May 28, 2025 • 11 mins
LISTEN and SUBSCRIBE on:
Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/watchdog-on-wall-street-with-chris-markowski/id570687608
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/2PtgPvJvqc2gkpGIkNMR5i
WATCH and SUBSCRIBE on:
https://www.youtube.com/@WatchdogOnWallstreet/featured
A wealthy nursing home exec stole millions, avoided prison, dodged $4.4 million in restitution—and got a full pardon?
In this episode:
Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/watchdog-on-wall-street-with-chris-markowski/id570687608
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/2PtgPvJvqc2gkpGIkNMR5i
WATCH and SUBSCRIBE on:
https://www.youtube.com/@WatchdogOnWallstreet/featured
A wealthy nursing home exec stole millions, avoided prison, dodged $4.4 million in restitution—and got a full pardon?
In this episode:
- The shocking case of Paul Walczak, who stole tax dollars and bought his way out
- Why this pardon didn’t "show mercy"
- The disturbing bipartisan trend: pardons for the rich, well-connected, or politically useful
- A call to all Americans—left, right, and independent—to demand better
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
The Watchdog on Wall Street podcast explaining the news coming
out of the complex worlds of finance, economics, and politics
and the impact it we'll have on everyday Americans. Author,
investment banker, consumer advocate, analyst, and trader Chris Markowski.
Speaker 2 (00:16):
Pay for play pardons. I had admit, this really upsets
me a great deal and where we are at as
a country and a society. I remember years ago playing
the song Romancing the Stone by Eddie Grant on the
(00:37):
program comparing some of the things that were happening in
this country to the Third World, and we just keep
heading in that direction. And again, this is both sides,
both sides. It wasn't that long ago where again the
right Republicans Trump's supporters were very upset with all of
(00:59):
the parts that were issued, thousands of pardons that were
issued by Joe Biden, and it was it's gross, But
I guess in a tip for tat Trump wants to
be equally as gross. I want to share with you
won here and I challenge, I challenge anybody out there,
any of your super duper maga Trump supporters, to support this.
(01:22):
I haven't even gone on to X and listened to
some of the paid Trump supporters and influencers online, whether
or not they've even sounded off on this. This gentleman
by named of Paul Wallzac. It was awaiting sentencing this year.
The only thing that avoided that was he would have
(01:45):
to get a pardon. He is a former nursing home
executive pleaded guilty to tax crimes days after the twenty
twenty four election. He submitted a pardon application to Trump
around in Augury. The application focused not on mister Wallsac's offenses,
but also on the political activity of his mother, Elizabeth Fago.
(02:11):
Miss Fago had raised millions of dollars for mister Trump's
campaigns and those of other Republicans, the application said. It
also highlighted her connections to an effort to sabotage Joe
Biden's campaign in twenty twenty member of the daughter the
Ashley Biden diary that was out there. The application argued
(02:34):
that his criminal prosecution was motivated more by his mother's
efforts for mister Trump than by his admitted admitted use
of money earmarked for employees taxes to fund an extravagant lifestyle.
No pardon was coming. Didn't hear anything then? All of
(02:57):
a sudden miss. Fage was invited to a one million
dollar per person fundraising dinner last month at mar A Lago.
Less than three weeks after she attended the dinner, Trump
signed a full and unconditional pardon. Now listen to this,
mister Wollzac. We're going to prison. Okay. This spared him.
(03:21):
This pardon spared him from having to pay restitution. Okay,
he stalled millions. He was ordered to pay four point
four million in restitution. He doesn't even have to pay
that back, and from reporting to prison for an eighteen
months sentence. And the judge that had justified the incarceration declared,
(03:47):
there is not a get out of jail free card
for the rich. Well, judge, you're wrong. Okay, there is
a get out of jail free card for the rich. Again,
the White House said that he was targeted by the
Biden administration over his family's conservative politics. No, he wasn't targeted.
(04:13):
He was guilty. This guy dropped out of college, joined
his mother's nursing home business. They sold it, then they
invested money in a new nursing home venture in South Florida.
