December 31, 2025 • 49 mins
When the Jeffrey Epstein story exploded back into public view in 2019, investors at Apollo Global Management were immediately confronted with damaging revelations about co-founder Leon Black and his deep financial ties to Epstein. The disclosure that Black had paid Epstein tens of millions of dollars—later revealed to total roughly $158 million—set off alarm bells across Apollo’s investor base, particularly among public pension funds and institutional limited partners who are acutely sensitive to reputational and governance risk. These investors were not reacting to rumor or tabloid noise; they were responding to documented financial relationships that continued well after Epstein’s 2008 conviction, raising serious questions about Black’s judgment and Apollo’s internal controls.
As the story unfolded through late 2019 and into 2020, confidence in Black’s leadership eroded rapidly. Investors began pressing Apollo’s board for explanations, transparency, and concrete action, with some signaling that future capital commitments were at risk if Black remained in control. The issue metastasized from a personal scandal into a firm-wide credibility problem, forcing Apollo to commission an external review and publicly address governance failures it had long avoided. By the time Black announced his exit, investor faith had already collapsed; his continued presence was widely viewed as incompatible with Apollo’s ability to raise capital and maintain legitimacy in a market increasingly intolerant of Epstein-adjacent risk.
to contact me:
bobbycapucci@protonmail.com
Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-epstein-chronicles--5003294/support.
As the story unfolded through late 2019 and into 2020, confidence in Black’s leadership eroded rapidly. Investors began pressing Apollo’s board for explanations, transparency, and concrete action, with some signaling that future capital commitments were at risk if Black remained in control. The issue metastasized from a personal scandal into a firm-wide credibility problem, forcing Apollo to commission an external review and publicly address governance failures it had long avoided. By the time Black announced his exit, investor faith had already collapsed; his continued presence was widely viewed as incompatible with Apollo’s ability to raise capital and maintain legitimacy in a market increasingly intolerant of Epstein-adjacent risk.
to contact me:
bobbycapucci@protonmail.com
Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-epstein-chronicles--5003294/support.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Last night when we left off, I was telling you
a little bit about Leon Black's problems and how they've
been magnified. You know, when we were first talking about
Leon Black and we were talking about how he was
under the microscope, I said, I didn't think it would
be long before investors and people who safeguarded their money
(00:22):
with him started looking for the exits. And it seems
like that has started to occur. There's a new article
out from Bloomberg and that's basically what they're talking about.
You know, there are a lot of pitfalls for somebody
who manages money when they're caught cavorting with a sex
(00:43):
trafficker who was one of the most prolific child abusers
in the history of this country. Basically, I mean, that's
not that's not even going a step too far, is it.
Considering what we know, considering the hundreds of girls, considering
everything that has come out, and considering you know, what
has been on record with just the girls from Palm Beach,
(01:06):
would make him one of the most prolific that we
know of. Then you add in the sex trafficking ring,
the trading, the girls around, all of it, and you
definitely have one of the most prolific sex traffickers. And
this is the kind of guy that Leon Black is
hanging around with. And if you were in charge of
(01:26):
these pensions, and you were in charge of all of
this money that people trusted you to invest, would you
be moving it with somebody like Leon Black right now,
especially considering how the stock is getting hammered over his
ties with to Epstein. I certainly wouldn't. And it looks
(01:47):
like that's what Leon Black and Apollo Global is facing
right now, and it comes at an odd time for
them because they were in the mix to jump in
and buy William Hill the sportsbook. So I bet you
that's on hold right now. I mean, I don't know
one way or the other. I haven't really dug into it.
But you would think with all of these rumors swirling
(02:10):
and all of this controversy that Leon Black has started
to face, that that deal might be shelved. So we'll
have to see. But in this article tonight, the headline
is Leon Black's Epstein links threaten Apollo's fundraising. And this
article it first appeared in Bloomberg and it is being
(02:31):
run right here and where we're using it. The source
here is on Yahoo finance. Authors of this article, Heather
Perlberg and Sabrina Wilmer, Apollo Global Management Incorporated is facing
a client revolt that could choke new investments into its
(02:52):
funds as questions persist about co founder Leon Black's ties
to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. And that's a pretty
interesting choice of words that the authors use here, right
in the first paragraph. A client revolt. Remember I said
that I thought something like that was going to happen.
(03:13):
It's just that's how it works in the financial sector.
People are scared, they're gonna run for the hills when
it comes to shit like this. They're all looking for
the Exit's like there's a fire. Nobody wants to park
their money with somebody who who knows how deep the
ties really are with Epstein? And I know we got
the independent investigation that's cracking off, okay, but really, these pensions,
(03:40):
especially these public pensions, these these sorts of people, and
the people running these sorts of pension funds, they don't
want anything to do with this. And we're starting to
see that now come and and start to become a reality.
Cambridge Associate, it's an influential consultant to investors, including pensions
(04:03):
and endowments, may stop recommending Apollo. According to people with
knowledge of the matter, there are a lot of rumors
swirling right now, a lot of unconfirmed rumors, stuff that
I can't really substantiate. But there is a lot going
on in the financial world when it comes to Apollo
and people losing trust. And it's crazy because Apollo was
(04:27):
one of the biggest engines of the whole entire market.
They're very powerful, very influential, and they made a lot
of money. So of course people wanted to roll with
them and ride with them and benefit off of their back. Right,
But now there are other places to park your money. Okay,
you might get a half a percent less of a return,
(04:47):
but at least you don't have the cloud of Jeffrey
Epstein hanging over you and all of the pensioneers. Already,
the Pennsylvania Public school Employees retirement system has Apollo it
won't consider additional investments for now, So there you go.
The public school employees retirement system in Pennsylvania has informed
(05:11):
Apollo that it's a rap. They don't want to do
business with them for now. They know that things are
a lot worse than Leon Black and Apollo are letting on.
Wherever there's smoke, there's usually a little bit of fire, right,
and in this case, I think there's a little bit
more than a little. The developments follow months of pressure
(05:32):
on Apollo from investors seeking more definitive answers about what
chief executive officer Black has described as professional ties to Epstein,
who is awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges involving underage
girls when he was found dead in jail last year. Look,
there should be pressure on people like Leon Black. There
(05:55):
should be pressure on these people to answer for their
relationship with Jeffrey Epstein. Again, I don't know how many
times I have to say it. You can't. He can't
even go on the excuse of, well, this was before
he was convicted. I didn't know if you were hanging
out with Epstein before he was convicted for this crime.
Even though I might not believe you, you at the
(06:17):
very least have a bit of a leg to stand
on by pleading that you had no idea what was
going on, especially if you weren't in his inner circle.
But if you were hanging out with Jeffrey Epstein after
the fact, if you were still doing business with Jeffrey
Epstein after the fact. If you Leon Black thought that
(06:40):
having Jeffrey Epstein was a consultant after the fact was okay,
then you, mister Leon Black, must deal with whatever comes
down the pipe, because there are repercussions for shit like that.
You're just in. Their relationship heightened anew last week when
(07:02):
The New York Times reported Black had wired at least
fifty million dollars to Epstein after his conviction for soliciting
prostitution from a teenage girl. And that might be the conviction.
We all know. It's a bunch of bs, and everybody
that was around him at the time knew that it
was a lot more serious than solicitation. Well, you don't
(07:24):
think these people in powerful circles talk. You don't think
any of these people are friends with attorney generals or
assistant attorney generals or people in the prosecutor's office. Hell
yeah they are. Who do you think is donating money
to their runs to get those offices? Certainly not me
and you with our nickel and dime donations. If you're
making them, that's a fantasy. This money is being poured
(07:48):
in by bag men like Leon Black, so that when
situations like this occur, they get themselves some leniency, and
it's absurd, it's gross, and I'm tired of it. Black
and Apollo are now trying to dispel the cloud over
the company, which depends on multi billion dollar fundraisings to
fuel its earnings and has already seen its stock take
(08:11):
a hit at Black's urging. This week, a panel of
board members hired law firm Decker LLP and independently to
independently examine the sixty nine year old's account of his
ties to Epstein, whom Black has said he turned to
for financial matters such as taxes, estate planning, and philanthropy.
(08:32):
So how deeply were you guys tied financially? How many
business ventures were you guys involved in, how many of
those were off the books, how many of those were
done through intermediaries, how many of those were done through LLCs?
How much of this money was reported, how much of
it wasn't, How many rico crimes were committed on a
(08:52):
daily basis? Those are the questions I have. Leon requested
and welcomes the third part independent review. Oh, I'm sure
he does correct me if I'm wrong. But isn't Apollo
paying for this so called independent review. Pretty sure they are,
so how independent is it when they're working on their dime?
(09:16):
Like I said, I think they want an independent review.
That's fine. Forensic investigators from the FBI should be in
charge of any review. A spokesperson for Black said an
email statement Wednesday. He is confident that the outcome will
put the matter behind Apollo and validating what he has
previously communicated publicly. No, it won't, just like it wouldn't
(09:40):
for Dubin, just like it didn't work for Wexter or
Harvard or the New York Academy of Arts. All of
these internal investigations, all of these so called independent investigations
that these people kick into gear, really hold no weight.
Apolo is firmly committed to transparency, a company spokesperson setting
(10:04):
an email Leon has communicated directly with our investors on
this issue, and we remain an open dialogue. Look, the
only reason he's communicating is because he got caught with
his hand in the cookie jar. Do you think he'd
be coming out and just, you know, because he's such
an honest cat and say, look, you know what, I
(10:25):
did have ties to Epstein. We were boys. We kicked
it I went to his house, We drank some booze,
whatever it may be. No, until these stories started to break,
until people started asking questions, none of these people came forward.
None of these people offered to help the investigations or
to help the survivors get just a little bit of justice.
