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Speaker 1: Lizzie is one of the best sociopathic crooks I've ever

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Speaker 1: dealt with. In fact, I would venture to say that

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Speaker 1: her husband, Jesse Moulder, and the kids were more of

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Speaker 1: a prop. Every time she would defraud people, they were

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Speaker 1: part of that package. Lizzie Mulder is accused of scamming

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Speaker 1: nearly a dozen people in and around Orange County, including

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Speaker 1: a cowboy named Joe Love. He was an ex boyfriend

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Speaker 1: prior to Jesse Moulder. I think Lizzie used that relationship

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Speaker 1: to con Joe Love. Oh so, Joe Love is a victim.

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Speaker 1: He's a victim, but according to Lizzie, she's actually the victim.

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Speaker 1: And I can Detective Jordan Miracian can prove Lizzie's lying,

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Speaker 1: and he has a ton of evidence showing she's a

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Speaker 1: bona fide con artist. But the Orange County d A

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Speaker 1: isn't convinced. He's got a case and that hective is

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Speaker 1: told to just let it go and let Lizzie get away.

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Speaker 1: You know, I was getting pressure to basically close the case.

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Speaker 1: They wanted you to get rid of it and not

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Speaker 1: do any just close it. The district attorney told me,

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Speaker 1: I don't think this is a winnable case. It doesn't

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Speaker 1: really have any jury appeal, but instead Detective Morakian strategically

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Speaker 1: leap frogs over city and county authorities and gets the

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Speaker 1: federal government involved, people like Scott Tenley with the Department

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Speaker 1: of Justice. Almost anything you do, you swipe an a

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Speaker 1: t M card, you send a wire, it's going to

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Speaker 1: go through the Federal Reserve, it's going to go through

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Speaker 1: Bank of America and all over the place, multiple states,

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Speaker 1: and these days it's almost impossible not to be committing

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Speaker 1: a federal crime when you're doing fraud. But when Lizzie

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Speaker 1: Mulder finds out she's the target of an FBI investigation,

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Speaker 1: she panics, and what she does next surprises everyone. You know,

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Speaker 1: it's a bold move, But I didn't bat an eye lection. Yeah.

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Speaker 1: I'm Jonathan Walton and this is Queen of the con

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Speaker 1: The O C Savior Episode eight. The good that I did.

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Speaker 1: What's great about being an assistant United States Attorney and

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Speaker 1: a federal prosecutor is we get to choose the cases

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Speaker 1: we do. And so it's it's law enforcement agents bringing

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Speaker 1: cases to us and saying, here's what we have. Do

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Speaker 1: you want to make a federal case out of this

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Speaker 1: in July. Scott Tenley is a federal prosecutor with the

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Speaker 1: Department of Justice. When we get involved in a case,

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Speaker 1: it shakes people up. It shakes up defendants because this

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Speaker 1: is a federal case now, and that that's something that's

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Speaker 1: a very powerful part of the job working for the

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Speaker 1: federal government. You scare the bad guys exactly, and you

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Speaker 1: wouldn't take a case if there wasn't a good case there. Well, certainly,

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Speaker 1: we're not going to take a case that we wouldn't

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Speaker 1: be able to prove beyond a reasonable doubt. And somewhere

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Speaker 1: along the way, Lizzie Maulder figures this out and starts

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Speaker 1: waving a white flag. An attorney called and said, I'm

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Speaker 1: going to represent Lizzie Moulder, and we walked through the

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Speaker 1: evidence and then pretty quickly Lizzie wanted to resolve the

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Speaker 1: case with a plea agreement. Yep, you heard right. In

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Speaker 1: March of more than a year after Detective Jordan Morakian

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Speaker 1: first starts investigating her, Lizzie Malder wants to plead guilty

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Speaker 1: for scamming nearly a dozen people out of more than

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Speaker 1: one and a half million dollars. Because her guilty plea

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Speaker 1: will spare the government the uncertainty and the expense of

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Speaker 1: a trial. Prosecutors agreed to reduce the charges they were

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Speaker 1: initially planning to bring against her. And so in that

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Speaker 1: instance where we haven't had to file an indictment with

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Speaker 1: all the charges, we effectively negotiate and pick what charges

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Speaker 1: will be filed. So we brought wire fraud charge, which

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Speaker 1: is any type of fraud committed against the victim where

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Speaker 1: you take their property through fraud using the interstate wires.

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Speaker 1: And then we also brought a tax related charge because

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Speaker 1: she failed to report, as you would expect report her

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Speaker 1: stolen money as income on her taxes. And so she

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Speaker 1: pled to both of the charges we filed. Even though

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Speaker 1: we could have filed twenty more counts, thirty more counts,

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Speaker 1: it was just the two that we picked. So those

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Speaker 1: are the two that were actually filed. The other ones

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Speaker 1: were just like waiting in the wings in case it

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Speaker 1: was going to go to trial. If she had not

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Speaker 1: agreed to plead guilty without an indictment and she said, no,

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Speaker 1: you got to charge me, we would have charged her

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Speaker 1: with multiple counts of wire fraud, multiple counts of filing

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Speaker 1: false tax returns. We would probably have considered charging her

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Speaker 1: with something called aggravated identity theft because she was impersonating

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Speaker 1: people that she knew were obviously real people, and so

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Speaker 1: by coming in and resolving the case early, she helped

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Speaker 1: kind of control her exposure. But things are far from over.

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Speaker 1: While there isn't going to be a trial per se,

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Speaker 1: there is going to be a sentencing hearing in a

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Speaker 1: federal courtroom where a judge will decide how much prison time,

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Speaker 1: if any at all, Lizzie Mulder gets, for the crimes

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Speaker 1: she committed. I'd like to hear from you, counsel, that

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Speaker 1: I'd like to hear from the victims, and then I've

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Speaker 1: got a couple of questions for you, miss Mulder. It's Monday, October.

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Speaker 1: Courtroom ten A of the Ronald Reagan Federal Building in

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Speaker 1: downtown Santa Anna is packed at nine in the morning.

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Speaker 1: A visibly distraught Lizzie Mulder is there, hands folded and

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Speaker 1: looking down with her husband Jesse, as are several of

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Speaker 1: her victims, some of whom we've never heard from until today. Lawyers,

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Speaker 1: police officers, FBI agents, and members of the press are

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Speaker 1: all and in attendance. The recording of this proceeding has

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Speaker 1: never seen the light of day until now. The Honorable

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Speaker 1: David O. Carter is presiding. Why don't we hear from

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Speaker 1: the victims. It's possible Lizzie Mulder could get off today

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Speaker 1: with no prison time at all, just probation. And that's

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Speaker 1: actually Jay and Marla Avery's worst fear. There's a moment

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Speaker 1: when we were sitting in court, it's like this Ladys

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Speaker 1: can walk away. She wouldn't even look at us though

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Speaker 1: her face so she was turned away. She had a

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Speaker 1: hair in front of her face, and she didn't make

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Speaker 1: a move, No one with the no compassion, no I'm sorry.

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Speaker 1: When I would look over, she had her head on

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Speaker 1: the table, looking down at the ground. Often rarely did

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Speaker 1: she look at any of the victims that I could recall.

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Speaker 1: And they said that too, and that that annoyed them,

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Speaker 1: that she wouldn't even acknowledge to them that she wronged them.

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Speaker 1: He owns the lab Law Group now, but back in

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Speaker 1: Paul LeBlanc is another federal prosecutor working on the Lizzie

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Speaker 1: Maulder case. He has a real law professor air about him,

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Speaker 1: extremely knowledgeable with decades of experience. He's an Iraq war

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Speaker 1: veteran and even served as a judge in the U. S. Navy.