By twenty eleven, mister Wolzac was running the company, he
stopped paying the employment taxes collected him. Collected the taxes,
(04:41):
deployment taxes, social Security, Medicare, Medicaid. He kept him, He
kept him. He used that money to buy a two
million dollar yacht and to pay for travel and purchases
at high end retailers including Berdorf, Goodman, and Cardier. He
(05:03):
was charged in February twenty twenty three with thirteen counts
of tax crimes. I can go on here with the
fundraisers that they ran and whatnot. If I was asking
the president question in regard to this, or what her name,
(05:24):
Carolyn Levitt? How do I explain this? If I've got kids,
how do I explain this to my kids? That this
is okay, that we're equal under the law, that if
you do the crime, you're supposed to do the time, unless,
of course, you can cut yourself. Well, you cut a
check to a prominent politician. Again, I recall, I recall
(05:48):
the controversy. It was a major controversy when Bill Clinton
was leaving office. If you remember Denise Rich, it was
her was she wasn't even married to the guy anymore.
Her husband, Mark Rich was in Switzerland and he got
in trouble because he was trading oil with the Iranians
something to that nature, and that was a big deal.
(06:10):
I thought pardons quickly from wrong were to you know,
show sympathy on people that might have been in jail
for a long period of time that showed that they
had been rehabilitated or maybe had too harsh of a
sentence or whatever it may be. These are people that
are not even doing any time whatsoever, not to mention
(06:31):
the fact they stole money and they're wealthy and they're
not even being asked to pay it back. Again, I'm
I'm asking the question out there, how is this okay?
It's not, it's not. I wrote a piece Piace several
(06:55):
years ago, and again this had to do with problems
with our country and how we were getting in the
wrong direction. Obama was president at the time. It was
called wasted talent, and I used the line from the
movie Bronx Tale, the saddest thing in life is wasted talent.
(07:16):
And you know, I was talking about undue regulations and whatnot.
But I also I love to look at history and
history again that doesn't always repeat, but I brought up
the history of Rome. Again, Rome, like the United States
was conceived as a stand against a monarchy. Both nations
(07:38):
were very suspicious of concentrated power and authority. The United
States and Rome established republics that enshrine checks and balances,
separation of powers, and the protection of an the individual
with certain rights held sacrican. This is the recipe for success.
This is what This is why we're here today. They
(08:01):
take a good hard look around us. This is one
of the reasons why we are the wealthiest nation ever. Ever,
not again, little emirates and whatnot. But anyway, the greatest
advance is an individual liberty led to prosperity without precedent
in world history. The history of classical Rome lasted a
(08:23):
thousand years. The first half was a republic, the second
was an imperial autocracy. The conditions, events, and how they
transformed from one to the other is frighteningly similar. And again,
this is a column that I wrote about long or
(08:45):
ten years ago, and I cited jo by name of
Lawrence Reid from the Foundation of Economic Education. He had
an analysis of what happened to Rome, and he calls
it the three most stubborn lessons of history. Number One,
people who lost their character know people who lost their
(09:06):
character kept their liberties, and we accepting this to do.
If this is okay, this is something that you know
people of great character would do, I would argue not.
Power that is shackled and dispersed is preferable to power
(09:28):
that is unrestrained and centralized. And the here and now
is rarely as important as tomorrow. Read explains that character
embodies the trait of virtue. In Latin, the word is virtus,
meaning courageous honesty. This trait was the end all be
(09:53):
all of early Roman society, early traits of character that
were stressed in in early Rome, where gravitas dignity beneva
latilla which is goodwill, pietas loyalty and sense of duty,
and simpiqitas chitas is candor, and he writes here, I'm
(10:13):
gonna cit The connection between character and liberty is powerful. Liberty,
by which I mean rule of law, respect for and
protection of lives, rights, property, and contracts of others. Is
the only social arrangement that requires character. No other system,
especially socialism, asks much of you other than to keep quiet,
pay your taxes, and go get yourself killed. When the
(10:36):
state so directs, the absence of character produces chaos and tyranny.
