1 00:00:01,688 --> 00:00:02,991 Look at me, look at me. 2 00:00:02,991 --> 00:00:04,455 I want you to be man to man 3 00:00:04,455 --> 00:00:05,628 with me right now. 4 00:00:05,628 --> 00:00:07,864 Goldberg: This is no ordinary traffic stop. 5 00:00:07,864 --> 00:00:09,466 Price: It's almost like I think the Lord 6 00:00:09,466 --> 00:00:11,501 wanted the story to be told. 7 00:00:11,501 --> 00:00:13,670 Goldberg: You think? 8 00:00:13,670 --> 00:00:16,306 Central Georgia, a landscape dotted 9 00:00:16,306 --> 00:00:19,042 with small towns and country roads, 10 00:00:19,042 --> 00:00:21,911 is just about as far away from Wall Street 11 00:00:21,911 --> 00:00:23,980 as a person can possibly get -- 12 00:00:23,980 --> 00:00:28,318 that is, until the entrance of Aubrey Lee Price, 13 00:00:28,318 --> 00:00:32,756 a small-town pastor who seemed to be a miracle worker 14 00:00:32,756 --> 00:00:34,090 at investing money. 15 00:00:34,090 --> 00:00:35,892 Smith: This is really growing fast. 16 00:00:35,892 --> 00:00:39,229 Goldberg: But was it God's will or Brother Lee's? 17 00:00:40,730 --> 00:00:45,101 He was a preacher and a genuine, honest, open person. 18 00:00:45,101 --> 00:00:47,270 What's not to trust about Lee Price? 19 00:00:47,270 --> 00:00:49,672 Mosley: Essentially, Aubrey Lee Price was a chef. 20 00:00:49,672 --> 00:00:53,610 He was cooking the books. He was stirring the numbers. 21 00:00:53,610 --> 00:00:56,112 Yocum: Just not everybody has their pastor 22 00:00:56,112 --> 00:00:58,048 on the FBI's Most Wanted list. 23 00:00:58,048 --> 00:01:00,350 Cross: Within a couple of months, 24 00:01:00,350 --> 00:01:02,552 found out that I lost everything. 25 00:01:02,552 --> 00:01:07,957 I literally fell to my knees, just screaming "No, no, no!" 26 00:01:07,957 --> 00:01:10,727 $40 million was stolen. 27 00:01:10,727 --> 00:01:12,195 Smith: Goes back to what my mother says -- 28 00:01:12,195 --> 00:01:13,930 "Don't cry over spilled milk." 29 00:01:13,930 --> 00:01:16,533 But what Mama didn't know -- that was a lot of milk. 30 00:01:16,533 --> 00:01:19,803 He just up and vanishes. 31 00:01:19,803 --> 00:01:22,539 Juliano: And he goes, "I'm one of the most wanted men in America -- 32 00:01:22,539 --> 00:01:23,640 Aubrey Lee Price." 33 00:01:23,640 --> 00:01:26,109 Only God knows the real story. 34 00:01:26,109 --> 00:01:28,778 Goldberg: And now, you're about to. 35 00:01:28,778 --> 00:01:32,382 Was he out to save a town or con a town? 36 00:01:32,382 --> 00:01:33,883 And where is he today? 37 00:01:33,883 --> 00:01:35,385 Well, you'll find out, 38 00:01:35,385 --> 00:01:37,987 after a lot of fake IDs, fake suicide, 39 00:01:37,987 --> 00:01:41,091 and a bunch of other fake stuff. 40 00:01:41,091 --> 00:01:44,661 I'm Whoopi Goldberg, and this is "The Con." 41 00:01:44,661 --> 00:01:47,764 -- Captions by VITAC -- 42 00:01:47,764 --> 00:01:50,233 ♪♪ 43 00:01:50,233 --> 00:01:54,170 [ Church choir singing ] 44 00:01:54,170 --> 00:01:57,240 ♪♪ 45 00:01:57,240 --> 00:01:59,442 We need someone with a divine understanding 46 00:01:59,442 --> 00:02:01,511 of how con artists operate. 47 00:02:01,511 --> 00:02:04,314 That's where my girl Laci Mosley comes in. 48 00:02:04,314 --> 00:02:09,819 She's not just a scam expert, she is a scam goddess. 49 00:02:09,819 --> 00:02:12,522 Aubrey Lee Price is this clean-cut, shiny, 50 00:02:12,522 --> 00:02:16,493 trustworthy pastor of a small town. 51 00:02:16,493 --> 00:02:18,194 We're not talking about a televangelist 52 00:02:18,194 --> 00:02:20,196 or somebody that you call in. 53 00:02:20,196 --> 00:02:23,099 He's established as a trusted member of the community. 54 00:02:23,099 --> 00:02:26,436 Everyone knows him. 55 00:02:26,436 --> 00:02:29,339 Which is why this story is so unbelievable. 56 00:02:29,339 --> 00:02:32,675 ♪♪ 57 00:02:32,675 --> 00:02:34,677 Yocum: I live in Griffin, Georgia, 58 00:02:34,677 --> 00:02:37,280 and Georgia is in the Bible Belt. 59 00:02:37,280 --> 00:02:39,682 You can not go anywhere without people saying, 60 00:02:39,682 --> 00:02:44,120 "Have a blessed day," or "Bless this, bless that." 61 00:02:44,120 --> 00:02:46,689 It's just the way it rolls down here in the South. 62 00:02:46,689 --> 00:02:49,559 Goldberg: For a new pastor in search of a congregation, 63 00:02:49,559 --> 00:02:52,962 you couldn't do much better than god-fearing Griffin, Georgia, 64 00:02:52,962 --> 00:02:56,666 so in 1998, Aubrey Lee Price was blessed 65 00:02:56,666 --> 00:02:59,135 to make this town his home. 66 00:02:59,135 --> 00:03:00,904 Yocum: Well, of course, when we first met Lee, 67 00:03:00,904 --> 00:03:02,672 he was new to the church. 68 00:03:02,672 --> 00:03:05,975 Lee was brought in as our pastor. 69 00:03:05,975 --> 00:03:08,411 He was very compassionate. 70 00:03:08,411 --> 00:03:11,147 He was youthful. He was energetic. 71 00:03:11,147 --> 00:03:13,082 He had a great connection with God, 72 00:03:13,082 --> 00:03:17,187 which you have to have that, and he was such a family man. 73 00:03:17,187 --> 00:03:19,422 He had a young family, three children. 74 00:03:19,422 --> 00:03:21,157 And, of course, I was the Sunday school teacher 75 00:03:21,157 --> 00:03:22,759 to his children. 