WEBVTT - Snowball - Episode 3: The Coconut Wireless 0:00:15.356 --> 0:00:15.836 Pushkin. 0:00:18.436 --> 0:00:21.876 Hey, it's Jake. Before we get into this episode, I 0:00:21.916 --> 0:00:24.076 want to let you know that you can hear more 0:00:24.196 --> 0:00:28.116 ad free episodes from Snowball before the release to the 0:00:28.116 --> 0:00:32.236 public by signing up for Pushkin Plus. In addition to 0:00:32.236 --> 0:00:37.596 supporting narrative storytelling, you'll also get bonus episodes, full audio books, 0:00:37.836 --> 0:00:41.716 and binge's from your favorite pushkin hosts and authors. Fine 0:00:41.796 --> 0:00:45.716 Pushkin Plus on the deep Cover show page on Apple Podcasts, 0:00:46.196 --> 0:00:50.796 or at pushkin dot fm, slash plus. Let's get into it. 0:00:52.236 --> 0:00:56.636 This episode contains occasional course language. 0:00:57.716 --> 0:01:00.556 The first thing about Leslie Minuchian that caught my brother's 0:01:00.556 --> 0:01:05.396 attention was her American accent. The second thing my American 0:01:05.516 --> 0:01:09.556 file brother was attracted to was Leslie's wild story about 0:01:09.596 --> 0:01:10.796 why she left Hawaii. 0:01:11.316 --> 0:01:13.716 Some bad people in Hawaii were trying to attack her, 0:01:14.116 --> 0:01:17.356 you know, because that frauded her and we're trying to 0:01:17.356 --> 0:01:19.916 do bad stuff to her, and her mom and dad 0:01:19.916 --> 0:01:23.716 sent her to Europe to escape them. 0:01:23.836 --> 0:01:26.476 According to Leslie, she had been run off the island 0:01:26.516 --> 0:01:29.916 by murderous locals. A lot of people heard different versions 0:01:29.956 --> 0:01:31.156 of the story. 0:01:31.596 --> 0:01:33.796 I remember her saying something about she had to crawl 0:01:33.876 --> 0:01:35.636 up in a dark bathroom. 0:01:35.316 --> 0:01:37.676 Was something about some cash. She was like hiding under 0:01:37.676 --> 0:01:39.916 a table and these guys looking somewhere and she was 0:01:39.956 --> 0:01:41.276 trying to call her dad and she got on the 0:01:41.276 --> 0:01:42.556 wrong side of the local mafia. 0:01:42.716 --> 0:01:43.676 She witnessed. 0:01:43.756 --> 0:01:45.916 She might have got beaten up, murder or she got 0:01:45.916 --> 0:01:47.796 home invaded at a house or something like that. 0:01:48.076 --> 0:01:50.876 They're going to kill me tonight, dad. 0:01:51.036 --> 0:01:52.876 Criminals got on this chartered airplane. 0:01:52.956 --> 0:01:54.996 Parents had a paper and private jet to come get 0:01:54.996 --> 0:01:56.276 her before the mafia killed her. 0:01:59.356 --> 0:02:02.916 So this story about Hawaii, after everything that happened to 0:02:02.956 --> 0:02:05.436 my brother Greg, he started to think about how it 0:02:05.556 --> 0:02:08.396 might be a fat yarn. He wanted to know what 0:02:08.476 --> 0:02:10.876 really happened, So we figured he had write to the 0:02:10.876 --> 0:02:14.636 Hawaiian police and ask if they knew anything. Greg might 0:02:14.676 --> 0:02:16.956 have been watching a bit too much Hawaii five Oh 0:02:17.156 --> 0:02:19.516 or Magnum Pi when he wrote this letter, because he's 0:02:19.556 --> 0:02:20.516 dialed up the drama. 0:02:21.716 --> 0:02:24.836 I find myself in a murky world of con artists 0:02:24.836 --> 0:02:28.836 and swindlers. We are battling them and I will find 0:02:28.836 --> 0:02:34.636 out the truth. Any information, advice, maybe a point in 0:02:34.636 --> 0:02:36.796 the right direction, would be invaluable. 0:02:38.196 --> 0:02:40.796 Normally cops don't go giving out details to letter writing 0:02:40.836 --> 0:02:43.516 busybodies like you can't just write a letter to the 0:02:43.516 --> 0:02:46.476 police asking them to hand over documents because you're curious 0:02:46.476 --> 0:02:49.996 about someone's past. But maybe whoever got that letter was 0:02:50.076 --> 0:02:54.076 moved by Greg's quest for justice, because whoever read Gregg's 0:02:54.156 --> 0:02:58.516 letter sent back a thick Manila envelope. What Greg found 0:02:58.516 --> 0:03:00.276 in that envelope was relief. 