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Speaker 1: This is probably the most intense sentencing that I have

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Speaker 1: ever experienced. And I have prosecuted when I was in

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Speaker 1: the military, some really traumatic, horrendous sexual assaults where victims

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Speaker 1: come in and tell their stories, and that's very compelling,

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Speaker 1: and it's a different type of compelling, but this one.

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Speaker 1: The tension in the courtroom when this was going down

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Speaker 1: was palpable because the victims are noticeably concerned that Lizzie

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Speaker 1: Mulder is going to get away. She doesn't have a

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Speaker 1: prior criminal record, her husband is a firefighter, she's the

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Speaker 1: mother of two little girls who need her. She also

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Speaker 1: pled guilty, sparing the court a costly trial. Judges tend

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Speaker 1: to look favorably on that kind of stuff and go

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Speaker 1: easier on the perpetrators standing before them. Federal prosecutor Scott

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Speaker 1: Tenley says sentencing is always a craft shoot. The judge

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Speaker 1: could decide to simply give her probation. He could have

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Speaker 1: done anything, because he's a judge. Do you see probation happen?

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Speaker 1: It certainly is much much less likely to happen when

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Speaker 1: the victims are in the courtroom, So for fraud sentences,

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Speaker 1: it's usually important to the government to bring the victims

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Speaker 1: so the court can hear you know firsthand how it

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Speaker 1: impacted the victims lives, and it's a lot harder for

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Speaker 1: a judge to say probation. The first victim to address

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Speaker 1: the court is Jay Avery. It's been two years since

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Speaker 1: Lizzie turned his world upside down with her cons His

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Speaker 1: wine business is now circling the drain because of what

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Speaker 1: she did. He's mad as hell and he wants justice.

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Speaker 1: I unnoyingly watched Lizzie s deal hundreds of thousands of

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Speaker 1: daughters from me, and the reality of the past few

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Speaker 1: years was overwhelming. All the money that she has stolen,

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Speaker 1: all the lives and decease, his time has that. I

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Speaker 1: still get angry, angry that she's stolen not just from me,

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Speaker 1: but my kids. I have three children. The fact that

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Speaker 1: she has two daughters of her own is battling what

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Speaker 1: she's capable of. She didn't even steal for their sake.

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Speaker 1: Plastic surgery is what we were told. That she spent

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Speaker 1: them lying on and in a luxury house from Lagoona

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Speaker 1: that she rented plastic surgery. He won't be the only

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Speaker 1: victim to bring that up. While the judge is moved

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Speaker 1: by Jay Avery's statement, he wants to talk to the

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Speaker 1: other victims too, to get a clear picture of the

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Speaker 1: devastation Lizzie's cons have caused some other folks. Okay, I'll

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Speaker 1: come back to you. I don't want thank you. Another

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Speaker 1: victim who addresses the court you'll remember from episode four.

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Speaker 1: My name is Mike Cochrane. I owned California Print Copy

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Speaker 1: for twenty two years and four months. Mike tells the

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Speaker 1: court that Lizzie Mulder not only scammed both him and

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Speaker 1: his parents out of almost forty dollars, but the years

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Speaker 1: she pretended to be paying his taxes while actually funneling

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Speaker 1: the money into her own bank account racked up a

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Speaker 1: staggering number of back taxes that causes the I R

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Speaker 1: S to punish Mike severely. We have thirty seven levies

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Speaker 1: on US levies levies for the I R S in

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Speaker 1: the state. They sent out four hundred twenty odd letters

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Speaker 1: to all my talk clients instructing them that they were

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Speaker 1: no longer able to pay me directly and that they

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Speaker 1: had to pay the I R S, which killed my

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Speaker 1: customer base. Nobody wanted to touch me, ruined our reputation.

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Speaker 1: Are you Are you in business today at all? You're not.

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Speaker 1: It's just heartbreaking. But when it comes to unpaid taxes,

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Speaker 1: the I R. S really doesn't care if you got

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Speaker 1: scammed or if you shirked your tax obligations intentionally. They

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Speaker 1: punish you the same. That's just the way it is,

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Speaker 1: And sadly, other companies Lizzie Scams aren't faring much better.

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Speaker 1: Every single day is a struggle to keep our business open.

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Speaker 1: Remember Geneva Mendoza and her Newport Beach salon. She steps

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Speaker 1: up to the podium and tells the court Lizzie still

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Speaker 1: almost three thousand from us, which ultimately devastated our business,

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Speaker 1: screwed up our credit, forced us to go into major debt.

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Speaker 1: We almost lost our own homes, damaged our relationships with

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Speaker 1: our staff, our family and each other. We are facing

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Speaker 1: bankruptcy because of her. Our dream to run a nice

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Speaker 1: business was secure for ourselves, has come crumbling down. We

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Speaker 1: have had to take an additional hundred and nine dollars

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Speaker 1: in debt to pay all the taxes and bills. And

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Speaker 1: Geneva's business partner, Lauren is there too. She gets up,

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Speaker 1: looks the judge square in the eye and speaks publicly

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Speaker 1: for the first time about her years long ordeal with

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Speaker 1: Lizzie Maulder. I've spent months thinking about how I could

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Speaker 1: possibly express the devastating impact this is out of my life,

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Speaker 1: but there aren't words that will accurately describe the pain, anxiety,

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Speaker 1: and stress that I have felt since her scheme began

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Speaker 1: to unfold. Learning of the cunning and devious tactics, the

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Speaker 1: betrayal of this woman I believed was my friend has

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Speaker 1: been beyond traumatizing, a position I never thought i'd be

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Speaker 1: in strategically calculated, manipulated, and crafted by Lizzie Mulder. Lizzie

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Speaker 1: and I went to high school together and reconnected at

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Speaker 1: a friend's wedding in Italy, which I'm sure she's been

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Speaker 1: other victims money on. Lizzie bragged about her education, where

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Speaker 1: she did her undergrad and where she did her master's program.

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Speaker 1: She told us often about how she passed the c

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Speaker 1: p A test on her very first try. But as

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Speaker 1: you know, Lizzie didn't graduate from college. She has zero credentials.

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Speaker 1: She's a self taught con artist. Over a two year period,

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Speaker 1: Lizzie would bring her family into our salon connesced with

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Speaker 1: her charm and reaped the benefits of over five thousand

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Speaker 1: dollars in bartered services, which Geneva and I would pay

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Speaker 1: out a pocket to our stylus. Only a sick individual

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Speaker 1: would capitalize on a trusted friendship. Sitting in my chair

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Speaker 1: staring at herself in the mirror, all the while knowing

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00:13:43,040 --> 00:13:47,440
Speaker 1: that she's slowly destroying a business without any regard. She

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00:13:47,520 --> 00:13:54,880
Speaker 1: spent our money on plastic surgery. How I've seen her scars? Well,

217
00:13:54,920 --> 00:13:57,959
Speaker 1: what kind of plastic surgery? It's called a full body lift?

