LUST: The Swiss Gigolo
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There is nothing more exciting than a new relationship, the passion, the romance, the adventure. And as soon as you learn more about each other, what started out as a physical attraction eventually becomes an emotional one. Then before you know IT, you're in love, or at least that's what the con artist known as the swiss gigolo wanted his targets to think.

In the early two thousands, the swiss gig allow real name heg. Scarby dated several wealthy european women, many of them at the same time, but they had no idea what he was really after their money before. These women knew that they had lost millions, and the swiss was nowhere to be found.

And the same goes, those who don't understand history are doomed to repeat IT. That's especially true when IT comes to money. If you want to make the right decisions, when IT comes to managing your assets, you need to know what mistakes to avoid and how to spot a trap.

This is money crimes, a crime house original. I'm your host, nicolai. On every thursday, i'll be telling you a story of a famous financial crime and giving you advice on how to avoid becoming a victim yourself at crime house. We want to express our gratitude to you, our community, for making all of this possible.

Please support us by rating, reviewing and following money crimes or ever you get your podcast, your feedback truly matters and for and free and early access to money crimes plus exciting bonus content subscribed to crime house plus on apple podcast. This ephod is about hello scarby, also known as the swiss gig alo. The early two thousands heg infiltrated europe's high society, praying on wealthy women and scamming them out of millions of euros.

Today, i'll tell you about how a chance encounter LED held to give up a promising career in finance and turn to a life of crime. I'll talk about how he charmed his way into stealing entire fortunes and how he eventually met his match with one of the richest women in the world. Hey, everyone, it's nickle.

I have a quick favor to ask you if you're enjoying many crimes. I would be so incredibly grateful if you took a moment to rate and review us on apple or on spotify. Your feedback helps us improve the show and reach more people who love all things financing crime.

Thank you so much for your support. When a story seems too absurd to be true, people say it's stranger fiction. I'd say the story of the swiss gigolo definitely fits that description. And you might think that what i'm about to tell you would be too crazy for even a paper back or romance novel, but I promise you, IT is all true.

Hello, scarby born heg rusk didn't seem like your typical comment in the ninety eighties, when hell was in his early twenties, he was making a name for himself in the world of finance. He studied law in zik, switzerland, before eventually lending emerges and acquisitions at credit swiss bank. He spoke six of languages, which was great for doing business across europe and connecting with some of the continent's richest people.

So how could definitely wasn't hurting for money, but on a personal level, he just didn't seem to feel fulfilled. Maybe he was lonely or simply lacking purpose. But that all changed sometime in the early ninety eighties when hl was around thirty years old.

It's not totally clear how or when, but at some point around this time, he met an italian man named ornano berreo. A nano was close to fifty, and honestly, a bit of a mystery. Some sources say he was either a car mechanic or a used car dealer, but if you asked, he would tell you he was much more than that.

Supposedly, when erna wasn't dealing with cars, he was a sort of mystic, healer or preacher. Er, he claimed he could heal people's physical and mental elements and even read minds. Oh, he also said he could walk on water.

It's hard to imagine how anyone could fall for that. But air, no no had managed to build up a small following, mostly of Young swiss people from troubled backgrounds. And hell was apparently one of them.

Is not clear what sort of life he had before getting into finance, but IT probably wasn't easy. Something about arr nono's teachings appealed to him, and hell became one of his disciples. In fact, health e was so devoted IT wasn't long before he became a nono's right hand man.

But by the mid nineteen nineties, IT seemed like their budding movement was on the verge of falling apart. One day, hug and arnon OS other followers got a shocking message from their leader. Arnon o said he's suffered some kind of traumatic accident during his whole ordeal.

A nano had received a message from god. He was supposed to build a religious space in his hometown, a small village about one hundred miles east of rome. That's all hell.

And arnon OS other followers needed to hear. They dropped everything they were doing and joined a nano in his hometown. But to fulfill his vision, they needed a lot of money.