76 00:03:22,759 --> 00:03:24,761 You know, I got to know him pretty good through that. 77 00:03:24,761 --> 00:03:27,330 We'd get together for barbecues and things like that, 78 00:03:27,330 --> 00:03:28,731 so we became friends. 79 00:03:28,731 --> 00:03:30,900 He had such a good heart. 80 00:03:30,900 --> 00:03:33,002 Mosley: At this point, Aubrey Lee Price 81 00:03:33,002 --> 00:03:35,538 is deeply steeped in the community. 82 00:03:35,538 --> 00:03:37,574 People trust him for praise and worship, 83 00:03:37,574 --> 00:03:40,443 but he's also someone that people believe is smart -- 84 00:03:40,443 --> 00:03:43,346 smart enough to deal with their finances 85 00:03:43,346 --> 00:03:44,847 or give them advice 86 00:03:44,847 --> 00:03:49,285 or help them in more ways than just being a pastor. 87 00:03:49,285 --> 00:03:51,421 Goldberg: He's a dual service advisor, 88 00:03:51,421 --> 00:03:53,790 spiritual and financial, 89 00:03:53,790 --> 00:03:56,859 soul-saving and life savings. 90 00:03:56,859 --> 00:04:00,563 He had a way with taking small amounts of money 91 00:04:00,563 --> 00:04:03,099 and building 'em up into big amounts of money 92 00:04:03,099 --> 00:04:05,034 through his investments. 93 00:04:05,034 --> 00:04:07,870 Several of the people at church had invested money in him, 94 00:04:07,870 --> 00:04:10,106 and they said, oh, Lee was getting them 95 00:04:10,106 --> 00:04:12,775 way, way better interest rates on stuff 96 00:04:12,775 --> 00:04:14,110 than what was going on 97 00:04:14,110 --> 00:04:16,946 in the regular commercial banking world. 98 00:04:16,946 --> 00:04:18,615 And so I talked to Lee about it. 99 00:04:18,615 --> 00:04:23,219 I called him, I notified him, and I said, 100 00:04:23,219 --> 00:04:26,089 "Lee, I've got some money, and I need to invest it, 101 00:04:26,089 --> 00:04:29,592 and I'm afraid to invest it with people I don't know." 102 00:04:29,592 --> 00:04:32,562 He said that he would do it. 103 00:04:32,562 --> 00:04:36,799 I wholeheartedly trusted him because I'd known him so long, 104 00:04:36,799 --> 00:04:38,401 and he took my money 105 00:04:38,401 --> 00:04:42,171 and set up an account that I could track online, 106 00:04:42,171 --> 00:04:44,107 and that's what happened. 107 00:04:44,107 --> 00:04:45,808 And I wasn't the only one. 108 00:04:45,808 --> 00:04:48,411 There was his family members, many friends, 109 00:04:48,411 --> 00:04:50,913 and many members from the church. 110 00:04:50,913 --> 00:04:55,418 And other people who just knew Lee, they invested as well. 111 00:04:55,418 --> 00:04:58,621 Goldberg: As testaments of Lee's good fortune spread, 112 00:04:58,621 --> 00:05:02,025 it was not long before Lee had hundreds of clients 113 00:05:02,025 --> 00:05:04,861 and a portfolio worth millions of dollars, 114 00:05:04,861 --> 00:05:08,931 and he was highly favored by some big fish. 115 00:05:08,931 --> 00:05:12,535 Smith: In 2002, three years before my retirement goal 116 00:05:12,535 --> 00:05:13,936 was gonna be reached, 117 00:05:13,936 --> 00:05:15,338 I met Lee Price. 118 00:05:15,338 --> 00:05:16,839 I went into his office, 119 00:05:16,839 --> 00:05:19,542 and I found him to be a very nice gentleman. 120 00:05:19,542 --> 00:05:22,445 He was soft-spoken, very clean-cut. 121 00:05:22,445 --> 00:05:22,712 He wasn't selling me anything. 122 00:05:22,712 --> 00:05:26,349 I told him what my goals were, and we had a great conversation. 123 00:05:26,349 --> 00:05:30,286 We talked about his involvement with church, as a pastor. 124 00:05:30,286 --> 00:05:32,622 We talked about his wife's mission trips. 125 00:05:32,622 --> 00:05:34,390 He just seemed like he was a genuine, 126 00:05:34,390 --> 00:05:39,062 honest, open person that was just a good guy. 127 00:05:39,062 --> 00:05:41,464 I was satisfied with his openness, 128 00:05:41,464 --> 00:05:43,800 and, uh, over the next several years, 129 00:05:43,800 --> 00:05:46,502 my wife and I had invested a half a million dollars. 130 00:05:46,502 --> 00:05:48,004 Goldberg: As the money grew, 131 00:05:48,004 --> 00:05:50,873 so did the complexity of Lee's investments. 132 00:05:50,873 --> 00:05:53,643 He was soon brokering multimillion-dollar deals 133 00:05:53,643 --> 00:05:57,046 on behalf of clients all over the state of Georgia. 134 00:05:59,015 --> 00:06:01,918 Cross: In the early 2000s, 135 00:06:01,918 --> 00:06:04,320 I was in real estate for 15 years 136 00:06:04,320 --> 00:06:05,588 in and around Atlanta. 137 00:06:05,588 --> 00:06:07,023 Things were going so well financially, 138 00:06:07,023 --> 00:06:08,658 I started a food truck. 139 00:06:08,658 --> 00:06:11,027 It was very successful. 140 00:06:11,027 --> 00:06:13,396 My wife and I would joke that it was like, 141 00:06:13,396 --> 00:06:15,665 "Man, we are, like, printing money here on this truck. 142 00:06:15,665 --> 00:06:17,200 This is awesome." 143 00:06:18,334 --> 00:06:22,338 I actually met Lee from my financial advisor. 144 00:06:22,338 --> 00:06:24,173 Lee got excited about stuff, you know, 145 00:06:24,173 --> 00:06:26,008 and then I would be like, "Okay, it sounds great. 