The Wall St. Whiz Kid Goes to Hollywood!

David Bloom made a name for himself in the '80s New York art world. That ended badly. So he moved west –– to a new cultural hotspot also ripe with suckers. Folks who'd believe he was a finance bro long enough for him to fleece the sheep. Again, things ended badly.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Ridiculous Crime is a production of iHeartRadio.

Speaker 2 (00:05):
How you doing? Oh hey, elbe hours a man.

Speaker 3 (00:10):
I was eating some barber CoA some tacos that they
had there and they left them out. Yeah, I had
like the last of them and they almost put me down.

Speaker 2 (00:19):
I think those are from like last week.

Speaker 3 (00:21):
That's why they were called Ah. But you know, power
just increases flavor intensified. Actually, you know, it's ridiculous. Besides
my eating habits.

Speaker 2 (00:30):
I certainly do analyse Rutger.

Speaker 4 (00:33):
Wher from the credit credits Analise Rutgers as Judith. Okay,
here's I need to explain something because we've been getting
emails and messages and the interns or like, what do
we tell them? What are you even talking about? I said,
be quiet and get back in the hole.

Speaker 2 (00:50):
Whatever.

Speaker 4 (00:51):
So anyway, I need to explain analyse Rutgers please. Someone
pointed out to us that we have an IMDb page
for A Ridiculous Crime, which of which I was unaware.

Speaker 3 (01:01):
Yes, anything to do right.

Speaker 4 (01:03):
And on there we're the co hosts, we're the stars, baby,
and then there's a character Annalise Rutger as Judas and
it's like it's in the moon Rocks, like the guy
who slept with the lady on the Moonrocks episode.

Speaker 3 (01:18):
Is her name Judah?

Speaker 4 (01:19):
Yeah, No, there's no one named Judith in that episode.
And so I'm looking and she's got all these other
kind of weird credits.

Speaker 2 (01:26):
Can I read you her mini bio?

Speaker 4 (01:28):
Like, I think that she's just putting herself in various
She just said.

Speaker 3 (01:32):
She was on the show, Yeah, just a random episode.
She picked an episode, said, oh, yeah, I was that
I played.

Speaker 2 (01:37):
Judas I guess. Yeah, So here's her bio.

Speaker 4 (01:41):
Annalise Margaret Rutger was born in New Haven, Connecticut, to
Carl Heinz Rutger and Anne Louise Rutger. She has one brother, Lewis.
Her ancestry is German and Irish. Annalise was an honor student.
She was in a number of films that caught attention.
Annalise was in some magazines. She was in many plays.

(02:01):
She was often read about. She made a movie condemning
slavery on the History Channel. Sex in the Ancient World.

Speaker 3 (02:08):
She made a movie condemning slavery on the History Channel.

Speaker 4 (02:11):
Exactly like the grammar and mechanics here. She agreed to
work on Greek and later found out it went against
her sorority Kappa Delta's belief on Greek. I guess the
name Annelise has a special meaning. Her name means grace
and Hebrew, she does not speak the language. She is
known for having great skin in her movie and TV

(02:32):
close upskin and also in her bikini and lingerie modeling.
She is of average height and still booked a lot
of modeling work. Her smile was first captured on Mark
Wahlberg's HBO series Entourage. She is in two episodes of
the show. She is single and available to meet somebody.
She has made it in Hollywood and now retired alone.

(02:56):
Wait what, I don't know, Like if she's no longer acting,
I don't know. But if she hasn't an agent, they
need to be fired. Uh.

Speaker 2 (03:04):
The trivia for her.

Speaker 4 (03:05):
She is close with Macaulay Culkin, Vince Vaughan, Kristin Davis,
Kristen Bell, and Maelan Ackerman.

Speaker 3 (03:13):
Wow is she still with us?

Speaker 2 (03:15):
Yeah? Recently?

Speaker 4 (03:18):
Well, she was recently in a music video Spring summer
playing Rebecca. She was supposed to be in a some
sort of production called I Miss You this year with
Alyssa credited, And then it says in parentheses as a
different name, and so I don't know what that is,
but I feel like she she's just planting herself in

(03:40):
things like I could be like, you know, I was
in tomb Raider as Laura Croft under a different name.
Of course, she said she was on Amanda Seals podcast
Small Doses as businesswoman as a different name.

Speaker 2 (03:56):
So, Amanda Seals, I know you.

Speaker 4 (03:57):
Don't listen to this show, but if you do, girl,
you're getting hijacked, like we are ridiculous crime Judith as
a different name.

Speaker 2 (04:05):
Uh yeah, So anyway, come.

Speaker 3 (04:07):
Get your woman, Analyse Rutger. She's running wild.

Speaker 2 (04:10):
Yeah.

Speaker 4 (04:10):
Basically, it looks like her first thing was Estudio two,
playing bikini model for twenty five episodes.

Speaker 2 (04:18):
Yep, yep.

Speaker 4 (04:20):
She's played medical student Blue Lady undercredited.

Speaker 2 (04:24):
That was on CSI I bet yeah.

Speaker 4 (04:27):
So anyway, sex in the Ancient World, prostitution in POMPEII,
she played a Brockel slave proud.

Speaker 3 (04:32):
Of her stance against slavery.

Speaker 4 (04:35):
On the History Channel, she was Madison Miller in The
Virgin Murderser and played a stripper uncredited in Frat Party.
Annalese Rutger, whether this is some weird fluke, like a
glitch in IMDb that assigns.

Speaker 3 (04:49):
Her to very gut it. She's I sink somehow maybe
she's paying someone to glitch.

Speaker 2 (04:55):
And like, you know, you can.

Speaker 4 (04:56):
You can look up her picture and see what's what's what's.

Speaker 3 (05:00):
Up with analys Rucker.

Speaker 2 (05:01):
Yeah, it's a.

Speaker 4 (05:02):
Little rough anyway, So that's Analyse Rutger ridiculous.

Speaker 2 (05:08):
It is ridiculous, But that explains it for all the
people want to know. We just want her to get
her due.

Speaker 3 (05:13):
Yeah, we're trying to help her along.

Speaker 2 (05:15):
I guess trying. I want her to get gigs.

Speaker 3 (05:18):
You're a good person, and you.

Speaker 4 (05:19):
Know she's alone, she's single and ready to mingle. She
made it in Hollywood, Sarin.

Speaker 3 (05:23):
Keep that thought in mind. Yes, because I've got something
for you. Because I also know something ridiculous.

Speaker 2 (05:27):
Okay, yeah, you.

Speaker 3 (05:29):
Know, Okay, In case you didn't notice, Elizabeth, it's awfully
easy to fleece those folks that like to call themselves
coastal elites.

Speaker 2 (05:36):
As a coastal elite, I say, right right, it's.

Speaker 3 (05:40):
Also easy to fleece like those who believe that they're
the sort of person that someone who's on the inside
of a big money move would bring them in on it. Yeah,
same group, easy to fleece. You know what those two
groups have in common, Elizabeth? What's that both groups think
they're smarter than others based on no evidence whatsoever. So
you know, and one thing I know about this and

(06:01):
learned it from this show, but just in general is
crimers they love them for that attitude.

Speaker 2 (06:05):
Oh, definitely.

Speaker 3 (06:26):
This is Ridiculous Crime, a podcast about absurd and outrageous capers,
ices and cons. It's always ninety nine percent murder free,
ay and ridiculous.

Speaker 2 (06:40):
Yes, Elizabeth, Yes.

Speaker 3 (06:41):
You like the art world.

Speaker 2 (06:42):
I do.

Speaker 3 (06:43):
Wait, let me restate that you like art world crimes.

Speaker 2 (06:46):
Golly do I ever? I do? Like? I do?

Speaker 3 (06:49):
You? Do? You? I mean, I don't mean to put
words in your mouth.

Speaker 2 (06:51):
I love art crime.

Speaker 3 (06:53):
Well, let's art there. I have one for you.

Speaker 2 (06:55):
It's like bloodless crime. It's exactly.

Speaker 3 (06:57):
Yeah, it's it's there's no blood on the on the babis.

Speaker 4 (06:59):
It's it's not like you're stealing people's life savings. It's
money laundering anyway.

Speaker 3 (07:04):
Generally speaking, it's people who have it to lose it.

Speaker 2 (07:06):
Get up in there, I say.

Speaker 3 (07:07):
Generally speaking, generally speak, Well, this case, it's an art crime,
but it's so much more. Yeah, but for the moment,
let's just start for this story in New York in
nineteen eighties, oh, okay, nineteen eighty seven to be specific.
That has said our stage, this is going to be
October of nineteen eighty seven, our story begins, which is
a much different world. It's hard to like wrap your

(07:29):
arms easily around how much of a different world it was.