(10:50):
They just went on with their merry lives. And you
know why, It's because it's normalized to them. This kind
of treatment of other human beings is just normal to
these people at the very least. That's the way it seems,
doesn't it. There's been no allegation that Black's dealings with
Epstein broke the law. Well, look, that's why we have
an investigation, right we can't just say, well, no, there's
(11:14):
nothing to see here without having an investigation. That's what
happens in countries that are run by dictators. That's what
happens in countries where the so called media is acting
as a propaganda arm for the government. We see that
more and more in America. But it's weirder here because
(11:35):
the media acts as a propaganda arm for their favorite
insert politician here. And now we have a country where
it's not the one reality We live in an America
with two realities. Anything they can do that involves outside
observers to nip that narrative in the bud, in my view,
(11:56):
will be great for the stock. Said Patrick, have it
and analyst at Autonomous Research look for sure if they
can get If they could have got out in front
of this, and Leon Black would have came out right
away and been very honest and upfront, provided documentation, went
and spoke to the FBI all of it, then I'm
sure a lot of people, a lot of a lot
(12:17):
of these investors would have been much more comfortable. But
even with this kind of investigation, how comfortable are you
going to be parking billions of dollars with Leon Black?
What happens if he gets in trouble, say just let's
just say in speculating that he gets in trouble with
a RICO charge and now all of his assets are frozen.
(12:37):
What if they freeze Apollo? What if you have to
wait to get your assets out via litigation? What if
the government freezes all of that money. It's not out
of the realm of possibility. We've seen it before. So
I can understand why people want some clarification here. I
can understand why investors are a bit hesitant, and I
(12:59):
can understand he's dealing with a bit of a revolt.
This is heinous, serious shit. This doesn't sweep under the
rug blue collar crime. I'll pay somebody off and that's
the end of it. There are way too many people
who are interested in this now, way too many people
who are turning over rocks and shaking bushes, and only
real answers are going to be accepted. No more of
(13:21):
this obfuscation, no more of this dugging questions, and no
more of these easy pathways by the legacy media. I
am kind of wondering why they didn't do this in
the first place. This could have gotten the monkey off
their back a long time ago. Well, I'll tell you why,
(13:43):
because I think that they understand that there's a lot
more there and they didn't want to unearth anything and
cause shock waves that were not needed. If Black was
squeaky clean with his relationship with Epstein, if Black and
Epstein weren't that tight, then they would have initiated this
a long time ago, or they would have went to
the FBI and spoke with them. But they know, we know,
(14:07):
everybody knows that Leon Black, the arrest of Polite so
called polite society, and people like Jeffrey Epstein are involved
in all kinds of behind the scenes money moving. There's
just not even it's not even a debate at this point.
The Pennsylvania Retirement System said it had planned to have
(14:30):
a meeting with Apollo sometime this week, but after The
Times published its story on October twelfth, the pension plan
plan held a meeting by phone the next day. It
later suspended new investments. So that's look, I'll tell you what.
I'll give them props for that. You got to stand
for something right. And if you can't stand for avoiding
(14:52):
doing business with somebody like Leon Black, who is very
close or was very close to Jeffrey Epstein, then I
don't know what mountain you're gonna choose to make your
stand on, because this is just, I mean, next world
evil to abuse children like this. PSERS is closely following
(15:18):
the ongoing legal issues and the newly launched internal Apollo investigation,
it said in a statement, without elaborating on its concerns.
The Financial Times earlier reported the decision, and I knew
this was gonna happen, and I talked about this. It
was only a matter of time, and once one leaves,
once one pauses business, well you see others start to
(15:40):
do the same. Because once you get rattled in the
financial industry, people get rattled fast, and once one person
jumps overboard, it is a mass scramble to the lifeboats.
Votes folks. Cambridge, which advises advises on about four hundred
and ten billion in assets, told clients its deliberations were
(16:02):
prompted by lingering questions over Black and Epstein's ties. A
representative for the firm declined to comment. Think about that
fort Cambridge, and advises on about four hundred and ten
billion in assets, has told their clients to step back
from Apollo. This is bad news and Leon Black is
(16:22):
really going to suffer financially from this. Some other investors,
speaking on the condition they do not be named, said
they didn't understand what financial services could warrant fifty million
dollars in payments to Epstein, a college dropout. He lacked
conventional training in areas such as taxes and estate planning.
And it's one hundred percent true. One of the biggest
(16:45):
points I've talked about. I know how people like this act.
I've dealt with people that are just extremely wealthy, and
I know how they are. They're not just letting anybody
near their money. They're not just gonna let any guy,
someone like Jeffrey Epstein, a college dropout, be in charge
of all their dough and fifty million here, ten million there, Bah,
(17:08):
no big deal. That's not how these people operate. These
people are all control freaks. So there's a lot more here,
something way deeper, in my opinion, and we're gonna get
to the bottom of it. Leon Black Apollo stock slumped
in the wake of the newspaper's report, shedding fourteen percent
(17:28):
by Tuesday. It jumped as much as six point three
percent on Wednesday after the firm disclosed the board's reviews.
The shares end of the day up two point six percent,
but they're down thirteen and a half percent in twenty twenty.
That's a blood bath. That is just terrible to have
your stocks down. The shares down thirteen and a half
(17:50):
percent is it's a bell weather for what's to come
if they don't get rid of Black and Black can't
stop the bleeding here, boy, oh boy, it's gonna be
bad news. I'm talking real bad news for Apollo. And
let me tell you if they find something that connects
(18:11):
him criminally, it's gonna it's going to rock the whole
entire financial world, right, any one of these guys if
they get caught up in the financial web that Epstein
was weaving and they get themselves criminally charged, boy oh boy,
will that send a message these these congressmen, these senators
want to send a message after Finsen, Well, what a
(18:33):
message that would be. Clients frustrations. Pension systems, often more
exposed to political pressures, are known to be repelled by
negative news involving their investment partners one hundred percent. Fact.
You know, you get a private investor, somebody who's only
worried about increasing their wealth. They don't care about any
(18:56):
of this shit. But when you have a public pension,
a pension where there is a lot of scrutiny, yeah,
probably don't want that money parked with Jeffrey Epstein's good friend,
Leon Black. Some have been raising concerns with Apollo for
more than a year over the headlines generated by Black
(19:17):
and Epstein's relationship, According to people with knowledge of those talks,
we've reported that here for about a year now. I've
heard that from many people, many people who work in
the financial sector. A lot of people that I know
have talked about this, and they've said that people are
really scared off, and people are not comfortable with how
(19:40):
close Black and Epstein were. And the only reason there
hasn't been a mass exodus is because Apollo is so
gigantic and they've made people so much money throughout the years.
People are going to wait it out and see. But
let me tell you what, if things start getting squirrely,
you're gonna see a mass run for those lifeboats, folks.
(20:02):
Nobody's going down with this ship. Two investors said they
pressed Apollo for more information about their ties, but were
disappointed with the lack of detail. Look, if I'm investing
with you, and I'm investing big dough, We're talking millions
and millions and billions of dollars in some cases. Yeah,
(20:22):
you better be forthright, bro, you better tell me what
the hell's going on. And I don't just want like
the cliff notes. I want details, Nuance. I want to
know that you did your homework. Do you have an
investigator looking into this, that you've hired a private investigator?
Do you have you know, whatever mechanism it may be,
those are the questions that I would have and if
(20:43):
the answer is no, my question would then be, well
why not. The firm's representatives tried to assure some clients
by suggesting journalists digging into this situation would have found
wrongdoing if any occurred. That is so such bs, we
can only do so much. We don't have subpoena power.
(21:03):
We don't have the power to go and get these
files and look at your bank statements and the transactions
like the investigators do. All we can do is try
and get people on record, follow the story to the
best of our ability, and then disseminate that information to
the listeners or the viewers or the readers, or whatever
(21:25):
the medium might be. But to suggest that the journalists
digging into the situation would have had all the dirt
by now, well that's just patently false. Representatives also noted
Black wasn't the only one who had done business with Epstein.
Some clients said they were offered the possibility of questioning
(21:46):
Black directly. Well, that's something I would definitely look forward to.
And what does that even mean. The representatives noted that
Black wasn't the only one who had done business with Epstein,
so because of other people did business with Epstein. That's okay.
That makes it okay that Leon Black did. I should
just be okay with that. Then, I don't even understand
(22:08):
what they're trying to point out there. It's such a
stupid comment. Gerald O'Hara, an analyst at Jeffrey's Group covering
Apollo's stock, said he's been fielding calls from an investors
nervous that the situation at Apollo could spiral further. I'm
telling you, I've been hearing the same thing, not from investors,
but from people who work in the financial industry. They've
(22:31):
said that there's just this like weird talk about Apollo
and how it's never they've never heard this kind of
talk when Apollo is concerned. Right, there's always been such
a strong institution, such a staple. Nothing rocks it. They
just keep on moving. But this is something that's actually
sticking that people are talking about, and that is bad,
(22:52):
bad news for Leon Black and Apollo. But even then
private equity fund client it's typically agree to have their
money locked up for years. The risk is into existing funds.
It's to Apollo's ability to attract new money, and that
is the biggest slam to them because without their fundraising,
(23:13):
without raising new money, it's a it's a rap. They'll
have to shut up their shop. There'll be no way
that they can conduct business if they're they're not raising
new funds every year, every quarter, and that that is
very disturbing. If you're Apollo, there's no doubt about that.
This could certainly have an impact on future fundraising rounds,
(23:36):
O'Hara said. Bloomberg reported in April that the firm aim
to eventually raise twenty billion across several new funds to
take advantage of dislocations and credit markets, as well as
private debt translation so that they can get busy with
the transfer of wealth, so they can steal from the people,
so that they can take more money from the middle
(23:57):
class and enrich themselves more, all at the same time
while hanging out with people who abuse your children. How
awesome is that? Leon Black's a hell of a guy,
isn't he? The absolute transfer of wealth that has occurred
in the past six months is sickening Black's regrets. The
(24:19):
two men have been acquaintances since at least the early nineties.
