All language subtitles for American Greed s07e08 Dealing in Deceit.eng

In this episode of American Greed, in
San Francisco, entrepreneur Samuel Mouly

Cohen is sharing his secrets on how to
succeed in business.

And you want to come with your own
recipe and your own secret sauce.

Follow Cohen's advice.

Surround yourself with the right people.

And one day, you might have what he says
he has.

A mansion, a priceless art collection, a
private jet. The opportunity out there

for you is enormous.

But here is the real secret.

The house and the jet are rented.

The art is fake.

They are all just props used to sell
victims the deal of a lifetime.

If you're not enjoying it, it just
doesn't work. You're not talking about

you know, in some bar in San Francisco.
You're at 32 ,000 feet, you know, doing

.79 mach in a Gulfstream jet with a
stewardess feeding you caviar. You give

money away.

Cohen's scheme is so cunning it turns a
civic leader into a scammer and draws in

big -name celebrities and trusting
retirees.

When it finally all collapsed around me
and I had to realize that I had lost the

entire 20 years of saving and earning.

In court, the judge says it straight
out. In more than 40 years in the

justice system, he has never seen a con
man like Moody Cohen.

November 2005.

Angry investors are heading to the multi
-million dollar home of entrepreneur

Muli Cohen.

Two and a half years ago, they turned
over millions to him, believing that his

company was about to be acquired, that
the stock he sold them would soar. Mr.

Cohen represented that this acquisition
was imminent.

But for more than a year, all they hear
are demands for more money.

Pay up or lose the deal, they are told.

Today, they will tell Cohen enough.

The investors are fed up. They're angry.
They don't know what's going on.

But they spend just a few hours hearing
his story, and surprisingly, their

checkbooks open.

They were so reassured, so convinced by
Mr. Cohen that at least hundreds of

thousands of dollars were forwarded to
Mr. Cohen almost immediately.

And the question is...

What is the secret behind Muley's money
machine?

Behind many great cons, there is a rags
-to -riches tale, and Muley Cohen is

eager to tell his.

He is born in Israel, the child of
immigrants from the former Soviet Union.

grows up in a one -bedroom apartment in
Jerusalem.

Years later, Cohen credits his success
in part to the time he spends in the

Israeli army.

Coming to New York in

1987, Cohen steps into the high -tech
world.

And by 1994, he is the CEO of Playnet, a
video game company.

Four years later, Playnet is bankrupt.
But Cohen keeps that quiet and moves on

to San Francisco.

His timing is perfect.

It is the era of the dot -com bubble.

Every day you read about a new startup
company. You heard about internet

millionaires being made pretty much
overnight.

Cohen begins his own internet startup
called eCast.

In the days before iPods and iTunes, E
-Cast sells jukeboxes for restaurants

bars where customers can download music
from the Internet.

And that's what really helped him
initially establish his bona fides. He

tech company, and he was involved in
tech, and he could speak the lingo.

In a series of promotional videos, Cohen
casts himself as a brilliant

entrepreneur. Innovation is finding
solutions for a process in an

way.

Just three years after he arrives in the
Bay Area, Cohen is living a grandiose

life of luxury in a mansion in
Belvedere, one of the wealthiest towns

California, with some of the best views
money can buy.

Many people testified about how
beautiful that mansion was, how large

mansion was, and the many staff people
that Mr. Cohen employed at that house.

But what no one is told is that Cohen is
a renter, not an owner.

When he first moved in there in 2002, I
believe the monthly rent started at

approximately $15 ,000.

But that is a well -kept secret.

And the picture Cohen presents of
himself as a hugely successful

convincing.

If people do a great job, you want to be
up to par with them. Mike Farrell, a

roofing contractor in Bend, Oregon, is
convinced.

He meets Cohen at an ECAST party in San
Francisco in the summer of 2000.

I thought he was brilliant.

This company had an entire floor in the
financial district completely remodeled

on New Montgomery Street.

They had teams of Ivy League people that
had had great success before.

And they had a product that was truly
amazing.

It plays tunes.

Almost immediately, Cohen embraces
Farrell as a new friend, taking him on

expensive vacations to Hawaii and
Mexico, always on a private Gulfstream

He would call and say, why don't you hop
over to the city? Let's take the plane

down to Marnie for lunch today. I met
him at SFO.

