WEBVTT - The California Girls: Ep. 1, Another Bougie Woman Shopping for Makeup 0:00:04.000 --> 0:00:06.880 The shoplifters walk in and walk out like they own 0:00:06.960 --> 0:00:07.440 the place. 0:00:07.720 --> 0:00:10.960 They tell the security guard not to touch them, Carrying 0:00:11.000 --> 0:00:13.800 an armful of clothing, they walk right out of the store. 0:00:16.079 --> 0:00:19.200 I've been watching these brazen shoplifting stories on the news 0:00:19.400 --> 0:00:22.120 every day for the past ten years. 0:00:22.120 --> 0:00:26.120 And Atlanta woman's accused of stealing from four different stores 0:00:26.239 --> 0:00:27.560 in a single day. 0:00:28.040 --> 0:00:32.360 And it just keeps getting worse and worse, especially in California, 0:00:32.479 --> 0:00:36.080 where I live. They stroll in like regular shoppers, then 0:00:36.120 --> 0:00:38.519 scramble out lugging bags filled. 0:00:38.280 --> 0:00:40.280 And arms full of stolen goods. 0:00:41.479 --> 0:00:45.640 Last year, the Americana, a ritzy shopping center in Glendale, 0:00:45.680 --> 0:00:48.840 a place I go to all the time, was hit 0:00:48.960 --> 0:00:51.519 by an actual shoplifting mob. 0:00:52.240 --> 0:00:54.840 And it was a brazen burglary that happened in a 0:00:54.920 --> 0:00:58.080 broad daylight here at the Saint Laurn's store. Glendale police 0:00:58.160 --> 0:01:01.480 is calling it a flash Moberg and says thirty to 0:01:01.600 --> 0:01:05.240 forty people were involved. Now, the suspects escaped in about 0:01:05.240 --> 0:01:09.200 twenty separate cars, getting away with about three hundred thousand 0:01:09.240 --> 0:01:10.840 dollars worth of merchandise. 0:01:12.120 --> 0:01:16.880 All these crazy instances of retail theft just seem so random, right, 0:01:17.840 --> 0:01:23.039 But they're actually not. They're actually very very planned. 0:01:23.840 --> 0:01:27.640 These ladies would come in, they would immediately select a 0:01:27.760 --> 0:01:34.240 number of items, high value clothing from different retailers Lululemon, Nordstrom, Macy's, 0:01:34.280 --> 0:01:36.760 and then they would immediately exit and leave. 0:01:37.440 --> 0:01:41.280 It turns out all these shoplifters are really just worker 0:01:41.319 --> 0:01:45.120 bees buzzing around all day in search of honey. 0:01:45.440 --> 0:01:48.360 Thousands of dollars worth of cosmetics. 0:01:47.600 --> 0:01:52.000 Lots and lots of honey, nine hundred thousand dollars worth 0:01:52.080 --> 0:01:56.000 of jewelry, and they're bringing all that honey back to 0:01:56.160 --> 0:02:01.000 the hive, back to the shoplifting queen Bee herself. 0:02:01.320 --> 0:02:04.120 California Mom is the alleged ring leader behind an eight 0:02:04.200 --> 0:02:07.840 million dollar retail theft ring. She's accused of operating a 0:02:07.920 --> 0:02:11.079 nationwide shoplifting scheme for more than a decade, according to 0:02:11.080 --> 0:02:12.160 the California Department of. 0:02:12.120 --> 0:02:17.080 Justice, from her Tuscan style mansion in beautiful southern California. 0:02:17.560 --> 0:02:22.280 Investigators say fifty three year old Michelle mack spearheaded a 0:02:22.360 --> 0:02:28.240 team of sophisticated all female shoplifters, deploying them to bring 0:02:28.280 --> 0:02:32.760 her millions in stolen merchandise, and according to authorities, she 0:02:33.040 --> 0:02:35.080 hid it all in plain sight. 0:02:37.880 --> 0:02:41.000 She's the antithesis of what you would expect to be 0:02:41.520 --> 0:02:44.320 the head of an organized retail theft operation. 0:02:45.120 --> 0:02:45.880 And why is that? 0:02:47.120 --> 0:02:49.280 I mean, I'm just gonna address the elephant in the room. 0:02:51.400 --> 0:02:54.840 It's it's her ethnicity, it's her gender. 0:02:55.000 --> 0:02:56.280 She's a blonde, white woman. 0:02:56.639 --> 0:03:02.320 It's it's her socioeconomic status, wealthy, nice neighborhood, big house baller. 