0:03:01.596 --> 0:03:06.996 Finally I had something that was real and genuine and 0:03:07.116 --> 0:03:10.916 could cast light on her, her character and what she 0:03:11.076 --> 0:03:11.716 was really about. 0:03:15.916 --> 0:03:20.556 Inside the envelope were copies of police reports, including detectives notes, 0:03:20.596 --> 0:03:25.716 and witness statements. The reports suggested that Greg wasn't alone. 0:03:26.316 --> 0:03:29.356 He wasn't the only person who had been burnt by 0:03:29.476 --> 0:03:39.356 Leslie Minuchian. I'm Ollie Ward's and this is snowball. Does 0:03:39.396 --> 0:03:41.796 the name Leslie Minuchian mean anything to you? 0:03:42.196 --> 0:03:44.196 Oh, you've bet never forget her. 0:03:44.436 --> 0:03:45.356 She's a sociopath. 0:03:46.636 --> 0:03:49.556 She wanted me to come to Hawaii with her and 0:03:49.636 --> 0:03:51.236 help her open this fucking bar. 0:03:51.836 --> 0:03:53.436 That's the cool spot because it was one of the 0:03:53.476 --> 0:03:54.956 biggest venues here on Mollie. 0:03:55.196 --> 0:03:58.236 It just started getting shittier and shittier. 0:03:58.836 --> 0:04:02.876 He was brock. She took every fucking thing out. 0:04:03.276 --> 0:04:06.076 I just kept tiding about if screw you, this is 0:04:06.116 --> 0:04:08.876 your karma, and I just kept grabbing every bit of money. 0:04:09.556 --> 0:04:16.076 He's a manipulative con artist. He loves what she's doing. 0:04:16.556 --> 0:04:32.476 She just loved it. By writing to the Hawaiian State Police, 0:04:32.556 --> 0:04:35.636 Greg was able to get back this fat Manila folder 0:04:36.076 --> 0:04:39.596 that I've got in my hand. It contained these couple 0:04:39.596 --> 0:04:41.836 of reports that I'm looking at now, which show there 0:04:41.916 --> 0:04:45.156 was at least two people pissed off enough to file 0:04:45.236 --> 0:04:51.316 police complaints against Leslie, and there's detective notes, witness accounts. 0:04:51.716 --> 0:04:58.636 It's pretty detailed. Under the suspect is listed Leslie Ruth Minouchian, adult, 0:04:59.076 --> 0:05:03.996 white female citizen, thirty four years old, height five seven, 0:05:04.556 --> 0:05:08.916 weight one hundred and sixteen pounds, so that's about fifty kg, 0:05:09.956 --> 0:05:14.996 brown eyes, brown hair, fair complexion, unemployed and no local address. 0:05:15.836 --> 0:05:21.836 There's allegations in here of check fraud, lots of tantalizing intel. 0:05:22.676 --> 0:05:26.996 This one is filed by a guy called Jorge Herdi, 0:05:27.596 --> 0:05:30.156 and so I've just googled him and I've found a 0:05:30.156 --> 0:05:34.196 picture of him on a modeling site. He's got shaggy 0:05:34.276 --> 0:05:39.996 blonde hair, blue eyes, surfy looking kind of guy, and 0:05:40.036 --> 0:05:42.436 the only other thing I can find about him is 0:05:42.916 --> 0:05:46.676 a pretty empty linked in account, and it says that 0:05:46.716 --> 0:05:53.436 he works at a hostel in Santa Catarina, Brazil. I'm 0:05:53.436 --> 0:05:56.196 pretty nervous about getting in touch. All of this stuff 0:05:56.276 --> 0:05:59.156 in Hawaii happened back in the early two thousands. I 0:05:59.156 --> 0:06:02.076 don't even know if he'll remember Leslie. Plus it's kind 0:06:02.076 --> 0:06:03.996 of hard to explain who I am and what I'm 0:06:03.996 --> 0:06:06.476 doing too. But I've got to give him a buzz 0:06:06.516 --> 0:06:14.036 to find out what he remembers. See Georges, heardi see 0:06:18.476 --> 0:06:24.596 no nobla Portuguese. Yeah, I speak for Guese. I speak 0:06:24.596 --> 0:06:30.876 in English. You speak English. Yeah, I'm looking for Georges Herdy. 