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00:13:58,280 --> 00:14:03,120
Speaker 1: What's that? It is where a lot of excess skin

219
00:14:03,240 --> 00:14:07,840
Speaker 1: and fat is removed and breast augmentation several times like

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00:14:07,880 --> 00:14:10,199
Speaker 1: a fat transfer to make her butt bigger. That she

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00:14:10,240 --> 00:14:17,480
Speaker 1: bragged about about just more than one plastic surgery, multiple events,

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00:14:17,880 --> 00:14:21,760
Speaker 1: multiple plastic surgerys. And you were told about these on

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00:14:21,920 --> 00:14:25,360
Speaker 1: each occasion. Because this is occurring, give me an idea

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00:14:25,480 --> 00:14:31,280
Speaker 1: one or at least three to four. So she personally

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00:14:31,360 --> 00:14:36,880
Speaker 1: told you about. She went on extensive trips, owned horses,

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00:14:37,320 --> 00:14:40,920
Speaker 1: and lived a lavish lifestyle. Lizzie was by our side

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00:14:40,960 --> 00:14:43,120
Speaker 1: for the beginning of our business president and our first

228
00:14:43,160 --> 00:14:46,240
Speaker 1: few Christmas parties, sat next to me at my bridal shower,

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00:14:46,720 --> 00:14:49,760
Speaker 1: sat in the aisle at our wedding, gifted us all

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00:14:49,800 --> 00:14:53,600
Speaker 1: the wine we drink at our wedding. I'm sorry, Jack

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00:14:54,040 --> 00:14:57,000
Speaker 1: Free and you bought it from that gentleman. Oh, I

232
00:14:57,040 --> 00:14:59,560
Speaker 1: didn't buy it. Lizzie gifted it to us as a

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00:14:59,560 --> 00:15:03,000
Speaker 1: wedding ift, about ten cases of his wine. Yep, but

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00:15:03,080 --> 00:15:06,240
Speaker 1: told us it was a gift. But according to Jay Avery,

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00:15:06,640 --> 00:15:09,600
Speaker 1: she never actually paid for it. She just took it

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00:15:09,840 --> 00:15:14,680
Speaker 1: from Jack Wines. Lauren continues, she was one of the

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00:15:14,720 --> 00:15:18,160
Speaker 1: first people I confided in when I became pregnant. I

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00:15:18,240 --> 00:15:23,400
Speaker 1: actually considered you, Lizzie, one of my closest friends. Any

239
00:15:23,440 --> 00:15:25,160
Speaker 1: time I think of any of those events, I have

240
00:15:25,240 --> 00:15:28,280
Speaker 1: to try and erase you, Lizzie, because it was all alive.

241
00:15:30,280 --> 00:15:33,200
Speaker 1: I can't look at my wedding photos or video now

242
00:15:33,320 --> 00:15:37,440
Speaker 1: because you're all over them. Lizzie, you're a horrible person.

243
00:15:38,320 --> 00:15:41,280
Speaker 1: You have no regard for anyone but yourself, and it

244
00:15:41,280 --> 00:15:43,680
Speaker 1: will be no surprise that you'll try and present yourself

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00:15:43,720 --> 00:15:45,520
Speaker 1: as wife and mother of the year. But that could

246
00:15:45,520 --> 00:15:48,360
Speaker 1: not be further from the truth. I don't believe she

247
00:15:48,400 --> 00:15:52,280
Speaker 1: has any regret or remorse her behavior is arrogant. It's

248
00:15:52,400 --> 00:15:55,160
Speaker 1: only sorry that she got caught in your honor. Before

249
00:15:55,160 --> 00:15:57,480
Speaker 1: I close, I want you to know Lizzie does not

250
00:15:57,560 --> 00:16:00,680
Speaker 1: believe she will do any jail time for this. I

251
00:16:00,800 --> 00:16:03,680
Speaker 1: know this because she has told people who have then

252
00:16:04,480 --> 00:16:09,120
Speaker 1: told me. Lizzie's belief that she'll get off scott free

253
00:16:09,440 --> 00:16:13,320
Speaker 1: might not be wrong. Non violent offenders walk out of

254
00:16:13,360 --> 00:16:18,520
Speaker 1: court with just probation and no jail time every single day.

255
00:16:18,600 --> 00:16:21,800
Speaker 1: But in a lot of those cases, victims like Geneva

256
00:16:21,840 --> 00:16:25,320
Speaker 1: and Lauren aren't in court explaining to the judge just

257
00:16:25,440 --> 00:16:33,479
Speaker 1: how devastated they are. Both pretty much this next victim,

258
00:16:33,560 --> 00:16:37,440
Speaker 1: who we've never heard from before, is irreparably damaged by

259
00:16:37,480 --> 00:16:41,240
Speaker 1: all the scams Lizzie Maulder pulls on her and her parents.

260
00:16:42,440 --> 00:16:45,320
Speaker 1: I'm not sure quite how to condense ten years of

261
00:16:45,400 --> 00:16:47,760
Speaker 1: lies and deceit and describe the pain and suffering it

262
00:16:47,840 --> 00:16:54,280
Speaker 1: caused me in my family. Friday thousand sixteen, that was

263
00:16:54,320 --> 00:16:56,640
Speaker 1: the day I discovered the person whom I had considered

264
00:16:56,640 --> 00:16:59,080
Speaker 1: my best friend, who was like a sister, had been

265
00:16:59,120 --> 00:17:02,280
Speaker 1: stealing from me. The next few months were so surreal,

266
00:17:02,400 --> 00:17:05,119
Speaker 1: like I was living a bad dream. Now, my family

267
00:17:05,119 --> 00:17:07,000
Speaker 1: and I are attempting to pick up the pieces and

268
00:17:07,040 --> 00:17:11,879
Speaker 1: recover from the losses Elizabeth caused us. Elizabeth Mulder is

269
00:17:11,880 --> 00:17:14,880
Speaker 1: a predator. She chose me as a target from day one.

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00:17:15,400 --> 00:17:17,480
Speaker 1: I met her in the spring of two thousand six.

271
00:17:17,800 --> 00:17:21,239
Speaker 1: I was her pilodes instructor. She was friendly, likable, a

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00:17:21,240 --> 00:17:24,600
Speaker 1: great listener, funny, approachable, all the perfect qualities in a

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00:17:24,640 --> 00:17:27,480
Speaker 1: text butok best friend. She was very candid, never seemed

274
00:17:27,480 --> 00:17:29,639
Speaker 1: to hide anything. If anything, I would say she was

275
00:17:29,680 --> 00:17:32,919
Speaker 1: an oversharer. I believe she knew exactly the kind of

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00:17:32,960 --> 00:17:35,639
Speaker 1: person she needed to portray in order to be well liked.

277
00:17:36,400 --> 00:17:40,000
Speaker 1: Over the next year, we became close friends, and during

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00:17:40,000 --> 00:17:43,040
Speaker 1: that time she embedded herself into every aspect of my life.

279
00:17:43,160 --> 00:17:46,120
Speaker 1: She became friends with my family, my parents, my brothers,

280
00:17:46,240 --> 00:17:50,320
Speaker 1: their wives. She attended our family Christmas celebration. We celebrated

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00:17:50,320 --> 00:17:53,520
Speaker 1: almost every holiday together. It was during this first year

282
00:17:53,520 --> 00:17:55,560
Speaker 1: that she became like a sister and I trusted her.

283
00:17:55,760 --> 00:17:58,680
Speaker 1: She integrated herself into my family for one purpose, only

284
00:17:58,920 --> 00:18:03,639
Speaker 1: to defraud me. In the fall of two thousand seven,

285
00:18:03,680 --> 00:18:06,639
Speaker 1: Elizabeth suggested that I opened my own pilot studio. She

286
00:18:06,720 --> 00:18:09,280
Speaker 1: had claimed to be an accountant and c pa neither

287
00:18:09,320 --> 00:18:11,520
Speaker 1: of which she actually is, and told me that she

288
00:18:11,560 --> 00:18:15,320
Speaker 1: had experienced helping other people establishing small businesses. She was

289
00:18:15,359 --> 00:18:18,240
Speaker 1: my best friend, so our arrangement was her services in

290
00:18:18,280 --> 00:18:21,520
Speaker 1: exchange for pilates. At the time, the exchange made sense

291
00:18:21,560 --> 00:18:24,680
Speaker 1: to me. The process went smoothly, and she seemed highly qualified.

292
00:18:24,760 --> 00:18:27,920
Speaker 1: She made things happen, I obviously didn't realize at the time.

