Scamfluencers - I Loot Lucy

Episode Date: July 17, 2023

Charles Hensley gets his first brush with fame when he invents a nasal spray called Zicam. After his product turns out to cause harm to some patients, he abandons the homeopathic world and pivots to Hollywood. His next big idea involves Desilu Productions, a beloved company founded by “I Love Lucy” stars Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz. But when his brazen bluffing goes too far, he’ll have a lot of explaining to do.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Hey, prime members, you can listen to scam influencers add free on Amazon music. Download the app today. Sachi, if you could go to any theme park that's based on a TV show, what would you pick? I would go to a real housewives themed park, which one? Like the universe of housewives. And then like each ride would be like a different city. I would go on like the real houses of OC boat ride, which would be just a white woman throwing a glass of wine in my face over and over again. Then I would visit New Jersey Island where I would commit tax rod. Yeah, like a Salt Lake City bus ride where the, where you have to avoid getting arrested or something.

Yeah. Well, I'm about to tell you the story of a guy who wanted to create an entire theme park based on old TV shows like I Love Lucy and Star Trek. There was just one problem. It was all completely bogus. one problem. It was all completely bogus. Lucy Arnez is in her late 60s and she's lounging by the pool of her Palm Springs pad. It's a four bedroom five bathroom ranch house worth about two million dollars. There's a tiled fountain and a view of the majestic San Jacinto Mountains. Lucy has short, dark hair, done up kind of spiky, like Pat Benetar at her peak. Her parents are Lucille Ball and Desiarnes,

the stars of I Love Lucy. This Lucy, their daughter, is also an actress, though she's semi-retired, but she still actually carries a torch for her parents' legacy, like in videos on her YouTube channel. Today is National I Love Lucy Day, the 70th anniversary of that show. She's a steward of everything they built. Her parents ran a production company called Desi Liu, which produced Star Trek and the

original Mission Impossible. CBS owns the right to the studio's historic shows, but Lucy manages her parents estate as Chief Creative Officer of her own company, Desi Liu II. That's Desi Liu T-O-O. Out of the blue, a stranger contacts Lucy. We don't know exactly when this happens, but it's most likely in late 2017 or early 2018. The stranger introduces himself as Charles Hensley, and he says he has a proposition for Lucy. He started his own Desi Lou studios, a reboot of her parents production company,

and he wants her blessing. Lucy's probably thinking a lot of things at this moment, mostly who the hell is Charles Hensley? Desi Lou was her mom and dad's crown jewel. It was sold to CBS in the late 60s, but it was still theirs. And now, some dude she's never heard of wants to take it? Lucy tells Charles she'll have to get back to him. And then she gets in touch with CBS to tell them something

seriously fishy is going down. Charles Hensley has some spleen in to do. Lucy doesn't know it yet, but in contacting these corporate powers, she's kicked off a chain reaction that will unmask Charles and his legacy of global scamming. The tale is so over the top in bizarre,

not even creative geniuses like Lucy and Desi could have scripted it. Every big moment starts out with a big dream. But what happens when that big dream turns out to be an even bigger failure? Each week on Wondery's new podcast, The Big Flop, post Misha Brown is joined by comedians to chronicle some of the biggest blenders in pop culture history. Listen to the big flop on the Wendry app or wherever you get your podcasts. What does it mean to be black in America?

An NPR's Black Stories Black Truths, a collection of stories as varied, nuanced, and dynamic as black experiences, you'll hear. It means everything. Search NPR Black Stories Black Truths wherever you get your pockets. From Wondry, I'm Sarah Haggi, and I'm Sachi Cole, and this is Scan Fluncers. How making me your attention, I'll forever move on Last time I speak to you, I'll have it all feel like a luchin'

Charles Hensley is a chameleon scammer who seems to change countries, industries, and schemes on a dime Charles bounced from one hustle to another, eventually getting caught up in the bright lights of Hollywood I call this one, I loot Lucy. Okay, Sachi, Charles Hensley actually starts his career cracking backs and teaching others to do the same professionally. It's the late 90s, about two decades before he contacts Lucy Arnaz. He's a professor at the Cleveland Chiropractic College,

which confusingly is located in Los Angeles, specifically in a retro-futuristic building in East Hollywood. Chiropractic treatment sits in that gray zone between science-based healthcare and alternative medicine, but this is in the 90s. Alt is in, baby. And Charles is not a medical doctor,

but he does have academic credentials. He got his PhD in physiology and biophysics from the University of Southern California. He's in his late 40s, pale-faced, and a little soft around the edges. To me, he looks like Dilbert in human form, like he's never not wearing a starch button down shirt. His personal life has gotten really expensive lately.

