WEBVTT - Jackie | Betrayal Weekly 0:00:00.080 --> 0:00:04.120 Hey, Betrayal fans, I have exciting news to share. Season 0:00:04.160 --> 0:00:06.920 three of Betrayal is now a docu series on Hulu. 0:00:07.320 --> 0:00:10.200 It's the gripping story of Stacy Tyler and the doctor 0:00:10.240 --> 0:00:13.320 who betrayed them. See the voices You've come to know 0:00:13.560 --> 0:00:17.000 in Betrayal Under His Eye, streaming now on Hulu. 0:00:19.280 --> 0:00:23.200 The state trooper traced two of the wallets, one to Shanghai, 0:00:23.360 --> 0:00:27.920 one to Nigeria, and she said the building was as 0:00:27.920 --> 0:00:32.440 big as a casino, full of tables and computers and 0:00:32.520 --> 0:00:33.320 people scamming. 0:00:47.320 --> 0:00:50.640 I'm Andrea Gunning and this is Betrayal, a show about 0:00:50.680 --> 0:00:54.200 the people we trust the most and the deceptions that 0:00:54.440 --> 0:00:55.360 change everything. 0:01:01.640 --> 0:01:05.480 I've always been an advocate for the underdog. I would 0:01:05.520 --> 0:01:09.959 give anything to help people, and I always stick up 0:01:10.000 --> 0:01:12.240 for people as well. 0:01:12.360 --> 0:01:16.399 That's Jackie Crenshaw. She's a mimographer in new Haven, Connecticut. 0:01:17.040 --> 0:01:20.560 That means she administers breast cancer screenings and she's been 0:01:20.600 --> 0:01:23.800 doing that for over thirty years. She was the first 0:01:23.800 --> 0:01:26.520 black woman to manage the imaging center at Yale New 0:01:26.560 --> 0:01:27.400 Haven Hospital. 0:01:28.120 --> 0:01:31.080 And when I go to conferences around the country, they 0:01:31.120 --> 0:01:32.959 might be like, all right, I've heard your name. 0:01:33.720 --> 0:01:37.120 It's more than a career for her. She's passionate about 0:01:37.120 --> 0:01:40.160 addressing racial disparities in breast cancer detection. 0:01:41.200 --> 0:01:46.440 Statistically, African American women are diagnosed later as the breast 0:01:46.440 --> 0:01:51.840 cancer has progressed. I am the outreach coordinator, so I 0:01:51.920 --> 0:01:55.400 teach people how to examine their breast. Some people just 0:01:55.440 --> 0:02:01.040 do well when they see someone like themselves. I actually do. 0:02:01.880 --> 0:02:05.680 They're called beauty shop chats, so we go to beauty 0:02:05.760 --> 0:02:08.920 shops and I teach breast cancer prevention. 0:02:09.639 --> 0:02:12.760 She's the one calling her four older sisters checking to 0:02:12.800 --> 0:02:15.000 see if they've had their annual breast exam. 0:02:15.720 --> 0:02:18.440 I have to say I'm not bossy, but I've always 0:02:18.480 --> 0:02:22.280 taken the lead, even as the fifth of five girls. 0:02:22.919 --> 0:02:25.480 A rainy day back then, there was no computers or 0:02:25.520 --> 0:02:27.600 any of that stuff, so I was the teacher as 0:02:27.639 --> 0:02:28.200 the youngest. 0:02:28.800 --> 0:02:32.080 Jackie never had kids of her own, but I have 0:02:32.400 --> 0:02:33.600 raised many. 0:02:33.960 --> 0:02:37.880 I probably have fifty sixty nieces and great nieces and nephews, 0:02:38.240 --> 0:02:41.760 so a lot of checks to college, you name it, 0:02:41.800 --> 0:02:42.200 I did it. 0:02:44.280 --> 0:02:48.959 She always put her career and her friendships over romantic relationships. 0:02:49.120 --> 0:02:52.480 The last serious relationship I had was about fifteen years ago. 0:02:53.520 --> 0:02:56.240 It was a ten year relationship she. 0:02:56.400 --> 0:03:00.400 Ended it because he seemed threatened by her independence. Her 0:03:00.440 --> 0:03:03.880 whole life, Jackie's been the breadwinner and she's had a 0:03:03.919 --> 0:03:06.800 hard time finding a partner who was comfortable with that. 0:03:07.400 --> 0:03:09.600 Most of my people around me would say, Oh, people 0:03:09.639 --> 0:03:14.600 are intimidated by you because of my career and you know, 0:03:14.800 --> 0:03:16.079 wit and everything. 