146 00:06:26,008 --> 00:06:27,677 You know, wow, this is exciting." 147 00:06:27,677 --> 00:06:32,415 Lee talked me into starting with the IRA first 148 00:06:32,415 --> 00:06:35,852 and then moving the rest of the money later. 149 00:06:35,852 --> 00:06:39,422 Initially, the money that I invested did fine, 150 00:06:39,422 --> 00:06:42,358 and it all seemed very normal. 151 00:06:42,358 --> 00:06:45,928 Goldberg: True to form, Lee's fancy financial moves pay off, 152 00:06:45,928 --> 00:06:48,564 and his investors' faith is rewarded 153 00:06:48,564 --> 00:06:50,800 with some modest returns. 154 00:06:50,800 --> 00:06:53,636 We would have monthly meetings online. 155 00:06:53,636 --> 00:06:56,639 You would literally see the numbers bouncing up and down. 156 00:06:56,639 --> 00:06:59,909 I mean, it was like a meeting with your financial advisor, 157 00:06:59,909 --> 00:07:01,077 with all the data. 158 00:07:01,077 --> 00:07:02,478 Yocum: I didn't know anything 159 00:07:02,478 --> 00:07:04,280 about the investment world or the money. 160 00:07:04,280 --> 00:07:07,150 I just trusted him to be taking care of my money 161 00:07:07,150 --> 00:07:09,085 like he was doing for everybody else. 162 00:07:09,085 --> 00:07:12,121 I mean, he was even handling his own mother and father's money, 163 00:07:12,121 --> 00:07:16,893 so I had no reason to think that anything would go wrong. 164 00:07:16,893 --> 00:07:18,561 Goldberg: For Lee and his investors, 165 00:07:18,561 --> 00:07:21,998 everything seemed to be going according to God's plan. 166 00:07:21,998 --> 00:07:23,800 But in 2008... We've got a problem now. 167 00:07:23,800 --> 00:07:25,835 ...the gates of Hell opened, 168 00:07:25,835 --> 00:07:28,471 and the markets crashed overnight. 169 00:07:28,471 --> 00:07:30,506 [ Thud echoes ] 170 00:07:30,506 --> 00:07:33,743 Reporter: Lehman Brothers got caught in this financial phenomenon. 171 00:07:33,743 --> 00:07:39,248 [ Reporters' voices overlapping ] 172 00:07:39,248 --> 00:07:44,253 2008 was really turbulent, you know, with finances, 173 00:07:44,253 --> 00:07:48,825 but somehow, the way that Lee invested our money seemed sound. 174 00:07:48,825 --> 00:07:51,594 It seemed to be doing well, 175 00:07:51,594 --> 00:07:53,596 even in the light of what was going on. 176 00:07:53,596 --> 00:07:56,299 It seemed that Lee knew what he was doing. 177 00:07:56,299 --> 00:07:58,267 Smith: I watched the quarterly statements grow every quarter, 178 00:07:58,267 --> 00:08:00,770 and I'm thinking, "Well, this is pretty good." 179 00:08:00,770 --> 00:08:03,272 It's a little bit better than what the Dow Jones is doing, 180 00:08:03,272 --> 00:08:05,107 which you would expect. 181 00:08:05,107 --> 00:08:07,677 And then it got a lot better. 182 00:08:07,677 --> 00:08:09,212 And then I'm looking at these numbers -- 183 00:08:09,212 --> 00:08:11,948 they don't look that real anymore, you know? 184 00:08:11,948 --> 00:08:14,383 This is really growing fast. 185 00:08:14,383 --> 00:08:16,619 Yocum: Well, I have a friend who was very big -- 186 00:08:16,619 --> 00:08:19,188 She was a CPA, and she was very big into investments, 187 00:08:19,188 --> 00:08:20,957 and she said, 188 00:08:20,957 --> 00:08:24,494 "I don't know how Lee is getting you this kind of interest." 189 00:08:24,494 --> 00:08:27,530 So she said, "Can you put me in contact with him?" 190 00:08:27,530 --> 00:08:28,998 And next thing I know, 191 00:08:28,998 --> 00:08:32,068 she was investing some of her money with Lee. 192 00:08:32,068 --> 00:08:34,837 Goldberg: So far, Lee has been a steady hand 193 00:08:34,837 --> 00:08:37,006 through some rough financial waters, 194 00:08:37,006 --> 00:08:40,510 and his latest deal was about to make waves of its own. 195 00:08:40,510 --> 00:08:43,212 Cross: I remember a specific phone call 196 00:08:43,212 --> 00:08:45,982 that he was talking about purchasing a bank. 197 00:08:45,982 --> 00:08:49,852 You know, I remember thinking that was kind of a -- 198 00:08:49,852 --> 00:08:52,388 kind of a weird thing to invest in. 199 00:08:52,388 --> 00:08:56,025 As an average American, I am stumped at -- 200 00:08:56,025 --> 00:08:57,593 at the thought of even buying a bank. 201 00:08:57,593 --> 00:08:59,662 How do you buy a bank? 202 00:08:59,662 --> 00:09:00,930 That just doesn't feel like something 203 00:09:00,930 --> 00:09:02,265 that you can pick up, like a shirt 204 00:09:02,265 --> 00:09:04,166 or a pair of sneakers at the store. 205 00:09:04,166 --> 00:09:07,670 Like, "Hey, it's Tuesday. Let's buy a financial institution." 206 00:09:07,670 --> 00:09:11,440 Every morning, I wake up and watch the TV show on business. 207 00:09:11,440 --> 00:09:13,209 There's banks failing right and left. 208 00:09:13,209 --> 00:09:15,011 A hundred failed last week, 209 00:09:15,011 --> 00:09:16,679 and a couple hundred before that. 210 00:09:16,679 --> 00:09:17,680 I said, "Lee, you're crazy." 211 00:09:17,680 --> 00:09:20,016 Goldberg: Come on. Buying a bank at the height of a banking crisis? 212 00:09:20,016 --> 00:09:21,784 Even for a man of God, that's quite a leap of faith. 