April 9, 2025 • 25 mins
Two years after her own experience, Caroline meets another one of David Bloom's victims. Sean Kushner was a sleep-deprived, new father who was promised a house in a trust, luxury trips, and even a meeting with the President. The impact from the experience is significant, and ultimately leads Sean to refocus on what truly matters.
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Speaker 1 (00:01):
Previously on Once Upon a Con.
Speaker 2 (00:04):
We're here to announce today that we are filing a
total of eighteen felony counts against David Bloom, nine counts
for fraud and nine counts for grand theft.
Speaker 1 (00:17):
Con artist David Bloom is finally sitting in prison with
eighteen felony counts against him.
Speaker 2 (00:23):
We're very pleased to say that after this tremendous amount
of work by the LAPD and then buy our prosecutors
who are bringing him charges that could spose him up
to fourteen years in prison.
Speaker 1 (00:37):
It's now August of twenty twenty four and Bloom still has.
Speaker 3 (00:41):
No trial scheduled.
Speaker 1 (00:43):
It's been two years since he conned me, and I'm
still learning of new victims and more lives that he's ruined.
Speaker 4 (00:50):
When that rug is pulled, you know, it's like you
feel like your whole world is crashing down, like nothing's
ever going to be okay, Like the world is a fraud.
Speaker 5 (00:59):
Everything is just you know, nothing is real.
Speaker 6 (01:05):
I talk some shit to you, you will notice what
you bully do us sawn that time, Julie Naysley.
Speaker 1 (01:17):
I'm Caroline Damour and this is Once Upon a Con
Episode ten. I hope you find peace one day. Well,
can you give us a little background on you. I'm
talking to Sean Kushner. He reached out to me after
I posted on my Instagram out in Bloom as a
(01:40):
con man in the fall of twenty twenty two.
Speaker 4 (01:43):
So I was a hardcore alcoholic drug addict and I
ended up getting sober out in LA and I've been
sober almost seventeen years. But I literally started working in
mental health, working at rehabs in between, you know, doing
a lot of other LA jobs when you're figuring your
life out with no education, et cetera.
Speaker 1 (02:05):
Yeah, wait, congratulations on seventeen years. By the way, that's
a really welcome thank you.
Speaker 5 (02:11):
So long story short.
Speaker 4 (02:14):
I was at a high ho Burger eating a burger
with my wife and it was like one of the
first days we had gotten out after having a baby,
and one of the first nights out in a long time.
And up comes the guy cleaning tables and insert David
Bloom into our lives.
Speaker 3 (02:35):
Wait a minute. Dan was working at the restaurant cleaning tables.
Speaker 5 (02:38):
He was cleaning tables at Hio.
Speaker 3 (02:41):
No way, and that's wild.
Speaker 4 (02:45):
He started just chatting it up with us, and I
was like, all right, whatever this you know, this weird
old crazy guy cleaning tables is you know, he was
charging his phone outside and like going in and out,
and he was just you know, and started talking and
he was interesting. Like the guy definitely was an interesting person.
You know, I was talking about you know, we had
(03:05):
just left an art show and he knew a lot
about art. He starts talking about him, like, this guy
can't just be cleaning tables. I was like, I don't
even know what this guy's deal is. And by the
end of the dinner he had gotten them to bring
us free milkshakes, So I don't know what the fuck
this guy was doing. But by the end of the meal,
he had told us that he actually was one of
the owners of High Ho.
Speaker 5 (03:26):
So I was like, oh, this makes sense.
Speaker 4 (03:28):
Yeah, I mean, he was not only telling us that
he was, you know, an owner of High Ho, but
he also told us that he was owner part owner
of the entire chain, which is linked in with you know,
Sugarfish and the knew over the pasta place next door.
So even when as far as telling us that he
(03:48):
went to go get fish early in the morning with
Kazi Nore and like how he would check to make
sure the fish was good by looking at the eyeballs
and just going into detail with all this weird stuff
that you don't just like randomly just know or or
just randomly tell people that you've met it, you know,
dinner while eating a burger. But you know, he definitely
(04:10):
was super intelligent dude, like I mean, and very crafty
with how he delivered you know, his information and asked information.
And so you got my number and then immediately, you know,
exchange numbers. And the next day he starts hitting me
up and just kind of slow rolling his way into
our lives and.
Speaker 5 (04:30):
Hey, so how's your wife feeling today? How's everything going?
Speaker 4 (04:33):
Like super super like sweet and you know, loving, like
just checking on her a lot, and we had just
had a daughter, and somebody that you know, somebody that
does something and you know it makes you feel like, okay,
this is probably somebody to be that would be good
to stay in touch with for you know, whatever reason
down the road, whatever connections down the road, because that's
(04:55):
just you know, how ola goes.
Speaker 1 (04:57):
So then he starts calling you guys, and did you
guys start hating out right away or what happened?
Speaker 5 (05:01):
Now it wasn't.
Speaker 4 (05:03):
It was like maybe a week or two later he
invited us out to.
Speaker 5 (05:09):
What's that place called over off Melrow, Creig's.
Speaker 1 (05:13):
Craigs, which I'm super proud that I've gotten him kicked
out since, by the way, he's no longer allowed in Craig.
Speaker 4 (05:21):
Well, hopefully he's never allowed out period anywhere. But he
you know, he knows the host is you knows, you know,
it's Craig. I was like, all right, so another layer
of the onion peeled of, you know, the exec that
is David Bloom who's talking about all the stocks he
owns while at dinner, you know.
Speaker 5 (05:39):
The Netflix, the all these different stocks, which I.
Speaker 4 (05:43):
Will add I follow a lot of you know stocks
and whatnot, and they were all doing extremely well. And
everything he talked about he's definitely researched.
Speaker 1 (05:52):
Yeah, like he won't bring up a stock if it's
not actually ipo ing, you know, like he he definitely
knows what he's doing.
Speaker 4 (06:00):
So and then it just went like that daily check in,
hitting me up every morning, asking how the day was going,
never asked for anything, like, he never asked me for anything.
He never asked me for favors, never asked you know,
for me to introduce him to anybody.
Speaker 5 (06:14):
He was just like, you.