0:03:17.040 --> 0:03:19.359 And Jackie was comfortable on her own. 0:03:19.720 --> 0:03:23.840 At that time. Say, in May of twenty twenty three, 0:03:24.000 --> 0:03:27.160 I had everything I needed. I owned my condo, had 0:03:27.160 --> 0:03:31.360 a nice car, good job. I basically was at a 0:03:31.440 --> 0:03:34.080 place where I could have gotten anything I wanted, and 0:03:34.120 --> 0:03:37.640 I had everything I want as far as material things. 0:03:39.160 --> 0:03:42.480 Around that time, Jackie started thinking about what she wanted 0:03:42.520 --> 0:03:45.560 the last chapter of her life to look like. She'd 0:03:45.600 --> 0:03:47.720 been saving for retirement for decades. 0:03:48.440 --> 0:03:51.600 I would put extra away, just putting away a nice 0:03:51.920 --> 0:03:56.839 amount every two weeks and stacking things up. I thought, 0:03:56.880 --> 0:03:59.960 I would, you know, retire First I thought about six 0:04:00.160 --> 0:04:02.240 to it, and I'm like, nah, I'm sixty five. 0:04:03.800 --> 0:04:06.960 She wanted to travel and take it slow in retirement, 0:04:07.600 --> 0:04:10.960 and the more she thought about it, she realized. 0:04:11.000 --> 0:04:14.560 I didn't feel like I was desperate or lonely or 0:04:14.680 --> 0:04:18.960 any of those things, but I was ready for some companionship. 0:04:21.240 --> 0:04:23.800 She'd never been on social media, much less on a 0:04:23.880 --> 0:04:25.479 dating app, and then. 0:04:25.880 --> 0:04:29.960 A friend of mine suggested this website, which specialized in 0:04:30.000 --> 0:04:31.280 African American dating. 0:04:32.120 --> 0:04:34.320 So Jackie gave herself a pep talk. 0:04:34.760 --> 0:04:38.200 I was like, Okay, jack maybe try this site because 0:04:38.200 --> 0:04:42.640 again she helped me set up my profile because I 0:04:42.680 --> 0:04:43.640 didn't know anything. 0:04:44.839 --> 0:04:47.400 She picked her photos and set her preferences for a 0:04:47.440 --> 0:04:51.640 potential match. She wanted someone self sufficient, someone who had 0:04:51.640 --> 0:04:55.239 their own thing going, but she also wanted someone fun 0:04:55.640 --> 0:04:57.880 to experience the next stage of her life. 0:04:57.760 --> 0:05:02.359 With, someone who like to take care of themselves, you know, 0:05:02.440 --> 0:05:05.600 they didn't have to be a musclehead or anything like that, 0:05:06.040 --> 0:05:09.600 and someone who liked to travel. 0:05:10.320 --> 0:05:12.760 Within a few days, she got a match that piqued 0:05:12.760 --> 0:05:15.640 her interest. She opened his message. 0:05:15.960 --> 0:05:21.280 All right, Jacquelyn, my name is Brandon and you're beautiful, 0:05:21.440 --> 0:05:22.480 blah blah blah. 0:05:23.160 --> 0:05:26.680 When she looked at his photos, one thing immediately stood. 0:05:26.400 --> 0:05:29.479 Out the eyes, his blue eyes. 0:05:30.880 --> 0:05:34.240 Brandon worked in construction, and he looked like a family man. 0:05:34.839 --> 0:05:38.159 There's pictures of him with the kids, pictures of him 0:05:38.480 --> 0:05:39.080 at work. 0:05:40.160 --> 0:05:45.040 Brandon was also a little cheeky. She hovered over one 0:05:45.080 --> 0:05:47.560 photo in particular, it's like a. 0:05:48.080 --> 0:05:51.559 Picture beautiful face and you could like see his bum 0:05:51.720 --> 0:05:54.240 a little bit, just lay it in the bed. I 0:05:54.360 --> 0:05:56.360 was like, oh my god, you're showing your assets. 0:05:57.240 --> 0:05:58.719 His messages kept coming. 