Speaker 2 (07:32):
In October eighty Yes, right in New York.

Speaker 3 (07:36):
For one, just for cultural cachet. The number one movie
in the US. Do you want to guess what it was?

Speaker 4 (07:41):
Gosh eighty sevens Michael Douglas.

Speaker 2 (07:45):
Yeah, you're kidding.

Speaker 3 (07:46):
Yes, you're spot on. You get it as game little
hit film.

Speaker 2 (07:51):
Called yeah, fatal Fatal Attraction. Yeah, yeah, yes.

Speaker 3 (07:56):
With the rabbit boiling and Glenn close and.

Speaker 2 (07:59):
Yes, Glen she's got range.

Speaker 3 (08:01):
Yes, oh god, yes. Now I won't read you the
whole list, we don't need to, but there's some doozies
on here i'd like to discover while we're at it.
The number three movie in the US. You want to
take a guess what it was in nineteen eighty seven,
I'll give you a hint.

Speaker 2 (08:18):
Has late for a police.

Speaker 3 (08:19):
Highly quotable movie a lot of people. Yes, highly quotable.
That's another one. It involves land wars in Asia. There's
that's a very que oh oh oh, that's a quote.
One of the quotes involves the land Wars and never
get into the land.

Speaker 4 (08:34):
Wars Princess br Yes, there you go.

Speaker 2 (08:37):
That's good movie.

Speaker 3 (08:38):
Number four movies. If you can guess this one, Elizabeth,
it involves not can.

Speaker 2 (08:41):
We just do an episode of.

Speaker 3 (08:46):
This number four movie? In eighty seven in the United States.
It involved had Had. It's known for this, I'll put
it this way. It's known for a quote about a
rule about where you put baby.

Speaker 2 (08:59):
Oh nobody was baby in a corner? Dirty dancing?

Speaker 3 (09:02):
Thirty dancing?

Speaker 2 (09:03):
Do you have the time in your life? You know what.
I'm not sure i've ever seen that whole movie.

Speaker 3 (09:07):
Really such a cable movie.

Speaker 2 (09:11):
I think I've caught clips of it here and there, but.

Speaker 3 (09:13):
I've never sat down and watched it down.

Speaker 2 (09:15):
Because it's just kind of irritated.

Speaker 3 (09:17):
Well, you didn't have a younger sister.

Speaker 2 (09:18):
No, Yeah, I saw it.

Speaker 3 (09:20):
I saw a lot of those movies. Sound of music.
There's a ton of movies I know purely because well,
it's your turn to pick.

Speaker 2 (09:27):
Yeah.

Speaker 3 (09:27):
Yeah. The shocker of this list for me is how
the number five movie in the US in nineteen eighty seven,
it was this shocker, Right, you'll never guess this once.
I'll just tell it to you. The Principle, The Principle.
Do you remember that one, or at least do you
remember seeing the cover for it at the video Stole?

Speaker 2 (09:45):
Yes, it's like a is he hold? Is a guy
holding a baseball? Guys? James?

Speaker 3 (09:51):
Yeah? Yeah, Ray's daughter.

Speaker 4 (09:55):
Yes, whatever happened to her, she's great, She was great,
she was in the command.

Speaker 3 (10:00):
Yeah, totally. There you go, one of your classics around
the office. Did you know The Principle was filmed in
your hometown of Oakland, California?

Speaker 2 (10:08):
That I did not know?

Speaker 3 (10:09):
Right? The high school scenes were shot at Northgate in
Walnut Creek, because it's a high school movie. The Principal, Yeah.
James Blishy, he plays principal Rick Latimer and James Bellissi.
He's a principal who gets transferred to a poor, dangerous
school after he gets in a fight at his old
school and they're like, oh, we got a transfer you,
So they send him down to like some is crappy.

Speaker 2 (10:26):
In Oakland or just filmed in I think.

Speaker 3 (10:29):
It's in la I don't remember, actually, but he's sent
there to restore order and this is this is where
he enlists Lou Gossip's help because he's like the security guard.
So they like they like, you know, use violence to
bring the school into order. They beat up a local
black leather clad gang leader.

Speaker 2 (10:45):
Yeah, the film I love teachers beaten up kids totally.

Speaker 3 (10:48):
They were in leather, the kids.

Speaker 2 (10:50):
Leather clad children.

Speaker 3 (10:51):
Yeah, I love gangsters in the eighties, so they always
had bandamas and leather. It's a black leather. You know,
he's bad.

Speaker 2 (10:58):
The film is leather. Oh my godness, you're out of control.

Speaker 3 (11:02):
Yeah, you run the streets. That's what that means. So
just imagine for this movie. It's very eighties. Lots of
guitar over dialogue.

Speaker 2 (11:08):
Right, did you watch it?

Speaker 3 (11:10):
I watched parts, so, yeah, just to remind myself. But
I read this a little bit and I had to
check it right. So my favorite part of this film
that I just recently learned about was how the principle ends?
So how does it end? Zaren? Great question, Elizabeth. After
he and lucas it, this is he being James Belushi.
After he and lucas it, they throw this bad leather
clad gang leader through the doors of the high school.

(11:32):
Right then he goes bouncing out of the double doors
and down the steps. Jim Belushi steps out and he
goes no more right now. Meanwhile, there's like a bunch
of street tufts outside the school who are watching this
scene like, oh right, and they see him throw their leader,
I guess down the steps and out of the school
and the local street tufts watching this. These are, by
the way, these are extras which I imagined are Oakland locals.

(11:53):
So if you want to see eighties Oakland hairdoos watch
this movie. Yeah, but the extras, I'm to bet you
these extras came not from Walnut Creek. I'm just letting
you know. To check these afros, Elizabeth, check the Jerry
curls are severe. Right anyway, to the principle, Jim Belushi,
he's there with Luke Osi Junior, breathing heavily after their

(12:15):
climactic fight with the gang leader. Two on one. Now
the street tuffs, some street tuff yells from the crowd,
Hey man, who the hell do you think you are? Right?
And a student answers on Jim Belushi's behalf. He says, hey,
he's the principal man. Plenty of guitar wailing over the
traumatic emphasis right, and then Jim Belushi has principal Rick shouts,

(12:36):
I'm the principal man, and then he gets on his
motorcycle and rides away.

Speaker 2 (12:40):
He gets on a motorcycle.

Speaker 3 (12:41):
Actually it's funny though. We just see the keys of
a motorcycle turn and then we see it in like
a long wide shot him ride away. We're not certain
it's him. I don't think he can ride a motorcycle.

Speaker 2 (12:51):
Or just pretend it's like someone else.

Speaker 3 (12:52):
Just someone takes off. So roll credits into the movie.
Now you may be thinking that was the end of
the road for old Principal Rick Latimer. But that's where
you be wrong, Elizabeth, because he shows up in a
second film in nineteen ninety one, a MOVI sequel no,
a movie called a Braxist Guardian of the Galaxy. They
what I know that it make no sense is pretty much.

(13:16):
But the movie was a sci fi thriller. It starred
Jesse Ventura, the former wrestler and former governor of Minnesota.
Now he plays an alien cop in this movie and
Jesse Ventura as this alien cop. You know what, It
doesn't matter. But the point is Jim Belucia's principal, Rick
Latimer shows up in this movie. How why, as you asked,
is this a sequel to the principal's eron? How is

(13:37):
a Braxist guardian of the galaxy related to the principal?
I don't know what you'd call it. I guess it's
part of the principal cinematic universe. But here there's more.
You know, who else was supposed to be in this movie?
A Praxist guardian of the galaxy. Stop guessing, You'll never guess.
Grace Jones and mister.

Speaker 2 (13:53):
T Wait what, Yes, they were gonna play.

Speaker 3 (13:56):
Aliens from the planet of Sargasia or Sargascia. Sadly both
had scheduling conference. So Jim Belushi steps in to lend
his star power to this film, his greatest roles principal
Rick Latimer.

Speaker 2 (14:11):
Wait a second, I don't want to time out really quickly.
I don't know timeout.

Speaker 4 (14:17):
Is the crime you're going to tell me about today
in any way related to this film? Or is it
just happened in eighty seven and you went down a
movie Rabbit Hole, tell the Truth.

Speaker 3 (14:27):
Elizabeth is so hard. I went down the.

Speaker 2 (14:30):
Rabbit This is absolutely nothing, but.

Speaker 3 (14:36):
We're setting the stage. Elizabeth stand Out in nineteen eighty
seven was a very different time. You filled down the
IMDb rat when it said, like al said this other movie.
I'm like, what are you talking about? Principal Rick Latimer?

Speaker 2 (14:49):
You did, like what I do.