And IT turned out one of aronov followers was a very rich woman named Irene bon inger. Iran was elderly and deeply religious. SHE was convinced that a nana was a, quote, emissary for Christ love.

So when he heard that he needed help to make his center a reality, I rain was more than happy to sign over her pension and her savings. Sadly, I read story isn't all that uncommon. khan.

Artists like a nano employ something called a thinly fraud to target people who are part of a close net group, like a church or a club, or even in an ethnic community. They pretend to be part of that group, and when they win over your trust, they strike. Affinity fraud usually involves some kind of investment game or ponzi scheme.

In a ens case, the investment was arona center, and the payoff was an eternal place in heaven. And he was happy to spend whatever IT took to get there. Unfortunately for I rans family, IT was too late to help her.

By the end of the ninety nineties, iraine ran out of money, according to her grandson. They believe that iraine had given between five hundred and one million swiss Franks to air ano. Today, the top end of that range would be around one point four million us.

Dollars once the funds were spent. A nano had no use for iron. He sent her away, and he returned home to switzerland, roke.

And alone there was nothing iran could do about IT. A nano was clever, and there was no proof that he had done anything wrong without I range money to rely on. Ernani needed a new income stream, so he turned to his right hand.

Man held scarby for help. Thanks to hello time. Working in corporate finance, he knew lots of wealthy european citizens. Most importantly, he knew how they Operated and the places they d like to hang out. And with a little digging, he could find out just about anything else he needed to know about them.

It's hard to tell how he chose his first target, but in two thousand and one thirty eight year old hell set his sites on an eighty something swiss counters named the arena da agua goy bles vanna lived in a sweet at the hotel dupery in monaco, monaco, and despite being absurdly rich money, couldn't buy a renna happiness. It's not clear if he was ever married or had children, but at this point in her life, verena was lonely and craving companions. One evening in may, verena was eating at a restaurant in monteiro with some friends.

When he noticed help scarby sitting near them alone, SHE invited the Young man to join them, and he acted surprised. But this was the plan all along, and so was the b of roses. He gifted vera the flowers, left an impression on vanna hell, was charming and knew how to make her feel like the only woman in the room.

The two began to spend more time together, and despite their fifty year age gap, they quickly became lovers. Hell was everything verena was looking for. He was enduring illigant and most importantly, a good guy, not a bluffer.

As he told a, it's safe to say that love had completely blinded her. Verenne social calendar included lots of fancy balls and galas, and hell was the perfect date they were spending most of their time together. And before long, a renna developed real feelings for help.

SHE was like a schoolgirl with her first crush, calling her girlfriends and telling them all about him. In one message to a friend, he said, quote, I am experiencing real love for the first time, although for hell, their relationship was anything but real. By mid two thousand and one a few months into their relationship, hague was ready to make good on his promise to his mentor, a nano.

That summer, hell came to verena, visibly upset. He told her something awful had while on a business trip, hg. Had accidentally hit a little girl with his car. But this little girl wasn't just anyone. Her dad was in the mafia, and he was demanding that, hello, pay him six hundred and fifty thousand friends for what he'd done to his daughter or else.

And then IT got worse .

help explain that when the man found out that he was dating a literal counters, that fee balloon to two million, that about two point seven million in U. S. Dollars today.

Rhona didn't has a tape. SHE was happy to help hug and wired him the money. He promptly sent IT to air nano. IT was a lot of money, but hell wasn't going to stop there. He knew he needed to plan his next move very carefully.

And what Better way to show her that he was serious about her than asking for her hand in marriage? At some point after he sent him, the two million hell got on one me and proposed verenne was thrilled. And of course he said, yes, but hell wasn't stupid.

Verena was in her eighties. He didn't want anyone, including verena, to suspect that he forced her into a marriage for her money. So hog took her to a doctor who confirmed that he was a sound mind.

Once that was out of the way, hell went to rhona and pitched an idea he should be given access to her bank accounts. That way he could make sure her money was in good hands in case anything happened to her. Verena friends saw the writing on the wall.