He's getting a divorce from the woman he married when he was 20. They have four children together. Two of them are under the age of 18, which means he has to pay child support, and he's racked up about $25,000 in credit card debt. Charles is looking to supplement his chiropractor school gig, and he has a game plan.

His former student, a guy named Robert Steven Davidson, has a killer idea. He thinks Zink may be a promising and lucrative homeopathic treatment for the common cold. Yeah, see, this always makes me crazy. There are people who are like, I figured it out. And if only the pharmaceutical companies would listen to me. The pharmaceutical companies are looking for these cures and they want to commodify them. Why would they not just sell zinc for a trillion dollars?

While Sachi, Charles joins Robert in testing out zinc formulas. Homeopathic treatments don't need FDA trials or approvals. And products are considered homeopathic whenever the company selling it says it is. So in 1998, when they find a formula that works for them, they file for a patent for a zinc based gel. It's designed to be applied directly in the nose. They call it Xaycam. Have you ever heard of it?

Yeah, I believe it is in the nonsense aisle of my local Walgreens. Well, a clinical trial show Xaycam might shorten the duration of a cold, maybe. And that's good enough for Charles and Robert. They get Xaycam in stores and it starts flying off the shelves. Charles and Robert partner with another company that buys a majority interest in the booming Xaycan business. And around this time, Charles starts doing

media appearances as the face of it. Charles found an instant hit in Xaycan, but he's restless for the next opportunity. And the next payday. By 2001, about three years after it was patented, Zaicam has sold tens of millions of units. Now it's time to reap the rewards. So Charles and Robert sell their remaining steak in Zaicam. And we don't know how much they make, but I'm guessing it was a pretty sweet payday. Not long after, Charles moves to Redondo Beach,

a wealthy city in LA, South Bay. He rents a brand new four bedroom, two and a half bath townhouse, one block from the ocean. It has a coastal Mediterranean vibe framed by faux columns and arched windows. Success might have gotten to his head, because at some point, he turns his eye cam journey into a novel. I am not joking when I tell you it's called Cold Wars.

On his website, he pitches a story like this. Two underachieving entrepreneurs dream up a cold cure during a night of drinking and debauchery. Sachi, obviously you need to read the rest. Okay, it says, the salacious and hilarious story of Zycam, the dark comedic perilous to mash her unmistakable. The Charles Hensley slash Rob Davidson 1990s medical

Rob has all the trappings for an offbeat, aberrant satirical look into what was involved in independently producing what has become an iconic American medicinal brand. All the trappings for an offbeat, aberrant satirical look into what was involved in independently producing what has become an iconic American medicinal brand. What? Wait, there's one more line. United Talent Agency? Yes.

So UTA, Sarah, is a big agency, and he's claiming that he is a client? Yeah. I mean, despite what the synopsis claims, we can't find evidence that Charles was signed to United Talent Agency We found the website for the book on the internet archive and it has a button to click to read sample chapters But that link is broken as hell and those chapters seem to be lost in the sands of time if They ever existed in the first place Charles is claiming to have cured the common cold, but he's about to tackle something much bigger,

with way more at stake, a true medical crisis. In the spring of 2003, Charles is boarding a flight to Taiwan. A hospital in the crowded capital of Taipei is ground zero for an outbreak of SARS, which is spreading all over the world. According to Charles' website, the Taiwanese government has asked him to fly in and help. His mission, as he puts it, is to provide antiviral technologies to frontline healthcare professionals. Now, we don't know how the Taiwanese government heard

about Charles or why they decided to ask for his help, but it might be related to the soaring success of Xichem. Okay, but of all of the people in the world, why is Charles here? That is an extremely good question that I cannot answer, but at some point, Charles develops a new product called Vira 38. It's a blend of echinacea and elderberry supplements and black and green tea.