Speaker 4 (14:50):
We were like, this takes place in whatever year, let
me see what was like top of the what was
what's the best movie, what's fourth, what's the fifth, the
fifth gross the ice grossing film?

Speaker 3 (15:03):
And then I got into like the fun facts about
that film. Then I followed Jim Belushi's extended the Principal
cinematic universe. Well, anyway, the roles he shows up in
this movie has principal Rick Latimer. I don't know. And
it's not just it's not directed by the same guy.
It's not like the directors like, hey man, you gotta
be on my next.

Speaker 4 (15:22):
Movie, established Cannon It this occurs in the same universe.

Speaker 3 (15:26):
Definitely, they occur in each other's universes. It turns out
Jim Belushi was dating one of this indie film's co stars,
so he's like let me bring principal Rick Latimer to
Lucy in the.

Speaker 4 (15:36):
Movie what was your favorite role? He's like, well, was
the fifth grossing top movie in nineteen eighty seven.

Speaker 3 (15:42):
That's the kind of star power that I'm familiar with.

Speaker 4 (15:45):
I have no idea what's talking about, the principle.

Speaker 3 (15:49):
So, anyway, back to nineteen eighty seven, it's a different time, Elizabeth,
and at that same time, the folks that the media
called yupes, we're still being flawing yuppies right out there,
spending money, being preppy, buying stocks and all that there's about. Then,

(16:10):
I just wanted to understand what movies are watching these preppees.
So they're spending big money on everything they can't. It's
the me generation, Lizabeth. You've heard about them, the consumerist
generation living the processor people, right, they said bye bye bye.
Remember there were ones who got the food processors, like
the kind of big food ticket items to get your

(16:33):
preppy yuppy friend for Christmas. Anyway, all this is going along, Jim.

Speaker 2 (16:38):
Polushi, eat old tacos.

Speaker 3 (16:41):
I found you the meat. I might have turned. Anyway,
all this gets stopped by thing called black Monday. Oh yeah,
you remember hearing about the gloom of Black Monday, the
whole unexpected global stock market crash that happened on a Monday.
Thus Black Monday, October nineteenth eighty seven, Well, the stock
market are around the world wipees out one point seven

(17:01):
trillion dollars right off the ledgers. Huge economic downturn leads
to our recession. Changes the culture from basically the go
go eighties into the nineties now now. One day before,
just exactly one day before this catastrophic global stock market crash,
the New York Times magazine, the weekend magazine of the
paper of record, Elizabeth, published a glowing story about yuppi's

(17:22):
buying up art as fast as they could. Yuppie's like
our crimer of the day, David.

Speaker 2 (17:27):
Bloom Aneles repker as David Bloom.

Speaker 3 (17:31):
In nineteen eighty seven, David Bloom was a twenty three
year old with a taste for buying very expensive works
of art. Somehow no one found this suspicious. As he
told the New York Times magazine, quote, first I decide
what I want to buy. Then I worry about how
I'm going to pay for it. What was he buying, Elizabeth.

Speaker 2 (17:46):
I don't know.

Speaker 3 (17:46):
Great question now was the time scrupulously documented. Quote. For
the last two years, Bloom has been aggressively building a
collection of American paintings and sculpture dating from eighteen nineteen
to nineteen fifty two. Now, his goal was to amass
the mostive collection of paintings and sculptures dating from eighteen
nineteen to nineteen fifty two.

Speaker 2 (18:05):
So pretty broad. Yeah, I know, right, category.

Speaker 3 (18:07):
That was his thing. Anyway he put it, quote, I'm
always on the search. I estimate I devote at least
two hours every day on the average to finding out
what's available. Two whole hours. Elizabeth.

Speaker 2 (18:18):
Yeah, I do it too, I find out what's available.

Speaker 3 (18:20):
Now, this guy, David Bloom, he had other troubles besides that,
other than his small time commitment to his art collecting. Bloom,
he half boasted to The New York Times, quote, I'm
a young collector in an old person's field. There are
some galleries to take a look at me and assume
I'm wasting their time. They won't even let me pass
the first floor.

Speaker 4 (18:39):
Well, he's basically Julia Roberts, a pretty woman.

Speaker 3 (18:42):
Good call.

Speaker 4 (18:43):
Well, I don't remember what year that came out, but
it was around that time.

Speaker 3 (18:45):
Ninety one. I think it's later in that. I think
it's like ninety or ninety one.

Speaker 2 (18:48):
Either way, that's what he does. He goes in, he
wears a short skirt. It's like you're going to actor.

Speaker 3 (18:53):
Elizonda's like, no, there's suspicious minds could not stop this
guy because one day he found a gallery, one gallery, Elizabeth,
that would work with him, a place called Barry Hill
Galleries in.

Speaker 2 (19:04):
Manhattan, honest Conca Galleries.

Speaker 3 (19:06):
And as he boasted to The Times, our man David Bloom,
he said, and I quote, I could never have done
this on my own, first serious collector, it's crucial to
develop a relationship of trust with experts. They've been at
auctioned for me, know what I'm missing, and are constantly
working on building a well rounded collection. That's the key phrase.
By the way, I could have never done this on
my own.

Speaker 2 (19:26):
Yeah, just throw money at it.

Speaker 3 (19:28):
So just let that thought percolate in your mind. We'll
take a little break and I'll come back. I'll tell
you how he could have never done this on my own.

(19:55):
All right, Elizabeth, we're back, my man David Bloom, Yes,
nineteen eighties art fan out never could have done this
on my own with a food process at the time.
Go eighties he's he's working eighties energy and he's got
the assistance of auction houses like Southeby's and Christie's your friends,
and the eighties had been a gangbuster's time for the

(20:16):
New York art world, as we've talked about, right. Southeby's
was proud to announce to anybody who would listen that
they'd signed up twenty thousand new private clients.

Speaker 2 (20:24):
Wow.

Speaker 3 (20:24):
Yeah, and that was like in five years time. Right now.
Christie's they said they wouldn't give the same numbers, but
they said that they're bidders. The number of their bidders
had gone up by twenty twenty five percent, right, a
bunch of bs as far as I'm spending out.

Speaker 2 (20:36):
Whole point, Yeah, you know, competing.

Speaker 3 (20:38):
Exactly, and not only that, but also trying to just
like ruffle their feathers and bluster each other like, oh,
we've got this, and the numbers mean nothing, you know,
because twenty thousand new private clients is that a lot?
Is that a little? I don't know, who knows me? Yeah,
put that in perspective. But anyway, for those not new
to the art world, They marveled at all the new
faces in these auctions. Right, the new suckers come to market,
you might say. And there was David Bloom working go

(21:00):
time for his two hours a day. Now his Manhattan
apartment Elizabeth became the new home to some of the
artwork he manages to buy and all these auctions so
that he's able to get these other people to purchase
for him. On his walls, if you'd visited, you would
have loved it. You find the artwork of John Singer,
Sergeant Mary Cassatt. Right, yes, I know you like her.
And so in fact, the wallpaper was selected by his

(21:22):
interior designers to highlight the artworks. Now I found a
great quote of what these interior decorators did to highlight
the artworks. Quote they used a Beiji and white classical
pattern for the living room and a vibrant red stripe
pattern for the dining room that made the art popular.
Bit sure, it's not bad for a twenty three year
old art collector. Now David Bloom had another art had

(21:44):
another passion besides his art collection. His other passion frames.
Oh sure, yeah, Now he's had Quote. I take framing
very seriously because the right frame can change the way
a picture looks. I often spend months looking for just
the right one.

Speaker 4 (21:58):
He just goes in the gallery's like, you know what,
big frame guy, you.

Speaker 3 (22:02):
Show me your frames. I don't want the art, the frames. Now,
apparently this cat had all the best frames, Elizabeth. He
had quote two Stanford White frames, a child Hassam and
one by Charles Prendergrass.

Speaker 2 (22:13):
Wait Charles Prends Yes.

Speaker 3 (22:15):
Brother of Maurice Prendigrass.

Speaker 2 (22:16):
What about Teddy, Elizabeth, I know.

Speaker 3 (22:24):
What, Yeah, Teddy's boy. I know you have an eye
for art and even own a few paintings and frame prints. Right, So,
if you were interested in some advice. In my research
on David Bloom, I found an offer of a list
of seven tips for art collecting beginning. Number one, begin
a collection by focusing on a particular period, for instance
eighteen nineteen fifty two. Develop a good relationship with a

(22:48):
reputable dealer. That way you'll know exactly what you were
getting and can have some recourse if necessary, because it's
so easy to find a reputable art dealer. Number three,
look for period or trade catalogs. They are good reference material.

Speaker 2 (23:03):
Find a catalog. Okay, that's a good idea. Number four.