293
00:18:27,960 --> 00:18:30,400
Speaker 1: Before my studio's doors were even opened, she was already

294
00:18:30,400 --> 00:18:33,960
Speaker 1: seizing the opportunity to steal from me. My studio was

295
00:18:34,000 --> 00:18:37,120
Speaker 1: incredibly successful. From day one, I was working seven days

296
00:18:37,119 --> 00:18:39,720
Speaker 1: a week and pouring my heart into my work. Within

297
00:18:39,760 --> 00:18:41,840
Speaker 1: the first year of business, I became pregnant with my

298
00:18:41,880 --> 00:18:44,840
Speaker 1: first child. Being a mother herself, she was once again

299
00:18:44,880 --> 00:18:48,000
Speaker 1: there every step of my pregnancy, buying extravagant baby gifts

300
00:18:48,000 --> 00:18:50,680
Speaker 1: and treating me to spaw days. Elizabeth even made sure

301
00:18:50,760 --> 00:18:52,320
Speaker 1: that she was at the hospital for the birth of

302
00:18:52,320 --> 00:18:56,800
Speaker 1: my baby. What happened in the hospital haunts me to

303
00:18:56,840 --> 00:18:59,080
Speaker 1: this day, and it has become even more disturbing to

304
00:18:59,119 --> 00:19:03,560
Speaker 1: me since discovered ring her fraud. Shortly after my C section,

305
00:19:04,240 --> 00:19:07,959
Speaker 1: I was still heavily medicated and recovering from surgery. Elizabeth

306
00:19:08,280 --> 00:19:12,040
Speaker 1: without my knowledge or permission, somehow accessed the heavily secured

307
00:19:12,119 --> 00:19:15,560
Speaker 1: NIKU where my daughter was recovering and held her Before

308
00:19:15,560 --> 00:19:19,439
Speaker 1: I ever had the chance. Elizabeth photographed herself holding my

309
00:19:19,520 --> 00:19:21,840
Speaker 1: baby and brought the pictures to my hospital room to

310
00:19:21,880 --> 00:19:25,320
Speaker 1: show me. I could not fully process what she had

311
00:19:25,320 --> 00:19:27,680
Speaker 1: managed to do, given what I had just been through.

312
00:19:28,160 --> 00:19:32,280
Speaker 1: She took that special moment from me. Her actions completely

313
00:19:32,320 --> 00:19:34,920
Speaker 1: sickened me. She has this need to be more part

314
00:19:34,920 --> 00:19:37,439
Speaker 1: of my life events than I was. The fact that

315
00:19:37,480 --> 00:19:39,359
Speaker 1: she was there for almost every big moment of my

316
00:19:39,480 --> 00:19:41,919
Speaker 1: life for the past decade makes me want to erase

317
00:19:42,000 --> 00:19:47,320
Speaker 1: so many memories. During the next eight years, Elizabeth continued

318
00:19:47,359 --> 00:19:49,720
Speaker 1: to help me with bookkeeping and taxes. We raised our

319
00:19:49,800 --> 00:19:54,160
Speaker 1: kids together, all four girls close in age, and even

320
00:19:54,160 --> 00:19:57,440
Speaker 1: went on family vacations together. My dad and husband helped

321
00:19:57,440 --> 00:20:00,240
Speaker 1: her move into her new, beautiful Laguna Beach home, which

322
00:20:00,240 --> 00:20:05,800
Speaker 1: she claimed to have purchased. During the last year, I learned,

323
00:20:05,840 --> 00:20:08,280
Speaker 1: Elizabeth soul for me for hundreds of checks to her

324
00:20:08,320 --> 00:20:11,000
Speaker 1: own personal bank account, used my company credit card for

325
00:20:11,040 --> 00:20:14,760
Speaker 1: her personal use, and also applied for and received loans

326
00:20:14,760 --> 00:20:17,520
Speaker 1: for over a hundred thousand dollars in my name. In total,

327
00:20:17,600 --> 00:20:20,160
Speaker 1: she stole more than two hundred thousand dollars. She used

328
00:20:20,160 --> 00:20:23,040
Speaker 1: it to pay luxuries like her plastic surgery. She owned

329
00:20:23,119 --> 00:20:27,520
Speaker 1: numerous courses road horses. Weekly, I sat down with my girls,

330
00:20:27,600 --> 00:20:30,600
Speaker 1: ages five and seven, to explain to them that my

331
00:20:30,640 --> 00:20:33,440
Speaker 1: best friend and the woman who was like family to them,

332
00:20:33,560 --> 00:20:35,560
Speaker 1: is dangerous and they should never speak with her or

333
00:20:35,600 --> 00:20:39,359
Speaker 1: have any contact. Sadly, next month, I will be closing

334
00:20:39,359 --> 00:20:42,399
Speaker 1: the doors of my studio. Ultimately, it is due to

335
00:20:42,440 --> 00:20:45,800
Speaker 1: the theft by Elizabeth Mulder. I cannot possibly recover from

336
00:20:45,800 --> 00:20:49,520
Speaker 1: the damages she caused in so many ways. I am

337
00:20:49,520 --> 00:20:52,000
Speaker 1: sure Elizabeth will look to this court for sympathy, pity,

338
00:20:52,280 --> 00:20:54,159
Speaker 1: and put on the performance of the loving mother and

339
00:20:54,240 --> 00:20:57,119
Speaker 1: humble wife. I assure you she is none of these things.

340
00:20:58,240 --> 00:21:01,679
Speaker 1: She is selfish, deceitful, and lacks remorse and empathy for

341
00:21:01,720 --> 00:21:05,000
Speaker 1: everything she did to me in my family. Elizabeth Mulder

342
00:21:05,080 --> 00:21:08,719
Speaker 1: is a predator. Her theft, lies, and manipulation continued for

343
00:21:08,760 --> 00:21:11,639
Speaker 1: over a decade. This was not an isolated incident or

344
00:21:11,720 --> 00:21:14,480
Speaker 1: single bad decision. This was a way of life for her,

345
00:21:14,560 --> 00:21:16,879
Speaker 1: and it is clear she never stopped to consider anyone

346
00:21:16,880 --> 00:21:19,720
Speaker 1: around her. I believe she knows no other way to live,

347
00:21:19,760 --> 00:21:22,520
Speaker 1: and would continue to steal and deceive other trusting people

348
00:21:22,600 --> 00:21:30,000
Speaker 1: like myself if given the chance. Thank you very much. Wow,

349
00:21:30,440 --> 00:21:33,520
Speaker 1: you can almost hear a pin drop in the courtroom.

350
00:21:33,560 --> 00:21:36,240
Speaker 1: The more victims who speak up like that, the less

351
00:21:36,280 --> 00:21:38,840
Speaker 1: likely it seems that Lizzie Mulder is going to walk

352
00:21:38,880 --> 00:21:44,800
Speaker 1: away from all this with just probation. The next victim

353
00:21:44,800 --> 00:21:47,320
Speaker 1: to take the podium as a business owner who Lizzie

354
00:21:47,359 --> 00:21:53,040
Speaker 1: scams while she's literally scamming everyone else for years, It's

355
00:21:53,119 --> 00:21:56,560
Speaker 1: just unfathomable to me how she kept all those plates

356
00:21:56,600 --> 00:22:01,000
Speaker 1: spinning at the same time. I knew Lizzie mother. She

357
00:22:01,200 --> 00:22:03,520
Speaker 1: was a friend of mine. Actually I had met her

358
00:22:03,560 --> 00:22:06,199
Speaker 1: years ago at Ris Carlton and she worked as a

359
00:22:06,240 --> 00:22:09,920
Speaker 1: massage therapist. So I actually had a, you know, kind

360
00:22:09,960 --> 00:22:13,160
Speaker 1: of a trust for Lizzie because she always talked about

361
00:22:13,240 --> 00:22:17,959
Speaker 1: Lizzie her daughter. I'm here today like so many others,

362
00:22:18,040 --> 00:22:21,280
Speaker 1: because I've had the great misfortune of trusting Elizabeth Mulder

363
00:22:21,359 --> 00:22:23,919
Speaker 1: Lizzie with the business that I've built for more than

364
00:22:23,960 --> 00:22:28,280
Speaker 1: a decade. From two thousand and eleven to two thousand sixteen,

365
00:22:28,960 --> 00:22:33,040
Speaker 1: she stole over eight hundred and fifty three thousand dollars.