213 00:09:21,784 --> 00:09:22,873 ♪♪ 214 00:09:36,185 --> 00:09:38,655 Goldberg: In late December of 2010, 215 00:09:38,655 --> 00:09:41,993 pastor-turned-investor Aubrey Lee Price 216 00:09:41,993 --> 00:09:45,130 doubled down on his "Aw, shucks" persona 217 00:09:45,130 --> 00:09:48,166 and decided he was gonna save a small town 218 00:09:48,166 --> 00:09:51,836 by rescuing their local bank. 219 00:09:51,836 --> 00:09:54,305 Cross: You know, I remember thinking that was kind of a -- 220 00:09:54,305 --> 00:09:58,042 kind of a weird thing to invest in. 221 00:09:58,042 --> 00:09:59,344 It seemed like you should invest in stocks and bonds 222 00:09:59,344 --> 00:10:01,346 or, you know, stuff like that. 223 00:10:01,346 --> 00:10:03,715 Goldberg: How small town was the small-town bank? 224 00:10:03,715 --> 00:10:06,284 Take a look for yourself. 225 00:10:06,284 --> 00:10:08,153 The Montgomery Bank and Trust 226 00:10:08,153 --> 00:10:10,955 is on the corner of Lee and Gum Street 227 00:10:10,955 --> 00:10:12,457 in Ailey, Georgia -- 228 00:10:12,457 --> 00:10:17,162 population 423, and that's during rush hour. 229 00:10:17,162 --> 00:10:20,398 Cross: I was concerned, so I called Lee, and Lee said, 230 00:10:20,398 --> 00:10:23,201 this bank was about to close 231 00:10:23,201 --> 00:10:25,870 and meant everything to this town, 232 00:10:25,870 --> 00:10:29,874 so by saving this bank, we are gonna save jobs, 233 00:10:29,874 --> 00:10:33,178 and it's gonna be great for the people of that town. 234 00:10:33,178 --> 00:10:34,546 It's gonna be great for us, 235 00:10:34,546 --> 00:10:37,715 and it was impossible for this to fail. 236 00:10:39,551 --> 00:10:42,487 Lee's judgment and his advice 237 00:10:42,487 --> 00:10:44,989 always created a lot of wealth for the fund, 238 00:10:44,989 --> 00:10:46,491 but nobody thought the next step 239 00:10:46,491 --> 00:10:50,762 would be a failing bank in Central Georgia. 240 00:10:50,762 --> 00:10:52,197 But he was bound and determined, 241 00:10:52,197 --> 00:10:54,332 out of probably arrogance and pride, 242 00:10:54,332 --> 00:10:56,100 that he was gonna make this work. 243 00:10:58,069 --> 00:11:00,772 Hofland: Lee really enjoyed doing this kind of work. 244 00:11:00,772 --> 00:11:06,611 He was really excited about finding ways to make money. 245 00:11:06,611 --> 00:11:10,748 And he really thought that he could fix this bank. 246 00:11:10,748 --> 00:11:13,284 So he takes $11 million of money 247 00:11:13,284 --> 00:11:17,255 that has come from investors in the community and all around, 248 00:11:17,255 --> 00:11:20,124 and this man purchased a bank. 249 00:11:20,124 --> 00:11:21,626 Hofland: Lee was really excited 250 00:11:21,626 --> 00:11:24,128 about all the possibilities with this bank, 251 00:11:24,128 --> 00:11:26,898 but once he signed on the dotted line, 252 00:11:26,898 --> 00:11:29,601 he saw that there were so many problems with this bank -- 253 00:11:29,601 --> 00:11:31,703 that it was bleeding money. 254 00:11:31,703 --> 00:11:34,305 It would be like buying a boat 255 00:11:34,305 --> 00:11:36,608 knowing that there were a few little holes in the boat, 256 00:11:36,608 --> 00:11:38,977 but once they pulled the boat out of the water, 257 00:11:38,977 --> 00:11:42,714 realizing that it didn't just have one or two holes in it, 258 00:11:42,714 --> 00:11:45,650 but it had hundreds of holes in the bottom of the boat. 259 00:11:45,650 --> 00:11:48,253 Aubrey Lee Price put himself in an overwhelming position. 260 00:11:48,253 --> 00:11:49,887 He had taken people's money, 261 00:11:49,887 --> 00:11:54,092 but this bank that he purchased was losing money. 262 00:11:54,092 --> 00:11:56,928 So Aubrey Lee Price decided to take the funds 263 00:11:56,928 --> 00:11:58,796 right from the bank 264 00:11:58,796 --> 00:12:02,433 and essentially gamble it on the stock market by day trading, 265 00:12:02,433 --> 00:12:05,403 hoping that that would bring in some more income. 266 00:12:05,403 --> 00:12:07,405 Goldberg: Hold up, I'm having a premonition, 267 00:12:07,405 --> 00:12:09,641 'cause I can see where this is going. 268 00:12:09,641 --> 00:12:13,645 Unfortunately, it did not. 269 00:12:13,645 --> 00:12:15,980 Hofland: He just was not thinking clearly. 270 00:12:15,980 --> 00:12:18,483 Lee Price keeps losing more money, 271 00:12:18,483 --> 00:12:20,852 so he throws good money after bad money, 272 00:12:20,852 --> 00:12:23,087 and it just keeps happening. 273 00:12:23,087 --> 00:12:24,956 And then on the other side, he's being told, 274 00:12:24,956 --> 00:12:27,191 "Hey, these other loans that are out 275 00:12:27,191 --> 00:12:30,495 that the bank didn't pay before, 276 00:12:30,495 --> 00:12:32,764 you gotta pay back those loans." 277 00:12:32,764 --> 00:12:36,000 He just was spiraling out of control 278 00:12:36,000 --> 00:12:38,503 and further and further down into an abyss. 279 00:12:40,104 --> 00:12:41,539 Goldberg: With the bank sinking 280 00:12:41,539 --> 00:12:44,375 and dragging his investors' fund down with it, 281 00:12:44,375 --> 00:12:46,344 Lee began a frantic shell game 282 00:12:46,344 --> 00:12:48,379 to create the illusion that all was well. 283 00:12:48,379 --> 00:12:51,215 He was moving money around like it was going on tour 284 00:12:51,215 --> 00:12:54,519 with the band from the Titanic. 