Speaker 3 (23:06):
Although buying at flea markets can be risky, if you
find something you like that is well priced and you
are ready to gamble, take the plush that. Number five.
Pre auction viewing the time before an auction where you
can closely examine the items. It's one of the best
educational experiences. Unlike a museum, there are no roped off areas,
so you can open the drawers of a desk orp,

(23:27):
turn over a chair, lick it, just flip it. Want numbers,
This one's mine. Number six. Auction house experts are very
often generous with information. Doesn't mean it's true. Now ask
them questions. After all, it is to their advantage to
educate the buyer.

Speaker 2 (23:45):
No it is not, then they them feel smart.

Speaker 3 (23:48):
Number seven. Go to auctions.

Speaker 2 (23:51):
How to get a painting A Well.

Speaker 3 (23:54):
Yeah, but there's more to it. And watch what the
dealers are bidding on. This is a way of gauging
not on popular taste, but also current prices. Okay, now,
for those listening, I would like to add one other
art collecting tip. Considered a rat a ridiculous crime art
collecting tip Colet's call it number eight. Yeah, number eight,
do not do crimes just to build an art collection,
or you may lose it when the Feds come a calling. Now,

(24:16):
the reason I bring this up is because one year later,
The New York Times ran a second story about David Boy.

Speaker 2 (24:22):
Oh boy. Here it is.

Speaker 3 (24:24):
December nineteen eighty eight. The Times ran this headline, wall
Street whiz kid gets eight year.

Speaker 2 (24:29):
Term for fraud eight years.

Speaker 3 (24:31):
Yes, that was his nickname at the time, the Wall
Street whiz Kid. He was a finance guy and he
called himself the Wall Street wiz Kid. And that explains
how a twenty three year old could have masked one
of the most impressive art collections in the area. Oh yeah, yeah,
but what did David Bloom do to get busted?

Speaker 2 (24:45):
Cocaine?

Speaker 4 (24:47):
I imagine, Yes, I am guessing that this guy, a
twenty three year old finance broke in the eighties buying
up art like a drunken sailor.

Speaker 2 (24:56):
He is coked to the guilt.

Speaker 3 (24:58):
Oh yes, see, he's basically a walking coke vile. Yeah, allegedly, allegedly,
we're saying now, the Wall Street whiz Kid. He's accused
of defrauding his investors of fifteen million dollars, which was
a lot in nineteen eighty seven, he had truly, but
it was a way a lot then.

Speaker 2 (25:13):
Yeah.

Speaker 3 (25:13):
Yeah, he had one hundred and forty clients at the
time that he was working their investments, and he started
out investing the money of his friend's parents. That's how
he got his okay, oh yeah, he attended Duke University.
He graduates in eighty five. He goes into finance, moves
to New York. He finds some clients and like I said,
early ones were the wealthy parents of his college friends.
He starts, you know, takes their money invested, or rather

(25:34):
he pretends to invest it, because really what he did
is he took it their money and he blew it
on his art collection, his beloved frames, his interior decorators investment.
Not only that, he also bought himself property and expensive
sports cars. He bought himself an apartment on the East Side.
He bought himself a two million dollar home in the
Hampton's and then that was back when a two million
dollar home in the Hampton's was very expensive.

Speaker 2 (25:53):
Yeah.

Speaker 3 (25:53):
Now he also had a house he bought for himself
in the city. That's where he just kept the women
in his life that were staying. He's like, oh, you
can just stay in this apartment, in this house. I
have to call them girlfriends is an insult to the
term girlfriend, so we'll just say the women in his life.

Speaker 2 (26:05):
Yeah.

Speaker 3 (26:05):
Now he was enjoying this champagne and caviar, the Lifestyles
of the Rich and famous, Robin Leech lifestyle. Right, But anyway,
Robin Leech as the guy is the name of the
guy who's just out with rich people and brings nothing
to the situation other than some cameras and like a
lust for nice things.

Speaker 2 (26:22):
He's like Robin Barnacle Leech. It's a joke.

Speaker 3 (26:26):
It's like Bas came up with him as an idea. Anyway,
this dude, he's loving this lifetime.

Speaker 2 (26:32):
I'm sorry, but I have to.

Speaker 4 (26:33):
As soon as we're done here today, I'm going to
look into why was Robin Leach an Experts do not.

Speaker 2 (26:41):
Know who this man.

Speaker 3 (26:43):
I assume like Merv Griffin oam money and gave.

Speaker 4 (26:46):
Him a show like he just had an accent and
asked he showed up.

Speaker 3 (26:52):
He knew port from Starboard.

Speaker 4 (26:54):
The show was Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous, and
it just like had the sycophone.

Speaker 3 (27:00):
To go around, so discussed and just go show me
your nice stuff. Then he would just walk around and
he used that weird accent he had. It wasn't really
a British accent, but it was like a put upon
British accent because he was like Australian or something. Right,
I think he wasn't really British.

Speaker 4 (27:14):
And he actually from upstate New York.

Speaker 3 (27:19):
No, whenever anyone raised their questions about their investments with
old David bloom Right, well he'd of course, he had
him covered, right, he'd print up some fake paperwork and
show them where their money was. Not only that, though, Elizabeth,
he was smart, the fraudulent paper also showed that the
investors were making big profits. So it was like, look
here's what your money is, and look how well you're doing.

Speaker 2 (27:38):
Doing great.

Speaker 3 (27:39):
And when I see these investors by investors, I mean
greedy people who love big profits, because these aren't real investors.
These are people who would do things like investor with
this guy. Know, if any of these investors wanted to
taste some of their profits and wanted to cash out
a little, if he was like pushed to pay out,
of course he would. He had to. So he would
take the money from a new investor, and then he
would give that to the investor who wanted their money.

(27:59):
And we all know what we call that, Elizabeth.

Speaker 2 (28:01):
The pyramid buns.

Speaker 3 (28:03):
Yeah, it's a Ponzie scheme. Now his company was called
Greater Sutton Investors Group.

Speaker 2 (28:09):
That mounds. That sounds wealthy, No, it.

Speaker 3 (28:10):
Sounds very serious. So Greater Sutton Investors Group. Yeah, the
GSIG are kidneying that. That was about all the cover
he needed because between the fraudulent paperwork and the profits
paid from the next suckers, and then obviously the whole
patina of young wealth and success he'd liked to emulate,
David Bloom was able to build a repertoire of actual
real money investors. I'm talking folks like Bill Cosby and

(28:32):
the Sultan of BRUNEI.

Speaker 2 (28:35):
Yes.

Speaker 3 (28:36):
Then then nineteen eighty seven comes right, yeah, oh, in
this like Bush League Bernie Madeoff, scheme comes apart because
what happens in eighty seven what I say, Black Monday
stock market crash. Yeah, Suddenly David Balloom can't find his
next sucker, which means he can't keep his Ponzi scheme going,
which means he gets arrested, tried, and convicted.

Speaker 2 (28:54):
Yeah.

Speaker 3 (28:55):
So one of his victims had been his own grandmother.

Speaker 2 (28:58):
No, yeah, oh come on now, oh.

Speaker 3 (29:01):
Yeah, David. Now, before he was sentence, David Bloom confessed
before the court that his Ponzi scheme had escalated way
beyond any possible control, and he said he wished to apologize.
He didn't apologize. He said he.

Speaker 2 (29:11):
Wished to apologize. I could apologize, and he.

Speaker 3 (29:14):
Said, and I quote your honor, for the past few years,
my life has been out of control. Now at this point,
Bloom clasped his hands together and he promised the judge
that he was presently undergoing extensive psychiatric treatment. Like he
was like, your Honor, I'm not a well man. Now,
keep in mind, Also he's got a lawyer there right,
because he's paying for it. There's another guy talking on

(29:35):
his behalf, and so his lawyers like I got this
one off. He asked the judge for leniency. He pleads
that this Ponzi scheme of David David Blooms was always
bound to fail. I mean, this guy he owed incredible debts,
Your Honor, he had back taxes. Also, he's got to
now pay restitution to his victims. This guy's saddled with debts.
Feel bad for him, Your honor judge is like, no, bro,
he's no fan of a Wall Street fraudster who's won

(29:56):
twenty four years old at this point and following the
stock market crash, everybody wants to kind of punish the
Wall Street he brought down, like Main Street finances, especially
the scammers like David Bloom, so acknowledging this new spirit
of the times, Bloom's lawyer calls his client quote a
greedy young man. I admit he's a greedy young man.
He also calls him, he's a product of our times.

(30:18):
You're honor. Right. After admitting all that, his lawyer then
asked the judge to, you know, instead of punishing his
client with more prison time than like the Wall Street
fraudsters like I've been Bowsky, you know, he's kind to
this guy, right, He's just a young man with so
much life before him.