0:06:00.000 --> 0:06:02.760 The first three times, it might have been twice a 0:06:02.839 --> 0:06:06.600 day or something like that, but it became very regular. 0:06:07.720 --> 0:06:10.520 Brandon wanted to start talking on the phone, so a 0:06:10.560 --> 0:06:12.600 few days later he gave her a call. 0:06:13.000 --> 0:06:16.320 He did have a deep, deep voice, but it was 0:06:16.400 --> 0:06:20.440 just very calm and soft spoken. 0:06:20.800 --> 0:06:24.479 They started talking on the phone almost every night, sharing 0:06:24.520 --> 0:06:25.479 their life stories. 0:06:26.120 --> 0:06:28.880 He's like, oh, you know, I just went back to 0:06:29.000 --> 0:06:32.000 work two years after losing my wife. 0:06:32.040 --> 0:06:34.960 His wife had died in a car accident right at 0:06:34.960 --> 0:06:38.440 the beginning of COVID, leaving him as a single parent 0:06:38.480 --> 0:06:41.840 to their two sons. He had kids later in life 0:06:41.960 --> 0:06:46.560 after starting a successful career. Now Brandon was fifty and 0:06:46.680 --> 0:06:51.960 ready to date again. He trusted Jackie with really personal challenges. 0:06:53.480 --> 0:06:55.880 He told me one of his sons had like stopped 0:06:55.880 --> 0:06:58.360 talking when the wife died, but he said, oh, but 0:06:58.520 --> 0:07:01.160 we'll have enough money to who you know, gave him 0:07:01.200 --> 0:07:03.679 special help and all these different things. 0:07:04.520 --> 0:07:06.840 Brandon lived in New York City, a two and a 0:07:06.920 --> 0:07:09.760 half hour drive from New Haven, and after a few 0:07:09.800 --> 0:07:12.800 weeks of talking, they set a date to meet in Connecticut. 0:07:13.160 --> 0:07:16.480 He made reservations at a really nice seafood restaurant, which 0:07:16.480 --> 0:07:17.280 I'm like, not as. 0:07:17.200 --> 0:07:21.160 He know, he'd clearly done his research and picked a 0:07:21.200 --> 0:07:24.240 place that would really impress. It would be his first 0:07:24.360 --> 0:07:27.239 date after his wife's death, so this was a big deal, 0:07:28.000 --> 0:07:31.480 and he knew Jackie was nervous too, so we offered 0:07:31.480 --> 0:07:33.880 to get her a gift in advance, a new date 0:07:33.960 --> 0:07:37.960 night outfit, something she would feel beautiful in. He sent 0:07:38.000 --> 0:07:41.520 her a few hundred dollars and she got an expensive dress. 0:07:42.000 --> 0:07:45.520 But as the date approached, Jackie started to get cold feet, 0:07:45.800 --> 0:07:47.800 so she asked her older sister for advice. 0:07:48.400 --> 0:07:51.920 She's like, no, don't go. You gotta get kidnapped or something. 0:07:52.880 --> 0:07:55.200 So I didn't go to the restaurant. 0:07:56.120 --> 0:07:59.080 She sent him a text to let him know. Brandon 0:07:59.320 --> 0:08:02.920 said he underst stood they were both new to online dating. 0:08:03.440 --> 0:08:06.720 He could see why she'd be cautious, so they decided 0:08:06.760 --> 0:08:09.200 to slow things down and get to know each other more. 0:08:10.200 --> 0:08:12.520 Brandon started wooing her from afar. 0:08:13.080 --> 0:08:14.720 So he's like, oh, what's your address. I'm going to 0:08:14.800 --> 0:08:16.280 send you something and he did. 0:08:16.840 --> 0:08:19.720 It was a bouquet of flowers and balloons. It made 0:08:19.760 --> 0:08:25.160 her smile. And from there he started sending little deliveries, like. 0:08:25.120 --> 0:08:27.360 If I got home late and you know, I worked 0:08:27.360 --> 0:08:29.880 a ten to twelve hour day or something like that, 0:08:29.920 --> 0:08:32.920 and I'm like, I'm just gonna eat both cereal, then 0:08:33.480 --> 0:08:36.720 it'd be food delivered. And that was like every same 0:08:36.760 --> 0:08:37.240 a weekend. 