0:03:02.919 --> 0:03:05.799 What does your average criminal look like in a Hollywood move? 0:03:06.440 --> 0:03:07.679 It's not Michelle Mack. 0:03:08.040 --> 0:03:19.720 Let's just say that. I'm Jonathan Walton and this is 0:03:19.880 --> 0:03:28.720 Queen of the con Season six, The California Girls, Episode one, 0:03:29.440 --> 0:03:32.280 another bougie woman shopping for makeup. 0:03:37.720 --> 0:03:40.680 Shoplifting was always kind of like a thing. That's just like, 0:03:40.800 --> 0:03:43.280 oh God, my buddy. 0:03:43.360 --> 0:03:47.880 Evan Goldstein is many things, a husband, a father of two, 0:03:48.600 --> 0:03:51.520 a big time showrunner for that History Channel series The 0:03:51.640 --> 0:03:56.000 Unexplained with Me William Shafner. But up until now, I 0:03:56.160 --> 0:04:01.040 had no idea Evan Goldstein is also a reform shoplifter. 0:04:01.800 --> 0:04:06.040 I remember one time in a comic book shop in Union, 0:04:06.080 --> 0:04:06.680 New Jersey. 0:04:07.280 --> 0:04:08.520 I'm sure they're still after me. 0:04:10.640 --> 0:04:12.800 You know, I was big into comics and there was 0:04:13.080 --> 0:04:16.800 a Moonnight comic. I don't know what came over me, 0:04:17.120 --> 0:04:19.680 but I just wanted it and I didn't have enough 0:04:19.720 --> 0:04:24.160 money for it, and I turned kind of my back 0:04:24.240 --> 0:04:26.760 and I put it in my pants, like like kind 0:04:26.760 --> 0:04:28.880 of where the you know, where the waste is? 0:04:28.880 --> 0:04:30.200 Like how old are you at this point? 0:04:31.800 --> 0:04:35.600 Eleven? So wells aren't very big, no, no, And it 0:04:35.640 --> 0:04:38.240 wasn't premeditated. I didn't go in to steal it. I 0:04:38.240 --> 0:04:40.880 didn't go in thinking I was just going into brows 0:04:41.720 --> 0:04:43.240 and I just I just wanted it. 0:04:43.279 --> 0:04:44.480 I just needed to have. 0:04:44.360 --> 0:04:46.279 It, and I put it in my pants and I 0:04:46.320 --> 0:04:50.360 walked out with the comic book, and I remember feeling 0:04:50.440 --> 0:04:54.839 so bad about it afterwards. I remember feeling terrible and 0:04:54.880 --> 0:04:57.120 it was like my dark secret. I was racked with guilt. 0:04:57.160 --> 0:05:00.480 I'm just like, I'm a thief, I'm a criminal. What 0:05:00.560 --> 0:05:02.880 have you done with your life? As you know, eleven 0:05:02.960 --> 0:05:06.119 years old? And honestly, the comic book wasn't the juice 0:05:06.160 --> 0:05:08.800 wasn't worth the squeeze. I felt a lot of guilt 0:05:08.800 --> 0:05:12.400 about it, I really did. But I could see it 0:05:12.440 --> 0:05:14.560 was a hit of adrenaline. 0:05:14.120 --> 0:05:14.520 Wasn't it. 0:05:14.680 --> 0:05:17.440 Yeah, Like there was like a certain kind of chemical 0:05:17.480 --> 0:05:19.200 reaction in my body that was just and. 0:05:19.160 --> 0:05:21.480 I get away with this? Are they watching me? Are 0:05:21.520 --> 0:05:22.120 they watching me? 0:05:22.240 --> 0:05:22.400 Run? 0:05:22.720 --> 0:05:23.880 Am I going to the clink? 0:05:23.960 --> 0:05:27.440 And I could see how it could become kind of 0:05:27.440 --> 0:05:31.240 like this addictive kind of dopamine rush where it's just 0:05:31.279 --> 0:05:34.080 like you crave that kind of sense of can I 0:05:34.080 --> 0:05:34.760 get away with it? 0:05:34.800 --> 0:05:36.240 That kind of Bonnie and Clyde of it? 0:05:36.320 --> 0:05:36.520 You know? 0:05:36.720 --> 0:05:40.560 Yeah, No, it's dude. From age I don't know ten 0:05:40.760 --> 0:05:45.200 to age eighteen, I was a kleptomaniac. Really, I was 0:05:45.240 --> 0:05:48.120 like a color toe. I stole everything all the time. 0:05:49.520 --> 0:05:52.960 There it is my confession to Evan and to the world. 0:05:53.360 --> 0:05:56.360 I myself am also a reformed shoplifter. 0:05:57.080 --> 0:05:57.919 What were you stealing? 0:05:58.520 --> 0:06:01.400 Nothing of value? Just a little trink I would steal 0:06:01.440 --> 0:06:04.760 little things like keychains. 