We took the plane to Monterey and had
lunch.

He tells Farrell he owns the jet and
works overtime to hide the truth.

He actually just rents it. The records
show that Muley had to have his own

on the jet. He had to have a sticker
with his insignia on the jet so everyone

would think that he owned it.

That's what Mike Farrell believes.

He believes a lot of what Cohen says.

One day he said, you know, I'd really
like to do something for you. I can give

you a little rocket ship.

You know, there's a transaction coming,
and you'll make a nice little nest egg

for your family.

I felt very grateful that he was doing
this for me.

Cohen tells Farrell that ECAST is about
to be taken over and offers him the

chance to buy some of his founder's
shares in the company.

You're not talking about it, you know,
in some bar in San Francisco. You're at

32 ,000 feet doing .79 mach in a
Gulfstream jet with a stewardess feeding

caviar. I mean, it's very believable.

And it's not one jet ride. It's jet ride
after jet ride after jet ride.

So Farrow takes out a few loans and pays
Cohen for what he thinks are shares in

ECAST, which will soon be acquired.

He went as far as to take me to Wells
Fargo, one of the top wealth management

firms in San Francisco, to set up my
account for the large amount of money

I'm going to get.

Who goes to that length?

If the deal Cohen offers Farrell was
real, it might be considered insider

trading. But it is not real. It is
fiction.

Just like the claims he makes on his
website.

He claimed he had sold it.

Company to Johnson & Johnson.

That would make them much more focused.

He claimed that he had done business
with the Pritzker family of United

and worldwide hotel fame.

Is any of it true?

We did not find evidence to substantiate
those claims.

Nor is there evidence of this claim.

That because Mouly Cohen's businesses
created so many jobs in the U .S., he

awarded the first ever millionaire
residency with full citizenship status

41st President George H .W. Bush.

It doesn't exist.

They do allow people who are coming into
the country to establish companies,

certain visa rights, but you just can't
buy your way into being a citizen.

But you can buy your way into a
friendship.

And over time, all the money Mouly Cohen
pretends to have puts Mike Farrell's

mind entirely at ease.

He spent exorbitant amounts of money,
far more money than I ever put into

shares. So there was never a thought in
my mind that he needed my money.

Cohen continues to offer more and more
shares, and Farrell ends up with a $1

million investment.

Simple math, if 100 ,000 will become a
million, then why not get a million

dollars worth and make 10 million?

After all, he thought he was doing
business with a very good friend.

He would have his personal doctor call
the house to make sure you were okay if

he thought you had a cold.

I mean, he went to great lengths to
convince you that he was a good friend,

long as you were giving him money.

But three years go by, and ECAST is not
taken over.

When Cohen offers additional shares,
Farrell has to say no.

He's out of money.

As soon as we quit putting money in, all
the phone calls stopped, all the jet

rides stopped, and Muli was on to the
next program, whoever that was or

that unfolded.

But, you know, overnight he went from,
you know, my best friend, 10 calls a

to... Complete radio silent.

He sold people an image from his
website.

If you look at IBM.

The life he lived with the house, with
the Jets, and he had Ecast, and he had

that connection to a legitimate company
with his anchor, because everything else

was a lie in his life.

Next, from a roofer in Oregon to
Hollywood stars,

Mouly Cohen moves to the big time with a
brand new line.

My goal is to give my fortune back to
society before I'm gone from this world.

August 2002.

Across the bay from San Francisco in the
wealthy town of Belvedere, 30 guests

are invited to dinner at the house of
Muli Cohen.

A self -described millionaire happy to
share his secrets to success.

The opportunity out there for you is
enormous.

Cohen is the founder of Ecast, an
internet startup that sells virtual

to bars.

Recently, he has taken $1 million from
Mike Farrell, an Oregon roofer, saying

Ecast is about to be taken over. That
never happens.

But Cohen pockets the money.

And tonight, he is setting the stage for
a new scheme.

He has invited a few local celebrities
and one mega -movie star, the actor

Glover. This is supposed to be his
coming -out party, his debutante ball

being a philanthropist. And he tells
people he's got $50 million and he wants

give it away.

Philanthropy. I would say even 40 to 50
percent of blindness can be cured in the

next five years.

It is Muli Cohen's latest game.