0:06:30.676 --> 0:06:34.756 Please okay you I mean please. 0:06:37.156 --> 0:06:41.676 Hello Georges. Yes, yes, my name is Ollie Ward's and 0:06:42.276 --> 0:06:45.516 I'm just wondering, are you the same Georges that used 0:06:45.516 --> 0:06:48.396 to live in Hawaii in about two thousand and four. 0:06:48.876 --> 0:06:51.876 You used to go there a lot, so I've had 0:06:51.876 --> 0:06:55.116 trouble getting I'm just wondering if you if the name 0:06:55.196 --> 0:06:57.076 Leslie Minouchian means anything to you. 0:06:58.596 --> 0:06:59.476 Oh, the scammer. 0:07:02.196 --> 0:07:04.996 I'm kind of glad to hear him say that, the scammer. 0:07:05.356 --> 0:07:11.396 I'm onto something, Georges says him Leslie in Oceanside, California. 0:07:13.156 --> 0:07:20.196 Leslie was a very charming like she you know, I 0:07:20.396 --> 0:07:25.156 had a way too, Can I get into your good side? 0:07:25.316 --> 0:07:29.996 Like seeing nice things about me, like what a good 0:07:29.996 --> 0:07:32.956 looking man I was. And she had the hearts for 0:07:33.116 --> 0:07:35.636 me and this and that and the other, and she 0:07:35.876 --> 0:07:40.076 kind of started dating and that was the whole thing 0:07:40.276 --> 0:07:43.076 that she wanted me to come to Hawaii with her 0:07:43.316 --> 0:07:45.156 and help her open this fucking bar. 0:07:47.436 --> 0:07:51.596 George's story already sounds familiar. It starts out with Leslie 0:07:51.596 --> 0:07:54.916 hooking up with a guy and next thing, he's involved 0:07:54.956 --> 0:08:01.796 in the grand opening of a hospitality business. George's wasn't 0:08:01.796 --> 0:08:05.396 the only person Leslie recruited for her Hawaiian plan. Leslie 0:08:05.436 --> 0:08:08.356 was working at a restaurant in California and became friends 0:08:08.356 --> 0:08:09.876 with some of the others who worked there. 0:08:10.316 --> 0:08:12.756 She and I became friends, so she would invite me 0:08:12.796 --> 0:08:15.396 over to her house in San Diego and Oceanside, and 0:08:15.876 --> 0:08:17.596 she had a beautiful home. She had a lot of 0:08:17.636 --> 0:08:20.756 toys with the doom buggies and you know, beautiful yard 0:08:20.796 --> 0:08:23.556 with a pond, and you know, she was my manager 0:08:23.596 --> 0:08:27.716 at the restaurant that I was working at. 0:08:27.716 --> 0:08:30.876 Trinity found that her ambitions matched up with Lislie's. 0:08:31.556 --> 0:08:34.556 She and I had the same ideas of entrepreneurship, of 0:08:34.596 --> 0:08:38.556 wanting to fulfill opening up a restaurant, bar night lifestyle. 0:08:39.396 --> 0:08:42.596 And it was kind of like friendship instantaneously because she 0:08:42.676 --> 0:08:45.636 kind of had that aura where she's a very smooth 0:08:45.876 --> 0:08:49.036 speaking person, where she can make everything seem perfect. 0:08:52.676 --> 0:08:54.556 Trinity looks like someone who would be at home at 0:08:54.596 --> 0:08:58.316 the beach some died here, straight talking vibe. She had 0:08:58.316 --> 0:09:00.796 spent lots of time in Hawaii and had always wanted 0:09:00.796 --> 0:09:03.236 to go back there, so she had an idea for Leslie. 0:09:03.756 --> 0:09:06.116 She wanted to do it within Oceanside, and I kept 0:09:06.156 --> 0:09:09.436 telling her, no, there's you know, there's too many restaurants here. 0:09:09.476 --> 0:09:11.476 You're going to be such a small fish in this 0:09:11.516 --> 0:09:15.316 big pond, you know. And so I kept telling her 0:09:15.356 --> 0:09:18.596 that I have lived in Maui prior to and that 0:09:18.676 --> 0:09:21.676 I had a lot of connections here in Hawaii. And 0:09:22.716 --> 0:09:24.556 one day she said, Okay, let's go, let's do it, 0:09:24.876 --> 0:09:27.116 and so I said, okay, let's do it. Let's go. 0:09:29.436 --> 0:09:31.916 Trinity wasn't the only person ready to follow Leslie out 0:09:31.916 --> 0:09:32.516 to the islands. 