From time to From time to time, Epstein met with
Black at Apollo's New York offices, and he pitched personal
tax strategies to the firm's executives. Bloomberg has reported again,
why do you need Jeffrey Epstein pitching you tax strategies?
(24:40):
What has Jeffrey Epstein ever accomplished to make a guy
like Leon Black take him seriously? That's the question you
have to ask yourselves, folks, and we have to keep
digging for that answer. Apollo conducted an internal review into
its involvement with Epstein to ensure that any ties went
(25:01):
no further than the firm's co founder. People with knowledge
of the matter said, last year, so he was in
the Apollo offices pitching all this shit to Black, and
he never talked to anybody else out Apollo. None of
the other executives. Huh, nobody else sat in on those meetings.
It was just the two of them. That's rather intimate.
Was it candlelight? Did they share a milkshake with two straws?
(25:23):
How about a plate of spaghetti? Like Lady in the Tramp.
That included examining emails and records to determine there was
no connection between the company and Epstein. One of the
people said, with the benefit of hindsight and knowing everything
that has come to light about mister Epstein's despicable conduct
(25:45):
more than fifteen years ago, I deeply regret having had
any involvement with him, Black said in a letter to
Apollos Limited Partners dated last week. Look, man, Leon Black
is in it up to his ears. He had big
problems on the way, just like the rest of these guys.
And if this does move in to the realm of Rico,
(26:08):
like I think it's going to, like it almost has
to at this point, and the prosecution and all of
these regulators are serious about sending a message to the
banking industry and the rest of the idiots who are
caught up in the Finston files, Well here's your chance.
Why don't you make an example of Jess Staley, of
(26:29):
Leon Black and the rest of these guys that enable
Jeffrey Epstein's decades long crime spree. If you like to
contact me, you can do that at Bobby Kapucci at
ProtonMail dot com. That's Bobby c ap u Cci at
ProtonMail dot com. You can also find me on Twitter
(26:50):
at Bobby underscore cap you Cci. All of the links
that go with this episode can be found in the
description box. Looks like we have another person stepping down
from the Apollo Global board. Now, there's no news out
there or information out there that says this person was,
(27:14):
you know, hanging out with Epstein or involved in any way.
But when you have a big name like this who
has also ran into their own problems before at a
massage parlor, well, questions have to be asked. No, the
person we're going to talk about tonight is none other
than Robert Kraft, the owner of the New England Patriots.
(27:38):
I'm sure you've heard of Robert Craft, even if you're
not a football fan, considering all of the success that
the New England Patriots have had under his leadership more recently.
You might know him from his time in the news
about going to quote unquote massage parlors. Now just another
(28:04):
typical scuz elite, it would seem right. But again, that
doesn't mean he had anything to do with Jeffrey Epstein here,
But him and Leon Black were pretty close friends. So
it's inevitable in this story, especially that there's always some
(28:30):
smoke and it inevitably leads to some fire here. So
we're gonna have to see how this all plays out
and what they say the reasoning is behind this because
this is all relatively fresh news broke, I don't know,
roughly four or five hours ago in the New York Post.
(28:50):
So it's still a story that's getting its legs underneath it.
But it's a bad look for Apollo end of course
for Robert Kraft as well, because now question have to
be asked, right, what are you stepping down for Robert Craft?
What's going on here? So it could it could be
maybe he is doing it in protest of Leon Black's
(29:12):
behavior to try and virtue signal. That's quite possible. I
don't put anything by these so called elites trying to,
you know, refurbish their image or keep the facade going. Right.
So we have an article from the New York Post
and the headline is Robert Craft resigns from Apollo board
(29:34):
amid Epstein controversy. This article was authored by Josh Kossman,
New England Patriots owner Robert Craft has left the board
of Apollo Global Management, the private equity giant that lately
has been grappling with controversy over a co founder's ties
(29:55):
to Jeffrey Epstein, a co founder. Huh, that's what we're
calling Leon Black a co I think it's a little
bit more than a co founder. Okay, leon Black was
synonymous with Apollo Global. None of the other board members
Rowan or Smith were synonymous with Apollo Global the way
(30:15):
Leon Black was, So to call him a co founder
is kind of not really painting the picture correctly. Considering
the guy was Apollo Global, let's be real, And now
having Robert Kraft dragged into this whole mix, it is
(30:36):
just another question that has to be asked, Right, what
the hell is Robert Kraft have to do with any
of this? And if he wasn't caught up in this
situation he was caught up caught up in previously with
the whole massage parlor thing, I'd probably wouldn't. I'd probably
just think that this is one of those situations where
Robert Kraft is stepping down because he's disgusted by what's
(30:59):
going on. I'd want to give somebody the benefit of
the doubt. But considering what we know about this guy
and the massage parlor situation, he seems to be just ascuzsy. Right.
So if that's the case, and he says he's stepping
down because the situation disturbs him or whatever it is.
That is a classic virtue signal, considering that he was
(31:20):
caught up in his own situation where he was supposedly
visiting and getting sexual favors from girls inside of one
of those little, you know, rub and tug type of joints.
And you want to talk about people getting stuck in
human trafficking and stuff like that, Well, the girls that
come over here from Asia, who get brought here by
(31:42):
like the Triad, they have to work off those debts
and they find themselves in places like that where Robert
Craft allegedly was frequenting. So please miss me with the
virtue signal. Bus if that's the case, if that's what
he's doing, then why talk about being absolutely tone deaf. Kraft,
(32:07):
who had joined Apollo's board in twenty fourteen, quietly stepped
down as a director last week, according to a Friday
securities filing. The filing didn't elaborate on the reason for
Craft's resignation, but a source close to this situation said
Craft's exit was his idea and that he wasn't pressured
to leave. Oh yeah, sure, that's how it's what they
(32:27):
always say, right. Oh no, he wasn't pressure to leave.
This was Bob's decision on his own. He decided that
he was no longer a fit on the board, and
he's gonna go and spend time with his family. Sure,
it's going to be some nonsensical bs like that. We
all know that's not the guy. Robert Kraft is right,
He's not going to spend time with his family. He's
interested in building championship football teams up in Foxborough. That's
(32:51):
what him and Bill Belichick are up to. And furthermore,
shouldn't the owners be held to the same level as
the players. Was a player caught up in the Jeffrey
Epstein controversy, they'd be suspended already probably, But Robert Kraft
he avoids all sorts of justice or even answering questions.
(33:13):
The NFL should open an inquiry. They love doing that, right,
Let's see an inquiry here. Sources said Craft was a
friend of billionaire Leon Black, who made a surprise announcement
last month that he was stepping down immediately as chairman
and chief executive of the buyout firm. According to press reports,
(33:36):
Black attended Craft's surprise seventy fifth birthday party in twenty
sixteen where rocker John bon Jovie performed. Must be nice. Huh.
Guess you guys were living on a prayer. I mean, really,
imagine having the obscene amount of money that these people have. Yeah,
you know, it's my birthday. I figure, I'm gonna have
(33:56):
you know, John bon Jovi come over and rock. Maybe
we'll get you know, We'll get the Rolling Stones to
come over. I have so much money, I'm gonna have
them clone Jim Morrison and we're gonna have the doors here.
I mean, I don't put it past these people at
this point. And Robert Craft is most assuredly part of
(34:19):
the elite of the elite. So I don't know what's
going on here. Why step down? It could be something
as simple as his bff, Leon Black's leaving, so he's
leaving as well. I don't know. Maybe maybe that's the case,
or maybe there's more here. Maybe Robert Craft was connected
(34:40):
to Leon Black a little bit more deeply than we know.
Who knows. I'll tell you what, though. The story is
certainly gonna make its way out and do its thing
now that it's out of the box, that is for sure.
Because one thing I will say when it comes to
these sort of hedgies, these guys like Leon Black, the
(35:02):
legacy media is usually interested in digging in, right they
really these aren't the legacy media's favorite kind of people
either for the most part. So I think and suspect
we'll see a little bit more coming out of this,
And I wouldn't be shocked if we get some more
leaks out of the Apollo boardroom and from insiders who
(35:22):
have their ear to the street, because they've been spot
on the whole way here with the Apollo boardroom and
the fracturing in there, the infighting and the eventual departure
of Leon Black. They've been spot on with all of that,
(35:43):
according to a source close to the situation. Kraft, on
January twenty sixth told Apollo's board he was planning to
step down from the company by June one, his eightieth birthday.
That was a day after Black had announced he would
step down as Apollo CEO on or by July thirty first,
(36:03):
his seventieth birthday. So it's just all coincidence, huh, Leon Black,
Robert Kraft stepping down right around the same time. The
hell's going on here, folks? What is going on? And again,
just to be clear, Let me reiterate, I am not
asserting or saying that Robert Craft was involved with Jeffrey
Epstein at all. I have not seen any of that evidence. Hell,
(36:25):
is anything possible with this case, yep. But until I
see that evidence, well, you know, you know how I
feel about following the evidence. So what I think is
very very interesting here is the fact that Leon Black
and Robert Craft were so close, and now that these
sexual assault allegations, sexual harassment allegations have come down and
(36:48):
blasted on Black, you have Robert Kraft getting out of Dodge.
Is this some sort of self preservation move? So hey, look,
I don't want this spotlight on me. I got enough
problems down at the Rubbin tug shop. This is the
last thing I need, So I'm out of here. Possible, right,
(37:10):
very possible. It wasn't immediately clear why Craft last week
decided to step down earlier than planned. In January, the
board asked Craft to stay on will Apollo completed the
company's transition. The source said, look, there's a lot of
infighting going on inside of that boardroom, and I'm guessing
(37:31):
that that had something to do with it. I told
you that Smith wasn't done yet right, he feels he
feels like he has been maligned, almost considering he was
passed up by Rowan for the CEO spot. You know,
he's another ultra alpha type of cat right owned sports teams,
owns big business, big time hedgy. He doesn't want to
(37:53):
look like he's the one getting the crap end of
the bag. He wants to be the guy on top.