Speaker 4 (06:15):
Know, people like you deserve a leg up. People like you,
I want to help you. So it was a lot
of like how can I help you? How can I
make your day better? How can I check on you
to see how you two are doing, how's the baby?
Like a lot of that, which, you know, you don't
get a lot of that in, you know, in the
world unless it's like people that you know, well are
people that are just just super caring people. And I
(06:36):
was just like, who is this weird old guy?
Speaker 5 (06:38):
Why is he? You know, why is he so nice?
Speaker 4 (06:40):
And it catches you off cord because you're like, oh
what a what a breath of fresh air. And then
and then there was a part of me that, you know,
I could I could tell that he had a drinking problem.
So then there was a part of me that was like, Okay,
he seems like a lonely rich guy.
Speaker 5 (06:55):
He probably needs some help. I'll help him out.
Speaker 3 (06:57):
Yeah, yeah, he uh.
Speaker 1 (06:59):
I remember he would drink very early in the morning,
an entire glass of like hard alcohol, like.
Speaker 4 (07:05):
Yeah yeah, And he was open about it. He fled
out like he was super open. He's like I tried
the thing. I tried being sober, and I you know,
I tried that lifestyle, and you.
Speaker 5 (07:16):
Know, it didn't work for me. You know, this works
for me.
Speaker 4 (07:19):
And I was like, okay, whatever, Like the back of
my head, I'm like that's what everybody says. But you know, so,
you know, all entertaining. This guy's lonely or something, so whatever,
just be friendly with him and help him out and whatever.
And then slowly, but surely, he starts like inching his
way further in and further in, and then just things
started getting weirder and weirder, and you're just like, what
(07:40):
is something's off?
Speaker 3 (07:42):
Can you give me an example?
Speaker 5 (07:44):
Like so, so we were we were getting ready to move.
We we were in the house.
Speaker 4 (07:51):
It was you know, like mar Vista, and we were
getting ready to move and look for a place because
you know, we just had the baby and the setup
was like horrible for a kid, and we were like, okay,
we've got to find something that makes more sense. And
I just let him know, like, yeah, we're getting ready
to like look for a place, and he's like, I
know this what's his name? I know this guy that
(08:11):
owns Miss La La And he's a real estate guy.
Speaker 5 (08:14):
Let me find you a house.
Speaker 4 (08:15):
I was like, I'm good, Brah, Like, you know, we
just got Westside Reynolds and apartments dot com will find something.
And he's like, no, I'm going to find you something
you deserve, like somebody to help you out for once,
and I'm going to help you guys out.
Speaker 5 (08:29):
And I was like okay, and you.
Speaker 4 (08:32):
Know, he's like, I'm going to send you a list,
a couple of listenings every day for the next few days.
Speaker 5 (08:36):
And he was like, send a couple of listenings like beautiful.
Speaker 4 (08:38):
Houses, right, And I'm like, looking at my wife, I'm
like I'm like, okay, what is this And and I
was like, look, I was like these are probably out
of our our budgets. So I'm like we're good. Man like,
don't don't worry about us, Like we'll figure this out.
He's like, no, any place out of all these that
you see, I'm going to help you get into for
less than three thousand dollars a month, because you guys
(08:59):
deserve to put money away, and you deserve to be
in a place that your child can grow and and
you guys can be a happy family and all this
weird stuff. And I was like, I was like, okay, whatever, bro,
And I'm like this guy's insane. I was like, he
either is super rich and this is legit or he's
just a crazy old guy. And so my wife and
I were both like on the fence of we and
like a little bit like this can't be real. But
(09:21):
at the same time like like what if this is real?
What if this is real? Like are we finally going
to get a break in life? Like are we finally
gonna you know, it is like yeah, all our all
of our good deeds and and karma is finally coming back.
Speaker 3 (09:34):
And this is what he does.
Speaker 1 (09:34):
He dangles the carrot and that's so cool, right, like
just by being a good person. This good person wants
to help this good person and that's how you feel.
And he plays on your heartstrings with that, Like this is.
Speaker 5 (09:47):
With you know, a new baby.
Speaker 4 (09:49):
So we're dealing with like, you know, my wife's not working,
I'm working and covering both the household and all like
post COVID coming out of you know, everybody's tight with
money and everything's like falling apart and I'm like burning
through savings and I was just like, oh my god,
this is like this is you know, God is answering
(10:10):
our prayers.
Speaker 5 (10:11):
So we like picked this place. So I let him know.
Speaker 4 (10:14):
That we were moving and he had already David had
already like set this woman up to talk to me
and like telling me that like everything was being set
up and like the uh you know, phone and electricity
and like talking to this different stuff. And then the
client was liken a place over there, and I was like, look,
I was like, I'm not moving until I am one
(10:35):
hundred percent sure that this is legit and there's like
no weird stuff with this, and he didn't listen. He
went like lockdown a lease at this place. Then he
was like asking us for to set up this account
to send money to this lady. So it was gonna
be first lasting deposit for this house. And I was like, well,
(10:55):
I need to see paperwork, and I was like I
need to see everything. I want to have it like
checked out, because he was like it's going to be
in your name. We're going to put it in a
trust and we're gonna you know, this is going to
be a set up in a trust in your daughter's name.
Speaker 5 (11:07):
The house is going to go to her down the road.
Speaker 4 (11:09):
And all you're doing is paying three thousand hours a
month that goes into a savings account because I don't
need the money, and it's going to pay the mortgage
for the house so your daughter will own it down
the road.
Speaker 5 (11:20):
And I'm just like, okay, this is just like too
good to be treated.
Speaker 1 (11:29):
Sean Kushner is telling me about the scam David Bloom
pulled on him. At this point, Bloom is mid Khan
trying to lure Sean in with the promise of a
cheap house that would eventually be going to his daughter.
He just needs a first and last deposit to go
to some unknown woman's account.
Speaker 4 (11:47):
And then like it was like a week we were waiting,
and then another week we were waiting, and I was like,
this isn't going through a twenty while I was like,
this is not going through something off and like we
were a super anxious new baby. I was just like,
I was like, if this is not real, I'm gonna
kill this guy. So this was like right as we
started pushing more, I was like, look, I was like,
what's the deal with this. He's like it's okay, and
he's like and by the way, I'm gonna leave for
(12:10):
the summer. But I'm going to uh the south of France,
and before I leave, this will all be set up
and you guys are gonna come with me. I'm gonna
put you on a plane to come out and stay
with me, and I'll have a nanny there for your daughter.