0:08:38.840 --> 0:08:42.000 He asked about her favorite restaurants. Whenever she had a 0:08:42.000 --> 0:08:44.800 long day, he started sending her food that would be 0:08:44.840 --> 0:08:46.400 waiting for her at her front door. 0:08:46.800 --> 0:08:49.400 Oh my god, he must really care about me that 0:08:49.640 --> 0:08:52.960 he was feeding me and just looking out for me. 0:08:53.760 --> 0:08:56.800 Whenever he saw an opportunity to make her feel special, 0:08:57.280 --> 0:08:57.840 he took it. 0:08:58.320 --> 0:09:03.559 Oh they were love songs poems, you know, very touching, 0:09:03.600 --> 0:09:05.960 and it's like, oh, I haven't had this in a while. 0:09:06.840 --> 0:09:09.000 They looked at the calendar to see if there was 0:09:09.040 --> 0:09:12.360 another weekend they could meet in person, a redo of 0:09:12.400 --> 0:09:16.360 their first date when Jackie got spooped. But Brandon traveled 0:09:16.400 --> 0:09:19.359 a lot for work. If he was on a work contract, 0:09:19.480 --> 0:09:21.640 he could be tied up for weeks, if not months. 0:09:22.320 --> 0:09:25.320 Plus being a single dad made it even more difficult 0:09:25.360 --> 0:09:28.400 to find time. But he wanted Jackie to know he 0:09:28.480 --> 0:09:30.200 was serious about her. 0:09:30.800 --> 0:09:33.719 He's like, I feel like we have a connection and 0:09:34.240 --> 0:09:39.040 we should get off the site. That's when we really 0:09:39.080 --> 0:09:44.400 started talking quite a bit, like maybe three four times 0:09:44.400 --> 0:09:46.280 a day. It felt good. 0:09:47.200 --> 0:09:49.200 After that they were official. 0:09:49.600 --> 0:09:55.080 He was the best, like perfect boyfriend that you could 0:09:55.080 --> 0:09:59.080 think of. He just kept saying, I'm here for you. 0:09:59.160 --> 0:10:00.480 I'm going to take care of you. 0:10:03.360 --> 0:10:06.040 Jackie told her friends and family about Brandon. 0:10:06.800 --> 0:10:10.000 They were almost relieved. I think they were generally happy 0:10:10.080 --> 0:10:13.400 for me, you know, oh, she's found somebody finally. 0:10:14.720 --> 0:10:17.560 He was a good match, someone who grounded her when 0:10:17.559 --> 0:10:18.599 she got overwhelmed. 0:10:19.200 --> 0:10:22.520 He'd always say to me, come down, come down, come down. 0:10:24.559 --> 0:10:27.600 A few months in, they started saying those three words. 0:10:28.920 --> 0:10:33.520 He said it first, but she felt it too. Brandon 0:10:33.640 --> 0:10:36.719 opened up more about his two sons. The laws of 0:10:36.800 --> 0:10:39.960 their mother caused both the kids to shut down. It 0:10:40.080 --> 0:10:43.440 sounded like the whole family was just coming out of 0:10:43.480 --> 0:10:44.760 a very dark period. 0:10:45.600 --> 0:10:49.000 He was like, oh, I thought about taking my own life, 0:10:49.240 --> 0:10:52.280 you know, I leave these kids with no parents. 0:10:53.840 --> 0:10:57.800 On the phone at night, Brandon would sometimes cry. Jackie 0:10:57.840 --> 0:11:01.120 had helped her siblings raise their kids, and she knew 0:11:01.120 --> 0:11:03.320 how exhausting it could be to be a single parent. 0:11:04.120 --> 0:11:07.840 Brandon also traveled for work, which meant that the kids 0:11:08.240 --> 0:11:09.680 mostly stayed with the nanny. 0:11:10.200 --> 0:11:12.280 He's just me like, can't wait to get back with 0:11:12.360 --> 0:11:14.040 the boys after this job. 0:11:14.800 --> 0:11:17.719 Faith had been a huge part of Brandon's life and 0:11:17.840 --> 0:11:21.440 had helped him through the grieving process. So on the 0:11:21.440 --> 0:11:24.320 phone one night, Brandon asked if they could pray together. 0:11:25.160 --> 0:11:27.760 It became something they did every night, and it. 0:11:27.760 --> 0:11:30.240 Was like, Oh, pray that the kids, and then this 0:11:30.280 --> 0:11:32.640 and then that, and it's just now sure tern No, 0:11:32.679 --> 0:11:34.760 it's my turn, you know, back and forth. 