0:06:03.760 --> 0:06:06.200 Or food, kind of like things that would fit in 0:06:06.200 --> 0:06:07.040 your pocket. 0:06:06.839 --> 0:06:08.480 Things that you could just grab and not pay for 0:06:08.720 --> 0:06:11.720 a night light, like really dumb things. Nothing of value. 0:06:11.800 --> 0:06:14.159 Re And was it that you really wanted it or 0:06:14.279 --> 0:06:16.520 was it just the act of taking it and getting 0:06:16.520 --> 0:06:17.000 away with it? 0:06:17.080 --> 0:06:19.159 Was the act? I didn't know at the time, but 0:06:19.200 --> 0:06:21.120 I was a kleptomania. Yeah, I enjoyed the rush. I'm 0:06:21.120 --> 0:06:22.640 not gonna get caught them. They didn't get away with it. 0:06:22.680 --> 0:06:26.200 They don't know what's happening. Yeah. And when I was 0:06:26.200 --> 0:06:29.560 in Epcot, you know Epcot Center, you know Disney Orlando, Epcot, 0:06:29.920 --> 0:06:31.960 we were in the Mexico pavilion and I put on 0:06:32.000 --> 0:06:35.640 this giant, like sixty dollars sombrero. Took a picture and 0:06:35.680 --> 0:06:37.640 I just kept walking and I went on the ride. 0:06:37.800 --> 0:06:39.600 And my cousins, you know, they were my ages. They 0:06:39.600 --> 0:06:42.440 were like laughing, ha ha, Jonathan stolen sombrero and I 0:06:42.480 --> 0:06:45.599 have that picture. Maybe I'll post that picture at Queen 0:06:45.640 --> 0:06:47.960 of the Con on Instagram. Me in a stolen sombrero. Oh, 0:06:48.040 --> 0:06:53.920 Mexico and Epcot evidence. You're Eisner's after you. Yeah, that listen, 0:06:54.040 --> 0:06:55.840 that's stock price. They need all the help they can get. 0:06:57.520 --> 0:07:01.000 The day I quit shoplifting, I went cold turkey after 0:07:01.040 --> 0:07:04.520 an ill fated trip to the supermarket. I stopped because 0:07:04.520 --> 0:07:07.520 I was at Albertson's and there's like a salad soup bar, 0:07:07.600 --> 0:07:09.840 and I take the potato Leaks soup and I walk 0:07:09.880 --> 0:07:11.920 around the store pretending to be looking at other things, 0:07:11.920 --> 0:07:14.200 and I'm pick up the milk to check the expiration date, 0:07:14.240 --> 0:07:15.920 and I put the soup down that I'm done. With 0:07:16.400 --> 0:07:17.800 put the milk down, and they walk out of the 0:07:17.800 --> 0:07:20.840 store empty handed, and I get that tap on the shoulder, 0:07:21.760 --> 0:07:23.920 excuse me, sir, are you gonna pay for that soup? 0:07:25.040 --> 0:07:27.280 And I just like turned white. I just like freaked out. 0:07:27.320 --> 0:07:32.280 I'm like, crap, I'm busted. And then I never stole again. 0:07:34.520 --> 0:07:37.440 So it was okay for years and years. You get 0:07:37.440 --> 0:07:38.520 away with it. 0:07:38.520 --> 0:07:42.160 It's fine, you're taking these trinkets, these little bit bobbles whatever, 0:07:42.680 --> 0:07:46.040 and then all of a sudden, the kind of reality 0:07:46.120 --> 0:07:48.920 hits you when it's like, hey, are you gonna and 0:07:48.960 --> 0:07:51.680 you're you're caught. I got caught, and so then it's 0:07:51.720 --> 0:07:53.640 just like, oh my god, this is like I don't 0:07:53.640 --> 0:07:53.920 want this. 0:07:54.000 --> 0:07:55.400 The life of crime is not for me. 0:07:55.600 --> 0:07:56.400 No, I don't want it. 0:07:56.400 --> 0:07:58.440 It's like there goes you know. It's just like I 0:07:58.480 --> 0:08:00.200 got a hundred night lights. I want it. I was 0:08:00.240 --> 0:08:02.960 trying to trying to get to one hundred and one. 0:08:04.040 --> 0:08:07.080 But hey, I'm in distinguished company, right, A lot of 0:08:07.120 --> 0:08:08.800 celebrities like Wanona Rider. 0:08:08.880 --> 0:08:13.160 Wana Rider was arragned today charging her with grand theft. 