0:09:32.676 --> 0:09:33.996 We were like her little ducklings. 0:09:34.036 --> 0:09:36.956 Following behind her, Georgia and a couple of others jumped 0:09:36.956 --> 0:09:38.196 on the bandwagon. 0:09:37.996 --> 0:09:40.116 And all the stories that she had, you know, put 0:09:40.116 --> 0:09:41.916 into our heads as to what we were going to 0:09:41.956 --> 0:09:42.356 be doing. 0:09:48.156 --> 0:09:51.396 They headed to Maui, the second biggest of the Hawaiian islands. 0:09:52.116 --> 0:09:54.996 They ended up in a place called Lehina. There's heaps 0:09:54.996 --> 0:09:57.116 of tourists. If you've been to Maui, you probably went 0:09:57.156 --> 0:10:00.436 to Lehina with its still blue water protected by a reef. 0:10:01.516 --> 0:10:04.556 The main street is called Front Street, with restaurants, bars, 0:10:04.596 --> 0:10:08.276 and souvenir shops. Amongst those was an old bar that 0:10:08.356 --> 0:10:11.236 had been closed. It looked like the perfect spot to 0:10:11.316 --> 0:10:12.436 open a new business. 0:10:12.596 --> 0:10:15.236 It's like a ten thousand square foot venue, and I 0:10:15.316 --> 0:10:17.836 have a lot of connections, so I started making phone calls, 0:10:18.116 --> 0:10:21.396 got in there, we got the lease on the building. 0:10:22.156 --> 0:10:24.396 Being a bartender for nineteen years, I had a wonderful 0:10:24.396 --> 0:10:26.836 connection with the liquor Commission, so I was able to 0:10:27.196 --> 0:10:30.516 get the liquor license and stated as well, I was 0:10:31.036 --> 0:10:35.476 creating network of people for her to be welcomed here 0:10:35.516 --> 0:10:35.916 in Maui. 0:10:39.876 --> 0:10:43.076 More and more people were drawn into Leslie's Hawaiian vision. 0:10:43.916 --> 0:10:46.676 One of them was a British backpacker called Will. He 0:10:46.716 --> 0:10:48.996 was in his early thirties and looking to set himself 0:10:49.036 --> 0:10:52.036 up in the island life. He's a Northerner with long 0:10:52.076 --> 0:10:53.756 hair and a laid back attitude. 0:10:54.356 --> 0:10:58.516 When I met Leslie, she had all these fantastic ideas 0:10:58.516 --> 0:11:01.516 of what was going to happen, and it seemed to 0:11:01.756 --> 0:11:05.196 fall so into line with the things that I wanted 0:11:05.236 --> 0:11:08.476 to do as well. I've really fallen on my feet. 0:11:08.516 --> 0:11:11.756 I mean everyone almost saying the same thing. It all 0:11:11.836 --> 0:11:14.596 hinged on Leslie's word of things, and it was all 0:11:14.636 --> 0:11:16.036 sun together by dreams. 0:11:16.076 --> 0:11:19.756 Really, it sounds like Leslie has always been someone that 0:11:19.796 --> 0:11:21.996 can work out what people want and talk to that 0:11:22.636 --> 0:11:26.916 a dream reflector. Leslie rented a house in a nice 0:11:26.916 --> 0:11:28.836 neighborhood for some of the people working for her to 0:11:28.876 --> 0:11:31.316 live in. There were lots of bedrooms and a separate 0:11:31.316 --> 0:11:32.156 cottage out back. 0:11:32.676 --> 0:11:35.116 There was no furniture in there. It had been explained 0:11:35.116 --> 0:11:38.316 to me that Leslie was waiting for a shipping container 0:11:38.436 --> 0:11:40.876 or something to arrive. That I had all the furniture 0:11:40.916 --> 0:11:44.116 for the house. The girls were all really nice, and 0:11:44.156 --> 0:11:46.796 they were all raring to go with the club idea. 0:11:52.956 --> 0:11:53.756 We'll be right. 0:11:53.636 --> 0:11:57.836 Back on promises of getting paid. Once the bar took off, 0:11:58.156 --> 0:12:01.116 Leslie's squad got to work. They had a lot to do. 0:12:02.156 --> 0:12:04.596 It had been closed up for a long time. I 0:12:04.636 --> 0:12:07.076 think russ had been the only thing in and out 0:12:07.076 --> 0:12:09.596 of the place. It needed a hell of lots of 0:12:10.196 --> 0:12:14.396 work doing to it. They had sort of grassroof type 0:12:14.436 --> 0:12:19.036 of foods that were just black with dust many years. 