My goal is to give my fortune back to
society before I'm gone from this world.

think that anybody that can put a goal
like that in front of them would feel

very comfortable with himself, I think,
in this world and in the next world.

Tonight, the guest who takes the bait is
Danny Glover.

We are climbing Jacob's Ladder. Say, we
are climbing Jacob's Ladder. Glover is a

longtime activist and an enthusiastic
supporter of a local charity.

The Vanguard Public Foundation.

A progressive activist group, Vanguard
seeks to empower victims of social and

economic injustice.

In the Mission District, some of the
original staff and board members of

Vanguard come together to remember the
Foundation's work.

Evelyn Kelsey worked with Vanguard's
idealistic founders, who were part of

protest movements of the 1970s.

They were united by a belief that
basically wealth and power in society

be redistributed. They wanted to do
their part to contribute to social

activism at the very grassroots level.

Vanguard's mission is important to
Glover. So when he learns that Muli

money for a worthy cause, he tells
Vanguard's president, Hari Dhillon.

Ari had a long history of being a
progressive or left -wing activist from

days as a student activist.

Rick Cohen is a reporter for the non
-profit Quarterly. In covering stories

Vanguard, he says he has watched
Dillon's efforts to move the foundation

grassroots grant -giving and into the
national limelight.

The goal was to see Vanguard have much
more of an impact on progressive

by having more resources.

More money means more impact.

I think there's another dimension to
Hari, which is becoming a bigger actor

himself and becoming seen as a major
player.

In 2002, Hari Dhillon sees his ticket to
success.

It is Muli Cohen.

In September, Cohen and Dillon sit down
for lunch.

They have a meeting at Bob's Steakhouse
in the Omni Hotel, and they ask Mouly

for a donation, but Mouly has a
counteroffer. Dillon later testifies at

trial that he gets the same story as
Mike Farrell, that ECAST is about to be

taken over, this time by Microsoft, and
Cohen is willing to sell shares of his

founder's stock to Vanguard donors.

Mouly's pitch to them was, you'll be
able to...

Make back the money you initially
invested with me, and plus a little

then give the rest to Vanguard.

It sounds good to Dillon, and he accepts
Cohen's offer.

It was almost like the perfect storm of
an organization looking to bring itself

to the next level and someone who saw
that here's an influx of money for me.

And when it came together, it was just
devastating.

But Hari Dillon doesn't see the danger,
and he goes to work for Muli Cohen.

persuading Vanguard donors to buy
Cohen's stock in ECAST.

I think Harry was a mark.

Mouley offered him and the investors a
big deal, but he needed somebody

to basically make the deal work.

To make the deal work, Dylan looks to
Diablo, California, where one of

Vanguard's wealthy supporters has a
home, Sam Mills, heir to the 3M fortune.

Mills declined the request for an
interview from American Greed, but he

testifies in Cohen's trial, saying that
in November 2002, he is invited to the

mansion in Belvedere.

He reports, I was very impressed with
Mr. Cohen, with his home, with his

presentation.

And he's impressed with his art
collection, paintings by Picasso,

I'm picking my art because the most
iconic pieces bet the S &P by at least

which is a pretty good track record.

Cohen claims that his art collection is
worth $30 million.

That might be true if the paintings were
originals, but these are reproductions

created by a local artist.

Bully commissioned him to recreate some
of these pieces that he liked.

And he wanted them done in a way that
they looked authentic.

So they had to be weathered.

So if a piece was painted in the 1920s,
it had to look like it was painted in

the 1920s.

But Sam Mills does not see through the
charade.

Mouly's making this offer that it's
going to be a win -win for everybody.

Sam says, Mouly, this is a great thing
you're doing for us.

And Cohen's con on Vanguard is good to
go.

Over the coming months, Mills sends $800
,000 to Mouly Cohen.

Danny Glover is in for more than $2
million.

Singer Harry Belafonte, actor Delroy
Lindo, and director Robert Altman also

money into the deal.

They are later bought out by other
Vanguard donors who send Cohen $6 .2

believing they are buying 2 .3 million
shares of Ecast.

And in the spring of 2003, the news on
the deal is all good.

Mr. Dillon testified that Mr. Cohen was
having dinner at his home with Bill

Gates and Steve Ballmer of Microsoft.