0:11:35.559 --> 0:11:39.199 Jackie's a spiritual person, but praying together with a partner 0:11:39.640 --> 0:11:42.720 was new to her. It took her spiritual practice to 0:11:42.760 --> 0:11:43.520 another level. 0:11:44.640 --> 0:11:48.360 I started praying not like I ever had before. 0:11:49.120 --> 0:11:52.080 Jackie was about to turn sixty, and for the first 0:11:52.120 --> 0:11:55.560 time in her life she had a true partner, someone 0:11:55.760 --> 0:11:57.520 who would take care of her. 0:11:58.000 --> 0:12:01.079 All that I've given to my community and taking care 0:12:01.240 --> 0:12:06.720 of everyone. I said, Oh, it's finally my turn for 0:12:06.800 --> 0:12:13.080 someone to take care of me, like God's answered my prayers. 0:12:32.240 --> 0:12:34.840 Jackie met her new boyfriend, Brandon Miller, on a dating 0:12:34.880 --> 0:12:38.000 site for black singles. Within a few months, he was 0:12:38.040 --> 0:12:39.400 saying things to her like. 0:12:39.960 --> 0:12:42.880 Oh, you seem like someone I want to settle down with. 0:12:43.320 --> 0:12:47.040 You're the one I want you to raise my kids. 0:12:47.080 --> 0:12:50.360 We're going to be together. I used to call mister Miller. 0:12:50.720 --> 0:12:52.080 I'll be like, hey, mister Miller. 0:12:53.080 --> 0:12:55.120 And he had his own pet names for her. 0:12:55.520 --> 0:13:01.600 He would always say Queen, my queen, be you know 0:13:01.880 --> 0:13:05.720 missus Miller. Yeah, like perfect. 0:13:06.040 --> 0:13:09.800 It was easy to envision a future together. She wasn't 0:13:09.840 --> 0:13:13.400 intimidated by the idea of helping him raise his sons. 0:13:13.559 --> 0:13:16.760 I've been taking care of children my entire adult life, 0:13:17.080 --> 0:13:19.559 so it wasn't like, oh my god, I'd be overwhelmed 0:13:19.559 --> 0:13:23.360 by children and at my age, how are you going 0:13:23.400 --> 0:13:25.680 to meet someone who does not have children. 0:13:26.360 --> 0:13:29.800 Plus, he could afford a full time nanny for the kids, 0:13:30.520 --> 0:13:33.120 and he continued to send Jackie gifts. 0:13:33.840 --> 0:13:36.880 He even sent me a necklace that had my picture 0:13:36.920 --> 0:13:38.400 on one side and his on the other. 0:13:39.559 --> 0:13:42.320 When she would send him pictures of her day, he 0:13:42.440 --> 0:13:44.600 noticed she wasn't wearing the necklace. 0:13:45.200 --> 0:13:47.120 He's like, oh, you're not wearing a necklace. I said, no, 0:13:47.120 --> 0:13:48.520 I'm not gonna wear until you get here. 0:13:49.360 --> 0:13:51.760 They hadn't met in person yet, but it was always 0:13:51.880 --> 0:13:54.960 just around the corner. The next time he finished a 0:13:55.000 --> 0:13:58.679 work contract and had time available, he promised to come 0:13:58.760 --> 0:13:59.199 visit her. 0:14:00.400 --> 0:14:02.880 Come, I'm going to see you. We're going to be together. 0:14:06.200 --> 0:14:10.040 One of Brandon's side hobbies was investing. He had invested 0:14:10.080 --> 0:14:13.040 the payout from his wife's life insurance, which helped him 0:14:13.040 --> 0:14:14.439 to stay afloat during COVID. 0:14:15.000 --> 0:14:18.280 He used that money to invest and get all this 0:14:18.480 --> 0:14:20.920 money to be able to invest more and just keep 0:14:20.960 --> 0:14:24.280 investing because that's all he had to do during COVID 0:14:24.280 --> 0:14:28.840 with the kids at home. Was learning all about investing. 