0:08:13.640 --> 0:08:17.320 Lindsay Lohan low and pled not guilty to felony grand 0:08:17.400 --> 0:08:20.760 theft stemming from her alleged shoplifting of a necklace from 0:08:20.800 --> 0:08:23.680 a Venice jewelry store and James Franco, Like. 0:08:23.640 --> 0:08:27.640 In eighth grade, we started stealing cologne. We had like 0:08:27.720 --> 0:08:29.200 thirty bottles of Colone each. 0:08:30.040 --> 0:08:33.000 When most people think about shoplifters, it's kind of like 0:08:33.040 --> 0:08:35.560 this low rent kind of crime. 0:08:35.440 --> 0:08:35.679 You know. 0:08:37.000 --> 0:08:39.520 That's the reason celebrities can get away with it for 0:08:39.559 --> 0:08:42.120 a while is because they're the last person you would 0:08:42.120 --> 0:08:44.880 expect to be a shoplifter. Yeah, and that seems to 0:08:44.920 --> 0:08:48.280 be the key to this season's Queen of the Cohn. 0:08:49.440 --> 0:08:53.680 This woman is literally the last person on Earth you 0:08:53.679 --> 0:09:00.199 would suspect of running a shoplifting empire. But that empire 0:09:00.400 --> 0:09:05.160 all comes crashing down around Michelle Mack In the wee 0:09:05.320 --> 0:09:08.880 hours of the morning on December sixth, twenty twenty three, 0:09:09.480 --> 0:09:14.120 in the Bucolic community of Bonzol just north of San Diego. 0:09:14.520 --> 0:09:19.240 The sun's coming up, illuminating that big California sky, casting 0:09:19.240 --> 0:09:23.360 a morning haze on dozens of hilltop mansions framed by 0:09:23.640 --> 0:09:28.960 rolling fields and green pastures. It's abundantly obvious that wealthy 0:09:29.040 --> 0:09:33.960 people live here, really wealthy people, some of whom allegedly 0:09:34.000 --> 0:09:38.000 have nefarious sources of income, because all of a sudden, 0:09:38.400 --> 0:09:42.400 a squadron of investigators from the California Highway Patrol and 0:09:42.480 --> 0:09:46.319 from Homeland Security pull up in a fleet of SUVs 0:09:46.679 --> 0:09:50.840 and they start assembling outside one of these big mansions. 0:09:51.920 --> 0:09:53.920 So you guys all we got the outplan correct, yea? 0:09:54.760 --> 0:09:58.880 And what happens next stuns every homeowner on the block. 0:09:59.360 --> 0:10:11.120 After the break, Welcome back to Queen of the Cohn. 0:10:11.800 --> 0:10:15.679 Tactical teams from the California Highway Patrol and Homeland Security 0:10:16.000 --> 0:10:19.200 are now surrounding a Tuscan style mansion just north of 0:10:19.240 --> 0:10:23.880 San Diego, and they're ready to pounce and working diligently. 0:10:24.160 --> 0:10:26.959 Amongst all those law enforcement agents. 0:10:27.080 --> 0:10:29.200 We have all our entrying tools, so everybody bring them. 0:10:30.040 --> 0:10:37.760 Is a team of investigative journalists from CNBC. How the 0:10:37.840 --> 0:10:40.880 hell did you guys get the access like you were 0:10:40.960 --> 0:10:44.360 embedded with the California Highway Patrol. How'd that happen? 0:10:45.920 --> 0:10:47.319 So it was a lot of work. 0:10:48.240 --> 0:10:52.439 Gabrielle von Rouge is CNBC's award winning retail reporter. 0:10:53.080 --> 0:10:55.679 We had started this project and we wanted to get 0:10:55.720 --> 0:10:59.120 an up close look at what organized retail crime actually 0:10:59.160 --> 0:10:59.640 looked like. 0:11:00.320 --> 0:11:04.439 And Gabrielle poured months of her blood, sweat, and tears 0:11:04.520 --> 0:11:08.920 into this investigation because getting frontline access with law enforcement 0:11:09.120 --> 0:11:12.680 can be impossible. A lot of these guys won't even 0:11:12.679 --> 0:11:15.520 return my phone calls, much less allow me to embed 0:11:15.600 --> 0:11:17.920 with them and record their early morning busts. 