And according to a press release from Charles' company around this time, the Taiwanese presidential staff and at least one hospital use it. And once again, Charles is a homeopathic hype man. Here he is talking about it on CNBC Asia. Well, Byra 38 is a treatment for influenza. And this particular treatment has been shown, as you mentioned before, to have a couple of fractions that are very effective at inhibiting the SARS virus. Notice he says that Byra 38 is a treatment, not a cure.

Charles is likely being careful with this language, because at this point, it seems like the evidence for Vira 38's effectiveness is very much unproven. Sounds familiar. And actually around the same time, Zaycam starts to come under fire. A good morning America segment that airs in 2004 investigates a link between

Zaycam users and the reported loss of smell. The negative press tanks the company's stock. But Charles is already on to his next venture. He moves to Hong Kong and co-found a cosmetics company called JoVell. Charles writes on his website that the company is tapping into quote, Asia's fascination with Hollywood movie stars. Their signature product is called Hollywood Secrets 5 Minute Eye Transformation. Here's a clip from an infomercial promoting it. It's a brand new cosmetics product on the market that is safe, simple, and affordable and it's called the Hollywood Secrets 5 Minute Eye Transformation.

Okay, so this is like one of those late-night QVC kind of ads. Yeah, it feels very like classic. I'm up very late and I'm 14 years old, watching commercials vibe. Like it makes me sleepy seeing this video. They are hawking what appears to be a Q-tip that you snap to activate and then you rub the Q-tip on your eye? Yeah, it's supposed to be some kind of de-puffing, anti-wrinkle treatment. Like a serum.

Yeah, and it does pick up surprising steam. They even get Fei Wang, a huge star in Hong Kong, to be a celebrity ambassador for the company. Fei is a pop star in actress who has worked with the director Wang Kar-Y. She's not a household name in the US, but she's a magnetic presence in this part of the world. Take a look at this Jo Vel commercial she starred in in 2005.

Wulens' in the B. Wutichida Wufengchong, Wutemimi. Hollywood secrets by Chiffel. Very's like, every music video looked like this, like, tech future. Yeah, it has like the flair in the lens. So you see the lights and it looks like a J-Lo video. She's in a metallic room rubbing Q-tips on her face. As we all do every night, I mean, it is a surprisingly slick look for a guy mixing earth with a light. And it's like, I'm not sure if I'm gonna be able to do it.

I'm not sure if I'm gonna be able to do it. I'm not sure if I'm gonna be able to do it. a J-Lo video. She's in a metallic room rubbing cute tips on her face. As we all do every night, I mean, it is a surprisingly slick look for a guy mixing herbal extracts. On his website, Charles claims that Jovelle sells more than 30 different cosmetic products and has retail shops or counters in department stores throughout Asia.

Somewhere around this time, Charles gets a glow up. And Sachi, to me, this is a very big one. The dorky lab coat wearing homeopathic expert is nowhere to be found. Now, it's like if Dilbert went into Stefan or Kels machine and emerged as Joe Rogan's less jacked cousin. Basically, what you're saying is this is a bald white man. It's a bald white man, but he has like a structure to his face.

He did not have before, which is the freaky part. Okay. The side by side of old him and you him is insane. Oh, this is the same guy? This is him! I did not appreciate that. This is a full head transplant. He did face off.

He did a face off and he did the face off with Guy Fietti's face, but not the hair. This is the wildest transformation I think we've seen on this show. Just as Jovel is gaining traction and Charles is expanding his horizons into other industries, bird flu emerges in Asia and other parts of the world. Charles is pulled back into the world of medicine as once again, a global health crisis causes chaos and presents a big opportunity. In January 2005, Charles announces that he's working with the government and medical officials in Southeast Asia

to combat bird flu. Even though there's a notable lack of data showing that virus 38 actually treats the virus, Charles tries to sell it in Hong Kong, but the Justice Department later reports that he's not able to get clinical data to prove that it works. So Charles pursues another tried and true tactic for selling his remedy, the internet.