366
00:22:33,040 --> 00:22:36,480
Speaker 1: She did not do this as a one time theft,

367
00:22:37,280 --> 00:22:43,000
Speaker 1: but in a deliberate, repeated, calculating fashion, devising several creative

368
00:22:43,040 --> 00:22:47,800
Speaker 1: methods of stealing money. Her schemes included forging my business checks,

369
00:22:48,680 --> 00:22:54,120
Speaker 1: creating fictitious insurance business checks. But her most damaging scheme

370
00:22:54,320 --> 00:22:58,920
Speaker 1: was her creation of the income tax payment an account

371
00:22:59,400 --> 00:23:04,440
Speaker 1: with Bank of America. Lizzie directed me to draft multiple

372
00:23:04,560 --> 00:23:08,359
Speaker 1: checks to income tax payments. Over a six year period

373
00:23:09,320 --> 00:23:13,000
Speaker 1: from two thousand twelve to two thousand sixteen, she deposited

374
00:23:13,040 --> 00:23:16,440
Speaker 1: over forty six checks from my business which were meant

375
00:23:16,480 --> 00:23:19,800
Speaker 1: to pay income tax payments. She would come to my

376
00:23:19,880 --> 00:23:22,600
Speaker 1: house and she'd say, it's time for your quarterly payment.

377
00:23:22,960 --> 00:23:27,240
Speaker 1: She would look me in the eye directly, and she'd say, blatantly,

378
00:23:28,160 --> 00:23:30,199
Speaker 1: you know what. I'm going to drive this to the

379
00:23:30,240 --> 00:23:32,199
Speaker 1: I R S. So it can be time stamped, so

380
00:23:32,240 --> 00:23:33,960
Speaker 1: there will be no chance it will get lost in

381
00:23:34,000 --> 00:23:39,400
Speaker 1: the mail or won't be deposited to your account. I've

382
00:23:39,400 --> 00:23:43,080
Speaker 1: worked all my life for over forty years. I'm sixty three.

383
00:23:43,480 --> 00:23:44,879
Speaker 1: It was a dream of my own to have my

384
00:23:44,920 --> 00:23:47,200
Speaker 1: own travel company. I hope to use my hard earned

385
00:23:47,200 --> 00:23:50,920
Speaker 1: money to eventually retire now my savings are wiped out,

386
00:23:51,040 --> 00:23:53,320
Speaker 1: and as a sixty three year old woman, I will

387
00:23:53,320 --> 00:23:55,600
Speaker 1: need to be working until I'm eighty to gain back

388
00:23:55,600 --> 00:24:02,960
Speaker 1: the loss. In addition, I lost my twenty year marriage.

389
00:24:03,600 --> 00:24:06,840
Speaker 1: I believe the disagreements with my husband over the financial

390
00:24:06,880 --> 00:24:11,680
Speaker 1: problems created by Lizzie ruined our marriage. I would ask

391
00:24:11,760 --> 00:24:14,920
Speaker 1: the court not to give great credence to Lizzie Maldor's

392
00:24:15,000 --> 00:24:19,000
Speaker 1: lack of prior criminal record, as the number of victims

393
00:24:19,000 --> 00:24:21,960
Speaker 1: and the length of time she has been defrauding them

394
00:24:22,000 --> 00:24:24,400
Speaker 1: shows that she has devoted much of her adult life

395
00:24:24,440 --> 00:24:30,600
Speaker 1: to stealing from other people. Your honor, I beg you

396
00:24:30,680 --> 00:24:35,280
Speaker 1: to give Lizzie Maldor the maximum sense. The number of

397
00:24:35,320 --> 00:24:38,200
Speaker 1: people she has heard, the amount of time she has

398
00:24:38,240 --> 00:24:41,320
Speaker 1: done it, and the callous and cruel manner in which

399
00:24:41,320 --> 00:24:43,960
Speaker 1: she abused the trust of at least sixteen victims and

400
00:24:44,040 --> 00:24:49,080
Speaker 1: probably more warrants the maximal possible sense. Even more importantly,

401
00:24:49,200 --> 00:24:51,560
Speaker 1: I think she needs the maximum sense in order to

402
00:24:51,640 --> 00:24:56,040
Speaker 1: keep her from other unsuspecting victims. I believe, if given

403
00:24:56,080 --> 00:25:00,280
Speaker 1: the chance, she would steal again tomorrow. I you were

404
00:25:00,280 --> 00:25:17,160
Speaker 1: being here, it's clear the damage Lizzie has done here

405
00:25:17,280 --> 00:25:22,080
Speaker 1: is not just financial, it's emotional. It broke up a marriage,

406
00:25:22,560 --> 00:25:25,720
Speaker 1: It robbed victims of their happy memories of their wedding day,

407
00:25:26,160 --> 00:25:30,880
Speaker 1: memories of their first child being born. After hearing from

408
00:25:30,880 --> 00:25:35,000
Speaker 1: a cross section of Lizzie's victims, the judge gets curious

409
00:25:35,240 --> 00:25:37,880
Speaker 1: the question I post right at the beginning that I'd

410
00:25:37,920 --> 00:25:40,359
Speaker 1: like you to ask on my behalf, or I'll ask

411
00:25:40,440 --> 00:25:44,320
Speaker 1: it is you've got the investigating officers here. I'd like

412
00:25:44,480 --> 00:25:48,560
Speaker 1: to know what happened at the first contact with the defendant.

413
00:25:48,680 --> 00:25:50,600
Speaker 1: And by the way, if she asserted her right to

414
00:25:50,680 --> 00:25:53,480
Speaker 1: an attorney, that's fine, she's entitled to that. Or was

415
00:25:53,520 --> 00:25:57,480
Speaker 1: she completely truthful? What was that first interview? Like us

416
00:25:57,480 --> 00:26:00,159
Speaker 1: shoot up to the podium to give that answer? Is

417
00:26:00,200 --> 00:26:03,560
Speaker 1: the hero of our story? Good morning, how are you doing?

418
00:26:03,920 --> 00:26:06,480
Speaker 1: I just need your name for the record, type of problem.

419
00:26:06,560 --> 00:26:11,679
Speaker 1: Jordan's first name, last name is Moracian. It's a pleasure.

420
00:26:11,680 --> 00:26:16,200
Speaker 1: I'm interested in the first contact, my very first contact

421
00:26:16,240 --> 00:26:21,520
Speaker 1: with miss Mulder. She came into the Laguna Beach Police Department.

422
00:26:22,400 --> 00:26:24,600
Speaker 1: I want to know if she lied to you or

423
00:26:24,760 --> 00:26:28,040
Speaker 1: mitigated her involvement, or if she just laid it out

424
00:26:28,640 --> 00:26:34,480
Speaker 1: she lied? Okay, tell me about what initially she lied

425
00:26:34,520 --> 00:26:37,439
Speaker 1: about and slow down and take your time with it. Absolutely.

426
00:26:38,240 --> 00:26:40,920
Speaker 1: I was already in the middle of an investigation involving

427
00:26:41,000 --> 00:26:44,639
Speaker 1: Jack Wines and Jay Avery at the time. I was

428
00:26:44,680 --> 00:26:49,120
Speaker 1: getting ready to approach the major fraud District Attorney through

429
00:26:49,160 --> 00:26:52,960
Speaker 1: the Orange County Superior Court to file charges against miss Mulder.