0:11:18.200 --> 0:11:20.079 It's kind of hard to convince the cops to let 0:11:20.080 --> 0:11:22.640 you in bed with them sometimes, especially when you've got 0:11:22.679 --> 0:11:25.760 a TV crew and numerous cameras and a sound guy 0:11:25.800 --> 0:11:27.400 and all this kind of stuff, and they are in 0:11:27.440 --> 0:11:31.719 the midst of an actual police operation. But at the 0:11:31.800 --> 0:11:34.440 end of the day, these are public agencies and they 0:11:34.559 --> 0:11:38.720 are required to be transparent with the public, and in beds, 0:11:38.880 --> 0:11:41.840 you know, police departments, all kinds of public agencies. The 0:11:41.840 --> 0:11:45.760 military have a long history of allowing journalists to inbed 0:11:45.840 --> 0:11:47.400 with them, to be able to see their work up 0:11:47.440 --> 0:11:50.439 close and personal firsthand, and be able to share that 0:11:50.480 --> 0:11:52.960 information with the public so that the public understands what 0:11:53.960 --> 0:11:56.880 law enforcement is doing, how their tax dollars are being used. 0:11:57.280 --> 0:11:59.520 So it does help a little bit that before I 0:11:59.520 --> 0:12:02.400 started business, I was a crime reporter for ten years. 0:12:02.960 --> 0:12:05.480 I have a lot of experience in betting with police 0:12:05.880 --> 0:12:08.559 departments and with other law enforcement agencies. 0:12:10.800 --> 0:12:13.960 Back outside in bonseil. Now, in a matter of moments, 0:12:14.120 --> 0:12:17.200 CNBC reporter Gabrielle von Rouge steps out of the way 0:12:17.640 --> 0:12:22.000 and a pelax of CHP and Homeland Security agents rush 0:12:22.040 --> 0:12:27.160 in wearing bulletproof vests with guns drawn, and they storm 0:12:27.280 --> 0:12:31.480 that three million dollar mansion, and in minutes, a blonde 0:12:31.480 --> 0:12:36.680 woman in her early fifties, looking dazed, hair disheveled, wearing 0:12:36.760 --> 0:12:42.199 pink pajamas and fuzzy slippers is led out in handcuffs. 0:12:43.520 --> 0:12:48.080 There is a mother in California who is running an 0:12:48.120 --> 0:12:52.120 online makeup store on Amazon, and police suspect that all 0:12:52.160 --> 0:12:55.360 of the goods that are being sold are stolen, and 0:12:55.440 --> 0:12:58.520 she is working with a network of professional thieves who 0:12:58.559 --> 0:13:02.400 she is deploying across the country to rob makeup stores 0:13:02.720 --> 0:13:04.959 in order to fill her online make it store. 0:13:05.720 --> 0:13:08.920 Her name is Michelle Mack, and she and her husband, 0:13:09.040 --> 0:13:13.679 Kenneth are charged with a bonch of felonies, including conspiracy 0:13:13.679 --> 0:13:17.240 to commit organized retail theft and multiple counts of receipt 0:13:17.280 --> 0:13:23.400 of stolen property. This entire bust, caught on CNBC's cameras 0:13:23.559 --> 0:13:27.000 is just insane. I'm posting a clip of it at 0:13:27.080 --> 0:13:30.240 Queen of the Cohn on Instagram, but I highly recommend 0:13:30.280 --> 0:13:35.000 you watch the entire seventeen minute investigative piece on CNBC's website. 0:13:35.040 --> 0:13:37.840 I want a map drawn of the house, separated into 0:13:37.840 --> 0:13:39.480 two groups, and then we can start loading. 0:13:40.920 --> 0:13:44.800 If you google how the shadowy world of organized retail 0:13:44.840 --> 0:13:49.000 crime works, the entire video of that CNBC investigation will 0:13:49.000 --> 0:13:52.320 pop right up. My god, the footage you guys captured 0:13:52.520 --> 0:13:56.720 in that investigative piece stunning. You know, you see Michelle 0:13:56.760 --> 0:14:00.920 Mack getting handcuffed, getting walked to the CHP vehicle. You 0:14:01.000 --> 0:14:04.440 see all the crap they found, and by crap, I 0:14:04.480 --> 0:14:09.240 mean stolen loot they found in her place, and you 0:14:09.320 --> 0:14:13.600 got just phenomenal job. It really paints a picture of 0:14:13.679 --> 0:14:16.120 what we are dealing with. It's eye opening. 0:14:16.480 --> 0:14:17.920 It was an incredible story and it got a lot 0:14:17.960 --> 0:14:20.960 of attention, and it really I think we accomplished the 0:14:21.080 --> 0:14:23.080 job that we had set out to do, which is 0:14:23.120 --> 0:14:25.800 what does organized retail crime actually look like? And Michelle 0:14:25.840 --> 0:14:27.040 Mack is a perfect case for that. 0:14:28.760 --> 0:14:32.000 According to the felony complaint filed by the California Attorney 0:14:32.000 --> 0:14:36.560 General's Office, it's alleged that Michelle Mack hired twelve women 0:14:36.920 --> 0:14:41.240 to steal millions of dollars worth of merchandise from hundreds 0:14:41.240 --> 0:14:45.240 of stores. She'd then sell all that stolen merch on 0:14:45.320 --> 0:14:49.720 Amazon to make a fortune. According to California Attorney General 0:14:49.840 --> 0:14:50.880 Rob Bonta. 