285 00:12:54,519 --> 00:12:57,121 Essentially, Aubrey Lee Price was a chef. 286 00:12:57,121 --> 00:12:58,990 He was cooking the books. 287 00:12:58,990 --> 00:13:00,958 He was stirring the numbers. 288 00:13:00,958 --> 00:13:03,027 He was frying the figures. 289 00:13:03,027 --> 00:13:07,532 Nothing that he was sharing with people was actually true. 290 00:13:07,532 --> 00:13:09,467 Cross: There was this one statement that, 291 00:13:09,467 --> 00:13:12,070 you know, had a pretty significant drop, 292 00:13:12,070 --> 00:13:15,640 and Lee said, "Don't worry if I -- 293 00:13:15,640 --> 00:13:17,709 you know, if I can't make this up for you in the next -- 294 00:13:17,709 --> 00:13:19,510 you know, by the next statement, I will make you whole. 295 00:13:19,510 --> 00:13:22,647 I'll personally put that money back in your account 296 00:13:22,647 --> 00:13:23,815 and make you whole." 297 00:13:25,316 --> 00:13:28,319 So that was, you know, the first moment of, 298 00:13:28,319 --> 00:13:31,656 [Hisses] yeah, that -- that doesn't sound right. 299 00:13:31,656 --> 00:13:35,159 I was wanting to withdraw just a short amount of money, 300 00:13:35,159 --> 00:13:37,929 and he was very tense-sounding. 301 00:13:37,929 --> 00:13:39,364 I could sense right away 302 00:13:39,364 --> 00:13:41,332 that there was something not right with Lee 303 00:13:41,332 --> 00:13:42,667 because it just came through the phone in his voice. 304 00:13:42,667 --> 00:13:46,270 I could tell he was really having a hard time. 305 00:13:46,270 --> 00:13:49,073 Mosley: Lee has convinced all these people to invest with him. 306 00:13:49,073 --> 00:13:51,743 People's finances are heavily tied into this -- 307 00:13:51,743 --> 00:13:56,514 their life savings, kids' college funds -- 308 00:13:56,514 --> 00:13:59,550 and he just up and vanishes. 309 00:14:01,686 --> 00:14:03,588 Smith: Monday morning at a quarter to 8:00, 310 00:14:03,588 --> 00:14:05,523 my phone rings -- unusual. 311 00:14:05,523 --> 00:14:07,725 It's Lee's assistant. He said, "Have you heard?" 312 00:14:07,725 --> 00:14:09,527 I said, "What are you talking about?" 313 00:14:09,527 --> 00:14:11,028 "Have you heard about Lee?" 314 00:14:11,028 --> 00:14:12,597 I said, "No, what about Lee?" 315 00:14:12,597 --> 00:14:14,198 "He's missing." 316 00:14:14,198 --> 00:14:17,235 I said, "What do you mean, he's missing?" 317 00:14:17,235 --> 00:14:20,705 Cross: And it was like, "Wait, what?" 318 00:14:20,705 --> 00:14:22,907 We sent an e-mail, no response, 319 00:14:22,907 --> 00:14:24,609 then got on the website, 320 00:14:24,609 --> 00:14:26,043 and the website was all different. 321 00:14:26,043 --> 00:14:28,913 Everybody's picture had been taken down, 322 00:14:28,913 --> 00:14:31,783 and it just looked really odd. 323 00:14:31,783 --> 00:14:35,386 And I called the number, and this guy answered the phone, 324 00:14:35,386 --> 00:14:38,222 and I asked to speak to Lee Price, 325 00:14:38,222 --> 00:14:41,225 and he said, "Lee Price doesn't work here. 326 00:14:41,225 --> 00:14:43,060 He sold this business. 327 00:14:43,060 --> 00:14:45,263 Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait. Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait. 328 00:14:45,263 --> 00:14:48,433 Lee is missing?" 329 00:14:48,433 --> 00:14:50,067 "Yes, we don't know where he is." 330 00:14:50,067 --> 00:14:51,269 I mean, I knew in my heart of hearts 331 00:14:51,269 --> 00:14:53,337 that this was -- that it was gone. 332 00:14:53,337 --> 00:14:56,140 The money was gone. 333 00:14:56,140 --> 00:14:58,776 ♪♪ 334 00:15:08,366 --> 00:15:11,669 Goldberg: Baptist pastor turned banker Lee Price 335 00:15:11,669 --> 00:15:16,874 exploited his infallible image to buy a small, failing bank. 336 00:15:16,874 --> 00:15:20,511 Now, faithful investors are praying for a miracle 337 00:15:20,511 --> 00:15:25,349 because Price and their money have disappeared. 338 00:15:25,349 --> 00:15:28,386 "We have heard that there has been an incident 339 00:15:28,386 --> 00:15:31,022 with Lee Price." 340 00:15:31,022 --> 00:15:32,590 Well, there was an incident, all right -- 341 00:15:32,590 --> 00:15:36,194 I all of a sudden had no money. 342 00:15:36,194 --> 00:15:38,029 Cross: We were talking with the SEC, 343 00:15:38,029 --> 00:15:40,131 we were talking to the feds, 344 00:15:40,131 --> 00:15:42,867 trying to get into the accounts. 345 00:15:42,867 --> 00:15:46,204 So, after making some calls, 346 00:15:46,204 --> 00:15:48,539 they said it appears as if it's all gone. 347 00:15:48,539 --> 00:15:51,275 And I found out that I lost everything, 348 00:15:51,275 --> 00:15:56,247 and...I literally fell to my knees, 349 00:15:56,247 --> 00:15:58,916 just screaming, "No, no, no!" 350 00:15:58,916 --> 00:16:02,820 Everything's -- boom -- gone overnight. 351 00:16:02,820 --> 00:16:06,457 You just don't have any -- any way to survive. 