430
00:26:54,080 --> 00:26:57,160
Speaker 1: Jesse Mulder walked into the Laguna Beach Police station with

431
00:26:57,320 --> 00:27:02,119
Speaker 1: a friend, an attorney of his, to essentially expose what

432
00:27:02,320 --> 00:27:05,520
Speaker 1: was happening with his wife. At the time, I didn't

433
00:27:05,560 --> 00:27:08,600
Speaker 1: know who Jesse Moulder was. He came in literally as

434
00:27:08,640 --> 00:27:12,840
Speaker 1: I was walking out the door. One speculative portion of

435
00:27:12,880 --> 00:27:16,360
Speaker 1: that could be, look the words starting to get out

436
00:27:16,359 --> 00:27:21,760
Speaker 1: in the community that there's an investigation going on, and

437
00:27:21,800 --> 00:27:26,679
Speaker 1: if you're a suspicious investigator, here comes this person, not

438
00:27:26,840 --> 00:27:30,359
Speaker 1: just cold off the street, but with an attorney in tow,

439
00:27:31,440 --> 00:27:35,040
Speaker 1: obviously having knowledge that he might be accused of being involved,

440
00:27:35,720 --> 00:27:39,159
Speaker 1: or his wife might be accused, or they might correct.

441
00:27:39,280 --> 00:27:41,760
Speaker 1: So this isn't what I call a good Samaritan walk

442
00:27:41,800 --> 00:27:46,040
Speaker 1: in where somebody suddenly has a revelation. This is because

443
00:27:46,080 --> 00:27:49,520
Speaker 1: of your hard work, the words floating out there, and

444
00:27:49,840 --> 00:27:53,359
Speaker 1: this person knows enough to bring an attorney with him. Yes,

445
00:27:53,440 --> 00:27:56,560
Speaker 1: Salguna Beach is a very small town and word travels

446
00:27:56,680 --> 00:28:01,080
Speaker 1: very quickly. We have sometimes difficulty key bring our investigations

447
00:28:01,119 --> 00:28:05,280
Speaker 1: under wraps because we have employees that live in the community.

448
00:28:06,119 --> 00:28:08,800
Speaker 1: At the point that Mr Mulder walked in and revealed

449
00:28:09,119 --> 00:28:12,120
Speaker 1: to me what's been disclosed today by the other victims,

450
00:28:12,880 --> 00:28:16,600
Speaker 1: I was initially receptive but suspicious. I listened to what

451
00:28:16,640 --> 00:28:20,040
Speaker 1: he had to say, and then within a matter of

452
00:28:20,960 --> 00:28:23,840
Speaker 1: less than twenty four hours, I was going to attempt

453
00:28:23,840 --> 00:28:26,920
Speaker 1: to speak with miss Moulder and she checked herself into

454
00:28:26,920 --> 00:28:34,399
Speaker 1: a mental health facility. Okay, I just husband comes in

455
00:28:34,440 --> 00:28:38,160
Speaker 1: with an attorney. You're pretty far down the investigation line.

456
00:28:38,800 --> 00:28:41,880
Speaker 1: You might perceive that people in the community are starting

457
00:28:41,880 --> 00:28:45,920
Speaker 1: to talk. She checked herself into a mental facility. Correct,

458
00:28:46,400 --> 00:28:52,040
Speaker 1: three weeks after we executed the search warrant at Semit Drive. Okay,

459
00:28:52,520 --> 00:28:54,800
Speaker 1: and she did out of the mental hospital or out

460
00:28:54,800 --> 00:28:59,040
Speaker 1: of the Yes. And is that your first contact with her? Yes,

461
00:28:59,120 --> 00:29:01,080
Speaker 1: But at the time didn't want to speak with me.

462
00:29:01,160 --> 00:29:04,200
Speaker 1: And I told her as I left the residents here,

463
00:29:04,200 --> 00:29:06,920
Speaker 1: it's my business card. If you decide that you want

464
00:29:06,960 --> 00:29:09,400
Speaker 1: to speak with me, I'm at the Legion of Echil.

465
00:29:09,440 --> 00:29:11,600
Speaker 1: How long after the service of the warrant. Did she

466
00:29:11,680 --> 00:29:15,520
Speaker 1: come into the police department within eight to ten hours?

467
00:29:15,680 --> 00:29:18,880
Speaker 1: Now you say she lied to you, what happened, Well,

468
00:29:18,920 --> 00:29:23,200
Speaker 1: she initially lied. Uh. During the disclosure of how much

469
00:29:23,240 --> 00:29:28,240
Speaker 1: money she sold. Ms Mulder mitigated her responsibility. You know,

470
00:29:28,280 --> 00:29:30,120
Speaker 1: I get all sorts of people. I get people who

471
00:29:30,200 --> 00:29:32,800
Speaker 1: come in and they're just truthful, like to begin with,

472
00:29:33,160 --> 00:29:36,480
Speaker 1: absolutely lay it all out. You know, those are sometimes

473
00:29:36,560 --> 00:29:39,160
Speaker 1: people you work with as a judge, sometimes you don't. Okay,

474
00:29:39,240 --> 00:29:42,000
Speaker 1: but lies a big word. So I'm going to slow

475
00:29:42,000 --> 00:29:45,640
Speaker 1: you down. One lie was the amount they said. Other lies.

476
00:29:46,160 --> 00:29:47,960
Speaker 1: The other lies had to do with the amount of

477
00:29:48,080 --> 00:29:51,080
Speaker 1: victims that were out there. She did tell me about

478
00:29:51,160 --> 00:29:54,680
Speaker 1: Jack Wines, she told me about Tony and Guy har

479
00:29:54,760 --> 00:29:58,240
Speaker 1: Salon got it here showing about Andrea Builders. She did

480
00:29:58,280 --> 00:30:03,800
Speaker 1: not you're about California printh. No, she did knock and

481
00:30:03,880 --> 00:30:07,400
Speaker 1: there was one other or take attack and fee with

482
00:30:07,520 --> 00:30:11,400
Speaker 1: Mr Joseph Love, who's also present in court today. Okay, well,

483
00:30:11,440 --> 00:30:16,400
Speaker 1: thank you, thank you for pleasure. The judge doesn't seem

484
00:30:16,480 --> 00:30:19,640
Speaker 1: happy that Lizzie lie during her police interview about how

485
00:30:19,720 --> 00:30:22,880
Speaker 1: much money she stole and how many victims there were.

486
00:30:24,480 --> 00:30:27,840
Speaker 1: But when Lizzie Maulder addresses the court, none of that

487
00:30:27,920 --> 00:30:32,440
Speaker 1: comes up. She makes a straight play for leniency and

488
00:30:32,560 --> 00:30:36,800
Speaker 1: begs the judge for mercy, saying she plans to live

489
00:30:36,840 --> 00:30:40,560
Speaker 1: the rest of her life with honesty and integrity. F

490
00:30:40,760 --> 00:30:44,360
Speaker 1: y I. This is the first time Lizzie Maulder ever

491
00:30:44,480 --> 00:30:48,480
Speaker 1: speaks in public, and just as her victims predicted, she

492
00:30:48,720 --> 00:30:53,120
Speaker 1: leans hard into her persona as a loving mother and wife.

493
00:30:54,640 --> 00:30:56,680
Speaker 1: As any mother two young daughters, I fear that my

494
00:30:56,760 --> 00:30:59,320
Speaker 1: actions will cause them pain and they will never forgive me.