0:14:28.880 --> 0:14:30.960 And he wanted to help Jackie learn how to do 0:14:31.040 --> 0:14:31.440 the same. 0:14:32.160 --> 0:14:35.760 He said, oh, have you heard of crypto? I said, ah, 0:14:35.960 --> 0:14:38.320 I've heard about it, but most people, you know, like 0:14:38.360 --> 0:14:40.800 getting And he's like, oh, I've really got to read 0:14:40.920 --> 0:14:43.600 up on it, and you know, I know a lot 0:14:43.640 --> 0:14:46.200 about it. Let me know if you think you want 0:14:46.200 --> 0:14:46.720 to invest. 0:14:47.960 --> 0:14:50.040 He sent her screenshots of his returns. 0:14:50.520 --> 0:14:55.200 So then he starts to send me these statements which 0:14:55.280 --> 0:14:57.680 he had I think at that time, I don't know 0:14:58.120 --> 0:14:59.920 invested two million and had four million. 0:15:01.040 --> 0:15:03.560 Jackie thought about her own accounts and what it would 0:15:03.600 --> 0:15:08.040 mean to double that number. Doubling her retirement fund would 0:15:08.120 --> 0:15:11.360 mean being able to travel more. Maybe she could buy 0:15:11.400 --> 0:15:13.920 a vacation home and bring her family there too. 0:15:14.760 --> 0:15:18.800 I'm like, I really want to retire, all right, So okay, 0:15:19.400 --> 0:15:20.160 I'm going to do it. 0:15:20.800 --> 0:15:24.280 She decided to start small, with forty thousand dollars from 0:15:24.280 --> 0:15:26.720 her four oh one K. The account would be in 0:15:26.800 --> 0:15:29.200 her name and she would be the only one with 0:15:29.320 --> 0:15:32.840 access to it, but Brandon would help her set it up. 0:15:33.240 --> 0:15:34.840 He put her in touch with a friend of his 0:15:35.120 --> 0:15:36.320 who could broke her the deal. 0:15:38.360 --> 0:15:42.280 This second person whose name is Mike. He has like 0:15:42.320 --> 0:15:46.640 an English accent. He calls me and he's going to 0:15:46.680 --> 0:15:49.960 help me set up the account, show me how to 0:15:50.600 --> 0:15:52.440 buy bitcoin. 0:15:53.440 --> 0:15:57.160 So Jackie invested forty thousand dollars. It was pretty easy, 0:15:57.960 --> 0:15:59.119 and the next month. 0:15:59.160 --> 0:16:00.720 They sent me a state and I was like, what 0:16:00.840 --> 0:16:04.360 is this one hundred thousand dollars one hundred and something. 0:16:04.560 --> 0:16:09.560 This didn't make sense. No returns could be that high. 0:16:09.960 --> 0:16:13.640 This must be someone else's money, and that meant someone 0:16:13.640 --> 0:16:15.960 else had access to her account. 0:16:16.640 --> 0:16:19.400 She called Brandon and I said to him, you told 0:16:19.480 --> 0:16:21.880 me nobody would have access, and I even have an 0:16:22.320 --> 0:16:25.600 email that I said, and I said, I want my 0:16:25.640 --> 0:16:28.600 money back. Because I was told that this was only 0:16:28.640 --> 0:16:31.960 going to be my account. He said, no, no, no, I 0:16:32.000 --> 0:16:34.240 wanted to put this in so you could grow your 0:16:34.240 --> 0:16:34.880 money faster. 0:16:37.240 --> 0:16:39.960 Brandon had invested some of his own funds as a 0:16:40.000 --> 0:16:44.600 gift to increase her returns, and he also wanted to 0:16:44.640 --> 0:16:47.640 open up a shared account, one where they could both 0:16:47.840 --> 0:16:48.920 invest in their future. 0:16:49.400 --> 0:16:51.640 So then he's like, you know, I'm going to send 0:16:51.680 --> 0:16:56.280 you one hundred thousand dollars and we'll invest it, you 0:16:56.320 --> 0:16:56.800 know more. 0:16:57.320 --> 0:16:59.840 They started painting the picture of what their life to 0:16:59.840 --> 0:17:03.400 get could look like, what this money could buy them. 0:17:03.840 --> 0:17:06.880 They also started planning for the moment they'd finally meet 0:17:06.920 --> 0:17:07.480 in person. 0:17:08.560 --> 0:17:13.280 So the holidays come and he's not able to come again. 