Speaker 3 (12:22):
Can I ask you, was it Hotel de Caap? Of
course it was, of course, yeah, yeah, wow.
Speaker 4 (12:29):
So he was saying, you sent us a hotel to
cap and sending then he sent me a fake email
from them asking for our information, so it like it
looked like it was coming from them.
Speaker 5 (12:40):
I was like, what the hell?
Speaker 4 (12:41):
So and then I like I even said to my wife,
I was like, why is it to colors? I was
like this message like it looks like it's been edited,
and I was like, I don't I don't feel good.
I don't have a good feeling about this. But like
there's that part of you that still is just like
what if we are going to south of France and
we're gonna stay at a fifty thousand dollars for you know,
couple of weeks hotel and like our daughter will be
(13:02):
taken care of and we're gonna just you know, So
there's like that party.
Speaker 1 (13:06):
Yeah, it's not even just like well, what if we
get this, It's also like nobody in their right mind
would ever go that far to do something so crazy.
That's where my mind kept going, whether it was like
this big amazing thing too, even though every time I
would question it and I'd be like, no, I'm being
I'm the one being weird because no one would ever
do that. No one would ever spend that much time
(13:29):
like like lying to somebody.
Speaker 3 (13:31):
It's just unheard of.
Speaker 4 (13:34):
I'm an addict, alcoholic junkie, Like I was a not
a good person out there when I was like using
like I would scam anybody I could, and I would.
Speaker 5 (13:46):
You know, whatever I had to do to like get
what I needed, I would do. And I didn't.
Speaker 4 (13:50):
Think for a second this dude was doing anything like
what I was like capable of. He was that believable
to me, and like, no matter how much the Spidey
senses were going off, for how much it felt off
or how much we were just like my wife and
I were just like, man, this dude is not for real.
Like it wasn't until he knew that we were starting
to figure it out, and then he went as far
(14:11):
as saying like before we go there, like, I'm I
have to fly to San Francisco because I have to
meet with the president. Convinces he knew the president, and
I was just like, okay.
Speaker 3 (14:22):
Bro, I was like, the President of the United States, Yeah.
Speaker 4 (14:25):
President of the United States, and that he was going
to some fundraiser at uh at what's his name's house?
Speaker 5 (14:36):
Uh nah? He told me. He told me he played
tennis with bron burkele On Ashton Kusher regularly.
Speaker 4 (14:41):
Though you might over there too. I was just like,
so it started kind of narrowing in. And the craziest
part about all this is, uh so, like he convinces.
He was like, he's like, you guys should come and
meet him. I was like, yeah, okay, bro, I was like,
We'll come meet the president with you.
Speaker 1 (14:59):
And at this point, at this point, though, what are
you saying to him?
Speaker 3 (15:03):
Are you at this point? Do you are you have
you caught on? Did you realize it was not real anymore?
Speaker 5 (15:08):
No?
Speaker 4 (15:09):
Not at this point. So at this point I'm still like,
I'm like, holy shit. I was like, this is the
guy that's gonna, like, you know, for for fifteen years
of helping people. This is the guy that's going to
repay me and like this he's gonna like set my
family up, telling me he's going to like buy Navidia's
stock and put it in my daughter's name, as like
Navidia's doubling and tripling and like going, you know, skyrocketing.
Speaker 5 (15:30):
I'm just like, holy shit, there's no way this can't
be real.
Speaker 4 (15:33):
Told my dad, like I kept it a secret from
pretty much my family for like a month and a
half two months because I was just like.
Speaker 5 (15:40):
They're gonna think I'm crazy. They're never gonna believe me.
Speaker 4 (15:43):
Like when I finally told my dad, he's like that's bullshit.
He's like that's not real. He's like, there's no way
that's real. And I started kind of like, you know,
started to be like okay. I was like it wasn't
until he bailed on so we were supposed to meet him,
and then he like hold some weird stuff where he
like canceled us and and he can he said that
(16:04):
he was dating Jennifer Aniston.
Speaker 5 (16:07):
Dad and my wife and I.
Speaker 4 (16:09):
Looked at each other, We're like, this is not real.
Speaker 5 (16:14):
It wasn't.
Speaker 4 (16:15):
It wasn't the president, it wasn't the Hotel de cap
It wasn't the restaurants that he owned, It wasn't all
these famous people he talked about. It was when he
said he was dating Jennifer Aniston. My wife and I
looked at each other were like, fuck, we got played.
This guy's not real. Yeah, that's when we knew.
Speaker 3 (16:31):
Wow, he's so good. He's so good. But that one,
nah one, look one.
Speaker 1 (16:37):
Look at his teeth and you know he's not dating
Jennifer Aniston.
Speaker 5 (16:41):
Oh my god.
Speaker 4 (16:43):
Oh yeah, God, I remember those teeth for the rest
of my life.
Speaker 1 (16:47):
So the Jennifer Anison thing happens, you guys realize he's bullshit.
Speaker 3 (16:51):
Did you call him on it?
Speaker 5 (16:53):
No, we didn't call him on it yet.
Speaker 4 (16:55):
It was uh so at this point, my wife's mom
was down visiting us and she's like, you guys, this
is not real.
Speaker 5 (17:03):
I'm going to google his name. I'm going to find him.
Speaker 4 (17:05):
I was like, we googled him, there's nothing about him
because he told us a different name.
Speaker 3 (17:09):
Oh what was he told you guys?
Speaker 4 (17:11):
He said Bloomberg And yeah, so he said David something
Bloomberg and there's nothing on on Bloomberg and her and
her mom started like looking people up and they found
him they found like the Instagram post and stuff.
Speaker 3 (17:26):
Instagram post yeah, yeah, yeah, So.
Speaker 5 (17:28):
I didn't say anything.
Speaker 4 (17:29):
Still, I waited for him to text me, and then
I just like I wrote this like long, like really
like weird twisted text to kind of like reel him
in on some stuff, and then blasted him with all
this different stuff so he could like he would read
the whole thing and then like it sucked in so
he had to read the rest.
