadwell and Sluder
have essentially hit reset, buying

themselves time to grow and perfect
their scam.

There was no investment success
whatsoever at Wealth Builders. There was

nothing. It was simply recycling money.

taking money in, paying some of it to
other victims to make them think it was

real profit, and taking the rest of it
and stuffing it in their pocket.

Next on American Greed.

You got your money over here, make it 8
% plus best efforts. I mean, it's the

best of all the world.

Randy Treadwell takes his new company to
even greater heights, tricking others

into spreading his lies.

They use your trust. They use your faith
against you. And it's a very powerful

tool in the hands of a Ponzi schemer.

In 2002, Randy Treadwell appears to be a
successful Georgia businessman.

But recordings of his sales
presentations reveal he's also learning

multi -million dollar Ponzi scheme on
the fly.

But Treadwell

can't close all the sales by himself.

He begins recruiting the very people
he's ripping off to become unwitting

shills, according to FBI Special Agent
John Ireland.

When you have friends, when you have
family, when you have supposed investors

who are making money saying, this is the
real deal, it gives you that sense of

confidence of, well, if these folks are
doing it, certainly I can do the same.

Treadwell hosts biweekly phone meetings
with his sales staff to discuss the

latest special investment deals.

And he eventually lures more than 90
senior member representatives to sell on

commission for him across the country.

They thought that from their perspective
that the program was doing well and

that people were getting returns.

So these folks acted as kind of the
recruiters and pitchmen at the same

Sales are done over the phone, on the
Internet, and at seminars held in

restaurants, hotel conference rooms, and
churches.

One sales agent who quickly rises up the
ranks is 55 -year -old Larry Saturday.

The biggest thing we've got going is
that when your money's moved, your money

protected.

It's not going to be where somebody
takes it, gets it, and runs with it.

Saturday lives in Savannah near
Treadwell.

Like Randy, he's a natural salesman,
says former federal prosecutor John

Saturday's job was to pitch kind of the
high roller investors and also to train

other people on how to spread the word
of wealth builders.

Whether it's the lure of money

or Randy Treadwell's smooth charms, by
2003, Saturday is proving he can sell a

con as well as Treadwell can.

A nickel or dime, when you're talking
millions of dollars, can turn into

millions and millions and even billions
of dollars.

On paper, Treadwell's clients are
earning outrageous returns, and soon

asking to see their money. To delay
them, Treadwell hires a Minnesota

called Cash Cards International to
process minimal payments back to his

investors. The victims were given.

essentially little credit cards where
they could go and they could withdraw

from ATMs, and that was how the payments
were being made back to them.

Treadwell funnels nearly $22 million
into Cash Cards International, using

of the money to pay his growing sales
force.

Although the Cash Cards arrangement
appeared legitimate, FBI Special Agent

Maurice Hattier says Treadwell's game
was rigged and clients never had much of

chance of actually seeing their money.

It wasn't a situation where you could go
in and if you had a $10 ,000

investment, you could just take all the
money out because that would crash the

system and create all kind of accounting
nightmares for the company.

And some investors find the cards never
work at all, as Martha Rhodes discovers

when she tries to access her $35 ,000.

I was asking for the entire sum of my
principal investment.

And they said, well, we're going to do
the cash cards, and you can pull out

something ridiculous like $500 a day.

She tries several times to take money
out, but the card never works for her.

When she tells her friend Rick Sluder
about the problem, he promises to fix

He said, oh, well, that didn't work out.
We're going to reissue these.

We're going to do it different, and
you'll be getting your card any day now.

And, of course, that never happened.

Martha decides she's had enough.

She and her fiancé Dave attempt to get
her and her mother's money back.

We met him in his office one time, and
then we went back another time and I

my mother with us.

And so the three of us accosted him
about, you know, getting our principal.

Every time we would walk in his office,
we'd sit down, and then he'd say, oh,

goodness, and he'd start shuffling
papers.

Sluder never gives her or her mother's
money back.

But he does try to recruit Dave to join
his sales force.

Rick touted Dave to try to sell this.
Oh, it's wonderful. Oh, he jumped all

me and had all these papers he's going
to get me to read and look at them. I

kind of wanted to glance through them to
see what it said.

So I took them. Of course, I threw them
in the trash can.

At one point, Sluder practically admits
he's running a Ponzi scheme when he says

he's waiting for $8 million from another
investor to come in.

He said as soon as they had that in the
bank, he would go ahead and write me a

check, and I'd get my principal back.