495
00:30:59,760 --> 00:31:01,400
Speaker 1: As a wife, I have a fear that my marriage

496
00:31:01,400 --> 00:31:04,320
Speaker 1: will not last the unknown punishment. Most of all, I

497
00:31:04,520 --> 00:31:06,200
Speaker 1: fear that I will not be able to repay my

498
00:31:06,240 --> 00:31:10,240
Speaker 1: restitution fast enough for the needs of the victims. And

499
00:31:10,280 --> 00:31:13,280
Speaker 1: as a human, I have fear that my legacy and

500
00:31:13,320 --> 00:31:15,520
Speaker 1: life will be that the good that I did in

501
00:31:15,560 --> 00:31:20,800
Speaker 1: life will not outshine all this bad. Judge Carter, I

502
00:31:20,840 --> 00:31:22,719
Speaker 1: ask of you today to let me show you that

503
00:31:22,760 --> 00:31:25,200
Speaker 1: if you choose to be kind enough to grant me leniency,

504
00:31:25,360 --> 00:31:27,440
Speaker 1: I will honor your decision by living the rest of

505
00:31:27,440 --> 00:31:30,840
Speaker 1: my life working towards making everyone whole again. I want

506
00:31:30,960 --> 00:31:33,640
Speaker 1: nothing more than to show my daughter that, even after

507
00:31:33,720 --> 00:31:36,920
Speaker 1: making terrible mistakes in life, you can still rebuild your

508
00:31:36,920 --> 00:31:40,520
Speaker 1: life with honesty and integrity. I believe that I am

509
00:31:40,560 --> 00:31:42,680
Speaker 1: worthy of your leniency, and I believe that I can

510
00:31:42,720 --> 00:31:45,600
Speaker 1: show others what positive can come out of granting me leniency.

511
00:31:46,600 --> 00:31:48,280
Speaker 1: I asked that you give me a chance to show

512
00:31:48,280 --> 00:31:49,880
Speaker 1: you that the good I can still do in life

513
00:31:49,920 --> 00:31:53,240
Speaker 1: will outshine the bad. Thank you, Thank you very much.

514
00:31:57,080 --> 00:32:00,560
Speaker 1: Now the balls in Judge David Carter's court. He can

515
00:32:00,640 --> 00:32:05,280
Speaker 1: literally do whatever he wants, whatever he deems just. He

516
00:32:05,320 --> 00:32:09,560
Speaker 1: can let Lizzie off with probation or send her away

517
00:32:09,720 --> 00:32:13,640
Speaker 1: for a lot of years. You can cut the tension

518
00:32:13,680 --> 00:32:20,000
Speaker 1: in that courtroom with a knife right now. Well, first

519
00:32:20,000 --> 00:32:21,800
Speaker 1: of all, we're back on the record. I want to

520
00:32:21,800 --> 00:32:25,320
Speaker 1: thank all of the parties for yours today. Eventually the

521
00:32:25,400 --> 00:32:28,920
Speaker 1: judge makes his decision and you can tell he's put

522
00:32:29,000 --> 00:32:32,920
Speaker 1: a lot of thought into it. I think that this

523
00:32:33,040 --> 00:32:36,760
Speaker 1: is the rare occasion when the appearance of the victims

524
00:32:36,800 --> 00:32:44,400
Speaker 1: have made a significant impact. Hearing from you has been extraordinary, beneficial.

525
00:32:46,480 --> 00:32:49,280
Speaker 1: It's easy to read on a piece of paper what

526
00:32:49,440 --> 00:32:54,720
Speaker 1: has occurred to people. It is very impactful when you

527
00:32:55,240 --> 00:33:00,960
Speaker 1: hear people come to court and you actually here the

528
00:33:01,120 --> 00:33:06,920
Speaker 1: harm that you've suffered. The court believes that the loss

529
00:33:07,480 --> 00:33:15,280
Speaker 1: cause is approximately one million, five thousand seven. These victims

530
00:33:15,320 --> 00:33:20,400
Speaker 1: have not been compensated. There's been a suffering of substantial

531
00:33:20,440 --> 00:33:27,560
Speaker 1: financial hardship that has ranged from h r s, leans penalties,

532
00:33:28,680 --> 00:33:34,720
Speaker 1: decreased business, the humble attempt to rebuild goodwill, including the

533
00:33:34,760 --> 00:33:40,320
Speaker 1: closing literally of a business, let alone the personal degradation

534
00:33:40,960 --> 00:33:46,000
Speaker 1: that has occurred. This has resulted in a substantial financial hardship.

535
00:33:47,240 --> 00:33:52,040
Speaker 1: The guideline range is seventy eight months and the government's

536
00:33:52,040 --> 00:33:56,560
Speaker 1: requested sixty three months for sentencing purposes. The defense and

537
00:33:56,600 --> 00:34:02,360
Speaker 1: the probation officer have requested thirty six months. The abuse

538
00:34:02,400 --> 00:34:09,480
Speaker 1: here is so prolonged, so personal, such a betrayal in

539
00:34:09,520 --> 00:34:14,520
Speaker 1: the sense that the moneys that were benefited from were

540
00:34:14,600 --> 00:34:21,320
Speaker 1: largely for personal aggrandizement, ranging from the personalized plastic surgery

541
00:34:21,480 --> 00:34:26,600
Speaker 1: to the horses to an increased lifestyle on the backs

542
00:34:26,640 --> 00:34:33,400
Speaker 1: of the victims in this matter, and this is particularly

543
00:34:34,360 --> 00:34:39,320
Speaker 1: a vulnerable segment of society because small business in America

544
00:34:39,600 --> 00:34:44,319
Speaker 1: is the backbone of our country. And listening to the

545
00:34:44,360 --> 00:34:47,719
Speaker 1: proceedings today, I think the government is absolutely correct in

546
00:34:47,760 --> 00:34:53,320
Speaker 1: your evaluation in this matter sixty three months. Also his

547
00:34:53,520 --> 00:34:56,120
Speaker 1: order that you should pay restitution in the total amount

548
00:34:56,160 --> 00:35:04,759
Speaker 1: of one million, five thousand seven Why one since so?

549
00:35:04,840 --> 00:35:08,720
Speaker 1: Lizzie Malder is sentenced to sixty three months a little

550
00:35:08,719 --> 00:35:12,480
Speaker 1: over five years in federal prison, and she's ordered to

551
00:35:12,520 --> 00:35:15,960
Speaker 1: pay more than one and a half million dollars in restitution,

552
00:35:16,640 --> 00:35:20,360
Speaker 1: but that figure doesn't include the millions of dollars she

553
00:35:20,560 --> 00:35:24,040
Speaker 1: causes her victims to lose in I R. S penalties,

554
00:35:24,320 --> 00:35:28,319
Speaker 1: in legal fees, and in back taxes. Lizzie Malder tells

555
00:35:28,360 --> 00:35:31,840
Speaker 1: the court she has no money to pay restitution, but

556
00:35:32,000 --> 00:35:35,120
Speaker 1: she says she'll pay her victims back as soon as

557
00:35:35,200 --> 00:35:42,560
Speaker 1: and as quickly as she can. After it was over,

558
00:35:42,760 --> 00:35:46,440
Speaker 1: we walked outside of the courtroom, federal prosecutors got Tenley

559
00:35:46,520 --> 00:35:49,640
Speaker 1: Is relieved, and the victims all kind of gathered around,

560
00:35:49,760 --> 00:35:52,120
Speaker 1: and I wanted to just talk to him about what

561
00:35:52,280 --> 00:35:54,960
Speaker 1: had happened. And one of the things I said to

562
00:35:55,040 --> 00:35:57,800
Speaker 1: them was, you know, I can tell you a d

563
00:36:00,160 --> 00:36:03,560
Speaker 1: you guys being here changed the ultimate sense, right, and

564
00:36:03,600 --> 00:36:07,440
Speaker 1: you had an impact. And I remember getting choked up,

565
00:36:09,320 --> 00:36:11,280
Speaker 1: and I don't know if they could tell, but probably

566
00:36:11,280 --> 00:36:13,520
Speaker 1: close to, you know, maybe tearing up because I was

567
00:36:13,560 --> 00:36:17,360
Speaker 1: that kind of emotionally myself impacted by the sentence and

568
00:36:17,480 --> 00:36:19,960
Speaker 1: and and I think, you know, people that work with

569
00:36:19,960 --> 00:36:21,759
Speaker 1: me would probably be like, well, that's not Scott right,

570
00:36:21,800 --> 00:36:24,880
Speaker 1: He's a pretty hardened, you know, straightforward guy. But I

571
00:36:24,920 --> 00:36:29,640
Speaker 1: just remember it was an incredibly emotional hearing and then

572
00:36:29,680 --> 00:36:31,839
Speaker 1: to come out and talk to them, and and you know,

573
00:36:31,960 --> 00:36:33,400
Speaker 1: I think a lot of them had a sense that

574
00:36:33,440 --> 00:36:35,640
Speaker 1: they got some amount of justice out of that hearing.