He markets Vira 38 to US customers as a cure-all for influenza. But he uses the same labels he used while in Hong Kong. They don't say supplement or homeopathic anywhere, and since it was advertised as a medication in Hong Kong, the FDA considers it a drug. And Vira 38 is not FDA approved. Authorities notice right away and the US Department of Health and Human Services sends Charles a warning letter saying he has 15 days to stop selling it.

Charles has only managed to sell 26 bottles of Vyra 38 in the US. It's a lot of trouble for basically nothing. God, all this to make like 280 bucks? If that. And meanwhile, Charles' first invention, Zaycam, is running into issues too. The company that owns it claims Zaycam is perfectly safe.

But in 2006, they quietly paid $12 million to settle more than 300 lawsuits from customers who lost their sense of spell from using it. It turns out Zaycam's makers were first alerted to the side effects back in 1999, but they chose to keep marketing the product. And since Charles was still involved with the company at that time, makes sense that he would have known about the side effects, too. Even though Zaycam is still selling like crazy,

Charles knows its side effects won't stay a secret for much longer. So he forms yet another company, nasal therapeutics Inc. According to his website, he enters into a licensing agreement for the exclusive rights to manufacture and market a new homeopathic nasal spray. TheraMax, cold and flu relief. It's not lost on me that Theramax has on the front of its box,

a big strip that says zinc free. You know, you live and you learn. Okay. Sometimes we fail and we pick ourselves back up. Right. He's learning from his mistakes is what you're saying. Exactly. Charles' timing is impeccable because around a year after he gains the right to market and sell Theramax, the FDA officially warns customers to stop using XI-CAM.

They say it has no proven benefits, hoses a serious risk to consumers, and that its main ingredient, zinc, could be causing damage to nervous sectors in the nose. The stock of the company that owns Xycam takes a major hit. It's starting to look like Charles is clawing his way back to relevance and alternative health. Unfortunately for him, the government is watching and waiting for the right time to strike.

And I feel like a... Let's get it. It's June 2011, about two years after the FDA warned Americans to stop using Zycam. Charles is at home in Redondo Beach, and he hears a knock at the door. Outside his home are a swarm of government agents. They're from the FDA, the LAPD, and even the U.S. Postal Inspection Service. They're here to arrest Charles for selling those 26 bottles of Vira 38 in the US. All that for 26 bottles. Remember how the US government sent him that warning letter?

Mm-hmm. Well, they were not messing around. Now, they're charging Charles with four felony counts of illegally importing an unapproved drug into the US, plus eight other misdemeanor counts. The evidence is stacked against Charles, and he knows it. Months after he's arrested, he agrees to plead guilty to one misdemeanor count of introducing an unapproved new drug into interstate commerce.

A year later, he sentenced to three years of probation. He has to serve 400 hours of community service and pay a $5,000 fine. Charles is banned from engaging in any business involving the marketing, development, selling or distribution of supplements without getting the permission of the FDA and his parole officer. It's a huge blow for Charles, but he's determined to come out on top and cast himself as a hero.

And the best way to do that, Sachi, is to literally write a novel about your life where you're the hero. Charles writes about his Virah 38 experience. Please brace yourself. It's called Viral Winds. There is no evidence that this book was ever actually written, but he describes it on his website. And Satji, you will have to read the blurb.

Oh, I will have to. It says, God. After the success of Xi-Camp, Dr. Charles Hensley went after bigger challenges. However, when he was drawn into the Tsar's hot zone, he discovered that the biggest danger wasn't from the virus, but rather the political forces that would try to stop him. In viral wins, Hensley reveals the dirty, secret, political world of emerging viral disease.

And Sachi, he even cuts together a book trailer using news footage about SARS with some very ominous music. Can you please describe what's going on here? It's a lot of stock footage of Asian children and masks. The font Papyrus is used with alarming abandon. People in full body suits, a hospital, the word death on a laptop. Oh, it's like a child made it. I love it.