Speaker 4 (30:33):
He spent so much money at Sharper Image on food
processors and.

Speaker 3 (30:38):
Those like glowing balls with the electric light they put
your hand zapping your fingers. Now, the only reason, his
lawyer points out, the only reason that you're going to
go after my client instead of people like I have
in Boski was the simple fact that quote, he had
no accomplices to turn in. Oh remember though, he said,
I couldn't do this on my own, So he guys

(30:59):
have accomplice. But the judge is like, well, you know what,
those guys aren't here. Your client is. So he throws
the book at him and he says, quote, I find
the mister Ballom is remorseless, completely lacking in conscience. Then
he sentences David Bloom to eight years.

Speaker 2 (31:12):
In federal prisons on just two.

Speaker 3 (31:14):
Charges of fraud. And he makes sure that then that
the sentences are going to run not concurrent, but consecutive. Sure,
he's got to do fourth, then he's got to do four. Yeah. So,
as the New York Times records quote, Bloom displayed little emotion,
but he seemed to swallow hard when the judge said
the two sentences had to be served consecutively. So he
realized it. He's like my life. So soone he ends

(31:36):
up spending six years behind bars, and he gets released
from federal prison in nineteen ninety four. So what does
this former frauds to do next? Elizabeth? Now that he's free,
he goes back to Manhattan starts a new life for himself,
and I'd like to tell you that he became a
restored member of society. I would like to Elizabeth, but
he would not let me do that because he went
right back to crime.

Speaker 2 (31:56):
Can't help it, the boy can't help it.

Speaker 3 (31:58):
He also knows that finance angle too well, and there's
so many suckers out there at this point ninety four
ye I speaking back up. Clinton's got the economy but
coming back out all at eighties downturn and like why
he was able to be elected in ninety two. So
things are starting to roll along. So David Bloom starts
working that finance angle he knows so well. He settles

(32:19):
into midtown Manhattan. Now he doesn't like he can't go
and hang out like and get an office per se.
That's because the SEC is after him, is probably anyway.
He starts hanging out in restaurants and eateries and just
acting like a big shot, right, and he tells the
waiters and waitresses that he's in finance. He tells the
regulars he's in finance. He also tells them about all
the easy money he's making off of stock market IPOs.
If you don't know if those are their initial public offerings.

(32:41):
It's when the stock first goes out to the regular
little people. I know about that beforehand, and I'm able
to invest that kind of talk right now, he'd tell
peop about this inside scoop, and he was generous to
let the little people know what he knew. Now, that
is the ones he liked. This is the key. He
made people feel special and that he this finance guy,
this big shot like them give them an entrance into
the world of high finance through a side door. Now,

(33:04):
eventually they would ask him about investing. I mean he
hits he liked them, Elizabeth. He would he would give
them some advice on where they could invest. Then maybe
one day he'd tell him about one of his big deals.
If you could come aboard this one, oh man, you
got you'd be making money. By the way, at this point,
this is around two.

Speaker 2 (33:21):
Thousand, so for a while totally.

Speaker 3 (33:24):
He does it for a number of years, right, and
then the economy tanks in two thousand and again with
the stock market, and this guy gets busted right when
the stock market goes wonky. He's got real bad time
in the back because he runs out of investors because
he's always running scams. So he gets charged with larceny
sec violations, back to prison for five years. After this
second time, he gets out in two thousand and six
and he starts his new life for the second time.

(33:48):
And I would like to tell you that he was
restored to the community of non crimers Elizabeth because he
went because of course, he went running back to crime.

Speaker 2 (33:58):
Oh god.

Speaker 3 (33:59):
However, it is all he knows, really bow But I mean,
he could go legit. But regardless, this is when he
did make one big change in his life. He met
his future wife, Nancy Oseias. Apparently he told her about
his criminal past. He came clean, and I put heavy
emphasis on it being his past. She believed him. She
was like, oh, let's start a new life together. And
she planned to start this new life. And then her

(34:21):
family members when they heard about this, they were like no,
they were dead set against this right. And then because
they could look up David Bloom on the Internet and
there's like, oh Wall Street whiz kid, you know, like
scammer A yeah exactly, They're like, no, honey, we can't anyway.
Two thousand and nine, couple gets married. Twenty eleven, the
newly weds move across country to get away from like

(34:41):
all their pasts, right, and possibly her family saying he's
no good for you. Yeah, they pick up sticks, they
find new digs. Can you guess where they moved, Elizabeth.

Speaker 2 (34:48):
They moved across country from New York City Los Angeles.

Speaker 3 (34:51):
You said, Los Angeles. Dang ding dang chicken dinner for
the big winner. Now, for most folks, a move like
that would mean when they arrived in their new low cow,
they would need to find gainful employment. Not David Bloom, Elizabeth,
no money finds him. So, as his newlywed bride remembered,
somehow he didn't find work, but money kept rolling in.

Speaker 2 (35:11):
Amazing somehow.

Speaker 3 (35:13):
You see, she's just a sweet summer child, Elizabeth. She
would have never suspected that her husband, who told her
that he'd been in crime, had returned to crime. He's
just good with finance. It's not that she would be suspicious.
She somehow the money kept rolling in.

Speaker 2 (35:26):
Her love is making him into man.

Speaker 3 (35:28):
Exactly, I can change him, as she'd say much later,
and I quote in retrospect, I have absolutely no idea
if anything he ever told me was true. Oh yeah,
you think, as the saying goes, the cows came home,
the cows in this case, Elizabeth were a proof of
multiple fraud in her name his wife. She came home
one day and she found mail in her name, and
the mail was credit cards in her name, and the

(35:50):
credit cards that she had not applied for. And that
was not all. There was other stuff in her name.
She asked her husband what was going on. I guess
she didn't like the answers because she filed for divorce.
That was you in twenty seventeen. That same year, she
and her soon to be X's husband were named in
a lawsuit together. The two investors who sued them claimed
the victims of David Bloom had were victims to the

(36:12):
tune of one hundred and one thousand dollars in an
investment that they gave him for an early round of
investment in Snapchat before the IPO.

Speaker 2 (36:19):
Oh you're kidding.

Speaker 3 (36:20):
Yeah, Now, I don't know what all happened in the
back room dealings, but I did find out that the
lawsuit was settled two years later in twenty nineteen, and
the wife was no longer mentioned. The divorce went through,
and the Sweet Summer Child the innocent that she was
somehow advantages to wriggle out of any mutual culpability.

Speaker 2 (36:35):
Is it was snapchat? The one in Venice, Yeah.

Speaker 3 (36:37):
The one that I lived across the street from. The
lady would always bike back and forth in front going
yelling things I can't say right now because of the
cussing of its Snapchat, like every like fifteen twenty minutes
she bike one direction.

Speaker 2 (36:47):
To the other. Makes sense. She go to La Everybody
hated it.

Speaker 4 (36:50):
Yeah, and you pretend like got in on Snapchat.

Speaker 3 (36:53):
Totally, and people they were all everybody in the area
was like in there in Santa Monica. They would want
to because they're like, oh, my kid tells me about that,
I'd love to totally.

Speaker 2 (37:00):
And they're like, oh, I've got a line on it.
I'll get you in there.

Speaker 3 (37:02):
So this guy could be milking tons of suckers down.
So anyway, though, his divorce gets granted. So now, what
does David Bloom do next. He's now a two time convict,
back to his criming ways, has moved to Los Angeles.
He's also, by the way, living in Hollywood, and now
he's divorced.

Speaker 2 (37:17):
What does he do next?

Speaker 3 (37:18):
Yeah, what's he doing next?

Speaker 2 (37:19):
Cocaine?

Speaker 3 (37:20):
He becomes a super divorce guy. Oh boy, Yes, he
moves into an apartment complex on Franklin Avenue, which is
a Franklin boulevard at spot called Villa Carlata. Right, you
know up at the top of Hollywood, right, yea, So
imagine a Hollywood apartment complex were young actors and middle
ages still hopeful. Yeah, like white outside stucco, right, And
so the smarmy dudes who are like Hollywood hangers on. Right,

(37:43):
the guy is always working a deal. That's where they live, right.
So now they add in this fifty something super divorce guy.
He sets upshot for sport in for business. He goes
trawling the bars and restaurants in the area, same as
he did in Manhattan, and one of his favorite spots
was one of my favorite spots, Elizabeth, what's that. I'm like,
tell you, we'll take a little break after this. I
will be back and tell you where I almost cross

(38:04):
paths with David Balloon.

Speaker 2 (38:05):
Oh you're kidding me, and we're back.