575
00:36:36,320 --> 00:36:38,359
Speaker 1: You know, part of it was the impact of what

576
00:36:38,400 --> 00:36:40,200
Speaker 1: they said, but also part of it was like, Wow,

577
00:36:40,560 --> 00:36:43,160
Speaker 1: this is why I'm doing this job, is to help

578
00:36:43,280 --> 00:36:45,680
Speaker 1: help people like this that need a voice and can

579
00:36:45,719 --> 00:36:49,560
Speaker 1: get some justice. But that's probably something I'll never forget

580
00:36:49,560 --> 00:36:52,239
Speaker 1: about my time as a as a prosecutor. Was was

581
00:36:52,280 --> 00:36:55,919
Speaker 1: that moment with with them and coming out of that hearing.

582
00:36:55,920 --> 00:36:58,040
Speaker 1: It was very It was a very moving and powerful

583
00:36:58,680 --> 00:37:02,160
Speaker 1: sentencing hearing. Yeah, all of victims are like, yeah, we

584
00:37:02,160 --> 00:37:04,640
Speaker 1: should go out for drinks and you know, you know,

585
00:37:04,719 --> 00:37:07,040
Speaker 1: not that any of the money's here, but justice has

586
00:37:07,080 --> 00:37:11,120
Speaker 1: been served. Shaneva Mendosah almost goes out of business after

587
00:37:11,200 --> 00:37:15,160
Speaker 1: Lizzie Malder's scams, Nearly three thousand dollars from the salon

588
00:37:15,239 --> 00:37:18,600
Speaker 1: and Newport Beach that she opened with her business partner Lauren.

589
00:37:19,000 --> 00:37:22,440
Speaker 1: It's going to take the span of our lease truly

590
00:37:22,800 --> 00:37:25,960
Speaker 1: to pay back what Lizzie stole from us. But I

591
00:37:26,000 --> 00:37:29,560
Speaker 1: think it speaks to the talent and the tenacity and

592
00:37:29,600 --> 00:37:33,440
Speaker 1: the drive of you and Lauren. You're still in business.

593
00:37:34,120 --> 00:37:37,200
Speaker 1: You took the hit and you came back out swinging

594
00:37:37,360 --> 00:37:40,319
Speaker 1: and you're doing really well. Now why would say we're

595
00:37:40,360 --> 00:37:44,240
Speaker 1: doing pretty well. I've done a lot of work and

596
00:37:44,800 --> 00:37:48,640
Speaker 1: I feel that I have come out of it stronger

597
00:37:49,000 --> 00:37:51,799
Speaker 1: and more aware. And that's what's what I'm taking. That's

598
00:37:51,800 --> 00:37:56,319
Speaker 1: the glasses is half full. Other victims, though, like Mike

599
00:37:56,360 --> 00:38:00,760
Speaker 1: Cochran's print shop, she crippled us. She crippled us badly,

600
00:38:01,200 --> 00:38:04,879
Speaker 1: and Jay Avery's Jack Wines her scams put you out

601
00:38:04,880 --> 00:38:09,919
Speaker 1: of business, We're not as fortunate. It was doing well

602
00:38:10,000 --> 00:38:12,799
Speaker 1: at had momentum, and I'll let her run with it.

603
00:38:12,960 --> 00:38:16,799
Speaker 1: Not knowing that this would be the outcome, I had

604
00:38:16,800 --> 00:38:27,319
Speaker 1: no idea. Lizzie Maulder reports to federal prison in January,

605
00:38:27,680 --> 00:38:30,800
Speaker 1: and she serves four years of her five year sentence.

606
00:38:31,400 --> 00:38:37,960
Speaker 1: She's released in January of two But this story is

607
00:38:38,000 --> 00:38:42,520
Speaker 1: not over. There's something really important that Lizzie Maulder is

608
00:38:42,600 --> 00:38:46,880
Speaker 1: not telling the judge and not telling prosecutors, and it

609
00:38:46,920 --> 00:38:51,800
Speaker 1: could cost her big. I definitely think that's a violation

610
00:38:51,840 --> 00:38:54,759
Speaker 1: of the plea agreement. If I was still to kiss

611
00:38:54,800 --> 00:38:56,480
Speaker 1: you off, yeah I would. I would say, yeah, I

612
00:38:56,480 --> 00:38:58,120
Speaker 1: would go to the boss and say this is something

613
00:38:58,160 --> 00:39:07,439
Speaker 1: we need to open up. Yes, you do next time.

614
00:39:07,600 --> 00:39:11,200
Speaker 1: On Queen of a Con The O C Savior, Lizzie

615
00:39:11,200 --> 00:39:14,880
Speaker 1: pulls a fast one on the judge and on federal prosecutors.

616
00:39:15,239 --> 00:39:18,160
Speaker 1: How can that legally go through? Well, I think it's

617
00:39:18,160 --> 00:39:19,640
Speaker 1: a matter of one hand doesn't know what the other

618
00:39:19,719 --> 00:39:22,799
Speaker 1: is doing. It's a new scam that could blow the

619
00:39:22,800 --> 00:39:26,040
Speaker 1: whole case wide open again. While you'd call it a

620
00:39:26,040 --> 00:39:28,880
Speaker 1: fraudulent conveyance, if I had found out that that was

621
00:39:28,920 --> 00:39:30,719
Speaker 1: going on, we could have probably backed out of the

622
00:39:30,719 --> 00:39:42,880
Speaker 1: plea agreement. Queen of a Con The O C Savior

623
00:39:43,120 --> 00:39:45,440
Speaker 1: is a production of A y R Media and I

624
00:39:45,560 --> 00:39:50,720
Speaker 1: Heart Media, hosted by me Jonathan Walton, executive producers Jonathan

625
00:39:50,719 --> 00:39:55,319
Speaker 1: Walton for Jonathan Walton Productions and Eliza Rosen for A

626
00:39:55,520 --> 00:40:00,200
Speaker 1: y R Media. Written by Jonathan Walton, Consulting producer Sir

627
00:40:00,480 --> 00:40:06,879
Speaker 1: Evan Goldstein, Senior Associate producer, Eric Newman. Sound design by

628
00:40:06,960 --> 00:40:13,240
Speaker 1: Baked ZD Media, mixed and mastered by Cameron Taggy. Sound editing,

629
00:40:13,360 --> 00:40:17,680
Speaker 1: audio and studio engineering by Matt Jacobsen. Legal counsel for

630
00:40:17,760 --> 00:40:23,040
Speaker 1: A y R Media, Gianni Douglas, Executive producer for iHeartMedia,

631
00:40:23,560 --> 00:40:24,360
Speaker 1: Maya Howard