Yeah, it's pretty scary stuff. I definitely will read viral wins to follow up to Cold Wars. I'm open to reading it. Well, just a couple of years after his sentencing, he forms a company called Migrinade Inc. It sells what he claims is a game-changing homeopathic product to relieve migraines.

There's a nasal spray and a fizzy tablet version too. He's not going to let anyone hold him back from the homeopathic world that he loves, but he does start thinking, maybe it's time to diversify. By 2016, Charles is searching for new turf. It seems like Migrinade hasn't really taken off, and Charles needs more cash. I imagine him sitting in his peachy, redondo beach house scrolling for opportunity. Literally. He's searching around the US patent and trademark office archives to see what's not registered. So he can stamp his name on his next creation.

And his attention turns to another industry that fascinates him, Hollywood. You know, maybe there's an I love Lucy marathon on, we don't know. But for some reason, Charles thinks of the old Desi Lou studios. And he discovers that the name Desi-Lew is somehow not trademarked. That is idiotic. So, he files an application with the US patent and trademark office. He's asking to trademark Desi-Lew

and for good measure, he also applies for a business license. His venture is called Desi-Lew and for good measure, he also applies for a business license. His venture is called Desi-Lew Studios Inc. Do you ever think about how like a lot of old Hollywood was being held together by like prayers, hopes, dreams, pinky promises, crossed fingers? And drugs that don't exist anymore. Yeah, like everyone's taking FENFEN and nobody has a trademark for anything? Yeah. Sounds great.

And Charles also makes a new website, thedesilusstudios.com. And on the homepage, he explains the history of the legendary studio, that it was started by husband and wife, comedians, Desi Arnez, and Lucille Ball. But then he departs from reality. He claims he acquired the studio in 2016.

And he calls himself a consumer products slash branding mogul and venture capitalist, which, sure Jan, Sachi, can you please read what else he wrote? Yes. Charles says his studio is, quote, paving the way for Hollywood's return to the golden age of moviemaking by re-establishing Hollywood

as the epicenter of the motion picture universe. As he puts it, this new, does-y-loo quote, embraces the original Hollywood studio system where actors, writers, directors are under studio contract and where everyone has a chance to be a star. Okay, notoriously great system that did not exploit Arun, anyone's life. One of the worst labor systems that ever existed

that helped create the union system within Hollywood. I have several thoughts. One, when was Hollywood not the epicenter of the motion picture universe? When people just acted things out in person and video cameras didn't exist, yeah, yeah. Yeah, okay. And his plan is to put everybody on old studio contracts and like what? Give the meeting disorders again?

Yeah, you know, the golden age of labor. I think this will work. Charles lists all the movies that his completely fictional studio is working on. And Saji, we need to talk about these movies. Okay, all right. I would like you to read the description for Moonlight Blonde, which is to come out in 2018. Yeah.

Yeah. Based on the true story of one of the most shocking, unsolved murders in Los Angeles history, Moonlight Blonde tears away Hollywood's veil of glamour and romance to reveal the violence and corruption hidden within. That is every movie ever made, first of all. Yeah, and I would like for you to read the description of the Medicine Man.

Okay. The Medicine Man, airing date 2018, unscripted television series, out climbing to Benton Mountains. Dr. H, oh, are you fucking kidding me? Dr. H? Yeah. Dr. H, the pioneering scientist known worldwide for his revolutionary discoveries of nature-based therapies,

scouts the earth on a relentless quest to discover the truth about the miraculous and sometimes mythical remedies that exist outside at the boundaries of Western medicine. So I'm gonna go on a limb and guess that is about him. I mean, if the shoe fits, you said it, not him, am I right? Wouldn't be the first time he wrote about himself.