0:14:50.760 --> 0:14:54.560 This is a multimillion dollar criminal scheme. It was complex, 0:14:54.600 --> 0:14:55.520 it was orchestrated. 0:14:55.680 --> 0:14:57.560 The crimes occurred from the West coast to the East 0:14:57.600 --> 0:14:59.920 coast in this country. 0:15:00.160 --> 0:15:03.680 During the bust, law enforcement agents are seeing removing boxes 0:15:03.760 --> 0:15:07.160 and boxes from Michelle max ball or for car garage, 0:15:07.320 --> 0:15:10.840 which on the inside looks more like an Amazon fulfillment center. 0:15:11.200 --> 0:15:16.320 I mean, her neighbors had no idea. Those boxes being 0:15:16.360 --> 0:15:20.480 carted out by law enforcement all contain cosmetics from Alta 0:15:20.640 --> 0:15:25.880 and Sophora and merchandise from stores like Bloomingdale's, Sunglass Hut 0:15:26.040 --> 0:15:30.080 and Lens Crafters. In all, the CHP confiscates nearly four 0:15:30.160 --> 0:15:33.800 hundred thousand dollars worth of merchandise from Michelle Max's garage 0:15:34.080 --> 0:15:37.120 on that one day alone. 0:15:38.640 --> 0:15:41.360 What I am surprised at is the level of sophistication. 0:15:42.000 --> 0:15:44.520 CNBC's Gabrielle Fonrouge again. 0:15:44.440 --> 0:15:48.240 The extent that police alleged Michelle Mack went to to 0:15:48.400 --> 0:15:52.000 run this retail crime organization at that point. I mean 0:15:52.280 --> 0:15:55.760 she has like technically employees, She's sending them all across 0:15:55.800 --> 0:15:59.400 the country. She's paying for their rental cars, for their flights, 0:15:59.400 --> 0:16:02.720 for their hotel. She's directing them, you know what, to steal, 0:16:02.800 --> 0:16:05.600 sending in the shopping list. She's keeping an eye on 0:16:05.640 --> 0:16:08.960 market dynamics as well. She has to set the price appropriately, 0:16:09.000 --> 0:16:12.000 so that's requiring a lot of research at that point, 0:16:12.440 --> 0:16:14.720 why not just run a legitimate business, you know what 0:16:14.760 --> 0:16:18.040 I mean? Like people get into crime the idea of 0:16:18.080 --> 0:16:20.720 it is because it's easy money. But this doesn't feel 0:16:20.760 --> 0:16:23.000 like easy money. The effort and time that goes into 0:16:23.000 --> 0:16:24.240 it and the risk that's involved. 0:16:24.720 --> 0:16:27.280 Oh, I have an answer for you. And this is 0:16:27.320 --> 0:16:29.800 why Michelle Mack is the subject of this season of 0:16:29.880 --> 0:16:33.440 Queen of the Con because at her heart she is 0:16:33.480 --> 0:16:38.320 a con artist, and every con artist the money is 0:16:38.360 --> 0:16:42.920 only secondary. And you make a great point. This is 0:16:42.960 --> 0:16:46.240 so much work in planning and expertise and execution, and 0:16:46.280 --> 0:16:49.640 she's hiring and firing people and setting up schedules and 0:16:49.760 --> 0:16:52.160 you know, buying and shipping, and she could run a 0:16:52.200 --> 0:16:54.560 real business and not run a foul of the law 0:16:54.560 --> 0:16:56.080 and make a lot of money and do well. But 0:16:57.160 --> 0:17:00.360 the thrill for Michelle Mack is the same threat for 0:17:00.400 --> 0:17:03.720 every con artist. They love getting away with stuff. They 0:17:03.760 --> 0:17:07.480 love lying and cheating, they love manipulating people. I guarantee 0:17:07.520 --> 0:17:10.160 you she gets off on tricking her customers. They think 0:17:10.200 --> 0:17:13.320 these are legitimate products. I'm selling them stolen stuff. They 0:17:13.320 --> 0:17:16.840 have no idea. She gets off that