Speaker 5 (17:46):
And then I just blasted him.
Speaker 3 (17:47):
I was like, did you send him my Instagram post?
Speaker 4 (17:51):
No, But I also had a message I sent him
which was it pretty much spoke about everything.
Speaker 5 (17:57):
Wow. Then he disappeared.
Speaker 1 (18:04):
After months of promising Sean he will change his life
by moving his entire family into a new home he
got them for a steel, a home that will eventually
become his daughters, flying him to the south of France,
and meeting the President of the United States, David bloom
Is gone like the wind through it all. Sean never
(18:26):
gives Bloom a cent, but the emotional carnage is brutal.
Speaker 4 (18:31):
And then I had to like pick up the pieces
and reel back in like everything that it's screwed up
for me, because like the money would have been less damaging.
If I had just paid him that money, it would
have been way less damaging than the emotional stuff that
it did to was.
Speaker 1 (18:48):
So can you explain that to me a little bit,
like how did he like, how did it like emotionally
kind of you know, I mean.
Speaker 4 (18:57):
You think that you have You're a married couple in
LA coming out of COVID with a five or six
month old baby at this point, was it no? So yeah,
like five or six month old baby. So you're dealing
with like no sleep, You're dealing with all the stress
that comes to being a new parent, and then you
(19:18):
have this like guy that's like, you know, trying to
like band aid everything and make you feel like everything's
gonna be okay.
Speaker 5 (19:24):
And then when that rug gets pulled, you know.
Speaker 4 (19:27):
It's like you feel like your whole world is crashing down,
like nothing's ever going to be okay, and like the
world is a fraud. Everything is just you know, nothing
is real, and like why would if there's a god,
why would God allow something so horrible to happen to people?
And it was like a real test of faith. The
craziest part about it is like like nothing, nothing makes
(19:49):
more sense than the fact that his docket number in
jail starts with six sixty six.
Speaker 3 (19:54):
Wow, I actually didn't even know that.
Speaker 5 (19:56):
Oh yeah, well.
Speaker 1 (19:57):
Yeah, no, he really is like some who gets, like
you said, gets off on taking really good people and
taking them on a ride thinking, you know, playing messing
with their hopes and dreams and family and innocent, kind,
(20:18):
loving people. And it's such a it's such a feeling
when you find out that truth and everybody and all
of us are kind of bonded in that feeling.
Speaker 3 (20:29):
Of the lowest of the lows.
Speaker 1 (20:31):
It's a combination of of rejection, humiliation, and just at
all of everything that you've been kind of planning has
prevented you from doing all of this other stuff. It's cruel,
cruel on so many levels. And this could happen to
(20:51):
anyone if it's happened to us, you know, not only.
Speaker 4 (20:58):
That, but it's like a you know, don't if it's
something it's too good to be true, then you don't.
Don't don't like you know, doubt your spidey senses or
doubt your inner gut.
Speaker 5 (21:09):
It's just like, you know.
Speaker 4 (21:12):
There there are evil people in the world, and you know,
the universe can't protect everybody from everything, and evil will
lurk and evil will do evil things.
Speaker 5 (21:22):
And that's like, you know, that's what this dude is
all about.
Speaker 4 (21:24):
The fact that he can't stop doing it and kept
doing it and kept going to jail for it just
proves that. And he'll never stop. So I pray that
they like keep him locked away because he'll just do
it again.
Speaker 1 (21:37):
So, Sean, I've kind of always thought about what I
would say if I was ever face to face with him.
Do you ever think about that moment and like what
you would say to him.
Speaker 4 (21:54):
I would probably start off by telling him I forgive
him for what he did, and that I understand that
he's sick, and you know what he does to people,
it's like it's it goes far beyond just like some
weird high that he gets. And I would say, look,
you know, you didn't rob me of any money, but
(22:15):
you rob me of emotional time with my family, You
rob me of my sanity it sometimes you rob me
of my peace of mind for months. You know what
you did us, like, no no amount of money could
ever repay what you did to my family in those
times of my daughter's early development. But I forgive you
(22:39):
at this point, and I hope you find peace one day.
Speaker 3 (22:42):
Well, I actually just got the chills.
Speaker 1 (22:44):
On a more positive note, how is your life now? Like,
how have you kind of you know, gotten past it?
And where are you at now?
Speaker 5 (22:57):
Well? Got past it?
Speaker 4 (22:59):
It lit some inside of me that was like, look like,
don't ever deny your faith. Don't ever deny like what
you believe in. And things are better than they've ever been.
Speaker 5 (23:12):
You know.
Speaker 4 (23:13):
I have another daughter that's due and like, you know,
a couple of months, you know, but thank you works
the best it's ever been. My wife is healthy and happy.
I'm healthy and happy, and my firstborn daughter is healthy
and happy, and that's.
Speaker 5 (23:29):
Like number one.
Speaker 4 (23:30):
And don't like I don't look at like some stuff
like a bougie house or a trip to to France
or any of these things that kind of like diverted
my attention before. I don't look at that stuff. Like
I realized like how unimportant that is. And but at
the time, I, you know, was super angry at the guy.
But now I just see him for what he is.
It is just a sick soul. And you know, there's
(23:50):
a lot of six souls out there, and can't help
them all and you know, happy to move forward. And
I hope the guy just learns his lesson and finds
some sort of happening at some point in his life
and stops doing this with people.
Speaker 1 (24:03):
Yeah, that's a really evolved way to look at it. Sean,
You've definitely come a long way since since we talked last,
but that is really beautiful. All right, guys, thank you
so much for listening to this season of Once Upon
a Con Wall Street whiz Kid. If and only if
(24:24):
you enjoyed this season, pretty please rate us five stars
on Apple Podcast, leave a review and share it with others.
Speaker 3 (24:32):
We really really appreciate you.
Speaker 1 (24:35):
Once Upon a Con is a production of AYR Media
and thirty two Flavors, hosted by Me Caroline de Morey.
Executive producers Alisa Rosen for AYR Media, Alex Baskin for
thirty two Flavors, and Jonathan Walton for Jonathan Walton Productions.