Listen, would I watch the medicine man? Yes, probably. Armed with a bad website and a lifetime of unerined confidence, Charles sits back to wait for the US patent and trademark office to approve his venture. But then comes along another tantalizing opportunity to grab easy money. A few months later, Charles is contacted

by someone who says they've heard that migraineid is going public. In fact, they've even invested. But Charles says those conversations were years ago and nothing came of it. He tells the investor they've been scammed. But then, Charles tells him that he can make things right. If they buy stock and Migrinade through Charles, then he'll definitely make a profit once the company actually goes public, which Charles assures them will happen in 2018. So the investor gives Charles $8,000, and days later, Charles finds someone else to give him $10,000. At same day, he books three Virgin Airlines flights and Skips Town. It doesn't seem like Charles ever had plans to take his company public, because for the

next two weeks, Charles shacks up at the win-loss Vegas hotel. He spends all of the investors' money, and then some. It is early days for Charles's Hollywood hustle, and he's already spending like a paramount exec. In the spring of 2017, with his trademark application still pending, he officially incorporates Desi Lou Studios as a business in California. Next on his to-do list, making Desi Lou happen. In October 2017, Charles takes a meeting with a potential right-hand man.

This guy's name is Stephen Posein. He's in his 50s with sandy hair and prominent ears. He's a former actor and a movie producer. He was a co-producer on a 2009 Cameron Diaz movie called My Sisters Keeper. But he's eager to become a much bigger player in town. Charles Tell Stephen, there's enormous value in the nostalgia surrounding I Love Lucy,

Star Trek, and Mission Impossible. And that this is his chance to get in on the ground floor of a once in a lifetime reboot. Charles has a very official looking valuation letter to back up his claims. It shows that DesiLew Studios Inc is worth more than $11 billion. Charles says DesiLew will go public by the end of 2018.

I bet it totally works out. They're definitely worth that much money and they're currently trading on the Nasdaq for thousands of dollars a share. Yeah, actually, DesiLew Studios bought this podcast and this is where we're announcing it. Oh my God, amazing! Free zinc for everybody.

I would also like to say, Charles really believes in the year 2018. He really thinks good things are gonna happen for him. Yeah, he really does. So get this. DesiLew's valuation letter appears to come from a company called the Beverly Wilshire Group. It's located at 1999 Avenue of the Stars, and this was a real company at one point, but by the time Charles meets with Stephen, it's been disbanded for at least

a year, and it's not clear that Charles was ever connected to the company to begin with. It's just a name and an address he printed on a letterhead. Steven later alleges in a lawsuit that Charles offers to make him the executive vice president of Desilu Studios Inc. According to Steven's lawsuit, which was ultimately dismissed, he's offered a six-figure salary and a million shares of stock. Steven accepts on the spot. Wow, amazing. A million shares of nothing. I'll give you four million shares of nothing right now. Deal. Stephen later alleges in the lawsuit that he starts taking meetings where he echoes Charles' own pitch for Desilu, and it works. He allegedly

ropes in a number of potential investors, including an animation company, a post-production company, an internet streaming service in Israel, and a development company in Palm Springs. And it complained that Stephen later files against Charles. He includes a legal document that Charles allegedly sent to investors. The document heavily implies that Desilu Studios Inc. has a blessing of the Arnez family,

but Charles hasn't actually called Lucy yet, and he sure as hell doesn't have her blessing. The document also claims that DesiLue will make its initial public offering in late 2018, in that its movies and shows will be distributed by companies like Paramount, Lionsgate, and Netflix. It says that the Netflix partnership will last until Desi Loon launches its own streaming service through the acquisition of a streamer in Israel. Plus, he allegedly wants to launch a chain of movie theaters across the country

called Desi Loon Cinemas with more than 2,000 screens. But Charles doesn't stop at movies. According to the legal document, he also has plans to build a Desi Lou theme park, golf resort, and vacation homes aimed at boomers. I think this is over indexing how much boomers wanna go hang out at an I love Lucy golf park slash theme park. Yeah, you really have to wonder how compelling the pitch was

because from 2017 to 2018, Charles' Desilu raises almost $600,000 from at least 21 investors. At this point, Charles has also secured the trademark for the Desilu name. Stephen feels like he's in on the ground floor of something that's going to change the industry. And he's not the only one hoping the new Desi-Lew Studios will deliver on his wildest dreams. Kenneth Johnson is a soft-spoken grey-haired mench. He's in his 70s and he's the creative powerhouse behind a franchise with a passionate fandom.