So I just said, in other words, you're
going to rob Peter to pay Paul, you

The harder they try, the more elusive
Sluder becomes.

Eventually, he stops answering their
calls altogether.

Couldn't reach him at all.

I mean, you might as well not leave a
message that he's not going to return a

call.

That may be because Treadwell and Sluder
have found themselves in the same

trouble they had with their first
company, too many people looking for

that no longer exists.

So what these guys did, which was very
smart, was they just kept changing the

name. They could hit the reset button
every nine months to a year and keep

and going and going.

This time, Treadwell takes his key sales
staff on a luxury cruise, booking

lavish accommodations for himself and
his lieutenants.

Once at sea, he makes his big
announcement.

He's starting yet another new company,
and everyone's invited to join him.

We're not going to call it Wealth
Builders anymore. We're now going to

Learn Waterhouse.

Learn Waterhouse is a reset, just like
Wealth Builders Club was a year earlier.

But to keep his scam from imploding,
Treadwell needs more cash flow than

He decides to add an expert to his inner
circle.

When the scheme first began, financially
it was relatively simple.

It was basically paying checks to Randy
Trevo and Ricky Fluter in the names of

their companies, either Wealth Builders
or Quest.

But over time, Trevo realized it would
be good to have some insulation.

So in comes a lawyer named Arnie Acosta.

40 -year -old Arnufo LaCosta is a Texas
attorney with a checkered past.

He's been disciplined twice for minor
bar violations, and apparently he and

Treadwell share some common connections.

Somehow, LaCosta got hooked up with
Treadwell. They're like -minded people.

had a common goal.

Let's rip off as many people as we can,
and they succeeded at it.

Adding a lawyer like Arnie Acosta to the
mix makes Learn Waterhouse look more

legitimate to new investors, says FBI
forensic accountant Aaron Rich.

The use of a lawyer gives it the guise
of it's more authentic because, you

this has to be legitimate because a
lawyer is involved, right?

Acosta takes control of the contracts.

and handles the money that's flowing
into Learn Waterhouse.

The victims or the investors would write
a check directly to Arnaulfo Acosta, or

they would write a check to his law
office, at which point he would deposit

check into his attorney -client trust
account.

By July of 2004, over $24 million is
processed through Acosta's account.

The money is supposed to be used for
future investments.

But instead, it pays off early
investors, sales staff, and goes into

of Treadwell and his partners.

Next on American Greed, Treadwell uses
his charm to sell his scam again.

But this time, he faces a skeptic. I
told him that something doesn't smell

right. Something doesn't smell right.

By 2004, Learn Waterhouse has more than
1 ,700 clients scattered across the

United States, thanks to Randy Treadwell
and his sales force.

FBI Special Agent Maurice Hattier says
Treadwell has his hands full finding new

investors to lure in.

Randy Treadwell's not sitting behind a
desk at a corporate office.

He's out, you know, at restaurants, at
churches, at different places, pitching

people. That's the lifeblood of a Ponzi.

Treadwell often goes back to his roots,
inviting himself to local churches and

speaking directly to the congregations
about his programs.

FBI Special Agent John Ireland says
that's because he knows that churchgoers

will be more trusting when the son of a
preacher man comes calling.

That's one of the aspects that really
surprised me, which is the ability to

in the church and talk to the pastor and
the congregation and give this pitch,

knowing that all that you're doing at
the end of the day is just taking that

money.

In October 2003, accountant Charles
Wilson is asked by the pastor of his

Jacksonville church if he's heard of
Randy Treadwell.

Some members of the church had asked him
about Learn Waterhouse and an

investment opportunity.

He didn't know anything about it. I had
not heard of it at that point.

Treadwell pulls out all the stops to
impress Wilson, promising his usual

guaranteed returns for any church member
who invests in their programs.

They invest money overseas overnight,
and they're making a quarter of a

return on their money overnight. But if
you take that quarter percent over 365

days, what is that 90 -plus percent
return on your money?

On the surface, it all sounds good,
which is why Wilson thinks so many

who didn't know better fell for the con.

You get retired individuals that are on
fixed income. They need additional

money. They start hearing that instead
of getting what the bank's paying them,

they're hearing that they can get 20 % a
month.

Yeah, they're going to listen.

But Wilson is a certified public
accountant.

He doesn't buy the promises for a
moment.

He could get... you know, even a 5 % per
month return, he could be in Wall

Street with trillions of dollars being
thrown at him.