0:12:19.236 --> 0:12:20.516 It was a filthy mess. 0:12:20.956 --> 0:12:24.636 Lesley's Brazilian boyfriend, Georgia, was redoing the bars Interia. 0:12:25.156 --> 0:12:28.476 We had to pull out a lot of trash out 0:12:28.476 --> 0:12:33.196 of there, repaint everything, and basically start from scratch. And 0:12:33.276 --> 0:12:37.236 she had a whole bunch of people working for her, painters, 0:12:37.876 --> 0:12:40.716 people that would do like you know, would work or 0:12:40.756 --> 0:12:43.516 whatever just to get the place ready to go. 0:12:45.716 --> 0:12:49.396 Another of Lesley's recruits was Leahina local Layane. 0:12:49.796 --> 0:12:51.996 She told us that, you know, she had all this 0:12:52.436 --> 0:12:55.396 funding and then that she needed our help. What I 0:12:55.436 --> 0:12:59.676 remember is busting my butt for hours, day after day 0:12:59.796 --> 0:13:02.476 for her. Nurse would pay me like one hundred two 0:13:02.516 --> 0:13:03.996 hundred dollars every now and again. 0:13:04.476 --> 0:13:07.676 And Leslie was almost like a little celebrity in Lahina, 0:13:08.116 --> 0:13:11.476 so everyone was sort of bowing at her feet. Kind 0:13:11.556 --> 0:13:16.476 of thing, and we were enjoying it. Everyone was very helpful. 0:13:15.916 --> 0:13:19.116 With some elbow grease from all sorts of people. Lislie's 0:13:19.156 --> 0:13:22.916 bar started looking pretty good. She named it the Breakwater. 0:13:23.436 --> 0:13:25.596 It almost looked like the dream was coming true. 0:13:26.716 --> 0:13:28.956 Oh, that's pretty awesome. There was a front and bar 0:13:29.316 --> 0:13:33.476 with tables, and then also an outdoor seating area, and 0:13:33.516 --> 0:13:35.596 then as you walked towards at the back, you have 0:13:35.636 --> 0:13:37.916 more of a nightclub where you can actually close off 0:13:37.916 --> 0:13:39.996 the doors from the front side so that you can 0:13:40.036 --> 0:13:41.956 have the full nightclub aspect. 0:13:44.156 --> 0:13:46.316 The club opened and we're doing really well. There was 0:13:46.356 --> 0:13:50.036 a lot of interest from the locals, people queuing around 0:13:50.036 --> 0:13:51.996 the block a couple of times to get in. On 0:13:52.036 --> 0:13:54.876 the opening night, it was really really busy. There were 0:13:54.956 --> 0:13:57.396 local bands playing, It was packed, and it was a 0:13:57.436 --> 0:13:58.556 really good atmosphere. 0:13:59.756 --> 0:14:01.516 It was a cool spot because it was one of 0:14:01.556 --> 0:14:04.396 the biggest venues here on Melli. It was the newest 0:14:04.476 --> 0:14:16.716 thing happening, and it was great. A lot of the time, 0:14:16.716 --> 0:14:19.076 when you have nothing and somebody has something and they 0:14:19.076 --> 0:14:21.996 make it seem like such this beautiful painted picture, you 0:14:21.996 --> 0:14:22.796 try to believe in. 0:14:22.756 --> 0:14:31.476 That the story about Hawaii. It makes me think about 0:14:31.476 --> 0:14:34.916 the Dragonfly CAFA in New Zealand and everyone who helped 0:14:34.916 --> 0:14:39.716 Lislie open it, Greg Simon, my parents. It's like the 0:14:39.756 --> 0:14:43.916 same story, just on a different island. Because just as 0:14:43.956 --> 0:14:46.996 the dreamy picture Lislie paints starts to become a reality, 0:14:47.556 --> 0:14:49.236 things begin to fall apart. 0:14:49.436 --> 0:14:52.076 There was a chef that she chosen to take over 0:14:52.116 --> 0:14:54.676 the kitchen work, and it was a really nice guy 0:14:54.716 --> 0:14:57.436 who was putting everything into it. It made some really 0:14:57.556 --> 0:15:00.956 nice hamburgers as samples that have been given out at 0:15:00.956 --> 0:15:03.876 the bar, and he got good ideas. But the fridges 0:15:03.956 --> 0:15:06.356 were filled with these hamburgers, but they were never able 0:15:06.396 --> 0:15:09.076 to be sold because of the grease trap, never get 0:15:09.196 --> 0:15:09.756 and emptied. 