Mr. Cohen relayed that at that dinner,
they had reached a handshake deal on

Microsoft acquiring Ecast and the
approximate price that that acquisition

take place.

Of course, there is no dinner and no
pending acquisition.

But the investors buy the story and
eventually come to believe that Cohen's

could bring in $80 million.

A portion of the profits will go to
Vanguard.

But years later, the marriage between
social justice activists and a man

dedicated to showcasing his wealth
raises questions.

Vanguard Foundation made grants to
people like the Native American Treaty

Council.

which is composed of the poorest people
in the Bay Area.

And those are the values that our grant
making spoke to.

You're doing this for the benefit of the
Native American Treaty Council?

Give me a break.

Coming up on American Greed, Mouly
Cohen's wife, Stacy, publishes a look

her fabulous billionaire lifestyle.

The book encapsulates the whole story of
Mouly Cohen.

It was all other people's money.

The trips, the jewelry, the life that
they were living inside the book was

completely a lie.

2005, San Francisco.

It's been more than two years since
donors of the Vanguard Public Foundation

invested $6 million with Muley Cohen.

They believe Cohen's virtual jukebox
company, Ecast, is going to be bought

by Microsoft.

And when it does, they'll all be rich.

But it is taking far longer than anyone
ever expected.

After the first few months, of course,
Ecast isn't acquired by Microsoft.

knows what's going on, and the excuses
are coming out from Muli.

Excuses seemingly backed by headlines.

The European Union's case against
Microsoft charging unfair competition.

is said to be holding up the deal, and
each delay comes with a price tag.

Emails from Harry Dillon quote Cohen
saying that bonds and legal fees must be

paid. You need a stamping fee, and
nobody knew what a stamping fee was,

course, they paid it.

They pay because, according to Sam
Mills, they are told if they don't, they

be stripped of their shares and lose
everything.

And so he continues to send in money.

adding millions of dollars to his
original investment.

Finally, in November, he and a few other
investors insist on a face -to -face

meeting with Mouley Cohen.

The investors are fed up. They're angry.
They don't know what's going on.

For some, it's the first time they've
been to the house.

So, of course, you're seeing the
artwork. You're seeing the way he's

Against your better judgment, well, this
is how it really works in the real

world. Sam Mills reports that Cohen says
you're playing with the big boys now

and tells them there is just one more
bond to pay.

And the Cohen con works again.

They were so reassured and so convinced
by Mr. Cohen that at least hundreds of

thousands of dollars were forwarded to
Mr. Cohen almost immediately.

One week after the meeting, Sam Mills
writes a check, $805 ,000 to Mouly

A week later, $200 ,000.

The next day, another $200 ,000.

As his investors write checks to protect
a deal that does not exist, Cohen has

another secret.

He is no longer even associated with
ECAST in any way.

More than a year before the meeting in
November, he was forced out.

He was no longer the CEO. He was no
longer the chairman. He wasn't an

So he would have no knowledge if there
were any acquisition.

Now, of course, there never was one.

But according to Hari Dhillon's
testimony, Cohen continues to demand

more money to protect the deal he has
made with Vanguard donors.

And Dhillon widens his search for cash.

Hari began looking to other kinds of
investors.

People who are smaller investors, people
who are being asked to give out of

their pocket, people who are being asked
to give out of their personal savings,

not people who had millions of dollars
to invest.

People like my Alice child, a retired
nurse who has recently sold her house

has $300 ,000 to invest.

She learns through her daughter who
works at Vanguard that Hari Dhillon has

investment opportunity.

The only details I had gotten is that
Dylan was going to invest in this

that was being bought out by Microsoft.
And I heard the words Microsoft, and I

thought, well, that's a safe bet. Of
course it'll be safe. My money will be

there. And so I wrote them a check for
$300 ,000.

With Alice Child's money secured, Dylan
moves on to find more investors.

Eventually, he will raise close to $25
million from people who think they are

part of an e -cast Microsoft deal.

And at this point, Dylan still believes
that the deal will come through.

They were so deep into it. It was like,
well, let's stay with it because we

believe it's going to happen, we hope
it's going to happen, and it better

happen. Next on American Greed, what
Cohen is really doing with investors'

money. I documented.

Emily Cohen spent approximately $2 .1
million just in jewelry. They purchased

vehicles for approximately $700 ,000.