Written by Eliza Rosen, producer Caroline de Morey, edited and
(24:59):
mixed by Justin Longerbeam. Engineering by Justin Longerbeam. Our theme song,
Freshly Served was written and performed by the incredibly talented
Mattie Noise and is available on her SoundCloud.
Previously on Once Upon a Con.
Speaker 2 (00:04):
We're here to announce today that we are filing a
total of eighteen felony counts against David Bloom, nine counts
for fraud and nine counts for grand theft.
Speaker 1 (00:17):
Con artist David Bloom is finally sitting in prison with
eighteen felony counts against him.
Speaker 2 (00:23):
We're very pleased to say that after this tremendous amount
of work by the LAPD and then buy our prosecutors
who are bringing him charges that could spose him up
to fourteen years in prison.
Speaker 1 (00:37):
It's now August of twenty twenty four and Bloom still has.
Speaker 3 (00:41):
No trial scheduled.
Speaker 1 (00:43):
It's been two years since he conned me, and I'm
still learning of new victims and more lives that he's ruined.
Speaker 4 (00:50):
When that rug is pulled, you know, it's like you
feel like your whole world is crashing down, like nothing's
ever going to be okay, Like the world is a fraud.
Speaker 5 (00:59):
Everything is just you know, nothing is real.
Speaker 6 (01:05):
I talk some shit to you, you will notice what
you bully do us sawn that time, Julie Naysley.
Speaker 1 (01:17):
I'm Caroline Damour and this is Once Upon a Con
Episode ten. I hope you find peace one day. Well,
can you give us a little background on you. I'm
talking to Sean Kushner. He reached out to me after
I posted on my Instagram out in Bloom as a
(01:40):
con man in the fall of twenty twenty two.
Speaker 4 (01:43):
So I was a hardcore alcoholic drug addict and I
ended up getting sober out in LA and I've been
sober almost seventeen years. But I literally started working in
mental health, working at rehabs in between, you know, doing
a lot of other LA jobs when you're figuring your
life out with no education, et cetera.
Speaker 1 (02:05):
Yeah, wait, congratulations on seventeen years. By the way, that's
a really welcome thank you.
Speaker 5 (02:11):
So long story short.
Speaker 4 (02:14):
I was at a high ho Burger eating a burger
with my wife and it was like one of the
first days we had gotten out after having a baby,
and one of the first nights out in a long time.
And up comes the guy cleaning tables and insert David
Bloom into our lives.
Speaker 3 (02:35):
Wait a minute. Dan was working at the restaurant cleaning tables.
Speaker 5 (02:38):
He was cleaning tables at Hio.
Speaker 3 (02:41):
No way, and that's wild.
Speaker 4 (02:45):
He started just chatting it up with us, and I
was like, all right, whatever this you know, this weird
old crazy guy cleaning tables is you know, he was
charging his phone outside and like going in and out,
and he was just you know, and started talking and
he was interesting. Like the guy definitely was an interesting person.
You know, I was talking about you know, we had
(03:05):
just left an art show and he knew a lot
about art. He starts talking about him, like, this guy
can't just be cleaning tables. I was like, I don't
even know what this guy's deal is. And by the
end of the dinner he had gotten them to bring
us free milkshakes, So I don't know what the fuck
this guy was doing. But by the end of the meal,
he had told us that he actually was one of
the owners of High Ho.
Speaker 5 (03:26):
So I was like, oh, this makes sense.
Speaker 4 (03:28):
Yeah, I mean, he was not only telling us that
he was, you know, an owner of High Ho, but
he also told us that he was owner part owner
of the entire chain, which is linked in with you know,
Sugarfish and the knew over the pasta place next door.
So even when as far as telling us that he
(03:48):
went to go get fish early in the morning with
Kazi Nore and like how he would check to make
sure the fish was good by looking at the eyeballs
and just going into detail with all this weird stuff
that you don't just like randomly just know or or
just randomly tell people that you've met it, you know,
dinner while eating a burger. But you know, he definitely
(04:10):
was super intelligent dude, like I mean, and very crafty
with how he delivered you know, his information and asked information.
And so you got my number and then immediately, you know,
exchange numbers. And the next day he starts hitting me
up and just kind of slow rolling his way into
our lives and.
Speaker 5 (04:30):
Hey, so how's your wife feeling today? How's everything going?
Speaker 4 (04:33):
Like super super like sweet and you know, loving, like
just checking on her a lot, and we had just
had a daughter, and somebody that you know, somebody that
does something and you know it makes you feel like, okay,
this is probably somebody to be that would be good
to stay in touch with for you know, whatever reason
down the road, whatever connections down the road, because that's
(04:55):
just you know, how ola goes.
Speaker 1 (04:57):
So then he starts calling you guys, and did you
guys start hating out right away or what happened?
Speaker 5 (05:01):
Now it wasn't.
Speaker 4 (05:03):
It was like maybe a week or two later he
invited us out to.
Speaker 5 (05:09):
What's that place called over off Melrow, Creig's.
Speaker 1 (05:13):
Craigs, which I'm super proud that I've gotten him kicked
out since, by the way, he's no longer allowed in Craig.
Speaker 4 (05:21):
Well, hopefully he's never allowed out period anywhere. But he
you know, he knows the host is you knows, you know,
it's Craig. I was like, all right, so another layer
of the onion peeled of, you know, the exec that
is David Bloom who's talking about all the stocks he
owns while at dinner, you know.
Speaker 5 (05:39):
The Netflix, the all these different stocks, which I.
Speaker 4 (05:43):
Will add I follow a lot of you know stocks
and whatnot, and they were all doing extremely well. And
everything he talked about he's definitely researched.
Speaker 1 (05:52):
Yeah, like he won't bring up a stock if it's
not actually ipo ing, you know, like he he definitely
knows what he's doing.
Speaker 4 (06:00):
So and then it just went like that daily check in,
hitting me up every morning, asking how the day was going,
never asked for anything, like, he never asked me for anything.
He never asked me for favors, never asked you know,
for me to introduce him to anybody.
Speaker 5 (06:14):
He was just like, you.
Speaker 4 (06:15):
Know, people like you deserve a leg up. People like you,
I want to help you. So it was a lot
of like how can I help you? How can I
make your day better? How can I check on you
to see how you two are doing, how's the baby?