They told her this was a huge red flag, but verenne was totally smitten with hell. SHE was convinced that he would never do anything to put her or her money in danger. So SHE sign the papers giving help access to a wapping, twenty five million swiss Franks.

That's nearly thirty four million U. S dollars today. Now that he had what he wanted. Hell completely vanished from ran his life. The betrayal devastated her.

His disappearing act finally forced verenne to ask herself, who was her fiance? C really? To find out.

Verenne went to the police. About a month later, held was found and arrested for grand theft. During the trial, verda had a change of heart.

SHE probably still had feelings for hell, and most of SHE felt sorry for him. He dropped the charges on one condition he had to return the money he's stolen have agreed that there was just one problem. He had already spent about four million.

Apparently that was fine with arena and SHE didn't pursue any additional lawsuits SHE. And he went their separate ways and he returned to aronov red's side. According to one member of a nonos sacked, the money went straight to arnon o supposedly to further his spiritual mission.

At the same time, arna was suddenly buying fancy cars and building himself a lavish villa. All of a sudden, he was rubbing elbows with high profile politicians and even high ranking members of the catholic church. Erano convinced his followers that as he became more visible, he needed the lifestyle to, otherwise no one would take him seriously.

IT seems like hell to command his word, because a few years later, in december of two thousand and five, he found another wealthy woman to produce and extort. That's when forty two year old health began an affair with a sixty four year old married woman named mary Lewis hindle. The affair lasted about two years.

During that time, hell managed to steal two million years old from her. And once again he got away Scott free. IT was easy money for health he had already stolen from multiple millionaire, but now he wanted more. He was ready to go after up billing an air.

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In early two thousand and seven, forty two year old hello scar bee was on the pro for another wealthy woman to produce. And rob, after doing some extensive research, he decided to take a gamble on his most ambitious target yet, forty four year old Susan clean, the richest woman in germany, and the areas to the car manufactured bmw. Although Susan's family was estimated to be worth over thirty billion dollars, he kept a pretty low profile.

Susan didn't wear fancy jewellery or design our clothes. SHE couldn't stand being judged for her, inherit wealth and preferred to focus on the family business. Susan was a strong voice in board meetings and pushed for bmw to embrace technological innovations.

Not only that, he was also a married mother of three between raising a family and sitting on the board of one of the largest companies in the world. Susan had a lot on her plate. In the summer of two thousand and seven, he decided to take much needed vacation.

SHE booked hhc self a solow two week trip at the lanes or half spt outside of insb rook australia. It's not entirely clear how hello Susan was going to be at lands or half, but he knew he was jacking into the SPA on july nine, two thousand and seven. I'll got there three days later, but he didn't approach Susan right away over the next week or so.

He waited for the perfect moment to pounds. A few days before he was set to check out, he decided IT was time. He noticed Susan was reading a book in the lobby.

The alchemist by polo coelo. Helga researched everything about Susan, and he knew the alchemist was her favorite book. So he approached her and told her that that was his favorite book too.

Susann was intrigued, got to talking, and at the end of their conversation, hello invited her to go for a walk the next day. SHE said yes, but how couldn't rely on his charm alone? Til woo Susan, he had to matter on an in intellectual level as they stroll through the grounds of the SPA.

Heg told Susan that he was involved in mergers and acquisitions specializing in new energy technology. Susan was immediately interested. Over the next few days, they continue to talk shop about business and finances. Before Susan left the spot, they exchanged numbers in a few weeks that followed hug and Susan texted regularly. At first, IT was just casual friendly chat, but over time, their texts turned flury, and then they met in person again at her vacation home.

In the french of the era, the exact timing for that me up isn't clear, but we know IT was some time before August of two thousand and seven, which is when they met at a holiday in in muni k. By then hegan, Susan's friendship had turned into a full blown extra metal affair. IT seemed like he was really into hug, like falling in love with him.

Hello, good sensor feelings were getting stronger, which meant IT was time to make his move. On August twenty six, he came to Susann with a dilema. He told her that while he was on a business trip in miami, he had a little girl with his car.