In the summer of 2007, the news in the
computer world is that Microsoft is

engaged in a fight with the European
Union over charges of unfair

For Mouly Cohen's investors still
waiting for Microsoft to buy eCast, the

stories support what they are being
told.

In Alameda, my Alice child has $300 ,000
invested in the deal.

I kept getting these emails about how
the European Union is holding up the

with Microsoft, and I thought, oh, well,
that's typical.

But Mouly Cohen is working on it.

Harry Dillon reports that Cohen says he
is flying to Europe to do battle for the

Vanguard Foundation investors.

And in November, Cohen boards a rented
private jet.

But he's not going to Europe.

He's headed to Las Vegas.

He goes on vacation with their money.

They're telling them that he's in
negotiations and things are looking good

things are getting better.

He and his wife, Stacy, are getting
away, just for one night.

But the bill for their stay at the
Bellagio comes to $5 ,862.

A tiny fraction of the $5 .5 million he
and Stacy spend on travel in just seven

years.

Recently, Stacy has self -published a
book called The Kosher Billionaire's

Secret Recipe.

There, she writes about her travels with
Muli.

Would you like to spend a week in New
York, board a plane, doze off, and wake

in the Caribbean?

I do it frequently.

But I do not take for granted the super
-performance Gulf Stream I travel on.

The book, which cost $1 million to
create, is a kind of how -to book.

How to spend enormous amounts of money.

The money came from victims, and it was
all other people's money. The trips, the

jewelry.

The life that they were living inside
the book was completely a lie.

Juan Saavedra is an investigator with
the IRS.

Because he works undercover, he asked to
be interviewed in Silhouette.

I documented that Malik Cohen spent
approximately $2 .1 million just in

from 2002 to 2009.

$1 .4 million of that goes to a diamond
ring for Stacey.

He purchased vehicles.

for approximately $700 ,000 during this
same time period. I documented $2 .8

million on personal expenses for rent
for the personal chef security company.

To support his lavish lifestyle, Cohen
needs investors.

And by 2006, he is courting Javier
Barrio, a real estate developer who owns

house not far from Cohen.

Again, Moley sees somebody who's got
some wealth and starts a friendship and

talks about his investment
opportunities.

Barrio declined an interview request
from American Greed, but in a statement

the FBI, he writes that Cohen offers him
a once -in -a -lifetime chance to

invest in his companies.

Like Mike Farrell, Barrio is courted by
Cohen with trips by private jet to Las

Vegas, to Monterey.

Burillo invests $8 million in Cohen's
ventures.

And then, in 2008, he asks Cohen to be
his son's godfather.

He writes, I admit it was an effort to
appeal to Cohen's conscience.

And Cohen accepts the honor. He becomes
a godfather to Burillo's son.

But the end of the story is familiar.

Eventually, the money dries up and Muley
doesn't speak to him anymore.

People are only two uses to Muley,
either money or a means to find other

with money.

There's nobody that Muley's dealt with
that we've seen with any sort of genuine

relationship.

And that applies even to his family.

In Lubbock, Texas, Cohen's father -in
-law, Robert Stripling, is a

Muley knew that he had some money.

from his investment accounts and from
his retirement accounts and convince his

father -in -law to invest in ECAS.
Again, with the same story, ECAS was

be taken over by Microsoft and you're
going to make a lot of money.

And so Dr. Stripling liquidates his IRA,
takes a second mortgage on his house,

and wires in all $3 .4 million to his
son -in -law, Muli Cohen.

But years go by, and the promised deal
does not come through.

Money for stripling gets tight.

He didn't have enough money to live on
because he'd given almost everything to

movies, so he couldn't pay for simple
repairs like fixing a stove, fixing a

in the roof.

As 2007 comes to an end, Harvey Dillon
reports to Vanguard investors.

that Cohen is returning to Europe to
attend the final meeting of negotiations

with the EU.

No one needs to know that he and Stacey
are actually in St.

Martin.

That year, Stacey's father, Robert
Stripling, sends them a holiday

note. He writes, Except for being poor,
we have had a very pleasant time.

And he adds, All I want for Christmas is
for Muli to replace my IRAs. Love, Dad.