Wilson advises his friends in the
congregation to steer clear of Learn

Waterhouse. But the lure of money proved
stronger than his warnings.

And several members ignored his advice
and sent their money to Randy Treadwell.

As recordings of his sales presentation
show...

a company with integrity and honor.

The power of his lies is undeniable.

And bottom line is, our clients get
paid, we get paid, everybody's happy,

win -win.

By 2004, Treadwell and his partners have
taken in nearly $65

million.

Much of the money is used to keep the
Ponzi scheme going.

But at least $6 million goes straight
into Randy Treadwell, Arnie Acosta, Rick

Sluder, and Larry Saturday's pockets.

Randy had the limitless ATM.

As long as he could keep bringing people
into this scheme, he could keep

spending, which then gave him even more
incentive to continue to lie to people

and cheat people to feed this monster he
had created.

Treadwell himself collects nearly $3 .6
million.

Although his wife is never implicated in
his schemes, she does benefit nicely

when he builds her a brand -new dance
studio in Savannah.

His wife's dream was always to have her
own dance studio.

People spend their whole life to build
up a dance studio, and Mr. Treadwell

had it handed to her, bought with
victims' money.

Treadwell develops a passion for
trouble.

His clients expect him to score big
returns, and he certainly tries, but not

their benefits, says FBI forensic
accountant Aaron Rich.

Mr. Treadwell had lots of expenses at
the different hotels in Las Vegas, the

Bellagio, in the Four Seasons.

You see lots of air travel to Las Vegas
also.

And lots of cash withdrawals at
different casinos in Las Vegas.

He must think the good times will last
forever.

He buys and renovates a mansion in an
exclusive gated community.

He hits the town in a Lincoln Navigator.

He also buys a $100 ,000 Sea Ray
Sundancer to cruise the intercoastal

between Savannah and Jacksonville.

I'm not talking about a bass fishing
boat or a rowboat. This is the kind of

thing you take people out on in the open
seas, a very, very nice boat.

But all of the principals, Randy
Treadwell, Rick Sluder, Larry Saturday,

attorney Arnie Acosta, take advantage of
the jewel in the Learn Waterhouse

crown.

It's a luxury box at All -Tel Football
Stadium, home of the Jacksonville

Jaguars. They had it for two seasons,
and they spent over $300 ,000 on those

seats. And on top of the box seats, we
could see transfers or payments to the

Jacksonville Jaguars just for regular
individual tickets of several thousand

dollars on top of that.

We think that was one of his grand
plans, was he was going to host the

Learn Waterhouse party at the Super
Bowl.

after the 2004 season.

The box is the perfect place to wine and
dine clients and to reel in more

investors. If you have a luxury box at
an NFL game, you've made it. You're

legitimate. You're not a fly -by -night
operation. Only real businessmen could

have something like that.

In 2004, Treadwell's living the good
life, but his clients are getting fed

Unable to access their money, Some
dissatisfied customers have begun

state securities regulators in Iowa and
Alabama.

Treadwell finally starts running into
some problems.

Some of the local authorities, local
regulatory authorities, started looking

Treadwell very, very carefully. But he
still survives.

He still manages to bring in people's
money.

Randy Treadwell's been running his scam
for three years, and these recordings

suggest he's not ready to stop yet.

Not one.

of our clients has ever lost one penny
in five and a half years, and we're not

going to start now.

Amen.

Coming up, the tables turn, and Randy's
own words betray him.

I assume that you guys put your own
money into this because you believe in

much.

Absolutely.

I was blown away not only by what these
guys were saying, but the amount of

money they were stealing.

We've got to stop these guys.

To view FBI undercover video of Randy
Treadwell selling his schemes, visit

AmericanGreed .CNBC .com. Follow us on
Twitter at American Greed TV.

We'll be right back.

By early summer 2004, complaints filed
with state regulators in Alabama

have helped bring Learn Waterhouse to
the attention of the FBI.

And federal prosecutor John Owens
decides to do something about it.

One thing with a guy like Randy
Treadwell is he loves to talk.

So the plan was, we've got to get him
talking.

In June, FBI Special Agent Maurice
Hattier goes undercover for a series of

with Randy Treadwell, Rick Sluder, and
Larry Saturday.

Hey, Randy, can you give me some...

idea of just, you know, the track
record.

I mean, have you guys ever missed a
payment or been late on a payment, you

to an investor?

No.