352 00:16:06,457 --> 00:16:08,292 That was a very difficult time. 353 00:16:08,292 --> 00:16:10,495 It was a hard time. 354 00:16:10,495 --> 00:16:12,463 A very hard time. 355 00:16:12,463 --> 00:16:16,334 Um...yeah. 356 00:16:16,334 --> 00:16:19,771 I was sat there in my den, and my wife kept asking me, 357 00:16:19,771 --> 00:16:21,506 "Well, what's wrong?" 358 00:16:21,506 --> 00:16:23,241 I couldn't talk. 359 00:16:23,241 --> 00:16:24,909 Goes back to what my mother says -- 360 00:16:24,909 --> 00:16:27,578 "Don't cry over spilled milk." 361 00:16:27,578 --> 00:16:30,414 But what Mama didn't know -- that was a lot of milk. 362 00:16:32,150 --> 00:16:36,754 Goldberg: What do you do when you lose $500,000 to your pastor? 363 00:16:36,754 --> 00:16:38,990 [ Scoffs ] Hire a lawyer. 364 00:16:38,990 --> 00:16:40,958 My name is John Chapman. 365 00:16:40,958 --> 00:16:43,828 My colleagues and I had the honor of representing 366 00:16:43,828 --> 00:16:47,932 a number of Aubrey Lee Price's victims. 367 00:16:47,932 --> 00:16:52,804 I heard stories of Mr. Price visiting people 368 00:16:52,804 --> 00:16:56,440 and, before asking them to sign any papers, 369 00:16:56,440 --> 00:16:59,710 he would say, "Let's pray on this." 370 00:16:59,710 --> 00:17:02,146 He thoroughly understood 371 00:17:02,146 --> 00:17:05,483 the value of the Christian affinity 372 00:17:05,483 --> 00:17:08,853 that he had with so many investors, 373 00:17:08,853 --> 00:17:11,689 and that's how they became victims 374 00:17:11,689 --> 00:17:14,859 of his Price Financial Group Ponzi scheme. 375 00:17:14,859 --> 00:17:17,028 Goldberg: Ponzi scheme? What's that? 376 00:17:17,028 --> 00:17:20,298 Charles Ponzi is one of the pillars 377 00:17:20,298 --> 00:17:21,699 of the scam community. 378 00:17:21,699 --> 00:17:24,468 If we had a Mount Rushmore for cons, 379 00:17:24,468 --> 00:17:26,671 his face would be on it. 380 00:17:26,671 --> 00:17:28,239 Basically, what a Ponzi scheme is, 381 00:17:28,239 --> 00:17:31,209 is you get people to invest money, 382 00:17:31,209 --> 00:17:35,746 and instead of investing that money and creating real returns, 383 00:17:35,746 --> 00:17:38,983 you just continue to collect more people. 384 00:17:38,983 --> 00:17:41,552 So in actuality, there is no money being made. 385 00:17:41,552 --> 00:17:44,989 The pot only gets bigger by getting more people involved, 386 00:17:44,989 --> 00:17:47,425 and if too many people want their money at once 387 00:17:47,425 --> 00:17:52,063 and you don't have the money, you can't pay them. 388 00:17:52,063 --> 00:17:54,031 At this point, all hope is lost. 389 00:17:54,031 --> 00:17:56,367 You take the money and then you disappear. 390 00:17:56,367 --> 00:17:57,668 Now to the incredible story 391 00:17:57,668 --> 00:17:59,203 of a Georgia pastor and banker... 392 00:17:59,203 --> 00:18:01,005 Leaving behind a trail of victims 393 00:18:01,005 --> 00:18:03,107 from whom he stole millions. 394 00:18:03,107 --> 00:18:05,209 Investigators have been searching the world for this man 395 00:18:05,209 --> 00:18:07,411 and thought he might be sailing the seas. 396 00:18:07,411 --> 00:18:10,014 Goldberg: The only place to see Lee Price these days 397 00:18:10,014 --> 00:18:11,382 is on the news. 398 00:18:11,382 --> 00:18:14,685 Even his family has no idea where he is. 399 00:18:17,788 --> 00:18:19,557 Chapman: The town was abuzz. 400 00:18:19,557 --> 00:18:22,293 It was the lead story on every news station, 401 00:18:22,293 --> 00:18:26,097 that this banker had gone fugitive. 402 00:18:26,097 --> 00:18:31,068 That obviously threw panic into the investors, 403 00:18:31,068 --> 00:18:34,972 and no one had any idea just what had happened 404 00:18:34,972 --> 00:18:37,742 and just where he had gone. 405 00:18:37,742 --> 00:18:39,110 Smith: Lee escapes. 406 00:18:39,110 --> 00:18:40,611 He's hiding out. 407 00:18:40,611 --> 00:18:42,446 In fact, I'm writing letters to the FBI, 408 00:18:42,446 --> 00:18:44,582 saying, "You need to check South America 409 00:18:44,582 --> 00:18:47,485 'cause he bragged a lot about that." 410 00:18:47,485 --> 00:18:50,621 Cross: I remember him saying he goes to Venezuela a lot 411 00:18:50,621 --> 00:18:54,091 and that I should come with him sometime to Venezuela. 412 00:18:54,091 --> 00:18:57,228 ♪♪ 413 00:18:57,228 --> 00:18:58,663 He even knew the mayor of Belize. 414 00:18:58,663 --> 00:19:00,498 I said, "Okay, go to the mayor's house. 415 00:19:00,498 --> 00:19:02,600 I can tell you exactly where it is -- I've been there." 416 00:19:02,600 --> 00:19:04,001 Nobody could find him. 417 00:19:04,001 --> 00:19:05,903 It's not everybody has their pastor 418 00:19:05,903 --> 00:19:08,239 on the FBI's Most Wanted list. 419 00:19:08,239 --> 00:19:09,640 Mine was. 420 00:19:09,640 --> 00:19:11,676 At this point, with no information, 421 00:19:11,676 --> 00:19:13,477 the rumor mill is brewing, 422 00:19:13,477 --> 00:19:15,279 and this is a small town, 423 00:19:15,279 --> 00:19:17,982 so the girls are on their porches sipping tea, 424 00:19:17,982 --> 00:19:22,453 just pontificating at length on where is Aubrey Lee Price? 