Like a lot of that, which, you know, you don't
get a lot of that in, you know, in the
world unless it's like people that you know, well are
people that are just just super caring people. And I
(06:36):
was just like, who is this weird old guy?
Speaker 5 (06:38):
Why is he? You know, why is he so nice?
Speaker 4 (06:40):
And it catches you off cord because you're like, oh
what a what a breath of fresh air. And then
and then there was a part of me that, you know,
I could I could tell that he had a drinking problem.
So then there was a part of me that was like, Okay,
he seems like a lonely rich guy.
Speaker 5 (06:55):
He probably needs some help. I'll help him out.
Speaker 3 (06:57):
Yeah, yeah, he uh.
Speaker 1 (06:59):
I remember he would drink very early in the morning,
an entire glass of like hard alcohol, like.
Speaker 4 (07:05):
Yeah yeah, And he was open about it. He fled
out like he was super open. He's like I tried
the thing. I tried being sober, and I you know,
I tried that lifestyle, and you.
Speaker 5 (07:16):
Know, it didn't work for me. You know, this works
for me.
Speaker 4 (07:19):
And I was like, okay, whatever, Like the back of
my head, I'm like that's what everybody says. But you know, so,
you know, all entertaining. This guy's lonely or something, so whatever,
just be friendly with him and help him out and whatever.
And then slowly, but surely, he starts like inching his
way further in and further in, and then just things
started getting weirder and weirder, and you're just like, what
(07:40):
is something's off?
Speaker 3 (07:42):
Can you give me an example?
Speaker 5 (07:44):
Like so, so we were we were getting ready to move.
We we were in the house.
Speaker 4 (07:51):
It was you know, like mar Vista, and we were
getting ready to move and look for a place because
you know, we just had the baby and the setup
was like horrible for a kid, and we were like, okay,
we've got to find something that makes more sense. And
I just let him know, like, yeah, we're getting ready
to like look for a place, and he's like, I
know this what's his name? I know this guy that
(08:11):
owns Miss La La And he's a real estate guy.
Speaker 5 (08:14):
Let me find you a house.
Speaker 4 (08:15):
I was like, I'm good, Brah, Like, you know, we
just got Westside Reynolds and apartments dot com will find something.
And he's like, no, I'm going to find you something
you deserve, like somebody to help you out for once,
and I'm going to help you guys out.
Speaker 5 (08:29):
And I was like okay, and you.
Speaker 4 (08:32):
Know, he's like, I'm going to send you a list,
a couple of listenings every day for the next few days.
Speaker 5 (08:36):
And he was like, send a couple of listenings like beautiful.
Speaker 4 (08:38):
Houses, right, And I'm like, looking at my wife, I'm
like I'm like, okay, what is this And and I
was like, look, I was like these are probably out
of our our budgets. So I'm like we're good. Man like,
don't don't worry about us, Like we'll figure this out.
He's like, no, any place out of all these that
you see, I'm going to help you get into for
less than three thousand dollars a month, because you guys
(08:59):
deserve to put money away, and you deserve to be
in a place that your child can grow and and
you guys can be a happy family and all this
weird stuff. And I was like, I was like, okay, whatever, bro,
And I'm like this guy's insane. I was like, he
either is super rich and this is legit or he's
just a crazy old guy. And so my wife and
I were both like on the fence of we and
like a little bit like this can't be real. But
(09:21):
at the same time like like what if this is real?
What if this is real? Like are we finally going
to get a break in life? Like are we finally
gonna you know, it is like yeah, all our all
of our good deeds and and karma is finally coming back.
Speaker 3 (09:34):
And this is what he does.
Speaker 1 (09:34):
He dangles the carrot and that's so cool, right, like
just by being a good person. This good person wants
to help this good person and that's how you feel.
And he plays on your heartstrings with that, Like this is.
Speaker 5 (09:47):
With you know, a new baby.
Speaker 4 (09:49):
So we're dealing with like, you know, my wife's not working,
I'm working and covering both the household and all like
post COVID coming out of you know, everybody's tight with
money and everything's like falling apart and I'm like burning
through savings and I was just like, oh my god,
this is like this is you know, God is answering
(10:10):
our prayers.
Speaker 5 (10:11):
So we like picked this place. So I let him know.
Speaker 4 (10:14):
That we were moving and he had already David had
already like set this woman up to talk to me
and like telling me that like everything was being set
up and like the uh you know, phone and electricity
and like talking to this different stuff. And then the
client was liken a place over there, and I was like, look,
I was like, I'm not moving until I am one
(10:35):
hundred percent sure that this is legit and there's like
no weird stuff with this, and he didn't listen. He
went like lockdown a lease at this place. Then he
was like asking us for to set up this account
to send money to this lady. So it was gonna
be first lasting deposit for this house. And I was like, well,
(10:55):
I need to see paperwork, and I was like I
need to see everything. I want to have it like
checked out, because he was like it's going to be
in your name. We're going to put it in a
trust and we're gonna you know, this is going to
be a set up in a trust in your daughter's name.
Speaker 5 (11:07):
The house is going to go to her down the road.
Speaker 4 (11:09):
And all you're doing is paying three thousand hours a
month that goes into a savings account because I don't
need the money, and it's going to pay the mortgage
for the house so your daughter will own it down
the road.
Speaker 5 (11:20):
And I'm just like, okay, this is just like too
good to be treated.
Speaker 1 (11:29):
Sean Kushner is telling me about the scam David Bloom
pulled on him. At this point, Bloom is mid Khan
trying to lure Sean in with the promise of a
cheap house that would eventually be going to his daughter.
He just needs a first and last deposit to go
to some unknown woman's account.
Speaker 4 (11:47):
And then like it was like a week we were waiting,
and then another week we were waiting, and I was like,
this isn't going through a twenty while I was like,
this is not going through something off and like we
were a super anxious new baby. I was just like,
I was like, if this is not real, I'm gonna
kill this guy. So this was like right as we
started pushing more, I was like, look, I was like,
what's the deal with this. He's like it's okay, and
he's like and by the way, I'm gonna leave for
(12:10):
the summer. But I'm going to uh the south of France,
and before I leave, this will all be set up
and you guys are gonna come with me. I'm gonna
put you on a plane to come out and stay
with me, and I'll have a nanny there for your daughter.