He wants to be the man with the chest puffed
out and the double cornered office. But now he was
left out in the dark, and Rowan was put in
that position, and there has been a tug of war
going on in that boardroom and within the shareholder division
(38:15):
since then. There is an absolute battle going on. Folks
were talking Game of Thrones esque battle going on, and
Craft leaving might be part of that whole entire back
and forth that's occurring at Apollo. Craft declined to comment
through a spokesperson On Monday. An Apollo spokesperson wasn't immediately
(38:39):
able to comment. So I wonder what's that about too.
You're a big time public figure, bro. You need to
answer these questions. Why are you leaving this board? What
would predicate you leaving this board when just in January.
You were supposed to help through the transition. What is
going on here, mister Bob Kraft. On April sixth, twenty
(39:05):
twenty one, Robert Kraft, a member of the board of
directors of Apollo Global Management, informed the company of his
decision to resign as a member of the board, effective immediately,
Apollo revealed in the filing effective immediately. No heads up,
none of that stuff, just to quick, Hey, look, I'm out, folks. Peace.
(39:26):
Does that sound right to you, guys? Does that sound
like the way things usually happen with these people. I'm
sure that there's some sort of compensation that gets left
on the table if you just bounce out right, you know,
these people, they're getting compensated for every single millisecond of
their time. Believe that there ain't no freebies in this world.
(39:51):
Everything's for a favor with these people. So what in
the hell happened in that boardroom? And what really led
to Robber Kraft leaving? And did he leave of his
own accord or or was he forced out? Considering you
(40:11):
have the situation with Black where basically he was Caesar
and it was at two brute situation where everyone turned
on him and it was a rap, so he could
be part of this fallout because he's one of Leon's guys.
That's very possible too. As exclusively reported by The Post
last week, Black's unexpected exit on March twenty second came
(40:35):
just days after several directors on the Private Equities Giants
Board Giants Board learned of accusations of sexual harassment against
him by a woman he claimed was trying to shake
him down over a consensual affair. Here's an idea, dumbass,
Quit stepping out on your wife. Consensual, not consensual, whatever
(40:55):
it may be. What are you doing, bro. You have
all the money in the world, go and enjoy it
with your wife. Take her on some trips, buyre a
couple of things. She's sick, right, That's what you said.
Enjoy the time you have with her instead of, you know,
gallivanting around and philandering with women while your wife's home
(41:17):
sick waiting around for you. Just an absolute piece of
shit man. And guys like this, I just I have
no tolerance for them, especially dudes like this. All the
money in the world, all of the money in the
whole damn world, and this is what you do. It's
that important. Your carnal desires are that important. It's just
(41:40):
unbelievable the way some of these people are wired. Black,
who Apollo earlier this year revealed had paid millions to
dead pedophile financier Jeffrey Epstein for tax advice and estate
planning services following the Latters two thousand and eight convictions
for procuring an underage girl for prostitution. Cited his wife's
(42:02):
ailing health and his own health problems for the sudden
change in plans. So it all makes sense now, right.
The Epstein stuff was hanging over his head, that was coming.
But then you had the allegations by miss Gani Eva,
and well, what do you expect this guy to do.
(42:23):
There's no way out for him, no wiggling off this hook.
And even if Leon Black doesn't face criminal penalties in
the Jeffrey Epstein case, perhaps he's going to in this
other case. What it's off the table if he sexually
assaulted this girl and she went to the authorities and
they believe a case should be open. Well, Leon Black
gets up every morning like me and you folks, puts
(42:45):
his pants on the same way or his servant puts
him on for him. Either way, both legs go through
those pantslets. So if he is guilty of what he's
being charged with, if he really did do this to
this young lady, this man needs to pay price. Neither
Black nor Apollo mentioned at the time that days leading
(43:06):
up to the resignation, at least four of Apollo's twelve
board members had become aware of a series of little
noticed but explosive tweets by Guzelle Ganieva, a former model
who claimed to have been forced to sign an NDA
in twenty fifteen relating to allegations that Black sexually harassed
(43:27):
and abused her. According to sources close to the situation, Now,
if it was just sexual harassment, I guess that's one
of those gray area things. Right, While it's not acceptable,
if you're Leon Black, you could say, look, that never happened,
or it wasn't what I meant it to be. Whatever,
you still come off looking like a scumbag, but not
as an abuser, at least not a physical abuser. I
(43:49):
should say, well, not only is it that for him,
he's also accused of sexually abusing this young lady. So,
Leon Black, you got some answering to do. My friend,
it wasn't immediately clear whether Kraft was among the directors
who had learned of the tweets, the sources said. In
(44:11):
a statement to the Post, Black acknowledged that he knew Ganiva,
but denied that he acted inappropriately toward her. He also
denied that her allegations influenced his decision to step away
from the company faster than planned. In January, Black had
signaled he would stay on as chairman after stepping down
as CEO on or by July thirty first. This guy
(44:34):
is an absolute liar. You know the Pinocchio commercial that
used to be on TV. You have potential, and you
have potential, and his nose keeps growing and growing and growing.
That's Leon Black. Every time this dude opens his mouth,
everything that he has said about his relationship with Epstein
and what came after has been proven to be an
(44:57):
absolute lie. On top of that, he has his own
charges of being a sexual deviant criminal. So please, Leon Black,
spare us. Nobody believes you, nobody has any compassion for you,
Nobody has any sympathy for your philandering ass. You better
answer some questions, my dude, and I hope you lawyer up,
(45:19):
because if these allegations are true, and what this young
lady is saying, happened. Happened? Hey, you're in big trouble,
my friend. The seventy nine year old Craft meanwhile became
entangled in a sex scandal of his own in twenty nineteen,
when Florida police say he had been caught on tape
(45:41):
visiting a CD South Florida massage parlor. Oh well, I
mean that's what abnormal people do, right, Married men going
down to CD massage parlors, the richest men in the world.
This is what they think of these people. Just let's
go and exploit these girls that are, you know, obviously
over here. They don't speak English, none of that stuff,
(46:02):
all of the telltale signs of trafficking victims in a
lot of instances. But nah, no big deal. Let me
go down to this seed roubin tug spot. Their brains
don't work, folks. They're different, these people, these so called elite,
they're different. The way they're wired, the way they function,
the way they look at the world. Different kind of people,
(46:25):
and I'm hard pressed to even consider them human at
this point. Charges against Craft were dropped in September after
the recording of him entering a massage parlor was ruled
inadmissible as evidence in the Florida case. Oh shocking. It
was in Florida, remember, and it was inadmissible. I wonder
(46:46):
why because it was Robert Kraft. If it was your
cousin John, or your friend Mike or insert normal person here.
Pretty sure the case would not have been dropped. They
would have went to the nines, all the way to
the very end to prosecute whoever it was. But the
tapees in admissible in this case. No, Robert Kraft, we
(47:08):
see you for what you are, bro another sick bastard,
another guy that proclaims he's this great guy and this,
that and the other thing, while in reality you're just
another sick, disgusting pervert. Which would be fine, right if
you were doing it at a place of repute. You
have all the money in the world. Go to a
place where prostitution is legalized, where the girls for the
(47:31):
most part are you know, they're there as people who
are choosing to be there of their own uh uh,
you know, their own uh self, their own will, as
opposed to trafficking victims. I mean, if if you're if
you need to do that kind of thing, get a
professional sex worker who is doing the in the business
because that's what they want to do, or a porn star.
You have all the money in the world. I'm sure
(47:52):
those porn stars will gladly come over for a couple
hundred grand I guess my point is there's there's other
ways to go about this. If you're you know, a
bazillionaire like this guy, and you're not a sick bastard,
but he's obviously a sick dude. And what do you
think it was the first time he went to the
rub and tug? Yes, for my first time here, guys
is stopping to get caught? Okay? Sure. Following mister Craft's resignation,
(48:19):
the size of the board shall decrease to twelve directors,
two thirds of which continue to be independent directors, Apollo
said in the public filing on Friday. When Kraft joined
the Apollo board seven years ago, Black held him as
a seasoned executive and an exceptional leader, saying that Apollo
will benefit greatly from his insights and expertise. So this
(48:41):
just wasn't just like a nominal position, right, some window dressing.
This guy, Robert Craft was part of the board, big
time decision maker at Apollo Global Now the question is,
and the question that I certainly have, what in the
hell made him resign so abruptly. Now, I guess that's
(49:02):
the question we all have, and we'll see where it goes.
We'll stay on top of it, and we will certainly
update this article when we get some information that leads
us in one direction or the other. But it's very,
very interesting, folks, that Robert Kraft would step down from
(49:22):
the board right on the heels of the announcement of
Leon Black and the whole entire news situation that he
is facing. If you'd like to contact me, you can
do that at Bobby Kapuci at proton mail dot com.
That's bo bb Y c ap u Cci at protonmeil
dot com. You can also find me on Twitter at
(49:45):
bo bby underscore c ap u Cci. All of the
links that go with this episode can be found in
the descript
Last night when we left off, I was telling you
a little bit about Leon Black's problems and how they've
been magnified. You know, when we were first talking about
Leon Black and we were talking about how he was
under the microscope, I said, I didn't think it would
be long before investors and people who safeguarded their money
(00:22):
with him started looking for the exits. And it seems
like that has started to occur. There's a new article
out from Bloomberg and that's basically what they're talking about.
You know, there are a lot of pitfalls for somebody
who manages money when they're caught cavorting with a sex
(00:43):
trafficker who was one of the most prolific child abusers
in the history of this country. Basically, I mean, that's
not that's not even going a step too far, is it.