425 00:19:22,453 --> 00:19:24,755 Goldberg: The shepherd has abandoned his flock 426 00:19:24,755 --> 00:19:27,158 and is now on the lam. 427 00:19:27,158 --> 00:19:30,094 But for Price's parishioners and investors, 428 00:19:30,094 --> 00:19:33,531 his actions have carried a very heavy toll. 429 00:19:33,531 --> 00:19:35,032 I needed to make my house payment. 430 00:19:35,032 --> 00:19:36,767 Well, I fell a month behind. 431 00:19:36,767 --> 00:19:38,469 Then month number two came. 432 00:19:38,469 --> 00:19:40,171 It was one thing after another, and next thing I knew, 433 00:19:40,171 --> 00:19:43,274 I was having to just get all my stuff out of the house 434 00:19:43,274 --> 00:19:45,643 and I was living in my car. 435 00:19:45,643 --> 00:19:49,380 I lost everything. I mean, I lost every penny. 436 00:19:49,380 --> 00:19:51,482 Smith: He turned his back on people 437 00:19:51,482 --> 00:19:54,719 that knew him through the church, 438 00:19:54,719 --> 00:19:58,889 his family, his parents, his friends -- 439 00:19:58,889 --> 00:20:04,462 taken away everything that they earned, crushing their dreams. 440 00:20:04,462 --> 00:20:08,966 His reaction, it seemed to be cold as a cucumber. 441 00:20:08,966 --> 00:20:10,868 He's got to have a conscience. 442 00:20:10,868 --> 00:20:11,902 Goldberg: But wait. 443 00:20:11,902 --> 00:20:14,705 Lee Price suddenly reappears 444 00:20:14,705 --> 00:20:17,708 and is spotted on camera in Key West, Florida. 445 00:20:17,708 --> 00:20:20,211 He's made his way past all the puka shells 446 00:20:20,211 --> 00:20:23,581 and the Bermuda shorts to board a ferry boat, 447 00:20:23,581 --> 00:20:26,550 carrying a duffel bag and a heavy burden. 448 00:20:26,550 --> 00:20:30,721 Yocum: They said they had video of him on this barge. 449 00:20:32,890 --> 00:20:34,392 Mosley: Then they make another discovery -- 450 00:20:34,392 --> 00:20:38,396 Aubrey Lee Price's suicide letter, 451 00:20:38,396 --> 00:20:41,766 which I would call a book because it is very long. 452 00:20:41,766 --> 00:20:44,835 And in it, he explains everything that happens. 453 00:20:44,835 --> 00:20:48,072 He admits to running a Ponzi scheme, 454 00:20:48,072 --> 00:20:51,042 to stealing people's money and going on the lam, 455 00:20:51,042 --> 00:20:52,910 and all of a sudden, people have these answers 456 00:20:52,910 --> 00:20:54,678 that they have been looking for. 457 00:20:54,678 --> 00:20:59,383 Goldberg: His 22-page rambling missive is full of regret, 458 00:20:59,383 --> 00:21:03,087 where he admits blame for losing the investors' money, 459 00:21:03,087 --> 00:21:06,791 as well as the failure of the Montgomery Bank and Trust. 460 00:21:06,791 --> 00:21:08,926 Lee is becoming volatile. 461 00:21:08,926 --> 00:21:11,262 He's not had contact with his family. 462 00:21:11,262 --> 00:21:14,398 People did not recognize what Lee had turned into. 463 00:21:32,316 --> 00:21:34,618 Mosley: Aubrey Lee Price got onto this ferry, 464 00:21:34,618 --> 00:21:38,589 and he wrote that he had taken diving weights with him. 465 00:21:38,589 --> 00:21:40,958 He was planning to commit suicide. 466 00:21:40,958 --> 00:21:44,128 ♪♪ 467 00:21:44,128 --> 00:21:46,730 Goldberg: It seems Lee was not ready to face judgment 468 00:21:46,730 --> 00:21:48,132 here on Earth. 469 00:21:48,132 --> 00:21:51,135 Yocum: I thought of his children and his wife 470 00:21:51,135 --> 00:21:53,804 and how terrible that was for them. 471 00:21:53,804 --> 00:21:58,075 I just did not feel that ease in my mind, 472 00:21:58,075 --> 00:22:01,011 like, "Okay, this is the end of the story." 473 00:22:01,011 --> 00:22:12,890 ♪♪ 474 00:22:18,041 --> 00:22:20,944 Goldberg: As authorities look for him across the globe, 475 00:22:20,944 --> 00:22:23,279 the pastor-turned-fugitive Aubrey Lee Price 476 00:22:23,279 --> 00:22:25,281 has left a confession letter, 477 00:22:25,281 --> 00:22:29,352 admitting his sins and his plan to end his life 478 00:22:29,352 --> 00:22:31,888 off the edge of a Florida ferry boat. 479 00:22:31,888 --> 00:22:34,391 ♪♪ 480 00:22:34,391 --> 00:22:37,694 But now, the courts appoint a steady hand 481 00:22:37,694 --> 00:22:43,166 to recoup the money for the swindled investors. 482 00:22:43,166 --> 00:22:45,402 Damian: The Securities and Exchange Commission 483 00:22:45,402 --> 00:22:47,070 asked the Judge to appoint me 484 00:22:47,070 --> 00:22:49,339 as receiver in the Aubrey Price case. 485 00:22:49,339 --> 00:22:50,674 In this situation, 486 00:22:50,674 --> 00:22:52,809 because it was an obvious Ponzi scheme, 487 00:22:52,809 --> 00:22:54,744 I was asked to liquidate the assets 488 00:22:54,744 --> 00:22:57,647 and then find an equitable way to distribute the assets 489 00:22:57,647 --> 00:22:59,249 to the defrauded investors. 490 00:22:59,249 --> 00:23:00,884 It was still very difficult 491 00:23:00,884 --> 00:23:03,386 for them to believe that this had happened, 492 00:23:03,386 --> 00:23:04,821 that it was real. 493 00:23:04,821 --> 00:23:06,256 Goldberg: Now, Melanie and her team 494 00:23:06,256 --> 00:23:08,091 call a meeting at the church 495 00:23:08,091 --> 00:23:10,593 to give details to the scammed investors, 496 00:23:10,593 --> 00:23:13,763 and it is not the good news they had hoped for. 497 00:23:13,763 --> 00:23:16,266 Damian: The room was full and they had a lot of questions. 