Hattier says he's representing a high
-rolling investor with $12 million, and

he's thinking about putting it all in
Learn Waterhouse.

We do nothing unless it is totally 100 %
guaranteed.

of what we call a no -risk transaction.

Treadwell, Sluder, and Saturday eagerly
take the bait.

They

don't

miss a beat when they're responding to
questions. There's no hesitation.

They're very engaging personalities.

Let me say this to you.

I've had my companies, okay, in business
over five years.

There's not been one client in 29
countries that's ever lost one cent in

company. Not one cent, amen.

The recordings were fantastic, and we
knew they were false because the FBI

that, for example, Martha Doris had lost
her money long before these

conversations occurred.

And then you have Randy Treadwell saying
no one's ever lost a penny investing in

Learn Water Health.

But Hattier's more interested in
revisiting a previous conversation

with sales rep Larry Saturday, during
which he promised an unbelievable 500 %

investment return to a confidential
informant.

At the end of that two -month period,
it's a 500 % return on that

$3 million.

500 %?

Which turns out to $15 million. That is
correct.

When Hattier brings up this outrageous
offer, it takes Randy Treadwell by

surprise, but just for a moment.

Randy Treadwell just jumped right on.

I mean, he didn't try and back off from
it. He bought into it.

You're a great client of ours, and as
those programs open up, we're the first

tell you that, hey, it's now available.

Investigators realize Treadwell's been
making these outrageous promises for

years.

and he's raked in more than $60 million.

But only $5 million has actually gone
into legitimate investments.

The rest has been used to pay early
investors or on commissions to his sales

force and his lavish lifestyle.

Leading to the inevitable flame -out all
Ponzi schemes face, says FBI Special

Agent John Ireland.

Mathematically, these things can't stay
alive for more than a few cycles or

generations of investors.

And that's exactly what happened with
these. Eventually, they kind of

under their own weight.

On October 13, 2004, the feds come
knocking in Texas, Georgia,

and Florida.

The FBI, through its different
divisions, executed search warrants

United States.

Learnwater House's offices, private
residences.

Arnie Acosta's law firm. There was
numerous law enforcement action

the United States.

No arrests are made.

But that same week, the Securities and
Exchange Commission files a complaint

against Learn Waterhouse, effectively
freezing the company's bank accounts.

And that was very important because we
didn't want Treadwell burning through

what was left of people's money.

Of the $65 million that has gone into
Randy Treadwell's companies, Less than

million remains.

When a Ponzi scheme stops, it really
stops because there's no more money

in. And because there's no legitimate
business underneath it, the whole thing

collapses. So Treadwell went from having
that limitless ATM to basically having

nothing overnight.

Treadwell begs his clients not to snitch
to the FBI.

The idea was that if we can get your
money back to you...

don't participate, don't disrupt things,
and there became a very active campaign

of trying to get people to stop talking
to the FBI.

One investor in Georgia is out $500
,000.

With the FBI circling around Learn
Waterhouse, he figures he has some pull.

So he arranges a sit -down at his office
with Treadwell and Saturday to get his

money back.

They're telling you it's a Ponzi, but
it's not.

What Treadwell and Saturday don't know
is that this investor has invited the

feds to watch as a hidden camera rolls.

We had our victim

investor who got to ask some very
pointed questions. What's happening with

money? Is this money secure? Am I ever
going to see this money again?

Randy, what's wrong with you doing what
you said you would do if I would not go

to FBI or talk to them or help them out
with this thing? If you give me

a note with my $500 ,000 back and I've
got a note, period.

I will sign it.

Treadwell's grasping at straws. He even
offers the man an opportunity to invest

in another venture, the supposed
recovery of a 500 -year -old Spanish

filled with gold that Treadwell claims
has just been found.

A billion dollars in assets underneath
the bottom of the ocean. Oh, a billion

dollars. Yeah, and 10%, you know, for
the salvage belt, you can get 10 % of

that. And it was a fantastic opportunity
to get the pitch live on camera.

The video really does kind of speak for
itself.

It's the pitch in its purest form.

But it's not enough to convince the
investor to give him more money.

though, does dodge paying back the
original $500 ,000.

Next, the feds move to shut Treadwell
down.

But he still can't resist trying for one
last score.

Even after he's been indicted.

Treadwell is still trying to rip off
people.

On September 8, 2005, Randy Treadwell,
Larry Saturday, Rick Sluder, and Arnie

Acosta are arrested on charges of wire
fraud and conspiracy.

for their roles in running a four -year
Ponzi scheme.