Speaker 3 (12:22):
Can I ask you, was it Hotel de Caap? Of
course it was, of course, yeah, yeah, wow.
Speaker 4 (12:29):
So he was saying, you sent us a hotel to
cap and sending then he sent me a fake email
from them asking for our information, so it like it
looked like it was coming from them.
Speaker 5 (12:40):
I was like, what the hell?
Speaker 4 (12:41):
So and then I like I even said to my wife,
I was like, why is it to colors? I was
like this message like it looks like it's been edited,
and I was like, I don't I don't feel good.
I don't have a good feeling about this. But like
there's that part of you that still is just like
what if we are going to south of France and
we're gonna stay at a fifty thousand dollars for you know,
couple of weeks hotel and like our daughter will be
(13:02):
taken care of and we're gonna just you know, So
there's like that party.
Speaker 1 (13:06):
Yeah, it's not even just like well, what if we
get this, It's also like nobody in their right mind
would ever go that far to do something so crazy.
That's where my mind kept going, whether it was like
this big amazing thing too, even though every time I
would question it and I'd be like, no, I'm being
I'm the one being weird because no one would ever
do that. No one would ever spend that much time
(13:29):
like like lying to somebody.
Speaker 3 (13:31):
It's just unheard of.
Speaker 4 (13:34):
I'm an addict, alcoholic junkie, Like I was a not
a good person out there when I was like using
like I would scam anybody I could, and I would.
Speaker 5 (13:46):
You know, whatever I had to do to like get
what I needed, I would do. And I didn't.
Speaker 4 (13:50):
Think for a second this dude was doing anything like
what I was like capable of. He was that believable
to me, and like, no matter how much the Spidey
senses were going off, for how much it felt off
or how much we were just like my wife and
I were just like, man, this dude is not for real.
Like it wasn't until he knew that we were starting
to figure it out, and then he went as far
(14:11):
as saying like before we go there, like, I'm I
have to fly to San Francisco because I have to
meet with the president. Convinces he knew the president, and
I was just like, okay.
Speaker 3 (14:22):
Bro, I was like, the President of the United States, Yeah.
Speaker 4 (14:25):
President of the United States, and that he was going
to some fundraiser at uh at what's his name's house?
Speaker 5 (14:36):
Uh nah? He told me. He told me he played
tennis with bron burkele On Ashton Kusher regularly.
Speaker 4 (14:41):
Though you might over there too. I was just like,
so it started kind of narrowing in. And the craziest
part about all this is, uh so, like he convinces.
He was like, he's like, you guys should come and
meet him. I was like, yeah, okay, bro, I was like,
We'll come meet the president with you.
Speaker 1 (14:59):
And at this point, at this point, though, what are
you saying to him?
Speaker 3 (15:03):
Are you at this point? Do you are you have
you caught on? Did you realize it was not real anymore?
Speaker 5 (15:08):
No?
Speaker 4 (15:09):
Not at this point. So at this point I'm still like,
I'm like, holy shit. I was like, this is the
guy that's gonna, like, you know, for for fifteen years
of helping people. This is the guy that's going to
repay me and like this he's gonna like set my
family up, telling me he's going to like buy Navidia's
stock and put it in my daughter's name, as like
Navidia's doubling and tripling and like going, you know, skyrocketing.
Speaker 5 (15:30):
I'm just like, holy shit, there's no way this can't
be real.
Speaker 4 (15:33):
Told my dad, like I kept it a secret from
pretty much my family for like a month and a
half two months because I was just like.
Speaker 5 (15:40):
They're gonna think I'm crazy. They're never gonna believe me.
Speaker 4 (15:43):
Like when I finally told my dad, he's like that's bullshit.
He's like that's not real. He's like, there's no way
that's real. And I started kind of like, you know,
started to be like okay. I was like it wasn't
until he bailed on so we were supposed to meet him,
and then he like hold some weird stuff where he
like canceled us and and he can he said that
(16:04):
he was dating Jennifer Aniston.
Speaker 5 (16:07):
Dad and my wife and I.
Speaker 4 (16:09):
Looked at each other, We're like, this is not real.
Speaker 5 (16:14):
It wasn't.
Speaker 4 (16:15):
It wasn't the president, it wasn't the Hotel de cap
It wasn't the restaurants that he owned, It wasn't all
these famous people he talked about. It was when he
said he was dating Jennifer Aniston. My wife and I
looked at each other were like, fuck, we got played.
This guy's not real. Yeah, that's when we knew.
Speaker 3 (16:31):
Wow, he's so good. He's so good. But that one,
nah one, look one.
Speaker 1 (16:37):
Look at his teeth and you know he's not dating
Jennifer Aniston.
Speaker 5 (16:41):
Oh my god.
Speaker 4 (16:43):
Oh yeah, God, I remember those teeth for the rest
of my life.
Speaker 1 (16:47):
So the Jennifer Anison thing happens, you guys realize he's bullshit.
Speaker 3 (16:51):
Did you call him on it?
Speaker 5 (16:53):
No, we didn't call him on it yet.
Speaker 4 (16:55):
It was uh so at this point, my wife's mom
was down visiting us and she's like, you guys, this
is not real.
Speaker 5 (17:03):
I'm going to google his name. I'm going to find him.
Speaker 4 (17:05):
I was like, we googled him, there's nothing about him
because he told us a different name.
Speaker 3 (17:09):
Oh what was he told you guys?
Speaker 4 (17:11):
He said Bloomberg And yeah, so he said David something
Bloomberg and there's nothing on on Bloomberg and her and
her mom started like looking people up and they found
him they found like the Instagram post and stuff.
Speaker 3 (17:26):
Instagram post yeah, yeah, yeah, So.
Speaker 5 (17:28):
I didn't say anything.
Speaker 4 (17:29):
Still, I waited for him to text me, and then
I just like I wrote this like long, like really
like weird twisted text to kind of like reel him
in on some stuff, and then blasted him with all
this different stuff so he could like he would read
the whole thing and then like it sucked in so
he had to read the rest.
Speaker 5 (17:46):
And then I just blasted him.
Speaker 3 (17:47):
I was like, did you send him my Instagram post?