V, a 1983 mini-series with a few spin-offs. The V universe is about aliens known as visitors. They arrive on Earth promising friendship and fancy technology, but secretly want to dominate and literally eat humans. The original mini-series is a cult classic. And then Kenneth hears about the reboot of his dreams. A development executive has been trying to make V the movie, and he finally found a studio interested in making it.

None other than Desi Liu Inc. Kenneth immediately signs on as writer and director. Desi Liu announces that it's bringing the long-awaited V-film revival to theaters, and not just for one movie, but a trilogy. There's rejoicing on Twitter. Desilu Studio sends out this tweet. You wanna read it?

It says, under the guidance and vision of our CEO, hashtag Charles B. Hensley, hashtag Desilu will deliver blockbuster entertainment such as Hatch tag V the movie. Charles retweets the Dezi Lou tweet and then adds commentary. You also need to read this. Okay. It says, thank you for your confidence. So he's thanking himself for confidence in himself.

I think that's beautiful. Yeah, there's definitely some deep cycle analyzing to do, but for now, Charles' self-confidence is rubbing off on others. Kenneth, the sweet sci-fi scribe, is over the moon. He has every reason to be. The V reboot project is about as real as it gets in Hollywood development speak. Kenneth is determined to make his vision happen. Here he is in an interview with the Geekscape podcast about the V-movie treatment he's long imagined.

My hope is that sooner or later we will find the, we've made three deals on getting the trilogy made, the motion picture trilogy made. I mean the unfortunate reality is that the thing that Kenneth is experiencing in the development of these projects is really normal. Yeah, that's how these deals work. So it wouldn't be strange that he doesn't register that this is taking a long time. I mean, no, of course, there's nothing immediately weird about the scenario. Kenneth has no reason to suspect that Charles' V-movie reboot, like his entire studio, doesn't actually exist. But when Charles is found out by Lucy Arnez herself, he'll have some major And I feel like a... Like a... In mid-2018, Steven looks at Desi lose books and notices its finances are unraveling. Like, development fees for the V-movie just aren't being paid.

Even though they can't pay for it, Charles says he's in talks to buy a post-production studio. So Steven asks Charles to explain. And Charles tells him that he's selling overseas property to get money. But he's not doing that. Because at this point, Charles has no significant assets to his name. What he's really doing is taking investors cash and spending it on getaways at the win resort in Las Vegas. Well, that's what one does.

Finally, Stevens had enough. He confronts his boss, probably wondering, how the hell are you gonna finance this, my dude? When Charles stalls, Steven later says in a lawsuit that he goes over Charles's head to ask the post-production company directly what's going on. They tell him, there is no deal. Steven gets it now.

The severity of it all, how much he's been duped, he resigns. Oh boy, now we get to the sad part. And Charles knows his jig is up. He's probably worried that other investors and partners are about to abandon him too. So around this time, he reaches out to Luci Arnez in Palm Springs. Maybe he thinks he's doing the right thing

by asking for Luci's blessing. And maybe he's so deluded that he thinks she'll say yes. He probably wants to show potential investors that he's serious about making his desi-lu happen. But Luci is no dummy. She turns right around to CBS and tells them what Charles is up to. This is scam artist 101 is you don't tell the person you're scamming, what you're scamming and how you're scamming them. Well, Charles must know that he's dug

himself into a hole. So he digs even deeper. He goes into defensive mode and actually sues CBS over the rights to own and use the desilu name. As you can imagine, this doesn't go over well with CBS, and they respond to Charles' lawsuit in kind. The network accuses Charles of trademark infringement and cyber squatting on their desilu turf. It demands a cancellation of his trademark and monetary relief for the damages he caused. The suit alleges that Charles' fake desilu was designed to fool investors into thinking it had the rights to real desilu productions, like classic, I Love Lucy episodes. CBS also alleges that Charles' fake movies and absurd valuations are evidence that he never actually intended to go through with his Desi-Loo studios.