The girl's dad was in the mafia, and heg needed to come up seven million euro, or he was gonna in serious trouble. Found familiar. Well, this time IT didn't immediately work.

Susan felt bad for hug, but he wasn't sure about sending him that much money. But then, after a few days of feeling guilty, SHE caved. What if the mob did come after hell and he could have stopped them? SHE sent hello seven million, and he said he successfully paid off the mafia.

In reality, the money went toward a nonos, increasingly luxurious lifestyle, and it's still wasn't enough. Helga knew that seven million was just a drop in the bucket for Susan. Remember, he was worth thirty billion.

Hell wanted to use that to his advantage. Toward the end of september, he approached Susan. IT had only been a few months since they started their affair, but he told her he wanted her to leave her family and deal with him.

Not only that, he asked her to create an investment fund worth two hundred and ninety million eos. Naturally, he would be the one overseeing IT without saying IT directly. Help was essentially asking to be Susan's financial adviser.

Now if you are looking to hire a financial adviser, number one, don't hire heg scarberry. Number two, make sure your advisor knows what they are doing. That means they've completed a rigorous certification process in the U.

S. That also means that their licenses have been issued by the financial industry, regulatory author or when looking for an adviser asked to see their credentials. If they don't have any.

they're not for you. In europe, those qualifications .

are handled by the european financial planning organization, and there is a chance hell was certified. Remember, before he joined a nano, he worked in finance when, even if he was allowed to handle Susan's money, SHE wasn't about to let him get his hands on IT.

SHE may have fAllen for the story about him hitting a little girl with his car, but letting a man SHE basically just met, controlled two hundred and ninety million euros of her own money. That wasn't gonna happen. Alarm bells were going off in Susan's mind.

By this point, he was ready to wash her hands of the whole situation. A few days after hearing hugs pitch, Susan called him and ended things. But hug wasn't going to give up that easily, not when there were billions of euro for the taking.

And he was willing to play dirty to get IT on october sixteen and two thousand and seven, Susan was back at the lansor half spot in austria at some point during her stay, SHE received an envelope from IT, contained some extremely compromising photographs of her and hug from their visit to the holiday. And Susan was modified. SHE didn't even have time to process what was happening before he got another package.

This time, hug sent her A D V D of them having sex. The video included a message, if Susan didn't pay him forty nine million eos, he was going to send everything to her husband and the press, he told Susan, quote, while your risk is very high, my risks are irrelevant. Hug had no boundaries and absolutely no moral compass.

He would do whatever IT took to complete his mission for arnon o but he wasn't just dealing with anyone. He was dealing with Susan catton. And if he was going to play dirty, so which he.

After convincing Susan clap to give him seven million euros, heg scar bee shot higher, a lot higher. When he refused to give him control over a massive investment fund, he decided to get personal. In october of two thousand and seven, he tried to explore her with a form of revenge porn.

Unfortunately, revenge born has been a hot topic lately. It's something way too many people have experienced. If you're not familiar with the term, revenge porn is the active posting sexually explicit images of someone online without their consent.

Sex torture or sexual extortion is a form of revenge porn when someone threatened to publicly share intimate images or videos unless their victims meet their demands, usually money. If you are unlucky enough to find yourself in this situation, stand firm, don't engage with your black maler, go to the police immediately. They can help you track this person down and stop them before anything becomes public.

But IT seems like Susan wanted to deal with her situation privately. SHE was a highly visible public figure with a prominent family and a board seat at a multibillion dollar company. The stakes were as high as they could be, and he needed to find a way to make the situation go away fast.

Throughout the rest of two thousand and seven, Susan agonized over what to do. SHE was a reserved woman who didn't let just anyone into her life, and yet SHE let a conman manipulate her into falling in love with him. IT was beyond embarrassing.

Even worse, sh'd put her family in harms way. If SHE didn't pay hug and he went public with the images, her family and her reputation would be ruined. After carefully hanging her options, Susan told heg that he would pay for his silence.