Speaker 3 (38:28):
So I've told you before I used to live in Hollywood,
and yes I did, like you know, screenwriting and acting
and stuff. So one of the spots I used to
frequent was this place called the Frolic Room on Hollywood Boulevard.
It sounds worse than it is.

Speaker 2 (38:41):
Ladies take their clothes off, Yeah, no, you.

Speaker 3 (38:44):
You'd be hard pressed to find many ladies in this
spot backward.

Speaker 2 (38:47):
The place where guys take their clothes off for dollar bills.

Speaker 3 (38:50):
No, it was a legendary dive bar. You like dive bars.
I did it used to now when I lived in
La was the kind of dive bar where you find
real drunks, right, the kind who would be there in
midday drinking right so by the times ask right now,
by the time David Bloom was drinking, there was more
of like a Hollywood cool hip bar because they'd been
restored to Glory Frolic Room right on Hollywood next to

(39:13):
the Pantageous Theater. Yeah yeah, okay, Now, back when I
was drinking there, as I said, I was a Hollywood
screenwriter who wanted to join the ranks of those writers
who came before me and drank in the daytimes. I
was like, I coulda go down to drinking bars in
the daytime and thought it was key to my powers.
I don't know. One day I was in there by myself,
who's in the frolic room with me, Elizabeth, don't bother
asking or guessing key for Sutherland. Oh wow, yeah, you

(39:33):
wouldn't see that one coming, did Joe.

Speaker 2 (39:35):
Well, I was going like Jean Claude van Dam.

Speaker 3 (39:38):
Now I knew it was him, but I pretended I
didn't know was him. And then he seemed to like that.
So he and I sat there and we drank together
and talked and we watched the hockey game? Did he
asked the bartender to put on because he's a big
hockey fan. Anyway, this bar, as I told you later on,
becomes hip again. Right now no longer is the kind
of place where drunks to keep for Southerlan than and
I drank. Now, it was the kind of place where
Hollywood people like to talk about deals in public, right,
and David Bloom starts circulating getting involved in that talk.

(40:01):
Remember he's a finance guy, so the investor kind. So
he's the kind of guy who would invested in Netflix deal. Right.
Oh yeah, yeah, So he tells one bar regular he
was friendly with Ted Surrandos. If you don't know that name,
he's the CEO of Netflix. Now David Bloom was friendly
with him, he tells a bar regular, Oarc you get
a screenplay in front of Ted if I want right now.
Obviously he doesn't know the Netflix CEO, but somehow the

(40:23):
screenplay just never seems to get in front of old Ted.
But at this point it's twenty twenty one now or
almost catching up to our modern day era. David Bloom
is a regular at the Frolic Room, as I told you,
next door to the Pantages, which has like Broadway shows
like Wicked, so you'll see actors also drinking in the
midi midday hours. Anyway, he's hanging out there. It's one
of those bars that has like an L bar, simple

(40:43):
L shape. He likes to spit at the spot at
the end of the bar by the door. Yeah, returns
right on the turn right. So one bartender he used
to remember how quote a lot of regulars, and everybody
kind of knew he was full of it, and they
just left him alone and wouldn't sit next to him.
All right, Yeah, but they still couldn't help themselves because
one day David tells all these guys he can get
Super Bowl tickets because he knows the owner of the

(41:04):
Los Angeles Rams.

Speaker 2 (41:06):
Okay, yeah, one.

Speaker 3 (41:07):
Of the regulars recalled how Bloom told him quote, he's
got a spot in the owner's box and that's where
all these guys are gonna be. So he invited us.

Speaker 4 (41:13):
So he tells the regular I have super Bowl tickets, yes,
and instead you go to a dive bar and announced
to strangers.

Speaker 3 (41:21):
Well before the super Bowl. He's telling them, the regulars,
then I can get you and the bartenders into the
owner's box of the Los Angeles lams yeah, and he
tells them this about twenty of these regulars, and so
they all go okay, and he tells, yeah, you guys
meet up here at the bar that Sunday. I'll come
pick you up and we'll all go over and I'll
get you in right. The twenty regular they show up

(41:44):
at the bar and they're waiting at the frolic room hoping.
David Bloom comes by and he's legit, and they wait
and they wait Elizabeth, and they wait some more. Their
hopes grows like slim. Slim is like a very thin.

Speaker 2 (41:55):
Stew well, I mean I can see where too.

Speaker 4 (41:57):
If he says this, you like yeah, yeah, yeah, but
in the back of your mind, like if I don't
show up, and then the next time I go to
the bar. Everyone's going to talk about how amazing it was.
He pulled up, made it happen, because you know, you
know things can happen.

Speaker 3 (42:11):
One of the regulars. He bought a new pair of
shoes just so he'd fit in with the swells and
the owner's box. Swear to God, Bloom sends word to
the group. The bartender. Doc talked about him earlier. He
remembered how quote he texted me at a ten o'clock
Sunday morning of the Super Bowl saying his sister was
killed in a car crash. Oh god, Yeah, you gotta
love a real liar's liar like that. They always go

(42:32):
big when the chips are down. Yeah. Now, I had
a friend of mine, and I won't embarrass him by
naming him, but he used to lie like this, Like
I'd be standing next to him and he'd say to
somebody right right in front of them that we were
supposed to be somewhere like the day before, and he'd
be like, oh, yeah, man, my truck was stolen, no prep,
And I'm standing there. Now I've got to sit there
with a straight face and then go with the same
live like his truck was stolen in town where trucks

(42:52):
are not stolen, like this just doesn't happen. It would
be big news anyways. That so then this other person
would remember the law because he would go for these
huge lies like my truck was stolen, and then people
wuld see us, hey man, what happened? Like he's like, oh, yeah,
I got my truck back. They found it. Because he
would never remember that his lie was going to sound
traumatic and these other people would want to check in
on it. So I did to have to sit there

(43:13):
and try.

Speaker 2 (43:13):
To remember it. I cared about them.

Speaker 3 (43:15):
Well, David Blum's mother was not dead, or was his sister,
nor anyone in his family. As it turns out, he
was spotted that same Super Bowl Sunday by somebody seen
drinking and playing pool at another bar. Oh yeah, all
the same. He knew he overplayed his lie that day
because David Bloom never ever went back to the frolic room.
Now that one guy who bought a new pair of

(43:35):
shoes for Super Bowl Sunday. Yeah, he later was quoted
by the La Times and he said that David Bloom
was a scumbag, an awful person.

Speaker 2 (43:42):
Oh I feel the same way.

Speaker 3 (43:44):
But anybody who convinces me to buy shoes to hang
out with rich people, get.

Speaker 4 (43:47):
New shoes for the occasion in a suit.

Speaker 2 (43:51):
So David Bloom fresh underpants.

Speaker 3 (43:54):
Uh no he did not. His mother be disappointed.

Speaker 4 (43:57):
You're in an accident wearing fresh under with his new.

Speaker 3 (44:01):
Got on some freshees. So at this point, David Bloom
fifty something, super divorced, dirtbag finance guy, and he's calling
Hollywood home.

Speaker 2 (44:09):
Right like a pop collar on his pol pretty much.

Speaker 3 (44:12):
So he's at this place, the apartment complex, the Via Carlada, right,
and this apartment building has told he's on Franklin in Hollywood.
A bunch of Hollywood hopefuls live there and other scammers
who were like but like low grade, not like professionals,
just like they're scamming themselves. Now he turns out this
guy he's going around and uh, he sees his neighbors
as uh, of course targets because his grandmother was a target.

(44:33):
So enter Caroline Diamore. Do you recognize that name? But
she wishes you would have recognized Elizabeth. She was once
a reality TV star, was she? Yeah? She was, and
I use that term generously. She was on the spinoff
show The Hills New Beginnings.

Speaker 2 (44:47):
I have no idea what that is.

Speaker 3 (44:48):
I don't either, but it's a great name.

Speaker 2 (44:50):
Right about TV, Caroline, It's like I have like hazy
memory Hills.

Speaker 3 (44:54):
You remember the Hills.

Speaker 2 (44:55):
It's the over watched it. Yeah, it was all that.
Don't think I was living in this country.

Speaker 3 (45:02):
They often say the same thing myself. I don't think
I was in this country at that time.

Speaker 2 (45:07):
I don't think I was living in this country.

Speaker 3 (45:08):
That's gap, but I'm definitely gonna borrow that. When david'll
Bloom came into her life, old Caroline Diamore, she had
a new career path. She was no longer on a
spin off reality TV show. Now she had a company
called Pizza Girl that she had started during the pandemic.
It was an organic pizza sauce company.

Speaker 2 (45:28):
Oh yeah, and I make organic pizza sauce.

Speaker 3 (45:31):
I know you do. You could be Pizza Girl if
you wanted to. She actually she got her stuff onto
like a grocery store shelves.