In May 2019, a court rules in favor of CBS granting the network the rights to the Desi-Loo name. It bars Charles from ever using it again, and he has to pay CBS's attorney fees for the trouble of suing him. A month later, a number of former Desi Lou investors and employees, including Stephen, file a class action lawsuit against Charles trying to recoup their losses. About a year later in June 2020,

the judge rules in favor of the investors. Charles may never be able to pay back the Desi Lou money he blew in Vegas, but Civil Court will turn out to be the least of his headaches. In August 2022, Charles is lower than ever. Getting off on probation, this time doesn't look like it's in the cards. He's been indicted by the U.S. Attorney's Office on 11 counts of wire fraud and one count of aggravated identity theft related to his desi lucon.

He's also been charged by the SEC with securities fraud and lying to investors. In December, Charles pleaded not guilty to all charges against him in the desi lucase. Through his lawyer, he declined to comment on the charges. Luci Arnez also declined to speak with us for this episode. Charles is facing a maximum of 222 years in prison if convicted. 20 years for each wire fraud count plus a mandatory two-year sentence for the identity theft charge. As of this recording, he is still awaiting trial. Sachi, this story, I mean, it really took us all over the fraud market. We got health, we got wellness, we got Hollywood, we have it all here.

What a stupid scam. You know, it is also so wild to me because he makes so much money out of ZaiCam, it seems, and he couldn't be like, you know what, maybe I'll invest this in like a freaking chiropractor chain or something, you know what I mean? Like, that seems like the normal thing someone like him would do. But again, we're not dealing with a normal guy. We're dealing with dark Dilbert.

Right. I mean, Dilbert is already dark Dilbert, but I feel like if I made a bunch of money off of a fake business that didn't actually solve anything at all, I would take that money and run. Like go buy an island and be at peace. Yeah. I find it so confusing his like the way he dipped his toes into creating things.

Like he was like, wouldn't it be cool if I did write a novel? However, from what we know, no such novel exists. He just described what he wishes his life was. I mean, that's what's so weird is the scam seems to spread across different industries where it's like, it almost feels like the goal was to just make things up in different places. It feels scatter shot.

Also, the idea of creating enough of a framework that sounds like an actual Hollywood studio and then like signing people up and like he did half the work outside of actually creating things. Like he could have made one of these things for all we know. He could have gone that far. If it wasn't for that damn win Las Vegas hotel, it just kept calling him. If it wasn't for Las Vegas, he would have we would have been watching Medicine Man.

Yeah, I mean I guess maybe the lesson is that if you go to a place where there is a Steve Win hotel, you're not going to be able to finish any of your work. Creatives stay away from Las Vegas. Yeah, nothing good happens there. I think it's a lesson here. Hey, Prime members, you can listen to scamful answers, add free on Amazon Music. Download the Amazon Music app today, or you can listen ad free with Wondery Plus and Apple podcasts.

Before you go, tell us about yourself by completing a short survey at Wondery.com slash survey. This is I, Luke Lucy. I'm Sarah Hagi, and I'm Sachi Kold. If you have a tip for us on a story that you think we should cover, please email us at scamfulensersatwondery.com. We use many sources in our research. A few that were particularly helpful were FDA warrants against use of popular cold remedy

by Gardener Harris in the New York Times and the men behind Zai Cam by Sandra G. Boodman in the Washington Post. And how Lucille Ball and Desi Arnez's old studio became a backdrop for an alleged investment scam by Gregory Yee in the Los Angeles Times. We were saddened to learn that Gregory passed away in January 2023. We're so grateful for his work. Paul Schroett wrote this episode, additional writing by us, Satchie Cole and Sarah Haggie. Our senior producer is Jen Swan. Our producer is John Reed. Our story editor is Eric Thurm,

and our story editor producer is Sarah Enne. Our associate producers are Charlotte Miller and Lexi Peary. Sound design is by James Morgan, fact checking by Gabrielle Drolley. Additional audio assistants provided by Adrian Tapia. Our music supervisor is Scott Velasquez for FreeSondSync. Our coordinating producer is Desi Blaylock. Our managing producer is Matt Gantt, and our senior managing producer is Ryan Moore. Kate Young and Olivia Bershard are our series producers. Our senior producer is Ginny Bloom.

Our executive producers are Janine Cornelow, Stephanie Gens, Jenny Lauer Beckman, and Marshall Lui for Wundery. you