Considering what we know, considering the hundreds of girls, considering
everything that has come out, and considering you know, what
has been on record with just the girls from Palm Beach,
(01:06):
would make him one of the most prolific that we
know of. Then you add in the sex trafficking ring,
the trading, the girls around, all of it, and you
definitely have one of the most prolific sex traffickers. And
this is the kind of guy that Leon Black is
hanging around with. And if you were in charge of
(01:26):
these pensions, and you were in charge of all of
this money that people trusted you to invest, would you
be moving it with somebody like Leon Black right now,
especially considering how the stock is getting hammered over his
ties with to Epstein. I certainly wouldn't. And it looks
(01:47):
like that's what Leon Black and Apollo Global is facing
right now, and it comes at an odd time for
them because they were in the mix to jump in
and buy William Hill the sportsbook. So I bet you
that's on hold right now. I mean, I don't know
one way or the other. I haven't really dug into it.
But you would think with all of these rumors swirling
(02:10):
and all of this controversy that Leon Black has started
to face, that that deal might be shelved. So we'll
have to see. But in this article tonight, the headline
is Leon Black's Epstein links threaten Apollo's fundraising. And this
article it first appeared in Bloomberg and it is being
(02:31):
run right here and where we're using it. The source
here is on Yahoo finance. Authors of this article, Heather
Perlberg and Sabrina Wilmer, Apollo Global Management Incorporated is facing
a client revolt that could choke new investments into its
(02:52):
funds as questions persist about co founder Leon Black's ties
to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. And that's a pretty
interesting choice of words that the authors use here, right
in the first paragraph. A client revolt. Remember I said
that I thought something like that was going to happen.
(03:13):
It's just that's how it works in the financial sector.
People are scared, they're gonna run for the hills when
it comes to shit like this. They're all looking for
the Exit's like there's a fire. Nobody wants to park
their money with somebody who who knows how deep the
ties really are with Epstein? And I know we got
the independent investigation that's cracking off, okay, but really, these pensions,
(03:40):
especially these public pensions, these these sorts of people, and
the people running these sorts of pension funds, they don't
want anything to do with this. And we're starting to
see that now come and and start to become a reality.
Cambridge Associate, it's an influential consultant to investors, including pensions
(04:03):
and endowments, may stop recommending Apollo. According to people with
knowledge of the matter, there are a lot of rumors
swirling right now, a lot of unconfirmed rumors, stuff that
I can't really substantiate. But there is a lot going
on in the financial world when it comes to Apollo
and people losing trust. And it's crazy because Apollo was
(04:27):
one of the biggest engines of the whole entire market.
They're very powerful, very influential, and they made a lot
of money. So of course people wanted to roll with
them and ride with them and benefit off of their back. Right,
But now there are other places to park your money. Okay,
you might get a half a percent less of a return,
(04:47):
but at least you don't have the cloud of Jeffrey
Epstein hanging over you and all of the pensioneers. Already,
the Pennsylvania Public school Employees retirement system has Apollo it
won't consider additional investments for now, So there you go.
The public school employees retirement system in Pennsylvania has informed
(05:11):
Apollo that it's a rap. They don't want to do
business with them for now. They know that things are
a lot worse than Leon Black and Apollo are letting on.
Wherever there's smoke, there's usually a little bit of fire, right,
and in this case, I think there's a little bit
more than a little. The developments follow months of pressure
(05:32):
on Apollo from investors seeking more definitive answers about what
chief executive officer Black has described as professional ties to Epstein,
who is awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges involving underage
girls when he was found dead in jail last year. Look,
there should be pressure on people like Leon Black. There
(05:55):
should be pressure on these people to answer for their
relationship with Jeffrey Epstein. Again, I don't know how many
times I have to say it. You can't. He can't
even go on the excuse of, well, this was before
he was convicted. I didn't know if you were hanging
out with Epstein before he was convicted for this crime.
Even though I might not believe you, you at the
(06:17):
very least have a bit of a leg to stand
on by pleading that you had no idea what was
going on, especially if you weren't in his inner circle.
But if you were hanging out with Jeffrey Epstein after
the fact, if you were still doing business with Jeffrey
Epstein after the fact. If you Leon Black thought that
(06:40):
having Jeffrey Epstein was a consultant after the fact was okay,
then you, mister Leon Black, must deal with whatever comes
down the pipe, because there are repercussions for shit like that.
You're just in. Their relationship heightened anew last week when
(07:02):
The New York Times reported Black had wired at least
fifty million dollars to Epstein after his conviction for soliciting
prostitution from a teenage girl. And that might be the conviction.
We all know. It's a bunch of bs, and everybody
that was around him at the time knew that it
was a lot more serious than solicitation. Well, you don't
(07:24):
think these people in powerful circles talk. You don't think
any of these people are friends with attorney generals or
assistant attorney generals or people in the prosecutor's office. Hell
yeah they are. Who do you think is donating money
to their runs to get those offices? Certainly not me
and you with our nickel and dime donations. If you're
making them, that's a fantasy. This money is being poured
(07:48):
in by bag men like Leon Black, so that when
situations like this occur, they get themselves some leniency, and
it's absurd, it's gross, and I'm tired of it. Black
and Apollo are now trying to dispel the cloud over
the company, which depends on multi billion dollar fundraisings to
fuel its earnings and has already seen its stock take
(08:11):
a hit at Black's urging. This week, a panel of
board members hired law firm Decker LLP and independently to
independently examine the sixty nine year old's account of his
ties to Epstein, whom Black has said he turned to
for financial matters such as taxes, estate planning, and philanthropy.
(08:32):
So how deeply were you guys tied financially? How many
business ventures were you guys involved in, how many of
those were off the books, how many of those were
done through intermediaries, how many of those were done through LLCs?
How much of this money was reported, how much of
it wasn't, How many rico crimes were committed on a
(08:52):
daily basis? Those are the questions I have. Leon requested
and welcomes the third part independent review. Oh, I'm sure
he does correct me if I'm wrong. But isn't Apollo
paying for this so called independent review. Pretty sure they are,
so how independent is it when they're working on their dime?
(09:16):
Like I said, I think they want an independent review.
That's fine. Forensic investigators from the FBI should be in
charge of any review. A spokesperson for Black said an
email statement Wednesday. He is confident that the outcome will
put the matter behind Apollo and validating what he has
previously communicated publicly. No, it won't, just like it wouldn't
(09:40):
for Dubin, just like it didn't work for Wexter or
Harvard or the New York Academy of Arts. All of
these internal investigations, all of these so called independent investigations
that these people kick into gear, really hold no weight.
Apolo is firmly committed to transparency, a company spokesperson setting
(10:04):
an email Leon has communicated directly with our investors on
this issue, and we remain an open dialogue. Look, the
only reason he's communicating is because he got caught with
his hand in the cookie jar. Do you think he'd
be coming out and just, you know, because he's such
an honest cat and say, look, you know what, I
(10:25):
did have ties to Epstein. We were boys. We kicked
it I went to his house, We drank some booze,
whatever it may be. No, until these stories started to break,
until people started asking questions, none of these people came forward.
None of these people offered to help the investigations or
to help the survivors get just a little bit of justice.
(10:50):
They just went on with their merry lives. And you
know why, It's because it's normalized to them. This kind
of treatment of other human beings is just normal to
these people at the very least. That's the way it seems,
doesn't it. There's been no allegation that Black's dealings with
Epstein broke the law. Well, look, that's why we have
an investigation, right we can't just say, well, no, there's
(11:14):
nothing to see here without having an investigation. That's what
happens in countries that are run by dictators. That's what
happens in countries where the so called media is acting
as a propaganda arm for the government. We see that
more and more in America. But it's weirder here because
(11:35):
the media acts as a propaganda arm for their favorite
insert politician here. And now we have a country where
it's not the one reality We live in an America
with two realities. Anything they can do that involves outside
observers to nip that narrative in the bud, in my view,
(11:56):
will be great for the stock. Said Patrick, have it
and analyst at Autonomous Research look for sure if they
can get If they could have got out in front
of this, and Leon Black would have came out right
away and been very honest and upfront, provided documentation, went
and spoke to the FBI all of it, then I'm
sure a lot of people, a lot of a lot
(12:17):
of these investors would have been much more comfortable. But
even with this kind of investigation, how comfortable are you
going to be parking billions of dollars with Leon Black?
What happens if he gets in trouble, say just let's
just say in speculating that he gets in trouble with
a RICO charge and now all of his assets are frozen.
(12:37):
What if they freeze Apollo? What if you have to
wait to get your assets out via litigation? What if
the government freezes all of that money. It's not out
of the realm of possibility. We've seen it before. So
I can understand why people want some clarification here. I
can understand why investors are a bit hesitant, and I
(12:59):
can understand he's dealing with a bit of a revolt.
This is heinous, serious shit. This doesn't sweep under the
rug blue collar crime. I'll pay somebody off and that's
the end of it. There are way too many people
who are interested in this now, way too many people
who are turning over rocks and shaking bushes, and only
real answers are going to be accepted. No more of
(13:21):
this obfuscation, no more of this dugging questions, and no
more of these easy pathways by the legacy media. I
am kind of wondering why they didn't do this in
the first place. This could have gotten the monkey off
their back a long time ago. Well, I'll tell you why,
(13:43):
because I think that they understand that there's a lot
more there and they didn't want to unearth anything and
cause shock waves that were not needed. If Black was
squeaky clean with his relationship with Epstein, if Black and
Epstein weren't that tight, then they would have initiated this
a long time ago, or they would have went to
the FBI and spoke with them. But they know, we know,
(14:07):
everybody knows that Leon Black, the arrest of Polite so
called polite society, and people like Jeffrey Epstein are involved
in all kinds of behind the scenes money moving. There's
just not even it's not even a debate at this point.
The Pennsylvania Retirement System said it had planned to have
(14:30):
a meeting with Apollo sometime this week, but after The
Times published its story on October twelfth, the pension plan
plan held a meeting by phone the next day. It
later suspended new investments. So that's look, I'll tell you what.
I'll give them props for that. You got to stand
for something right. And if you can't stand for avoiding
(14:52):
doing business with somebody like Leon Black, who is very
close or was very close to Jeffrey Epstein, then I
don't know what mountain you're gonna choose to make your
stand on, because this is just, I mean, next world
evil to abuse children like this. PSERS is closely following
(15:18):
the ongoing legal issues and the newly launched internal Apollo investigation,
it said in a statement, without elaborating on its concerns.