Its presence makes liberty possible. Rome rose from nothing, and
it sustained itself as a great entity for centuries. Because
if it's strong character, Rome went from a republic to
(10:56):
an empire. When they eroded that, one could argue, we're
eroding that. Watchdog on Wall Street dot Com
The Watchdog on Wall Street podcast explaining the news coming
out of the complex worlds of finance, economics, and politics
and the impact it we'll have on everyday Americans. Author,
investment banker, consumer advocate, analyst, and trader Chris Markowski.
Speaker 2 (00:16):
Pay for play pardons. I had admit, this really upsets
me a great deal and where we are at as
a country and a society. I remember years ago playing
the song Romancing the Stone by Eddie Grant on the
(00:37):
program comparing some of the things that were happening in
this country to the Third World, and we just keep
heading in that direction. And again, this is both sides,
both sides. It wasn't that long ago where again the
right Republicans Trump's supporters were very upset with all of
(00:59):
the parts that were issued, thousands of pardons that were
issued by Joe Biden, and it was it's gross, But
I guess in a tip for tat Trump wants to
be equally as gross. I want to share with you
won here and I challenge, I challenge anybody out there,
any of your super duper maga Trump supporters, to support this.
(01:22):
I haven't even gone on to X and listened to
some of the paid Trump supporters and influencers online, whether
or not they've even sounded off on this. This gentleman
by named of Paul Wallzac. It was awaiting sentencing this year.
The only thing that avoided that was he would have
(01:45):
to get a pardon. He is a former nursing home
executive pleaded guilty to tax crimes days after the twenty
twenty four election. He submitted a pardon application to Trump
around in Augury. The application focused not on mister Wallsac's offenses,
but also on the political activity of his mother, Elizabeth Fago.
(02:11):
Miss Fago had raised millions of dollars for mister Trump's
campaigns and those of other Republicans, the application said. It
also highlighted her connections to an effort to sabotage Joe
Biden's campaign in twenty twenty member of the daughter the
Ashley Biden diary that was out there. The application argued
(02:34):
that his criminal prosecution was motivated more by his mother's
efforts for mister Trump than by his admitted admitted use
of money earmarked for employees taxes to fund an extravagant lifestyle.
No pardon was coming. Didn't hear anything then? All of
(02:57):
a sudden miss. Fage was invited to a one million
dollar per person fundraising dinner last month at mar A Lago.
Less than three weeks after she attended the dinner, Trump
signed a full and unconditional pardon. Now listen to this,
mister Wollzac. We're going to prison. Okay. This spared him.
(03:21):
This pardon spared him from having to pay restitution. Okay,
he stalled millions. He was ordered to pay four point
four million in restitution. He doesn't even have to pay
that back, and from reporting to prison for an eighteen
months sentence. And the judge that had justified the incarceration declared,
(03:47):
there is not a get out of jail free card
for the rich. Well, judge, you're wrong. Okay, there is
a get out of jail free card for the rich. Again,
the White House said that he was targeted by the
Biden administration over his family's conservative politics. No, he wasn't targeted.
(04:13):
He was guilty. This guy dropped out of college, joined
his mother's nursing home business. They sold it, then they
invested money in a new nursing home venture in South Florida.
By twenty eleven, mister Wolzac was running the company, he
stopped paying the employment taxes collected him. Collected the taxes,
(04:41):
deployment taxes, social Security, Medicare, Medicaid. He kept him, He
kept him. He used that money to buy a two
million dollar yacht and to pay for travel and purchases
at high end retailers including Berdorf, Goodman, and Cardier. He
(05:03):
was charged in February twenty twenty three with thirteen counts
of tax crimes. I can go on here with the
fundraisers that they ran and whatnot. If I was asking
the president question in regard to this, or what her name,
(05:24):
Carolyn Levitt? How do I explain this? If I've got kids,
how do I explain this to my kids? That this
is okay, that we're equal under the law, that if
you do the crime, you're supposed to do the time, unless,
of course, you can cut yourself. Well, you cut a
check to a prominent politician. Again, I recall, I recall
(05:48):
the controversy. It was a major controversy when Bill Clinton
was leaving office. If you remember Denise Rich, it was
her was she wasn't even married to the guy anymore.
Her husband, Mark Rich was in Switzerland and he got
in trouble because he was trading oil with the Iranians
something to that nature, and that was a big deal.