Speaker 2 (45:38):
And she get into Costco.

Speaker 3 (45:40):
No that I didn't check Costco.

Speaker 2 (45:42):
That's the whole She got into Whole Food.

Speaker 3 (45:44):
So anyway, one day Dimire was sitting pool side at
the apartment pool.

Speaker 4 (45:48):
She's a's one of those La complexes with the pools
on the first floor and it's in the center.

Speaker 3 (45:56):
Of exactly up walks David bloom Right, he's heard about
Pizza Girl in her sauce company. Now, I quote Dio Morre.

Speaker 2 (46:05):
I'm so excited. He actually came.

Speaker 3 (46:07):
Over to me at the pool. He said that he
had heard about my product. He'd gone to the supermarket
to buy my product. He was very blown away by it.
He was telling me he wanted to mentor me and
possibly invest in my company. Now, as de More later
told the La Times, quote, he kind of knew the
right things to say when he first approached me.

Speaker 4 (46:24):
He wants to mentor me, Like, who are you to
come around?

Speaker 2 (46:29):
You know, I hate that.

Speaker 3 (46:30):
I hate to be born suspicious when someone comes up
says I want to be your mentor.

Speaker 4 (46:33):
Well, it's like, you know when someone finds out like
I've had it where someone hears about, oh, you know,
your book's published, and they come up and they're like,
I'm happy to kind of give you any chips.

Speaker 2 (46:42):
Oh yeah, dude, it's in the bookstores.

Speaker 3 (46:45):
I don't need Barnes.

Speaker 2 (46:47):
And Noble, no tips needed, Thank you.

Speaker 3 (46:49):
I'm going to mentor you because I'm going to offer
my service.

Speaker 2 (46:52):
Yeah, help you out here.

Speaker 3 (46:53):
Thanks. Anyway, Deomore wasn't exactly suspicious, as I point out
when they first met, because she put it quote he
had just confided in he at some point about his
ex wife and how he was heartbroken. Heartbreak because the
hell of a way to bond in a lonely town
like La. All right, his story works to win her
friendship or what passes for it in a Hollywood apartment complex.

Speaker 2 (47:11):
I'm a sad guy.

Speaker 3 (47:12):
Yeah, he's like, you know what it is.

Speaker 4 (47:13):
This is tough, it's broken, and I love pizza sauce.

Speaker 2 (47:17):
So much going on in my head.

Speaker 3 (47:18):
So now that bloom is casually mentioned that, he's like,
you know, heartbroken and so forth. He also mentions he
knows this guy Ron Burkele and if you don't know
who he is, he owns Soho House. It's a quote
an exclusive international social club. Now, the casual name drop
it works on DM Moore and wins her trust because
she puts a quote. I never thought that somebody would
make that up. I just thought it was such a
random person to name drop.

Speaker 4 (47:40):
It is the kind of random name drop but I
would be like, wait, it totally rings a bell.

Speaker 2 (47:43):
Who is that? See that's how it works, Like whatever.

Speaker 3 (47:47):
Yeah, you gotta be like me, you don't know anything.

Speaker 2 (47:48):
Yeah, I don't know who that is?

Speaker 3 (47:50):
Did you have to ask who is that?

Speaker 2 (47:52):
Who is that?

Speaker 3 (47:53):
So she didn't know, but she was already being worked right,
So Bloom he sees a ripe one in her, so
he focuses on her. He tells her how he can
help her with her financial pick sure to be a
mentor all that he knows people he knows. The CEO
of Whole Foods A C. Gallo, Oh for an introduction
from me, could mean you'd be on the companies like
get the company's full support on all the shelves coast
to coast. He said, it just like some shelf space
down at the Whole Foods here in La Like you

(48:14):
told me.

Speaker 2 (48:15):
He took it an ara one right, that's.

Speaker 3 (48:17):
The real money. Now, before the deal moves forward, David
Bloom convinces her he can help her with her financial picture,
get her on her square footing, so that way her
company isn't like, you know, so precarious. He imagines that.
You know, he's coming out of the pandemic. She's been
struggling to get people to I don't know why by
pizza sauce, but regardless, she says, it was difficult.

Speaker 2 (48:34):
People are born having pizza parties.

Speaker 4 (48:36):
I guess they're getting an OONI like I got Yeah,
he's took that pizza outside.

Speaker 3 (48:40):
There go. So, while she's trying to make her leap
from reality star to pizza sauce and presario, she could
use a financial windfall like what David Balloon promises, so
he convinces her to invest thirty five thousand dollars in
the exclusive Soho house. He tells her the company is
about to announce it's IPO and thanks for a little insider.

Speaker 2 (48:58):
In like London, New York.

Speaker 3 (49:00):
Yeah exactly, Yeah, so he can he can help her
like walk away with eight hundred and fifty thousand dollars
off the initial investment. Now, if those things don't make
you suspicious or skeptical, I don't know what to tell you. Anyway.
As these dizzy days progressed, Diamore and invites David Bloom
to her daughter's birthday party. Oh she got a kid.
At the party, he tells the much younger woman that

(49:21):
he loves her, but not like you think, Elizabeth. He
tells her he loved her like a kid's sister. I'm
looking out for you zone totally. So a little time passes. Now,
David Bloom comes back to Diamore with great news. He
talked to the head honcho at Whole Foods. You remember
their friends. Yeah, he's interested in meeting this promising young
pizza girl. The word is out about her pizza sauce

(49:41):
and Whole Foods wants it on all their shelves. Can't
believe we're already selling it. We didn't know more So
to prove it was worth her time to make a
plan to fly to Texas to meet with the folks
from Whole Foods, Bloom sets up a meet and greet
phone called a c Gallo. The Whole Foods CEO, the
Pizza Girl hopeful ceo. They chat on the phone. They
hit it off. He promises he'll schedu a two million
dollar investment in Dmorri's pizza sauce company. He invites her

(50:05):
and her business partner to meet him in Texas at
the Whole Foods headquarters. She recalled it and I quote
he sent me and my business partners on a trip
to Texas to meet the CEO of Whole Foods. That
heat in this case is David Bloom. Okay, right, so,
but rather than me tell you about all this, Elizabeth, wait.

Speaker 2 (50:21):
Wasn't really the CEO on the phone.

Speaker 3 (50:23):
I'd like you to close your eyes. I'd like you
to picture it. It's a warm day. The sound of
the LA traffic grows distance. Since you've arrived at your destination. Lax.
The car door closes, you step out. You, Elizabeth, are
the business partner of Caroline Dmore and you two are
headed to Texas to meet with the CEO of Whole
Foods one ac gallo. You rush through security at TSA.

(50:45):
You two have to run to make it to your gage,
but you make it just in time and barely a
moment it.

Speaker 2 (50:50):
Feels like the plane takes off.

Speaker 3 (50:52):
You two order drinks. On the flight. You order a
second round. You two are excited as you chat as
you drink, imagining how this meeting will go send it up.
The flight lands, wheels down, car door closes. You're back
in a taxi gab, this time headed to Whole Foods headquarters.
You two aren't nervous, you're excited. You're geeked even, Oh
my god, it's happening. The taxi ride doesn't last long.
The car door's open. You two are at Whole Foods headquarters.

(51:14):
It's all happening, Elizabeth, you too. Hoof it up the
sidewalk past public art and water fountains bubbling to charming
corporate complex. As far as those go. You walk through
the glass doors into a main lobby. There's some world
music playing wood flute and rainstick kind of music playing
from unseen speakers. A male secretary seated behind a high desk.

(51:36):
He greets you both. You hear your business partner, Caroline Diamores,
say your names and the time of your meeting with
Ac Gallows. The male secretary checks the computer screen. He says,
there's no meeting or visitors pass for either of you
in the system. You hear Caroline Damorris says, would you
mind checking again? The male secretary goes through the shard
and says again, you're not in the system. Sorry. Are
you sure you have the day right? Caroline Damorris says, no,

(51:58):
it's today. We flew here, it's today. The secretary says, no,
it's not today. There must be some mistake there's no mistake,
but there must be. There isn't. Do you need your
parking validated? You the sensible one, the business partner. You
tell Caroline you too, she'd step outside. She follows your leader.
She's kind of cracking up, and as soon as you
step outside, the world music falls away. You ask, have

(52:19):
you ever looked David bloom up online? Standing there outside
of Whole Foods? You and your business partner, Caroline dmurrey.
As she types the words, you look over her shoulder
into the phone. David bloom scammer, She types into her phone,
and that's when she discovers a new story, and then
another new story in another one, and you two see
that he had a prior identity as the Wall Street
whiz kid back in Manhattan. Caroline dmorray gasps, drops her phone,

(52:43):
and you mouthed words that rhyme with Joe spit Elizabeth.
Neither the business partner you nor Caroline dmorray ever thought
to look up David bloom up online before they were
standing outside the Whole Foods complex in Texas.