The Financial Times earlier reported the decision, and I knew
this was gonna happen, and I talked about this. It
was only a matter of time, and once one leaves,
once one pauses business, well you see others start to
(15:40):
do the same. Because once you get rattled in the
financial industry, people get rattled fast, and once one person
jumps overboard, it is a mass scramble to the lifeboats.
Votes folks. Cambridge, which advises advises on about four hundred
and ten billion in assets, told clients its deliberations were
(16:02):
prompted by lingering questions over Black and Epstein's ties. A
representative for the firm declined to comment. Think about that
fort Cambridge, and advises on about four hundred and ten
billion in assets, has told their clients to step back
from Apollo. This is bad news and Leon Black is
(16:22):
really going to suffer financially from this. Some other investors,
speaking on the condition they do not be named, said
they didn't understand what financial services could warrant fifty million
dollars in payments to Epstein, a college dropout. He lacked
conventional training in areas such as taxes and estate planning.
And it's one hundred percent true. One of the biggest
(16:45):
points I've talked about. I know how people like this act.
I've dealt with people that are just extremely wealthy, and
I know how they are. They're not just letting anybody
near their money. They're not just gonna let any guy,
someone like Jeffrey Epstein, a college dropout, be in charge
of all their dough and fifty million here, ten million there, Bah,
(17:08):
no big deal. That's not how these people operate. These
people are all control freaks. So there's a lot more here,
something way deeper, in my opinion, and we're gonna get
to the bottom of it. Leon Black Apollo stock slumped
in the wake of the newspaper's report, shedding fourteen percent
(17:28):
by Tuesday. It jumped as much as six point three
percent on Wednesday after the firm disclosed the board's reviews.
The shares end of the day up two point six percent,
but they're down thirteen and a half percent in twenty twenty.
That's a blood bath. That is just terrible to have
your stocks down. The shares down thirteen and a half
(17:50):
percent is it's a bell weather for what's to come
if they don't get rid of Black and Black can't
stop the bleeding here, boy, oh boy, it's gonna be
bad news. I'm talking real bad news for Apollo. And
let me tell you if they find something that connects
(18:11):
him criminally, it's gonna it's going to rock the whole
entire financial world, right, any one of these guys if
they get caught up in the financial web that Epstein
was weaving and they get themselves criminally charged, boy oh boy,
will that send a message these these congressmen, these senators
want to send a message after Finsen, Well, what a
(18:33):
message that would be. Clients frustrations. Pension systems, often more
exposed to political pressures, are known to be repelled by
negative news involving their investment partners one hundred percent. Fact.
You know, you get a private investor, somebody who's only
worried about increasing their wealth. They don't care about any
(18:56):
of this shit. But when you have a public pension,
a pension where there is a lot of scrutiny, yeah,
probably don't want that money parked with Jeffrey Epstein's good friend,
Leon Black. Some have been raising concerns with Apollo for
more than a year over the headlines generated by Black
(19:17):
and Epstein's relationship, According to people with knowledge of those talks,
we've reported that here for about a year now. I've
heard that from many people, many people who work in
the financial sector. A lot of people that I know
have talked about this, and they've said that people are
really scared off, and people are not comfortable with how
(19:40):
close Black and Epstein were. And the only reason there
hasn't been a mass exodus is because Apollo is so
gigantic and they've made people so much money throughout the years.
People are going to wait it out and see. But
let me tell you what, if things start getting squirrely,
you're gonna see a mass run for those lifeboats, folks.
(20:02):
Nobody's going down with this ship. Two investors said they
pressed Apollo for more information about their ties, but were
disappointed with the lack of detail. Look, if I'm investing
with you, and I'm investing big dough, We're talking millions
and millions and billions of dollars in some cases. Yeah,
(20:22):
you better be forthright, bro, you better tell me what
the hell's going on. And I don't just want like
the cliff notes. I want details, Nuance. I want to
know that you did your homework. Do you have an
investigator looking into this, that you've hired a private investigator?
Do you have you know, whatever mechanism it may be,
those are the questions that I would have and if
(20:43):
the answer is no, my question would then be, well
why not. The firm's representatives tried to assure some clients
by suggesting journalists digging into this situation would have found
wrongdoing if any occurred. That is so such bs, we
can only do so much. We don't have subpoena power.
(21:03):
We don't have the power to go and get these
files and look at your bank statements and the transactions
like the investigators do. All we can do is try
and get people on record, follow the story to the
best of our ability, and then disseminate that information to
the listeners or the viewers or the readers, or whatever
(21:25):
the medium might be. But to suggest that the journalists
digging into the situation would have had all the dirt
by now, well that's just patently false. Representatives also noted
Black wasn't the only one who had done business with Epstein.
Some clients said they were offered the possibility of questioning
(21:46):
Black directly. Well, that's something I would definitely look forward to.
And what does that even mean. The representatives noted that
Black wasn't the only one who had done business with Epstein,
so because of other people did business with Epstein. That's okay.
That makes it okay that Leon Black did. I should
just be okay with that. Then, I don't even understand
(22:08):
what they're trying to point out there. It's such a
stupid comment. Gerald O'Hara, an analyst at Jeffrey's Group covering
Apollo's stock, said he's been fielding calls from an investors
nervous that the situation at Apollo could spiral further. I'm
telling you, I've been hearing the same thing, not from investors,
but from people who work in the financial industry. They've
(22:31):
said that there's just this like weird talk about Apollo
and how it's never they've never heard this kind of
talk when Apollo is concerned. Right, there's always been such
a strong institution, such a staple. Nothing rocks it. They
just keep on moving. But this is something that's actually
sticking that people are talking about, and that is bad,
(22:52):
bad news for Leon Black and Apollo. But even then
private equity fund client it's typically agree to have their
money locked up for years. The risk is into existing funds.
It's to Apollo's ability to attract new money, and that
is the biggest slam to them because without their fundraising,
(23:13):
without raising new money, it's a it's a rap. They'll
have to shut up their shop. There'll be no way
that they can conduct business if they're they're not raising
new funds every year, every quarter, and that that is
very disturbing. If you're Apollo, there's no doubt about that.
This could certainly have an impact on future fundraising rounds,
(23:36):
O'Hara said. Bloomberg reported in April that the firm aim
to eventually raise twenty billion across several new funds to
take advantage of dislocations and credit markets, as well as
private debt translation so that they can get busy with
the transfer of wealth, so they can steal from the people,
so that they can take more money from the middle
(23:57):
class and enrich themselves more, all at the same time
while hanging out with people who abuse your children. How
awesome is that? Leon Black's a hell of a guy,
isn't he? The absolute transfer of wealth that has occurred
in the past six months is sickening Black's regrets. The
(24:19):
two men have been acquaintances since at least the early nineties.
From time to From time to time, Epstein met with
Black at Apollo's New York offices, and he pitched personal
tax strategies to the firm's executives. Bloomberg has reported again,
why do you need Jeffrey Epstein pitching you tax strategies?
(24:40):
What has Jeffrey Epstein ever accomplished to make a guy
like Leon Black take him seriously? That's the question you
have to ask yourselves, folks, and we have to keep
digging for that answer. Apollo conducted an internal review into
its involvement with Epstein to ensure that any ties went
(25:01):
no further than the firm's co founder. People with knowledge
of the matter said, last year, so he was in
the Apollo offices pitching all this shit to Black, and
he never talked to anybody else out Apollo. None of
the other executives. Huh, nobody else sat in on those meetings.
It was just the two of them. That's rather intimate.
Was it candlelight? Did they share a milkshake with two straws?
(25:23):
How about a plate of spaghetti? Like Lady in the Tramp.
That included examining emails and records to determine there was
no connection between the company and Epstein. One of the
people said, with the benefit of hindsight and knowing everything
that has come to light about mister Epstein's despicable conduct
(25:45):
more than fifteen years ago, I deeply regret having had
any involvement with him, Black said in a letter to
Apollos Limited Partners dated last week. Look, man, Leon Black
is in it up to his ears. He had big
problems on the way, just like the rest of these guys.
And if this does move in to the realm of Rico,
(26:08):
like I think it's going to, like it almost has
to at this point, and the prosecution and all of
these regulators are serious about sending a message to the
banking industry and the rest of the idiots who are
caught up in the Finston files, Well here's your chance.
Why don't you make an example of Jess Staley, of
(26:29):
Leon Black and the rest of these guys that enable
Jeffrey Epstein's decades long crime spree. If you like to
contact me, you can do that at Bobby Kapucci at
ProtonMail dot com. That's Bobby c ap u Cci at
ProtonMail dot com. You can also find me on Twitter
(26:50):
at Bobby underscore cap you Cci. All of the links
that go with this episode can be found in the
description box. Looks like we have another person stepping down
from the Apollo Global board. Now, there's no news out
there or information out there that says this person was,
(27:14):
you know, hanging out with Epstein or involved in any way.
But when you have a big name like this who
has also ran into their own problems before at a
massage parlor, well, questions have to be asked. No, the
person we're going to talk about tonight is none other
than Robert Kraft, the owner of the New England Patriots.
(27:38):
I'm sure you've heard of Robert Craft, even if you're
not a football fan, considering all of the success that
the New England Patriots have had under his leadership more recently.
You might know him from his time in the news
about going to quote unquote massage parlors. Now just another
(28:04):
typical scuz elite, it would seem right. But again, that
doesn't mean he had anything to do with Jeffrey Epstein here,
But him and Leon Black were pretty close friends. So
it's inevitable in this story, especially that there's always some
(28:30):
smoke and it inevitably leads to some fire here. So
we're gonna have to see how this all plays out
and what they say the reasoning is behind this because
this is all relatively fresh news broke, I don't know,
roughly four or five hours ago in the New York Post.