0:17:13.760 --> 0:17:16.399 But it's like, look, i'm gonna make this up to you. 0:17:16.400 --> 0:17:18.840 Your sixtieth birthday's coming, and I said, well, you know, 0:17:19.080 --> 0:17:21.840 I had a fiftieth birthday party on a yacht. 0:17:22.520 --> 0:17:25.480 If a yacht is what she wanted, Brandon can make 0:17:25.480 --> 0:17:30.840 it happen. He offered to pay for Jackie's sixtieth birthday party. 0:17:31.359 --> 0:17:33.800 He wanted it to be the celebration of a lifetime 0:17:34.040 --> 0:17:38.200 because she deserved it. This party was especially meaningful because 0:17:38.240 --> 0:17:41.240 Brandon would be there to meet all of Jackie's family 0:17:41.280 --> 0:17:42.640 and friends. 0:17:42.320 --> 0:17:44.920 And I was like, well, what's the budget? He says, 0:17:44.960 --> 0:17:47.240 blank check, blank. 0:17:47.000 --> 0:17:51.720 Jack blank check is the kind of phrase that does 0:17:51.760 --> 0:17:54.960 something to your body. She'd never been worried about money, 0:17:55.480 --> 0:17:57.720 but this was the first time in her life she'd 0:17:57.760 --> 0:17:59.280 gotten to play with money. 0:18:00.200 --> 0:18:04.399 Now I know how to plan a party, So I 0:18:04.600 --> 0:18:08.439 find this boat. I start making all these plans. I 0:18:08.480 --> 0:18:14.720 mean I had a photo booth, a cigar bar, sparkles, DJ, 0:18:14.880 --> 0:18:20.560 everything you could think of, to the tune of eighty grand. Now, 0:18:20.640 --> 0:18:23.920 if I was retiring, there's no way in hell I 0:18:23.960 --> 0:18:26.119 would have paid that much for a party. My other 0:18:26.200 --> 0:18:28.359 party ten years before it might have been twenty thousand. 0:18:28.760 --> 0:18:31.160 But you know, my birthdays in July, and I always 0:18:31.359 --> 0:18:35.159 want to give my friends and family and experience that 0:18:35.240 --> 0:18:36.000 they would never have. 0:18:38.080 --> 0:18:40.080 When it came time for Brandon to pay. 0:18:40.400 --> 0:18:44.240 He sends sixteen thousand back my way through wire transferred 0:18:44.320 --> 0:18:46.920 to my account. I get a cashier's check and I 0:18:47.080 --> 0:18:48.400 pay the vendors. 0:18:49.119 --> 0:18:52.360 Her confidence in him and their relationship started to deepen. 0:18:52.960 --> 0:18:55.400 Whenever he said he would do something, he was good 0:18:55.440 --> 0:18:59.479 for it. When Jackie's niece joined the party, planning. Brandon 0:18:59.600 --> 0:19:00.880 was happy to connect with her. 0:19:01.359 --> 0:19:04.840 My niece and I went to see the boat and 0:19:05.119 --> 0:19:08.200 he called and he was talking to myself and my niece. 0:19:08.640 --> 0:19:12.639 Plus Jackie was already seeing returns from her initial investment, 0:19:13.160 --> 0:19:15.919 so she decided to invest more with Brandon's broker. 0:19:16.640 --> 0:19:19.280 And I showed several people and I was like, They're like, oh, wow, 0:19:19.320 --> 0:19:20.439 you're making all this money. 0:19:21.160 --> 0:19:24.600 That's when Jackie got a letter about a shareholder opportunity. 0:19:25.200 --> 0:19:28.119 It was from one of Brandon's connections in the finance world. 0:19:28.560 --> 0:19:31.080 This letter was addressed to both of us. 0:19:31.240 --> 0:19:33.560 It was an opportunity to get in on the ground 0:19:33.640 --> 0:19:35.320 floor of a new crypto company. 0:19:37.240 --> 0:19:38.879 It was a million dollar buy in. 0:19:39.440 --> 0:19:42.680 Brandon agreed to split it with her. At this point, 0:19:42.880 --> 0:19:45.680 Jackie was all in. She cashed out one of her 0:19:45.720 --> 0:19:47.679 retirement accounts, which. 0:19:47.480 --> 0:19:52.560 Was four hundred and nineteen thousand after taxes, and she 0:19:52.680 --> 0:19:58.120 made the transfer bought bitcoin transfer to the wallet. 