On january fourteenth, two thousand and eight, suzann agreed to meet hug at a highway rest stop in austria. Hug got there first, but he wasn't a loan. In another car across the parking lot, hug spiritual leader arnon a borda was waiting Normally.

I nano stayed out of hog's business, but this deal was huge. They probably wanted to be there to make sure that all went smoothly. They waited and waited, but Susan never showed up.

But eventually a special austrian police unit did. They surrounded hugs car and arrested him. And air nano, remember, Susan was the ultimate boss.

Lady SHE wasn't going to let a guy like hell put her in the corner. There was no chance he was getting that money. After her black melt her, he went right to the australian police and agreed to be part of a sting Operation against him.

As Susann said in a later interview, once he knew he was the one being extorted. Quote, that was the moment of clarity. You are now a victim, and you must defend yourself and defend herself.

SHE did. Following the sting Operation, the austrian police took hug and arnon o into custody, but for some reason they let their nano go, and he returned to italy. They probably didn't have enough evidence against him.

IT seems like a nano generally stood back and let hug do the dirty work for him. But hell wasn't gna get off so easy. IT didn't take long for investigators to uncover his con.

They comed through his laptop and found he had scoured the internet for information on Susan. And when they went through his diary, police found out Susan wasn't his only victim. In fact, held was in the midst of seducing and stealing money from three other women when he blackmailed suzann.

His diary entries showed that throughout july and August of two thousand and seven, hello bounced from women to women known only in the dies as mrs. s. mrs.

r. And mrs. Age investigators were able to discover that hell had flexed these women for roughly two point four million euros combined.

Apparently, he managed to baLance these relationships by telling the other three women that he was a secret agent working for the swiss government. He said he was constantly in that out of town because he was working in so called crisis zones. But eventually that balancing act came crashing down, and IT was time for hell to face the consequences.

In march of two thousand and nine, hell went on trial. He pleaded guilty and apologize to Susan and the other women, but he's still wasn't willing to rat out his cock n spirit and a religious gu arnon oberea. Because he refused to CoOperate.

He was sentenced to six years in prison. Assuming hell served his four sentence, he would have been released in two thousand fifteen. But there hasn't been a lot of news about hell scar bees in his trial.

Whether he changed his name or turned his life around or went back to running s will probably never know. Arnon Opera's fate is a bit mergy too. During the investigation, police became convinced that he was hugs accomplice.

After all, there had to be someone else who was taking the photos and videos of hell. And Susan, in the months following, helps arrest. Italian police kept tabs on air nonos willam.

When they felt the timing was right, they raided his home and found approximately one point seven million euro hidden in the walls. Once the police gathered more evidence, ernani was arrested and accused of running a crime ring. In june of to twenty twelve, he was sentenced to seven years in prison.

But perhaps the even bigger punishment was the fact that he faced the possibility of having to forfeit his mansion to Susan clayton. IT was a fitting twist of fate, a nano risk losing the house head built on hug scar bees lies like hug. It's not really clear what happened to ernani after, but in the end their charade was exposed and justice was served.

So what can we take away from this story? For me, this story is about trust. The women held kn.

All trusted him, and in turn he trusted erano. But none of that trust was earned. IT may seem cynical, but in finance and in life, you should never put blind trust into anyone. That doesn't mean you should always keep your guard up. We can go through a life without a support system, but when you put that faith into the wrong person, I can have devastating consequences.

Thank you so much for listening on your host nal lap on come back next time as they take you through another wild story and offer you some advice along the way. Many crimes is a crime house original. Join me every third day for a new episode here at crime house.

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And for an add free experience or early access to money crimes, plus exciting bonus content subscribed to crime house, plus on apple podcasts, many crimes is hosted by me, a cold lappin, and is a crime house original powered by page studios. IT is executive produced by max color. This episode of money crimes was produced and directed by ron cheero, written by joe gara, edited by natly posc I fan, checked by sara ardia sound, designed by Carry Murphy, and included production assistance from.

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