Next on American Greed, hear the little
secret Harry Dillon is keeping all to

himself. It's just unfathomable that,
frankly, a foundation executive would

engage in that kind of activity.

Learn more secrets to business success
from Muli Cohen at AmericanGreed .CNBC

.com.

Feeling greedy?

Want more than your share of behind -the
-scenes dirt?

Follow at AmericanGreedTV on Twitter.

We'll be right back.

In 2006, the major donors of the
Vanguard Public Foundation have put

faith and money into one man.

Bully Cohen. People should not feel to
fail, and they should be accountable for

their mistakes.

The Vanguard donors are throwing
millions of dollars not into the

but into Cohen's investment scheme that
promises them and the foundation a huge

windfall. Eventually, more than 50
investors will pony up close to $31

Looking back to that time, former board
member Leslie Wozniak is outraged.

To see that Vanguard had been
transformed into really a rolling casino

of a foundation supporting social
justice movements was absolutely

And the gamble is destroying the
foundation.

At a Vanguard board meeting, former
Berkeley Mayor Gus Newport, who was

considering joining the board, learns
how dire the situation is.

Halfway through the meeting, I said,
look, I'm out of here.

You all got some decisions to make.

you're going to have to lay off some
staff.

And some of the board members said,
please, don't leave, don't leave. I

no, no, I'm out of here.

At that time, the once highly respected
Vanguard Public Foundation is not just

broke, it is more than $2 million in
debt.

Over time, more and more...

of the money went to the investment
scheme, less and less effort was put

raising money for the charity until the
point where the charity was basically

not even functioning.

But the foundation continues to hand out
grants.

One goes to Poder, a nonprofit group run
by Antonio Diaz that supports Latino

immigrants in the Mission District.

We got a grant and received partial
payment for it.

and we waited and waited, and I called,
and we didn't get any responses.

Beth Rosales was appointed Vanguard's
first executive director in 1982.

I was really disturbed when I saw a
letter that eight grantees hadn't

money, and I thought, something's amiss,
because in our field, you never grant

money and not come through.

How could the board...

had been authorizing grants, knowing
that the money wasn't there and people

weren't raising the money to make it
happen either.

And I think the answer has to be they
continued to believe what Harvey told

them. They let themselves be conned.

And where is Dylan while his foundation
is dying?

Vanguard supporters see him eating at
the finest restaurants in town.

staying at luxury hotels and being
driven around by a hired driver.

Strange, considering his annual salary
is less than $90 ,000, it seems Dillon

has been telling a few lies too.

Mr. Dillon testified at trial that at
some point he also stole money from

some of the donors.

When some of the money came in, he did
not pass it all on to Mr. Cohen.

And he testified that he kept some of
it.

Hari Dhillon, the man entrusted with the
funds of a well -respected charity, has

been skimming money for himself,
pocketing millions of investors' dollars

support his own lavish lifestyle.

And I was thinking, oh my lord, how is
that possible?

It's just unfathomable that, frankly, a
foundation executive would engage.

in that kind of activity.

Dylan later tells investigators that he
was simply borrowing money until the big

payday when Microsoft finally buys
eCast.

He thought that once the deal goes
through, there's going to be so much

they'll be able to pay everybody back,
and there's no harm, no foul.

But there is harm.

The small community groups Vanguard set
out to help are not getting the money

they are promised.

That bit of capital they're getting from
a vanguard is crucial money. It's

treating the people served by those
groups cavalierly. It's treating the

community poorly.

And many in the community who once
respected Hardy Dillon now feel betrayed

It boggles my mind. I don't understand
the connection between someone

having a value of, you know, working for
social justice and yet falling into.

Some form of glamour, perhaps, or self
-aggrandizement. Those two things are

incompatible. Next on American Greed.
After six years and $31 million,

Cohen and his investors meet in court.

His wife is sitting there with diamonds
on her finger in the audience of these

group of victims.

I thought, how dare you show your face
here?

For six years, Vanguard Foundation
supporters who believed they had

shares in ECAST do exactly what they are
told.

Everything had to be a secret.

Moody said, you can't breathe a word of
this to anyone.

Deal comes out, everything is lost.

But Sam Mills testifies at Cohen's trial
that in 2008, calls to venture

capitalists working with ECAST revealed
the truth.

that there had never been any
relationship at all between ECAST and

Devastated by the news, in December,
Mills, Hari Dhillon, and another

drive to a restaurant in Tiburon to meet
with Cohen.