Speaker 4 (17:51):
No, But I also had a message I sent him
which was it pretty much spoke about everything.
Speaker 5 (17:57):
Wow. Then he disappeared.
Speaker 1 (18:04):
After months of promising Sean he will change his life
by moving his entire family into a new home he
got them for a steel, a home that will eventually
become his daughters, flying him to the south of France,
and meeting the President of the United States, David bloom
Is gone like the wind through it all. Sean never
(18:26):
gives Bloom a cent, but the emotional carnage is brutal.
Speaker 4 (18:31):
And then I had to like pick up the pieces
and reel back in like everything that it's screwed up
for me, because like the money would have been less damaging.
If I had just paid him that money, it would
have been way less damaging than the emotional stuff that
it did to was.
Speaker 1 (18:48):
So can you explain that to me a little bit,
like how did he like, how did it like emotionally
kind of you know, I mean.
Speaker 4 (18:57):
You think that you have You're a married couple in
LA coming out of COVID with a five or six
month old baby at this point, was it no? So yeah,
like five or six month old baby. So you're dealing
with like no sleep, You're dealing with all the stress
that comes to being a new parent, and then you
(19:18):
have this like guy that's like, you know, trying to
like band aid everything and make you feel like everything's
gonna be okay.
Speaker 5 (19:24):
And then when that rug gets pulled, you know.
Speaker 4 (19:27):
It's like you feel like your whole world is crashing down,
like nothing's ever going to be okay, and like the
world is a fraud. Everything is just you know, nothing
is real, and like why would if there's a god,
why would God allow something so horrible to happen to people?
And it was like a real test of faith. The
craziest part about it is like like nothing, nothing makes
(19:49):
more sense than the fact that his docket number in
jail starts with six sixty six.
Speaker 3 (19:54):
Wow, I actually didn't even know that.
Speaker 5 (19:56):
Oh yeah, well.
Speaker 1 (19:57):
Yeah, no, he really is like some who gets, like
you said, gets off on taking really good people and
taking them on a ride thinking, you know, playing messing
with their hopes and dreams and family and innocent, kind,
(20:18):
loving people. And it's such a it's such a feeling
when you find out that truth and everybody and all
of us are kind of bonded in that feeling.
Speaker 3 (20:29):
Of the lowest of the lows.
Speaker 1 (20:31):
It's a combination of of rejection, humiliation, and just at
all of everything that you've been kind of planning has
prevented you from doing all of this other stuff. It's cruel,
cruel on so many levels. And this could happen to
(20:51):
anyone if it's happened to us, you know, not only.
Speaker 4 (20:58):
That, but it's like a you know, don't if it's
something it's too good to be true, then you don't.
Don't don't like you know, doubt your spidey senses or
doubt your inner gut.
Speaker 5 (21:09):
It's just like, you know.
Speaker 4 (21:12):
There there are evil people in the world, and you know,
the universe can't protect everybody from everything, and evil will
lurk and evil will do evil things.
Speaker 5 (21:22):
And that's like, you know, that's what this dude is
all about.
Speaker 4 (21:24):
The fact that he can't stop doing it and kept
doing it and kept going to jail for it just
proves that. And he'll never stop. So I pray that
they like keep him locked away because he'll just do
it again.
Speaker 1 (21:37):
So, Sean, I've kind of always thought about what I
would say if I was ever face to face with him.
Do you ever think about that moment and like what
you would say to him.
Speaker 4 (21:54):
I would probably start off by telling him I forgive
him for what he did, and that I understand that
he's sick, and you know what he does to people,
it's like it's it goes far beyond just like some
weird high that he gets. And I would say, look,
you know, you didn't rob me of any money, but
(22:15):
you rob me of emotional time with my family, You
rob me of my sanity it sometimes you rob me
of my peace of mind for months. You know what
you did us, like, no no amount of money could
ever repay what you did to my family in those
times of my daughter's early development. But I forgive you
(22:39):
at this point, and I hope you find peace one day.
Speaker 3 (22:42):
Well, I actually just got the chills.
Speaker 1 (22:44):
On a more positive note, how is your life now? Like,
how have you kind of you know, gotten past it?
And where are you at now?
Speaker 5 (22:57):
Well? Got past it?
Speaker 4 (22:59):
It lit some inside of me that was like, look like,
don't ever deny your faith. Don't ever deny like what
you believe in. And things are better than they've ever been.
Speaker 5 (23:12):
You know.
Speaker 4 (23:13):
I have another daughter that's due and like, you know,
a couple of months, you know, but thank you works
the best it's ever been. My wife is healthy and happy.
I'm healthy and happy, and my firstborn daughter is healthy
and happy, and that's.
Speaker 5 (23:29):
Like number one.
Speaker 4 (23:30):
And don't like I don't look at like some stuff
like a bougie house or a trip to to France
or any of these things that kind of like diverted
my attention before. I don't look at that stuff. Like
I realized like how unimportant that is. And but at
the time, I, you know, was super angry at the guy.
But now I just see him for what he is.
It is just a sick soul. And you know, there's
(23:50):
a lot of six souls out there, and can't help
them all and you know, happy to move forward. And
I hope the guy just learns his lesson and finds
some sort of happening at some point in his life
and stops doing this with people.
Speaker 1 (24:03):
Yeah, that's a really evolved way to look at it. Sean,
You've definitely come a long way since since we talked last,
but that is really beautiful. All right, guys, thank you
so much for listening to this season of Once Upon
a Con Wall Street whiz Kid. If and only if
(24:24):
you enjoyed this season, pretty please rate us five stars
on Apple Podcast, leave a review and share it with others.
Speaker 3 (24:32):
We really really appreciate you.
Speaker 1 (24:35):
Once Upon a Con is a production of AYR Media
and thirty two Flavors, hosted by Me Caroline de Morey.
Executive producers Alisa Rosen for AYR Media, Alex Baskin for
thirty two Flavors, and Jonathan Walton for Jonathan Walton Productions.
Written by Eliza Rosen, producer Caroline de Morey, edited and
(24:59):
mixed by Justin Longerbeam. Engineering by Justin Longerbeam. Our theme song,
Freshly Served was written and performed by the incredibly talented
Mattie Noise and is available on her SoundCloud.
Host
Caroline D’Amore
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