0:15:09.956 --> 0:15:12.316 I don't know what a grease trappers, but it sounds 0:15:12.316 --> 0:15:16.156 gross and it needed empty in Apparently it needed an 0:15:16.156 --> 0:15:20.396 expensive reef. It too to get a liquor license, Leslie 0:15:20.396 --> 0:15:23.036 told the liquorboard the grease trap had been upgraded, but 0:15:23.156 --> 0:15:24.796 will rickins that was never done. 0:15:25.036 --> 0:15:27.876 That was the health code violation that stopped the kitchen 0:15:27.916 --> 0:15:29.796 from ever opening up. 0:15:30.716 --> 0:15:32.716 So after a pretty good start at the bar, the 0:15:32.756 --> 0:15:36.356 breakwater became a shambles. Will sees their electricity got cut off. 0:15:36.876 --> 0:15:40.796 There were anti moskitail candles on the tables instead of 0:15:41.236 --> 0:15:45.876 any light in. People were starting to wonder what was going. 0:15:45.716 --> 0:15:48.756 On without air conditioning. The bar was baking hot too. 0:15:49.396 --> 0:15:52.436 We were buying bags of vice from the local shop, 0:15:53.436 --> 0:15:56.516 filling cool box is full of beers, but Leslie was 0:15:56.556 --> 0:15:58.476 still trying to sell her little dreams. 0:15:59.156 --> 0:16:04.276 I'm starting to recognize pieces of the story. Leslie once 0:16:04.316 --> 0:16:06.756 told me that electricity got cut off at the breakwater 0:16:06.956 --> 0:16:09.316 because she got on the wrong side of the bouncer 0:16:09.436 --> 0:16:11.916 who had a cousin in the power company. So the 0:16:11.996 --> 0:16:14.996 power did get cut off, but Will in Trinity think 0:16:15.036 --> 0:16:16.956 it was for a more obvious reason. 0:16:17.676 --> 0:16:21.076 At this point, she hadn't paid her electric bill, so 0:16:21.156 --> 0:16:23.796 from my understanding, she was running her electricity off of 0:16:23.836 --> 0:16:24.516 a generator. 0:16:25.876 --> 0:16:29.916 Literally. Around this time, Leslie and her workers were all 0:16:29.916 --> 0:16:33.436 evicted from the house they lived in. Will suspected that 0:16:33.556 --> 0:16:35.116 Leslie wasn't paying the rent. 0:16:35.316 --> 0:16:38.356 We got evicted on New Year's Eve and I had 0:16:38.356 --> 0:16:40.756 to move into the club. So I was in the 0:16:40.796 --> 0:16:43.156 offices at the bike I put a bed in there 0:16:43.236 --> 0:16:46.436 and a fridge and wavya while Leslie was in a 0:16:46.516 --> 0:16:49.116 pool house she's rented at the side of her big house. 0:16:51.236 --> 0:16:53.356 People had been working on the project in return for 0:16:53.436 --> 0:16:56.116 free rent, little bits of cash, and promises that they'd 0:16:56.156 --> 0:16:58.916 be sordid when the breakwater took off, But now they 0:16:58.916 --> 0:17:01.116 started to realize they might never see the money they 0:17:01.156 --> 0:17:04.276 were owed. Words spread quickly that things were broken at 0:17:04.276 --> 0:17:04.836 the breakwater. 0:17:05.396 --> 0:17:07.036 This town is very small. We caught the cook and 0:17:07.076 --> 0:17:09.916 it wireless, so everyone talks to everyone about everything, so 0:17:09.956 --> 0:17:12.396 it's very easy to find out what people are doing 0:17:12.396 --> 0:17:15.076 when you're not even within the same area as them. 0:17:15.436 --> 0:17:19.836 Slowly but surely, people were dropping. Things started getting really 0:17:19.996 --> 0:17:23.036 shady at one point because every time we tried to 0:17:23.076 --> 0:17:26.036 ask her for money and she didn't have it. And 0:17:26.236 --> 0:17:28.836 I still have bills to pay, I have children defeed. 