They are accused of bilking 1 ,700
investors in 39 states out of nearly $65

million.

Treadwell's family posts a $1 .5 million
bail.

And you would think, okay, you've been
indicted, time to play nice, time to do

the right thing.

Randy Treadwell didn't do that. He tried
to scam another individual.

In November, a retired Florida
businessman approaches the FBI with a

story. He says Randy Treadwell has been
asking him for $300 ,000, allegedly to

free a kidnapped foreign official.

Treadwell claims the deal is being
channeled to the United Nations and is

actually a win -win investment.

Randy Treadwell claimed that if they
paid $300 ,000 now, they would get the

,000 back plus another $300 ,000. Thank
you.

because this was to rescue someone who
had been kidnapped.

When they go to withdraw the money, a
security check at the bank reveals the

story is just another scam.

Treadwell is rearrested for violating
the terms of his bond and spends the

of his pretrial time in jail.

I think it was a lifestyle for him. He
only knew one way. And again, that was

his only source of income.

And once the issues with Learn
Waterhouse arose and that sort of dried

had to find other means to put money in
his pocket to pay his bills.

Two weeks before the trial is set to
begin in 2007, attorney Arnulfo Acosta

abruptly pleads guilty to conspiracy
charges.

He's suspected of stealing more than $2
million from Learn Waterhouse investors.

He received, I believe, eight years in
prison or so. But the other gentleman

wanted to continue their fight.

They wanted to continue going to trial.
That's what happened.

When the trial begins in San Diego,
Martha Rhodes, who lost $35 ,000 to the

and whose mother lost another $10 ,000,
is the first person to take the stand.

That was probably their best
representation for the smaller investor

apparently they built these people out
of millions.

Martha and other witnesses share similar
stories of how the defendants used

religious connections and outrageous
guarantees to steal their life savings.

During a recess, she comes face to face
with the man who stole her money, former

friend Rick Sluder.

I was sitting at a bench and he leaned
down and kind of gave me a little

hug and said, how are you? And I said,
not too well.

I mean, I thought how ludicrous to be
asking me this.

At trial, the jury learns that
Treadwell's greed even extends to

partners. Though he's taken more than $3
million for himself, he's only given

right -hand man Rick Sluder $200 ,000.

And sales agent Larry Saturday received
even less, taking only $180 ,000.

Treadwell, Sluder, and Saturday claim
they never meant to steal any money.

Instead, they try to pin the blame on
the one defendant who's already pleaded

guilty, former attorney Arnie Acosta.

You've got to blame someone.

So why not blame the crooked lawyer from
Texas?

Why not blame the guy who's pled guilty?

And that's what they tried to do. The
jury wasn't buying it.

Four weeks later, the federal jury finds
Randy Treadwell, Rick Sluder, and Larry

Saturday guilty.

And the judge's response is harsh.

He sentenced Randy Treadwell to 300
months, or 25 years.

He also came down very hard on Ricky
Sluder, sentencing him to 168 months.

Larry Saturday, the judge recognized,
came in a little bit later and sentenced

him to 60 months.

Randy Treadwell, the former salesman and
preacher's son with no prior criminal

record, has traded his freedom and
family for a 25 -year prison sentence.

Apparently it was all greed.

Greed, lies, and everything.

He's destroyed hundreds of lives in the
process.

Many have lost their life savings to a
con artist they thought was a friend.

People think, oh great, he's found
guilty, I'm going to get my money back.

Well, no.

The money's gone.

Your investment went for that Super
Bowl, that boat, that car, that dance

studio.

It's gone.

There is no money back. So often victims
in these cases get back pennies on the

dollar, if anything.

Martha Rhodes has learned to accept she
may never see the rest of her money

again.

A little over $1 ,500. $1 ,500, brother.

So it's a drop in the bucket, but it was
better than nothing. And they just

called it first distribution.

Haven't heard another word from them
since 2010, so I don't know.

when that might be forthcoming to get
anything else, if it will ever be.

Treadwell and his partners used
friendship and religion to trick their

into handing over millions.

But when friends like Randy Treadwell
come asking for money, former prosecutor

John Owens has some timeless advice.

Go with that gut instinct. If it doesn't
sound good, stay away from it.

There is no gold at the end of the
rainbow.

There is no money growing on trees. It
simply doesn't exist.

What is at the end of the rainbow?

And what does grow on trees are
fraudsters.

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