(28:50):
So it's still a story that's getting its legs underneath it.
But it's a bad look for Apollo end of course
for Robert Kraft as well, because now question have to
be asked, right, what are you stepping down for Robert Craft?
What's going on here? So it could it could be
maybe he is doing it in protest of Leon Black's
(29:12):
behavior to try and virtue signal. That's quite possible. I
don't put anything by these so called elites trying to,
you know, refurbish their image or keep the facade going. Right.
So we have an article from the New York Post
and the headline is Robert Craft resigns from Apollo board
(29:34):
amid Epstein controversy. This article was authored by Josh Kossman,
New England Patriots owner Robert Craft has left the board
of Apollo Global Management, the private equity giant that lately
has been grappling with controversy over a co founder's ties
(29:55):
to Jeffrey Epstein, a co founder. Huh, that's what we're
calling Leon Black a co I think it's a little
bit more than a co founder. Okay, leon Black was
synonymous with Apollo Global. None of the other board members
Rowan or Smith were synonymous with Apollo Global the way
(30:15):
Leon Black was, So to call him a co founder
is kind of not really painting the picture correctly. Considering
the guy was Apollo Global, let's be real, And now
having Robert Kraft dragged into this whole mix, it is
(30:36):
just another question that has to be asked, Right, what
the hell is Robert Kraft have to do with any
of this? And if he wasn't caught up in this
situation he was caught up caught up in previously with
the whole massage parlor thing, I'd probably wouldn't. I'd probably
just think that this is one of those situations where
Robert Kraft is stepping down because he's disgusted by what's
(30:59):
going on. I'd want to give somebody the benefit of
the doubt. But considering what we know about this guy
and the massage parlor situation, he seems to be just ascuzsy. Right.
So if that's the case, and he says he's stepping
down because the situation disturbs him or whatever it is.
That is a classic virtue signal, considering that he was
(31:20):
caught up in his own situation where he was supposedly
visiting and getting sexual favors from girls inside of one
of those little, you know, rub and tug type of joints.
And you want to talk about people getting stuck in
human trafficking and stuff like that, Well, the girls that
come over here from Asia, who get brought here by
(31:42):
like the Triad, they have to work off those debts
and they find themselves in places like that where Robert
Craft allegedly was frequenting. So please miss me with the
virtue signal. Bus if that's the case, if that's what
he's doing, then why talk about being absolutely tone deaf. Kraft,
(32:07):
who had joined Apollo's board in twenty fourteen, quietly stepped
down as a director last week, according to a Friday
securities filing. The filing didn't elaborate on the reason for
Craft's resignation, but a source close to this situation said
Craft's exit was his idea and that he wasn't pressured
to leave. Oh yeah, sure, that's how it's what they
(32:27):
always say, right. Oh no, he wasn't pressure to leave.
This was Bob's decision on his own. He decided that
he was no longer a fit on the board, and
he's gonna go and spend time with his family. Sure,
it's going to be some nonsensical bs like that. We
all know that's not the guy. Robert Kraft is right,
He's not going to spend time with his family. He's
interested in building championship football teams up in Foxborough. That's
(32:51):
what him and Bill Belichick are up to. And furthermore,
shouldn't the owners be held to the same level as
the players. Was a player caught up in the Jeffrey
Epstein controversy, they'd be suspended already probably, But Robert Kraft
he avoids all sorts of justice or even answering questions.
(33:13):
The NFL should open an inquiry. They love doing that, right,
Let's see an inquiry here. Sources said Craft was a
friend of billionaire Leon Black, who made a surprise announcement
last month that he was stepping down immediately as chairman
and chief executive of the buyout firm. According to press reports,
(33:36):
Black attended Craft's surprise seventy fifth birthday party in twenty
sixteen where rocker John bon Jovie performed. Must be nice. Huh.
Guess you guys were living on a prayer. I mean, really,
imagine having the obscene amount of money that these people have. Yeah,
you know, it's my birthday. I figure, I'm gonna have
(33:56):
you know, John bon Jovi come over and rock. Maybe
we'll get you know, We'll get the Rolling Stones to
come over. I have so much money, I'm gonna have
them clone Jim Morrison and we're gonna have the doors here.
I mean, I don't put it past these people at
this point. And Robert Craft is most assuredly part of
(34:19):
the elite of the elite. So I don't know what's
going on here. Why step down? It could be something
as simple as his bff, Leon Black's leaving, so he's
leaving as well. I don't know. Maybe maybe that's the case,
or maybe there's more here. Maybe Robert Craft was connected
(34:40):
to Leon Black a little bit more deeply than we know.
Who knows. I'll tell you what, though. The story is
certainly gonna make its way out and do its thing
now that it's out of the box, that is for sure.
Because one thing I will say when it comes to
these sort of hedgies, these guys like Leon Black, the
(35:02):
legacy media is usually interested in digging in, right they
really these aren't the legacy media's favorite kind of people
either for the most part. So I think and suspect
we'll see a little bit more coming out of this,
And I wouldn't be shocked if we get some more
leaks out of the Apollo boardroom and from insiders who
(35:22):
have their ear to the street, because they've been spot
on the whole way here with the Apollo boardroom and
the fracturing in there, the infighting and the eventual departure
of Leon Black. They've been spot on with all of that,
(35:43):
according to a source close to the situation. Kraft, on
January twenty sixth told Apollo's board he was planning to
step down from the company by June one, his eightieth birthday.
That was a day after Black had announced he would
step down as Apollo CEO on or by July thirty first,
(36:03):
his seventieth birthday. So it's just all coincidence, huh, Leon Black,
Robert Kraft stepping down right around the same time. The
hell's going on here, folks? What is going on? And again,
just to be clear, Let me reiterate, I am not
asserting or saying that Robert Craft was involved with Jeffrey
Epstein at all. I have not seen any of that evidence. Hell,
(36:25):
is anything possible with this case, yep. But until I
see that evidence, well, you know, you know how I
feel about following the evidence. So what I think is
very very interesting here is the fact that Leon Black
and Robert Craft were so close, and now that these
sexual assault allegations, sexual harassment allegations have come down and
(36:48):
blasted on Black, you have Robert Kraft getting out of Dodge.
Is this some sort of self preservation move? So hey, look,
I don't want this spotlight on me. I got enough
problems down at the Rubbin tug shop. This is the
last thing I need, So I'm out of here. Possible, right,
(37:10):
very possible. It wasn't immediately clear why Craft last week
decided to step down earlier than planned. In January, the
board asked Craft to stay on will Apollo completed the
company's transition. The source said, look, there's a lot of
infighting going on inside of that boardroom, and I'm guessing
(37:31):
that that had something to do with it. I told
you that Smith wasn't done yet right, he feels he
feels like he has been maligned, almost considering he was
passed up by Rowan for the CEO spot. You know,
he's another ultra alpha type of cat right owned sports teams,
owns big business, big time hedgy. He doesn't want to
(37:53):
look like he's the one getting the crap end of
the bag. He wants to be the guy on top.
He wants to be the man with the chest puffed
out and the double cornered office. But now he was
left out in the dark, and Rowan was put in
that position, and there has been a tug of war
going on in that boardroom and within the shareholder division
(38:15):
since then. There is an absolute battle going on. Folks
were talking Game of Thrones esque battle going on, and
Craft leaving might be part of that whole entire back
and forth that's occurring at Apollo. Craft declined to comment
through a spokesperson On Monday. An Apollo spokesperson wasn't immediately
(38:39):
able to comment. So I wonder what's that about too.
You're a big time public figure, bro. You need to
answer these questions. Why are you leaving this board? What
would predicate you leaving this board when just in January.
You were supposed to help through the transition. What is
going on here, mister Bob Kraft. On April sixth, twenty
(39:05):
twenty one, Robert Kraft, a member of the board of
directors of Apollo Global Management, informed the company of his
decision to resign as a member of the board, effective immediately,
Apollo revealed in the filing effective immediately. No heads up,
none of that stuff, just to quick, Hey, look, I'm out, folks. Peace.
(39:26):
Does that sound right to you, guys? Does that sound
like the way things usually happen with these people. I'm
sure that there's some sort of compensation that gets left
on the table if you just bounce out right, you know,
these people, they're getting compensated for every single millisecond of
their time. Believe that there ain't no freebies in this world.
(39:51):
Everything's for a favor with these people. So what in
the hell happened in that boardroom? And what really led
to Robber Kraft leaving? And did he leave of his
own accord or or was he forced out? Considering you
(40:11):
have the situation with Black where basically he was Caesar
and it was at two brute situation where everyone turned
on him and it was a rap, so he could
be part of this fallout because he's one of Leon's guys.
That's very possible too. As exclusively reported by The Post
last week, Black's unexpected exit on March twenty second came
(40:35):
just days after several directors on the Private Equities Giants
Board Giants Board learned of accusations of sexual harassment against
him by a woman he claimed was trying to shake
him down over a consensual affair. Here's an idea, dumbass,
Quit stepping out on your wife. Consensual, not consensual, whatever
(40:55):
it may be. What are you doing, bro. You have
all the money in the world, go and enjoy it
with your wife. Take her on some trips, buyre a
couple of things. She's sick, right, That's what you said.
Enjoy the time you have with her instead of, you know,
gallivanting around and philandering with women while your wife's home
(41:17):
sick waiting around for you. Just an absolute piece of
shit man. And guys like this, I just I have
no tolerance for them, especially dudes like this. All the
money in the world, all of the money in the
whole damn world, and this is what you do. It's
that important. Your carnal desires are that important. It's just
(41:40):
unbelievable the way some of these people are wired. Black,
who Apollo earlier this year revealed had paid millions to
dead pedophile financier Jeffrey Epstein for tax advice and estate
planning services following the Latters two thousand and eight convictions
for procuring an underage girl for prostitution. Cited his wife's
(42:02):
ailing health and his own health problems for the sudden
change in plans. So it all makes sense now, right.
The Epstein stuff was hanging over his head, that was coming.