0:17:30.996 --> 0:17:33.836 Eventually, Leane did manage to get some of their wages 0:17:33.836 --> 0:17:35.876 out of Lesley, which was more than most. 0:17:36.516 --> 0:17:39.076 I was never paid a dollar. I was able to live. 0:17:39.596 --> 0:17:41.756 I guess you can say rent free for a month, 0:17:41.916 --> 0:17:45.516 but if that is restitution for everything that I did 0:17:45.556 --> 0:17:48.796 to get her to have this ten thousand square foot venue, 0:17:49.156 --> 0:17:52.076 to get the chef in line, for her to get 0:17:52.076 --> 0:17:54.236 the music in line, for her to get the sign 0:17:54.396 --> 0:17:58.516 person involved, for her I liquor license. I did it all, 0:17:58.716 --> 0:18:02.356 but no, I was never paid one penny, not one. 0:18:02.516 --> 0:18:05.156 And people weren't just saying they didn't get paid. There 0:18:05.156 --> 0:18:10.276 were also allegations of stolen chicks and credit cards. Leslie's 0:18:10.276 --> 0:18:12.996 Surphy boyfriend, Georgia's, had been living with her. Then he 0:18:13.076 --> 0:18:15.436 went home to Brazil on holiday, and. 0:18:15.836 --> 0:18:19.436 Shortly after I realized that she had already picked up 0:18:19.516 --> 0:18:24.276 my check book and went to town on it. You know, literally, 0:18:25.516 --> 0:18:27.676 she had like fake checks sent out to the whole 0:18:27.676 --> 0:18:30.756 fucking city under my name. I couldn't believe. It was 0:18:30.796 --> 0:18:37.396 actually pretty much sucked into that whole thing. It's like 0:18:37.636 --> 0:18:38.276 a movie. 0:18:38.956 --> 0:18:41.036 Georgia went to the police and told them that Leslie 0:18:41.076 --> 0:18:44.316 had ridden out nine checks totaling over thirteen thousand dollars 0:18:44.316 --> 0:18:46.236 from his account. 0:18:45.636 --> 0:18:47.716 And she was just like, oh, I'm gonna pay that. 0:18:48.156 --> 0:18:52.196 My father's gonna pay you. It's like, I don't believe 0:18:52.236 --> 0:18:54.316 one single word you say to me anymore, you know, 0:18:54.436 --> 0:18:58.356 after what you've done. And apparently she just kept on 0:18:58.356 --> 0:18:58.956 on a roll. 0:18:59.636 --> 0:19:02.196 From this other police report I've got from Hawaii, it 0:19:02.236 --> 0:19:05.356 does look like Leslie might have been on a roll. 0:19:05.556 --> 0:19:09.316 This second report is filed by a guy called Scott. 0:19:09.676 --> 0:19:13.076 Scott's police report says that Leslie needed a place to crash, 0:19:13.156 --> 0:19:15.996 and so he offered her a room at his. The 0:19:16.116 --> 0:19:20.756 report also says quote they were intimate, but only a 0:19:20.756 --> 0:19:24.076 few days later Scott noticed some strange charges on his 0:19:24.236 --> 0:19:28.956 credit card. Scott's a sort of wily looking entrepreneur guy. 0:19:28.996 --> 0:19:31.596 He's got gray hair, and in the one photo I 0:19:31.596 --> 0:19:34.636 can find of him online, he's rocking a checkered vest 0:19:35.396 --> 0:19:37.516 I managed to get his phone number through a furniture 0:19:37.556 --> 0:19:44.316 company he owns in Washington State. Hello, yeah, today, is 0:19:44.316 --> 0:19:45.636 that Scott? 0:19:46.556 --> 0:19:46.916 Yeah? 0:19:46.956 --> 0:19:49.276 Oh that's great. Okay, Scott, Look, this might be a 0:19:49.316 --> 0:19:51.236 little bit of a strange call, so please just hang 0:19:51.276 --> 0:19:53.916 in there for a moment. But I'm just wondering if 0:19:53.956 --> 0:19:57.396 you used to live in Hawaii in around two thousand 0:19:57.396 --> 0:19:57.796 and four. 0:19:58.116 --> 0:19:59.076 Yeah, uh huh. 0:19:59.276 --> 0:20:01.916 Does the name Leslie Minukian mean anything to you? 0:20:02.876 --> 0:20:03.076 Oh? 0:20:03.116 --> 0:20:03.516 You bet. 0:20:05.156 --> 0:20:13.716 Never forget her. It's not good that Leslie might have 0:20:13.756 --> 0:20:16.596 scammed more people, but I'm glad I'm on the right trail. 