her neighbors think 0:17:16.880 --> 0:17:19.399 one thing and she's really doing another. It's just like 0:17:19.480 --> 0:17:22.920 this hurricane of cues that thrill her that have nothing 0:17:22.960 --> 0:17:24.880 to do with the money. I mean, the money is important, 0:17:25.240 --> 0:17:27.480 but with Michelle Mack and a lot of con artists, 0:17:27.520 --> 0:17:30.359 I believe the money is secondary. The thrill is the lie, 0:17:30.480 --> 0:17:32.920 the cheat, the con, the swindle. They get a thrill 0:17:32.960 --> 0:17:39.040 from it. And according to authorities, Michelle Mack is extremely 0:17:39.160 --> 0:17:43.359 organized and detailed. The team of twelve women she allegedly 0:17:43.400 --> 0:17:47.200 had working for her. Law enforcement euphemistically dubs. 0:17:47.040 --> 0:17:48.200 The California Girls. 0:17:49.160 --> 0:17:54.920 They call them the California Girls. Scott. That's just sexy 0:17:54.960 --> 0:17:57.720 and exciting, and I can't believe that's the term they're 0:17:57.800 --> 0:18:01.000 using at the CHP, like we're on the Calibirls case. 0:18:01.640 --> 0:18:05.120 And according to investigators, Michelle Mack would furnish her team 0:18:05.200 --> 0:18:10.720 of California Girls with detailed shopping lists, stipulating exactly what 0:18:10.800 --> 0:18:14.600 they need to steal and from where, and she'd instruct 0:18:14.640 --> 0:18:18.600 them to use large Louis Vauton bags to smuggle out 0:18:18.600 --> 0:18:19.639 the stolen merchandise. 0:18:20.400 --> 0:18:23.240 It might have helped them blending a little bit. It 0:18:23.320 --> 0:18:24.800 could have very well been to just be like, just 0:18:24.840 --> 0:18:27.639 look like another boogie woman shopping for makeup, and then 0:18:27.640 --> 0:18:29.199 no one's going to pay attention to you. And then 0:18:29.200 --> 0:18:31.600 when you clean out an entire shelf, sorry it's too late. 0:18:33.119 --> 0:18:36.600 She directed them to do that. That's the costume you 0:18:36.640 --> 0:18:39.359 need to wear for this con. You need to drink 0:18:39.520 --> 0:18:42.560 a shopkeeper into thinking you're this wealthy, well healed woman, 0:18:43.080 --> 0:18:45.119 and the Louis Vuitton goes a long way in doing that. 0:18:46.800 --> 0:18:49.960 It's a disguise. It's all part of the disguise. That's 0:18:50.000 --> 0:18:54.080 why they're calling them the California Girls. The Louis Vaton 0:18:54.200 --> 0:18:57.880 bag it's designed to throw off your lost prevention officer. 0:18:58.520 --> 0:19:01.920 Seal Beach Police Sergeant Morakian has spent more than twenty 0:19:02.040 --> 0:19:06.119 years in law enforcement, busting shoplifters on the daily. He 0:19:06.200 --> 0:19:09.200 even worked as a lost Prevention officer in San Diego 0:19:09.440 --> 0:19:13.959 that stores would hire specifically to catch shoplifters, and Sergeant 0:19:14.040 --> 0:19:18.320 Murrakian learned firsthand policing criminals that things aren't always what 0:19:18.359 --> 0:19:19.080 they appear to be. 0:19:19.520 --> 0:19:23.600 I mean, early on in my career, I pulled over 0:19:23.640 --> 0:19:26.600 an elderly couple that had bricks of cocaine in the 0:19:26.640 --> 0:19:29.600 trunk of their car, you know, and. 0:19:29.520 --> 0:19:36.600 Then you guys partied. We look for. 0:19:36.560 --> 0:19:40.360 Certain patterns, right, Someone wearing a mask and a hoodie 0:19:40.359 --> 0:19:45.679 walking into a store in twenty twenty four is the 0:19:45.720 --> 0:19:48.840 typical profile of someone who's about to steel on a 0:19:48.840 --> 0:19:49.680 hot summer day. 0:19:50.119 --> 0:19:51.960 You know, why are they wearing a hoodie on a 0:19:51.960 --> 0:19:53.080 hot summer day? Right? 