0:20:00.520 --> 0:20:03.680 Their party was still a few months away. The relationship 0:20:03.720 --> 0:20:08.240 felt strong, and the returns on their investment were even stronger. 0:20:08.840 --> 0:20:10.760 By now, I think he has like ten million in 0:20:10.800 --> 0:20:14.439 his gont you know, and I think mine may have 0:20:14.560 --> 0:20:15.840 reached two million. 0:20:16.640 --> 0:20:19.920 Jackie was counting down the days until her party. She'd 0:20:19.960 --> 0:20:22.680 booked the vendors and sent out the invites. 0:20:23.160 --> 0:20:26.959 So all the build up for my sixtieth birthday party 0:20:27.080 --> 0:20:30.760 was going to be Everyone was so excited to meet branded. 0:20:31.600 --> 0:20:33.639 They were going to meet Brandon and the kids. And 0:20:34.119 --> 0:20:36.480 this is a person who I was going to spend 0:20:36.480 --> 0:20:39.520 my life with. And I think everyone was knowing I 0:20:39.600 --> 0:20:43.320 deserved a partner to spend the rest of my life with, 0:20:43.560 --> 0:20:47.720 Knowing how I've dedicated my life to my family and 0:20:47.800 --> 0:20:53.040 all my coworkers and the hospital, I've been loyalty to 0:20:53.119 --> 0:20:56.760 a fault. So they were really, you know, looking forward 0:20:56.800 --> 0:20:57.119 to it. 0:20:59.000 --> 0:21:01.080 Brandon planned to come in a few days in advance 0:21:01.160 --> 0:21:04.520 to finally meet her and help with last minute preparations, 0:21:05.040 --> 0:21:07.280 and in the weeks leading up to it, they were 0:21:07.320 --> 0:21:08.480 constantly in touch. 0:21:09.240 --> 0:21:15.159 So we're planning the party, I'm buying dresses and sending 0:21:15.200 --> 0:21:19.679 in pictures. Oh that's beautiful again, the beautiful. 0:21:19.240 --> 0:21:24.280 That blank check Brandon mentioned he followed through Jackie got 0:21:24.280 --> 0:21:26.800 a check for one hundred thousand dollars. 0:21:27.320 --> 0:21:29.679 So eventually the check did come and I'm like, I 0:21:29.760 --> 0:21:30.679 told my girlfriend. 0:21:31.400 --> 0:21:34.320 Jackie's friend was excited for her, but she was also 0:21:34.960 --> 0:21:38.840 a little skeptical. One hundred thousand dollars was a huge 0:21:38.840 --> 0:21:41.440 amount of money to receive in the mail, and there 0:21:41.520 --> 0:21:44.200 was something else about this check that didn't seem right. 0:21:45.080 --> 0:21:49.440 Brandon's name wasn't on it. Instead, it was a woman's name, 0:21:49.920 --> 0:21:53.119 a woman Jackie had never heard of. When she asked 0:21:53.119 --> 0:21:54.159 Brandon about it. 0:21:54.359 --> 0:21:57.879 He told me that she was one of his clients 0:21:58.040 --> 0:21:59.760 and she owed him money. 0:22:00.640 --> 0:22:06.040 I'm okay, but Jackie's friend wasn't convinced. She encouraged Jackie 0:22:06.119 --> 0:22:08.280 to go to the police to make sure the check 0:22:08.359 --> 0:22:09.640 was safe to cash. 0:22:09.720 --> 0:22:12.280 I go to the police and I say, I got 0:22:12.280 --> 0:22:14.840 this check. I don't know if it's fraud or it's 0:22:14.840 --> 0:22:19.800 bake or whatever. But they just blew me off, took 0:22:19.840 --> 0:22:24.520 down my statement and just said, oh see if it clears. 0:22:26.440 --> 0:22:29.440 The check cleared. If the cops weren't worried about it. 0:22:29.560 --> 0:22:34.040 Jackie wasn't either. Brandon had one more surprise the day 0:22:34.080 --> 0:22:36.960 after the party. He wanted to take her on a trip. 0:22:37.800 --> 0:22:39.359 We were going to Santorini. 0:22:40.400 --> 0:22:42.880 That trip would be the beginning of their life together, 0:22:43.480 --> 0:22:44.879 finally in the same place. 0:22:45.480 --> 0:22:49.320 So he wanted to move to Connecticut. I was like, 0:22:49.400 --> 0:22:51.600