0:20:17.276 --> 0:20:20.196 I'm kind of relieved to find someone else. And even 0:20:20.196 --> 0:20:23.796 though this all happened like fifteen years ago, Scott remembers 0:20:23.876 --> 0:20:24.996 everything straight away. 0:20:25.636 --> 0:20:29.516 She took my credit cards, went and charged all that 0:20:29.676 --> 0:20:33.396 money on him. And then I got called by the 0:20:33.476 --> 0:20:36.516 credit card company on a charge and I says, no, 0:20:36.676 --> 0:20:39.556 I didn't make that charge. You know, I knew it 0:20:39.596 --> 0:20:42.796 was her because it was all restaurant related supplies and 0:20:43.276 --> 0:20:46.636 different things to open that restaurant. But I mean, she 0:20:46.796 --> 0:20:52.236 was stealing. But when I contacted the police, she was 0:20:52.396 --> 0:20:53.396 so slick. 0:20:54.716 --> 0:20:57.516 Leslie said Scott gave her permission to use his credit 0:20:57.516 --> 0:21:00.156 card and to buy things for the breakwater. She says 0:21:00.156 --> 0:21:02.956 Scott wanted a relationship, but when she turned him down, 0:21:03.236 --> 0:21:07.116 he started making accusations. Scott says, that's all lies. 0:21:07.996 --> 0:21:11.196 The police. They told me that I was full of it, 0:21:11.316 --> 0:21:15.076 and she convinced them that I was lying. I couldn't 0:21:15.076 --> 0:21:18.756 believe it, and so a few more days passed by, 0:21:19.356 --> 0:21:22.396 somebody else called the police and told them that she 0:21:22.556 --> 0:21:27.156 had done something to them similar, So then they believed me. 0:21:29.116 --> 0:21:31.916 The cops had actually done a criminal history check on Leslie, 0:21:32.316 --> 0:21:34.756 and this background check must have fired the cops up 0:21:35.036 --> 0:21:38.476 because it showed that Leslie had form. They found out 0:21:38.556 --> 0:21:41.356 Leslie had been arrested for stuff like writing bad checks 0:21:41.516 --> 0:21:46.156 in San Diego, California, only seven months earlier. Leslie had 0:21:46.236 --> 0:21:49.076 ended up pleading guilty to burglary related to check fraud. 0:21:49.676 --> 0:21:51.996 She was even on a three year suspended sentence from 0:21:51.996 --> 0:21:55.796 that when all this went down in Hawaii. And that 0:21:55.916 --> 0:22:00.076 wasn't all. Leslie left behind in California. In a newspaper archive, 0:22:00.236 --> 0:22:02.996 I found some ads notifying Leslie she was being sued. 0:22:03.476 --> 0:22:07.116 I tracked down the guy who sued her. The reason 0:22:07.116 --> 0:22:10.236 I'm calling is just because I am interested in your 0:22:10.516 --> 0:22:12.076 running with Leslie. 0:22:11.756 --> 0:22:13.876 Mountains, the Leslie Leslie thing. 0:22:14.276 --> 0:22:17.396 It turns out the sky Mike Templin is the guy 0:22:17.436 --> 0:22:20.116 with the June Buggies and the nice place where Leslie 0:22:20.116 --> 0:22:23.116 was living before she went to Hawaii. And like a 0:22:23.156 --> 0:22:25.316 lot of people who have hooked up with Lislie, he's 0:22:25.356 --> 0:22:27.556 got a story. Is now all right time? 0:22:28.556 --> 0:22:31.916 Yeah, it's okay, okay, I just don't like to relive it. Yeah, 0:22:31.956 --> 0:22:34.276 sorry to drag as you can imagine. 0:22:34.436 --> 0:22:37.316 Yeah, Mike's a tour guide and he's walking around an 0:22:37.316 --> 0:22:38.556 amusement park while we talk. 0:22:38.836 --> 0:22:41.796 We did live together, a notion side. That's when she 0:22:42.036 --> 0:22:45.196 was hiding my mail, you know, like my credit card 0:22:45.276 --> 0:22:49.116 statements and saying that she was paying for them while 0:22:49.196 --> 0:22:52.236 meanwhile she was just racking up everything she could on 0:22:52.236 --> 0:22:55.396 my credit cards after I found some receipts with my 0:22:55.516 --> 0:22:58.996 credit card numbers on them, you know, with her signature, 0:22:59.476 --> 0:23:02.716