But then you had the allegations by miss Gani Eva,
and well, what do you expect this guy to do.
(42:23):
There's no way out for him, no wiggling off this hook.
And even if Leon Black doesn't face criminal penalties in
the Jeffrey Epstein case, perhaps he's going to in this
other case. What it's off the table if he sexually
assaulted this girl and she went to the authorities and
they believe a case should be open. Well, Leon Black
gets up every morning like me and you folks, puts
(42:45):
his pants on the same way or his servant puts
him on for him. Either way, both legs go through
those pantslets. So if he is guilty of what he's
being charged with, if he really did do this to
this young lady, this man needs to pay price. Neither
Black nor Apollo mentioned at the time that days leading
(43:06):
up to the resignation, at least four of Apollo's twelve
board members had become aware of a series of little
noticed but explosive tweets by Guzelle Ganieva, a former model
who claimed to have been forced to sign an NDA
in twenty fifteen relating to allegations that Black sexually harassed
(43:27):
and abused her. According to sources close to the situation, Now,
if it was just sexual harassment, I guess that's one
of those gray area things. Right, While it's not acceptable,
if you're Leon Black, you could say, look, that never happened,
or it wasn't what I meant it to be. Whatever,
you still come off looking like a scumbag, but not
as an abuser, at least not a physical abuser. I
(43:49):
should say, well, not only is it that for him,
he's also accused of sexually abusing this young lady. So,
Leon Black, you got some answering to do. My friend,
it wasn't immediately clear whether Kraft was among the directors
who had learned of the tweets, the sources said. In
(44:11):
a statement to the Post, Black acknowledged that he knew Ganiva,
but denied that he acted inappropriately toward her. He also
denied that her allegations influenced his decision to step away
from the company faster than planned. In January, Black had
signaled he would stay on as chairman after stepping down
as CEO on or by July thirty first. This guy
(44:34):
is an absolute liar. You know the Pinocchio commercial that
used to be on TV. You have potential, and you
have potential, and his nose keeps growing and growing and growing.
That's Leon Black. Every time this dude opens his mouth,
everything that he has said about his relationship with Epstein
and what came after has been proven to be an
(44:57):
absolute lie. On top of that, he has his own
charges of being a sexual deviant criminal. So please, Leon Black,
spare us. Nobody believes you, nobody has any compassion for you,
Nobody has any sympathy for your philandering ass. You better
answer some questions, my dude, and I hope you lawyer up,
(45:19):
because if these allegations are true, and what this young
lady is saying, happened. Happened? Hey, you're in big trouble,
my friend. The seventy nine year old Craft meanwhile became
entangled in a sex scandal of his own in twenty nineteen,
when Florida police say he had been caught on tape
(45:41):
visiting a CD South Florida massage parlor. Oh well, I
mean that's what abnormal people do, right, Married men going
down to CD massage parlors, the richest men in the world.
This is what they think of these people. Just let's
go and exploit these girls that are, you know, obviously
over here. They don't speak English, none of that stuff,
(46:02):
all of the telltale signs of trafficking victims in a
lot of instances. But nah, no big deal. Let me
go down to this seed roubin tug spot. Their brains
don't work, folks. They're different, these people, these so called elite,
they're different. The way they're wired, the way they function,
the way they look at the world. Different kind of people,
(46:25):
and I'm hard pressed to even consider them human at
this point. Charges against Craft were dropped in September after
the recording of him entering a massage parlor was ruled
inadmissible as evidence in the Florida case. Oh shocking. It
was in Florida, remember, and it was inadmissible. I wonder
(46:46):
why because it was Robert Kraft. If it was your
cousin John, or your friend Mike or insert normal person here.
Pretty sure the case would not have been dropped. They
would have went to the nines, all the way to
the very end to prosecute whoever it was. But the
tapees in admissible in this case. No, Robert Kraft, we
(47:08):
see you for what you are, bro another sick bastard,
another guy that proclaims he's this great guy and this,
that and the other thing, while in reality you're just
another sick, disgusting pervert. Which would be fine, right if
you were doing it at a place of repute. You
have all the money in the world. Go to a
place where prostitution is legalized, where the girls for the
(47:31):
most part are you know, they're there as people who
are choosing to be there of their own uh uh,
you know, their own uh self, their own will, as
opposed to trafficking victims. I mean, if if you're if
you need to do that kind of thing, get a
professional sex worker who is doing the in the business
because that's what they want to do, or a porn star.
You have all the money in the world. I'm sure
(47:52):
those porn stars will gladly come over for a couple
hundred grand I guess my point is there's there's other
ways to go about this. If you're you know, a
bazillionaire like this guy, and you're not a sick bastard,
but he's obviously a sick dude. And what do you
think it was the first time he went to the
rub and tug? Yes, for my first time here, guys
is stopping to get caught? Okay? Sure. Following mister Craft's resignation,
(48:19):
the size of the board shall decrease to twelve directors,
two thirds of which continue to be independent directors, Apollo
said in the public filing on Friday. When Kraft joined
the Apollo board seven years ago, Black held him as
a seasoned executive and an exceptional leader, saying that Apollo
will benefit greatly from his insights and expertise. So this
(48:41):
just wasn't just like a nominal position, right, some window dressing.
This guy, Robert Craft was part of the board, big
time decision maker at Apollo Global Now the question is,
and the question that I certainly have, what in the
hell made him resign so abruptly. Now, I guess that's
(49:02):
the question we all have, and we'll see where it goes.
We'll stay on top of it, and we will certainly
update this article when we get some information that leads
us in one direction or the other. But it's very,
very interesting, folks, that Robert Kraft would step down from
(49:22):
the board right on the heels of the announcement of
Leon Black and the whole entire news situation that he
is facing. If you'd like to contact me, you can
do that at Bobby Kapuci at proton mail dot com.
That's bo bb Y c ap u Cci at protonmeil
dot com. You can also find me on Twitter at
(49:45):
bo bby underscore c ap u Cci. All of the
links that go with this episode can be found in
the descript
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If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
Dateline NBC
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The Burden
The Burden is a documentary series that takes listeners into the hidden places where justice is done (and undone). It dives deep into the lives of heroes and villains. And it focuses a spotlight on those who triumph even when the odds are against them. Season 5 - The Burden: Death & Deceit in Alliance On April Fools Day 1999, 26-year-old Yvonne Layne was found murdered in her Alliance, Ohio home. David Thorne, her ex-boyfriend and father of one of her children, was instantly a suspect. Another young man admitted to the murder, and David breathed a sigh of relief, until the confessed murderer fingered David; “He paid me to do it.” David was sentenced to life without parole. Two decades later, Pulitzer winner and podcast host, Maggie Freleng (Bone Valley Season 3: Graves County, Wrongful Conviction, Suave) launched a “live” investigation into David's conviction alongside Jason Baldwin (himself wrongfully convicted as a member of the West Memphis Three). Maggie had come to believe that the entire investigation of David was botched by the tiny local police department, or worse, covered up the real killer. Was Maggie correct? Was David’s claim of innocence credible? In Death and Deceit in Alliance, Maggie recounts the case that launched her career, and ultimately, “broke” her.” The results will shock the listener and reduce Maggie to tears and self-doubt. This is not your typical wrongful conviction story. In fact, it turns the genre on its head. It asks the question: What if our champions are foolish? Season 4 - The Burden: Get the Money and Run “Trying to murder my father, this was the thing that put me on the path.” That’s Joe Loya and that path was bank robbery. Bank, bank, bank, bank, bank. In season 4 of The Burden: Get the Money and Run, we hear from Joe who was once the most prolific bank robber in Southern California, and beyond. He used disguises, body doubles, proxies. He leaped over counters, grabbed the money and ran. Even as the FBI was closing in. It was a showdown between a daring bank robber, and a patient FBI agent. Joe was no ordinary bank robber. He was bright, articulate, charismatic, and driven by a dark rage that he summoned up at will. In seven episodes, Joe tells all: the what, the how… and the why. Including why he tried to murder his father. Season 3 - The Burden: Avenger Miriam Lewin is one of Argentina’s leading journalists today. At 19 years old, she was kidnapped off the streets of Buenos Aires for her political activism and thrown into a concentration camp. Thousands of her fellow inmates were executed, tossed alive from a cargo plane into the ocean. Miriam, along with a handful of others, will survive the camp. Then as a journalist, she will wage a decades long campaign to bring her tormentors to justice. Avenger is about one woman’s triumphant battle against unbelievable odds to survive torture, claim justice for the crimes done against her and others like her, and change the future of her country. Season 2 - The Burden: Empire on Blood Empire on Blood is set in the Bronx, NY, in the early 90s, when two young drug dealers ruled an intersection known as “The Corner on Blood.” The boss, Calvin Buari, lived large. He and a protege swore they would build an empire on blood. Then the relationship frayed and the protege accused Calvin of a double homicide which he claimed he didn’t do. But did he? Award-winning journalist Steve Fishman spent seven years to answer that question. This is the story of one man’s last chance to overturn his life sentence. He may prevail, but someone’s gotta pay. The Burden: Empire on Blood is the director’s cut of the true crime classic which reached #1 on the charts when it was first released half a dozen years ago. Season 1 - The Burden In the 1990s, Detective Louis N. Scarcella was legendary. In a city overrun by violent crime, he cracked the toughest cases and put away the worst criminals. “The Hulk” was his nickname. Then the story changed. Scarcella ran into a group of convicted murderers who all say they are innocent. They turned themselves into jailhouse-lawyers and in prison founded a lway firm. When they realized Scarcella helped put many of them away, they set their sights on taking him down. And with the help of a NY Times reporter they have a chance. For years, Scarcella insisted he did nothing wrong. But that’s all he’d say. Until we tracked Scarcella to a sauna in a Russian bathhouse, where he started to talk..and talk and talk. “The guilty have gone free,” he whispered. And then agreed to take us into the belly of the beast. Welcome to The Burden.