0:19:53.200 --> 0:19:56.480 Yeah, So these are things that we look for. So 0:19:57.000 --> 0:19:59.720 if you just think about the lost Prevention officer or 0:19:59.760 --> 0:20:02.879 the employee at any of these retail stores, you know, 0:20:02.960 --> 0:20:06.840 you see a fairly attractive girl with a Louis Vaton bag. 0:20:07.440 --> 0:20:11.040 That's not who you're gonna follow or look at. Now 0:20:11.480 --> 0:20:15.520 a season lost prevention officer, will you know, they'll see that. 0:20:15.600 --> 0:20:18.040 Oh, decoy distraction, and you pay attention. 0:20:18.119 --> 0:20:20.560 We look at it. Not we because I'm no longer 0:20:20.720 --> 0:20:24.320 Lost Prevention, but we look at it through a different lens. 0:20:25.280 --> 0:20:29.760 And investigators alleged that those California girls were so next 0:20:29.920 --> 0:20:33.840 level good and they stole so much stuff from Michelle Mack. 0:20:34.320 --> 0:20:37.840 She had nearly eight million dollars in sales on Amazon, 0:20:38.080 --> 0:20:41.399 where she sold high end cosmetics and beauty products for 0:20:41.560 --> 0:20:45.200 half the price they were selling for everywhere else. I mean, 0:20:45.440 --> 0:20:48.560 who wouldn't buy from her? A bottle of Coco Chanel 0:20:48.680 --> 0:20:52.240 perfume can cost one hundred and seventy dollars at alta, 0:20:52.720 --> 0:20:55.600 So if you saw that same bottle selling for eighty 0:20:55.640 --> 0:20:59.080 five dollars on Amazon, it's a no brainer. And it's 0:20:59.200 --> 0:21:02.920 probably still land says California Highly Patrol Commissioner Sean Dori. 0:21:03.280 --> 0:21:05.320 It's tough, and I don't know if anybody expects the 0:21:05.359 --> 0:21:08.240 consumers to do due diligence on every product that they're 0:21:08.280 --> 0:21:10.400 buying online. But I'll tell you, if it seems too 0:21:10.400 --> 0:21:12.800 good to be true, it probably is, and it's probably 0:21:12.840 --> 0:21:15.040 coming from some nefarious activity. 0:21:15.840 --> 0:21:19.280 But perhaps the most unbelievable revelation to come to light 0:21:19.560 --> 0:21:23.040 is that, according to the CHP investigation, this went on 0:21:23.400 --> 0:21:27.439 for more than ten years, right under the noses of 0:21:27.520 --> 0:21:33.480 Michelle Max's wealthy neighbors, Her customers and even Amazon itself, 0:21:34.119 --> 0:21:37.880 much to the exasperation of California Attorney General Rob Bonta. 0:21:38.600 --> 0:21:43.760 This Amazon marketplace site called the Online Makeup Store that 0:21:43.840 --> 0:21:46.600 was stelling the soul and goods year after year and 0:21:47.119 --> 0:21:49.240 it wasn't detected. You have to ask yourself, what more 0:21:49.280 --> 0:21:51.440 can we do should we do to make sure that 0:21:51.600 --> 0:21:53.200 incidents like this don't occur in the future. 0:21:53.240 --> 0:21:55.159 That's the right thing to ask. I think they have 0:21:55.280 --> 0:22:00.760 the ability to root out more sales of stolen goods 0:22:00.760 --> 0:22:03.600 on their platform, And she'd asked themselves what work could 0:22:03.640 --> 0:22:05.240 they have done here and what more can they do 0:22:05.280 --> 0:22:06.080 going forward? 0:22:06.480 --> 0:22:10.080 But like most professional con artists, Michelle Mack had a 0:22:10.119 --> 0:22:21.520 really good cover after the break Welcome Back to Queen 0:22:21.600 --> 0:22:25.600 of the Con. So while Michelle Mack was selling millions 0:22:25.640 --> 0:22:28.240 in stolen beauty products out of her four car garage 0:22:28.280 --> 0:22:31.439 in Bonzol, she had a day job. She was in 0:22:31.480 --> 0:22:35.520 the wedding business, renting out her Tuscan style mansion that 0:22:35.760 --> 0:22:39.960 actually had its own chapel and a vineyard, a truly 0:22:40.080 --> 0:22:43.479 picturesque setting for any couple looking to tie the knot. 0:22:44.480 --> 0:22:47.800 That looks like the wedding setup that me and my husband. 0:22:47.560 --> 0:22:49.720 Had Ooh, would you guys get married San Diego? 0:22:51.280 --> 0:22:53.080 Did you get married at Michelle Mack's house? 0:22:53.720 --> 0:22:57.560 It looks like it that looks like the exact same setup. 0:22:58.200 --> 0:23:00.000