Speaker 2 (53:00):
Believable, unbelievable. I google everybody. It astounds me.

Speaker 3 (53:04):
They would be if he asked them out on a date,
they'd know everything about it. But because like thirty five
thousand dollars, why do I need to investigate anything? Jamuri
gave this man the thirty five grand flew to Texas
before she ever thought to look him up. Google is free.

Speaker 2 (53:19):
Who was she talking to on the phone? Him?

Speaker 3 (53:20):
No, he paid somebody to prin to be a C. Gallo. Yeah,
I'm Acy Galo.

Speaker 2 (53:24):
She doesn't know who he is.

Speaker 3 (53:25):
Like, so he has paid somebody who's had a good
business voice. I guess.

Speaker 2 (53:30):
Okay.

Speaker 3 (53:30):
Anyway, Elizabeth, she and her business partner, they now have
to fly back home to La knowing the full truth
that they've been big time duped by her neighbor. As
DMR said later, she put it all together. Who I
thought I'd spoken to on the phone. He went so
far as to have someone impersonate this person to me.
The truth descended like a lead curtain dropped from above right,
and so did the emotional shock, the sense of betrayal,

(53:52):
all that he knew, all about my history growing up
in the restaurants. He was just very excited about my company.
I was ecstatic. He knew I wasn't rich, and that's
what was really upsetting. So Demoury. She gets back home
to the Villa Carlatta apartment complex. She asks around, talks
to her neighbors, asked if they've seen David Bloom. They
want to know why she's so upset. She tells him
about the investing in the finance. Then, Elizabeth, would you

(54:13):
believe it? Turns out he's been working over all of
the neighbors. He could, as Amore put it, quote, everybody
thought it was a special deal for them. He really
makes you feel like you're his best friend. So the
apartment neighbors, they all basically comparison notes and stories. They
realize he's scammed all of them. They march up to
his apartment and they bang on the door, ready to
have some confrontation and demand their money back. And what

(54:35):
do you think they found? Was he there or had
he already bounced?

Speaker 2 (54:38):
Oh he's gone.

Speaker 3 (54:39):
No, Elizabeth, this guy was sitting there, sitting there.

Speaker 2 (54:43):
He sends her on this trip to Texas.

Speaker 3 (54:46):
And doesn't leave, and he's still at the apartment. He's like,
I got good WiFi, I like the views. Planned well,
he's home to receive the angry mob of his neighbors,
all the people who lives around him. He tried to
calm down this la apartment complex. All the folks he's
cheated and lied to for thousands of dollars. These are
not people who have this to lose. One of the group,

(55:08):
who would not be named, when he spoke with the
La Times said, and I quote, at first, he denied everything.
He denied that he scammed us. He said, I will
pay you all back in the morning. But everything that
comes out of his mouth is.

Speaker 2 (55:18):
A lie in the morning.

Speaker 3 (55:20):
So yeah, he didn't buy himself enough time. So to
get justice, this group of swindled people, they take to
social media. Dmore the Pizza Girls. She posts on Instagram
all the time about her former friend and financial advisor,
her mentor. The group eventually partners with Nancy Oseias, the
former wife of Bloom. They began to protest and make
noise outside of the LA DA's office because he won't
take this case seriously. He's like, oh, you got scammed

(55:41):
in Hollywood, welcome to town, right. They demanded the DA
get off the pot and take action against his local scammer.
The La Times reported about Dmore because they find Dmore
at the outside of a protest. Yeah, and I quote
the reason these people get away, but they's because people
are too afraid to admit that they were scammed. I'm
willing to beat the face. You know what, We're not
the ones that need to be embarrassed. And you know what,

(56:03):
Pizza Girl, good for you. I agree with you. You should
not be embarrassed, amen, because where she put it. So
I don't feel stupid that I fell for it. I
feel human.

Speaker 2 (56:12):
Well you can also feel stupid. You'd be human is
to be stupid.

Speaker 3 (56:16):
It is human to get scammed, yes, or rather to
believe in something that's too good to be true. That's
how we cross oceans, that's how we do all sorts
of stuff. So it's not embarrassing you got scammed by
someone like David Blue. I mean, it kinda is, as
you point out, but it's not. You shouldn't remain mute
and hope it all passed.

Speaker 2 (56:30):
To admit to being stupid.

Speaker 3 (56:32):
But I but I mean, it could be embarrassing, like
oh I goofed, you know, like spilling water on yourself
is embarrassing, but it's not catastrophic and detrimental. It's just like,
oh I shouldn't do that again.

Speaker 2 (56:42):
Get embarrassed.

Speaker 3 (56:43):
But you don't get embarrassed by many things. Yeah, I know,
I've been many to talk to you about that. Anyway,
in this case, it worked, la DA. They get off
their pot, they take action. David Bloom is arrested and
LAPD must not have liked this guy because they raided
his place at four am on a Monday morning. Oh out, Yeah,
that's big time screw you from the LAPD totally. So
he gets charged with nine counts of grand theft in fraud.

(57:04):
LADA George Gasson he pointed out in his press hearing
about the case that the laped's investigation discovered that Bloom,
now fifty nine years old, quote, had very little money
in his personal accounts, so he's just living off of
his debt.

Speaker 2 (57:18):
Yeah.

Speaker 3 (57:19):
As the LADA said in his press release, quote, this
is an individual who's a predator. He's been praying on
victims vulnerable people all his life, and he came to
la to do the same thing. Here. They take advantage
of any of us, and they generally pick us at
a moment of vulnerability. They come to you in a
way that you feel like you're personally connected to this individual.
Since he was just recently arrested David Bloom has convicted

(57:39):
and he's yet to be sentenced, so he's looking right
now at fourteen years in a California prison. Yikes, Elizabeth,
what's our ridiculous takeaway here?

Speaker 2 (57:46):
Man?

Speaker 4 (57:46):
Don't trust anybody and make your own pizza sauce.

Speaker 3 (57:50):
That's good advice.

Speaker 2 (57:51):
That's great advice, Thanks so much.

Speaker 3 (57:53):
Thank you for asking. Elizabeth. Is if you're in a
Hollywood bar and someone tells you they're friends with the
head of Netflix, assume they're lying in fact. And also,
if you're running a business, assume no one wants to
make you rich because why you know. And then also
if they say they do, once again, they're probably lying
or planning on gobbling you up or somehow taking the.

Speaker 2 (58:10):
Money that they make you rich with exactly.

Speaker 3 (58:13):
So there you go. That's it.

Speaker 2 (58:14):
That's a great takeaway. Thank you so much.

Speaker 3 (58:16):
That's ridiculous. But La, is so you in the mood
for a talkback? I love them produce a d Can
you favor us with a talk bag?

Speaker 2 (58:25):
Oh my god?

Speaker 3 (58:28):
Because hell.

Speaker 2 (58:36):
Big get I night and me from astral I just
want to say, you go, it's pretty funny and a
listening to you on not Shift and you kept asking
for a tol mex.

Speaker 3 (58:45):
So here you got. We always love your guys's talkbacks,
so you should play more of these. Yah. Yeah, get
on the apps man and you can go to the
iHeart app record one and you could hear yourself right there.
Or you can go online and go send us an
email Ridiculous Crime if you want to do like a
voice message there and you can do that too, if
you can figure that out. Yeah, And you can also

(59:06):
go to ridiculous Crime dot com. You can't leave any
messages there, they're not voice messages, but you can fill
out our survey for listenership and tell us about yourself.
And obviously you know you can email us at ridiculous
Crime at gmail dot com. As always started dear producer
David Well as always, thanks for listening. We will catch
you next crime. Ridiculous Crime is hosted by Elizabeth Dunton

(59:34):
and Zaron Burnette, produced and edited by the CEO of Netflix,
Dave gust It's starring Analys Rutgers. Judy Research is by
the co heads of Berkshire Hathaway, Marissa Brown and Andrea
Song Sharp and Tear. Our theme song is by Thomas
new Shoes Lee and Travis I don't like football Dutton.
The host wardrobe provided by Botany five hundred guest hair

(59:56):
and makeup by Sparkleshot and mister Andre. Executive producers are
Then you Know, I once drank with Donald Sutherland before
he passed Bowland and Noel, I once drank with Donald
Sutherland after he passed Brown.

Speaker 2 (01:00:15):
Crime, Say it one more time, Gequs Crime.

Speaker 1 (01:00:20):
Ridiculous Crime is a production of iHeartRadio four more podcasts
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