They let Muli talk.

It's just, again, the same story. It's
just around the corner. Things are going

well. Things are great.

But now they know Cohen is lying.

They then confronted him with what they
had learned and asked for his reaction

to it.

Well, he's taken a little back, a little
bit of back, and he has to recover a

minute, but he's like, well, of course
we told you that. The deal's a secret.

They're not going to tell you. You know,
trust me.

Another witness testified that when they
threatened litigation, that Mr. Cohen

responded, he figured that the statute
of limitations had run out.

Shortly after the meeting, Muley Cohen
makes a fast exit.

He moves to a new mansion in Southern
California and is arrested in August

He returns to San Francisco and stands
trial in October 2011.

The government casts Cohen as the
cunning perpetrator of a devastating

scheme. scamming more than 50 investors
out of $31 million.

But Cohen's defense attorneys, like Mark
Topel, point the finger at Ari Dillon.

Everything that's attributed to Mouly
Cohen is almost 99 % of the time Dillon

talking to other people about what Cohen
supposedly said without any

documentation other than Dillon's own
word.

Cohen's attorney argues that the
additional millions of dollars investors

Cohen over the years were actually to
purchase shares in a new legitimate

company Cohen was starting.

And all those stories about the
Department of Justice and the European

delaying the ECAS deal?

It was all a total amount of baloney,
and it all came from Dillon.

For the jury, the question is, who is
lying?

Hari Dillon or Muli Cohen?

The verdict, the liar's mooly coin.

But Dylan admits he did skim money from
investors for his own use.

And in July 2010, he pleads guilty to
wire fraud and money laundering.

He is later sentenced to 40 months in
prison.

And his investors face the truth.

I'd never dreamed in a million years
that...

Hari had turned her money over to a
complete shyster. I felt so ashamed and

devastated when it finally all collapsed
around me, and I had to realize that I

had lost the entire 20 years of saving.

It was gone, and I was utterly bereft.

Investors lose millions, and the
community loses Vanguard.

The foundation is closed.

The real victim are these small groups
that don't really have very many places

to go, that are doing community
organizing and social services. The fact

they got defunded as a result of the
mismanagement of Vanguard and the scam

involving Hari and Muli is a real crime.

Today, longstanding supporters of the
foundation like Evelyn Kelsey

are working to raise money to repay
those who did not receive promised

The ideals and the legacy of the
Vanguard Foundation have just been

the face.

And I don't want that to be what people
remember about Vanguard.

I want to see those ideals blossom again
and try to heal

a just horrible, horrible wound.

In November 2011, Muley Cohen is
convicted of 15 counts of wire fraud, 11

of money laundering, and 3 counts of tax
evasion.

Cohen is later sentenced to 22 years.

His victims will likely never see their
money again.

Some, like Mike Farrell, have recovered.

He has rebuilt his business and bought a
ski house to enjoy with his kids.

And he's comforted by the caliber of the
other people Cohen conned. I came from

a blue -collar middle America, but there
was a lot of very smart people around

Mouly. They gave Mouly all of their
money. He was very cunning, and he was

believable.

It was a grand show that he put on for
many years.

And looking back, many see that the one
thing he had going for him was that he

looked just so outrageously rich.

People thought, this is all legit. How
could he be stealing from so many people

at such a level to keep this up?

Mully strikes me as having been a
consummate con artist, but in a way a

low -level or second -rate one.

This guy had so little to offer other
than trusting him personally. It is kind

of striking that he pulled this off.

My Alice Child attends his sentencing
hearing.

His wife is sitting there with diamonds
on her finger in the audience of the

group of victims.

I thought, how dare you show your face
here?

Stacey Cohen is not charged with any
wrongdoing in the case.

At the hearing, the judge holds up the
kosher billionaire's book and says, it

speaks itself of an obscene lifestyle
that has no set of decent values to it.

He adds that in more than 40 years in
the criminal justice system, he has

seen a con man like Mouly Cohen.

I would have to agree with him. I've
never seen someone at this level

such a fraud like this.

The lies to everybody that he met, the
type of lifestyle he was living, was

outrageous. And you don't see that every
day.

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