(06:10):
I thought pardons quickly from wrong were to you know,
show sympathy on people that might have been in jail
for a long period of time that showed that they
had been rehabilitated or maybe had too harsh of a
sentence or whatever it may be. These are people that
are not even doing any time whatsoever, not to mention
(06:31):
the fact they stole money and they're wealthy and they're
not even being asked to pay it back. Again, I'm
I'm asking the question out there, how is this okay?
It's not, it's not. I wrote a piece Piace several
(06:55):
years ago, and again this had to do with problems
with our country and how we were getting in the
wrong direction. Obama was president at the time. It was
called wasted talent, and I used the line from the
movie Bronx Tale, the saddest thing in life is wasted talent.
(07:16):
And you know, I was talking about undue regulations and whatnot.
But I also I love to look at history and
history again that doesn't always repeat, but I brought up
the history of Rome. Again, Rome, like the United States
was conceived as a stand against a monarchy. Both nations
(07:38):
were very suspicious of concentrated power and authority. The United
States and Rome established republics that enshrine checks and balances,
separation of powers, and the protection of an the individual
with certain rights held sacrican. This is the recipe for success.
This is what This is why we're here today. They
(08:01):
take a good hard look around us. This is one
of the reasons why we are the wealthiest nation ever. Ever,
not again, little emirates and whatnot. But anyway, the greatest
advance is an individual liberty led to prosperity without precedent
in world history. The history of classical Rome lasted a
(08:23):
thousand years. The first half was a republic, the second
was an imperial autocracy. The conditions, events, and how they
transformed from one to the other is frighteningly similar. And again,
this is a column that I wrote about long or
(08:45):
ten years ago, and I cited jo by name of
Lawrence Reid from the Foundation of Economic Education. He had
an analysis of what happened to Rome, and he calls
it the three most stubborn lessons of history. Number One,
people who lost their character know people who lost their
(09:06):
character kept their liberties, and we accepting this to do.
If this is okay, this is something that you know
people of great character would do, I would argue not.
Power that is shackled and dispersed is preferable to power
(09:28):
that is unrestrained and centralized. And the here and now
is rarely as important as tomorrow. Read explains that character
embodies the trait of virtue. In Latin, the word is virtus,
meaning courageous honesty. This trait was the end all be
(09:53):
all of early Roman society, early traits of character that
were stressed in in early Rome, where gravitas dignity beneva
latilla which is goodwill, pietas loyalty and sense of duty,
and simpiqitas chitas is candor, and he writes here, I'm
(10:13):
gonna cit The connection between character and liberty is powerful. Liberty,
by which I mean rule of law, respect for and
protection of lives, rights, property, and contracts of others. Is
the only social arrangement that requires character. No other system,
especially socialism, asks much of you other than to keep quiet,
pay your taxes, and go get yourself killed. When the
(10:36):
state so directs, the absence of character produces chaos and tyranny.
Its presence makes liberty possible. Rome rose from nothing, and
it sustained itself as a great entity for centuries. Because
if it's strong character, Rome went from a republic to
(10:56):
an empire. When they eroded that, one could argue, we're
eroding that. Watchdog on Wall Street dot Com
Popular Podcasts
On Purpose with Jay Shetty
I’m Jay Shetty host of On Purpose the worlds #1 Mental Health podcast and I’m so grateful you found us. I started this podcast 5 years ago to invite you into conversations and workshops that are designed to help make you happier, healthier and more healed. I believe that when you (yes you) feel seen, heard and understood you’re able to deal with relationship struggles, work challenges and life’s ups and downs with more ease and grace. I interview experts, celebrities, thought leaders and athletes so that we can grow our mindset, build better habits and uncover a side of them we’ve never seen before. New episodes every Monday and Friday. Your support means the world to me and I don’t take it for granted — click the follow button and leave a review to help us spread the love with On Purpose. I can’t wait for you to listen to your first or 500th episode!
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Special Summer Offer: Exclusively on Apple Podcasts, try our Dateline Premium subscription completely free for one month! With Dateline Premium, you get every episode ad-free plus exclusive bonus content.
24/7 News: The Latest
The latest news in 4 minutes updated every hour, every day.