498 00:23:16,266 --> 00:23:17,901 From a big-picture perspective, 499 00:23:17,901 --> 00:23:20,570 most people thought that they still had the funds 500 00:23:20,570 --> 00:23:22,172 that they had invested. 501 00:23:22,172 --> 00:23:23,606 And we explained, you know, 502 00:23:23,606 --> 00:23:25,608 sort of what we knew at the moment. 503 00:23:25,608 --> 00:23:28,678 There wasn't much assets left at the time. 504 00:23:28,678 --> 00:23:30,447 We were able to obtain the records 505 00:23:30,447 --> 00:23:33,883 that $40 million had been invested into this Ponzi scheme 506 00:23:33,883 --> 00:23:37,387 and the bank accounts only had $350,000. 507 00:23:37,387 --> 00:23:40,223 Goldberg: Wait, wait. Hold up. How much did this man lose? 508 00:23:40,223 --> 00:23:42,759 $40 million was stolen, 509 00:23:42,759 --> 00:23:47,797 and there's only $350,000 left behind. 510 00:23:49,032 --> 00:23:50,734 That's not a lot. 511 00:23:50,734 --> 00:23:54,204 And one of the things that was so upsetting to me, 512 00:23:54,204 --> 00:23:58,074 there was an older woman, late 70s, early 80s, 513 00:23:58,074 --> 00:23:59,642 and she kept saying, 514 00:23:59,642 --> 00:24:04,214 "Well, what about my monthly check that I get?" 515 00:24:04,214 --> 00:24:06,049 And she was like, "Well, no, that's -- 516 00:24:06,049 --> 00:24:07,250 You're not gonna be getting that anymore." 517 00:24:07,250 --> 00:24:08,752 She was like, "Well, okay, 518 00:24:08,752 --> 00:24:11,888 but what about the monthly check?" 519 00:24:11,888 --> 00:24:16,159 You know, certainly, half of my life is over, 520 00:24:16,159 --> 00:24:17,927 but here's somebody -- like, how are they -- 521 00:24:17,927 --> 00:24:19,929 I can go back to work. 522 00:24:19,929 --> 00:24:23,399 It's like, how are they gonna get through this? 523 00:24:24,734 --> 00:24:26,936 Yocum: It's pretty hard to get a job when you're my age. 524 00:24:26,936 --> 00:24:29,339 They don't -- they think, "Oh, you're on your way out," 525 00:24:29,339 --> 00:24:32,976 so they're not too confident in hiring you. 526 00:24:32,976 --> 00:24:35,512 I ended up working at a grocery store. 527 00:24:35,512 --> 00:24:38,581 I just am a shelf-straightener. 528 00:24:38,581 --> 00:24:42,185 No big thing, but at my age, it's okay, it's fine. 529 00:24:42,185 --> 00:24:45,321 ♪♪ 530 00:24:45,321 --> 00:24:47,757 Damian: We, at that moment, couldn't promise really much 531 00:24:47,757 --> 00:24:49,692 in terms of what we would be able to return 532 00:24:49,692 --> 00:24:51,294 for the investors. 533 00:24:51,294 --> 00:24:54,664 All the cash we had was $350,000 when we started, 534 00:24:54,664 --> 00:24:57,934 and so we knew this was gonna be a difficult case 535 00:24:57,934 --> 00:25:00,637 to be able to get money back to investors. 536 00:25:00,637 --> 00:25:03,339 Goldberg: Using the 22-page confession letter, 537 00:25:03,339 --> 00:25:06,009 Melanie begins tracking down assets 538 00:25:06,009 --> 00:25:07,710 that belonged to Lee Price 539 00:25:07,710 --> 00:25:11,948 that could be liquidated to repay the conned backers. 540 00:25:11,948 --> 00:25:13,483 Damian: Some of the assets were easy to recover, 541 00:25:13,483 --> 00:25:15,652 but then everything else was sort of illiquid -- 542 00:25:15,652 --> 00:25:18,454 real estate, two life insurance polices. 543 00:25:18,454 --> 00:25:20,023 There were farms in Venezuela 544 00:25:20,023 --> 00:25:23,159 where he had invested a couple million dollars. 545 00:25:23,159 --> 00:25:25,161 We really wanted to recover those funds 546 00:25:25,161 --> 00:25:28,331 on behalf of the investors, so we reached out 547 00:25:28,331 --> 00:25:30,166 to an American missionary 548 00:25:30,166 --> 00:25:32,569 that was down there managing one of the farms 549 00:25:32,569 --> 00:25:34,204 and made a plan. 550 00:25:34,204 --> 00:25:38,208 ♪♪ 551 00:25:38,208 --> 00:25:41,544 We went into the country to go and see the farms, 552 00:25:41,544 --> 00:25:43,346 figure out what the situation was, 553 00:25:43,346 --> 00:25:46,482 and see if there was gonna be any way for us to liquidate, 554 00:25:46,482 --> 00:25:48,184 or if we should abandon the asset, 555 00:25:48,184 --> 00:25:49,853 and we actually came up 556 00:25:49,853 --> 00:25:52,856 with some really creative ways to sustain the farms. 557 00:25:52,856 --> 00:25:54,357 It took about two years, 558 00:25:54,357 --> 00:25:57,927 but we were able to sell our interest in the farms 559 00:25:57,927 --> 00:26:01,898 to a Venezuelan conglomerate that paid us in dollars. 560 00:26:01,898 --> 00:26:03,933 Eventually, we got, I think, 561 00:26:03,933 --> 00:26:06,669 about $1.7 million out of Venezuela, 562 00:26:06,669 --> 00:26:10,907 which wasn't bad for the situation. 563 00:26:10,907 --> 00:26:13,509 We got a small portion check -- 564 00:26:13,509 --> 00:26:17,180 a very small portion check of that. 565 00:26:17,180 --> 00:26:19,015 A lot of those people, with the praise they put on money, 566 00:26:19,015 --> 00:26:21,885 it just angered them to think that they'd lost it. 567 00:26:21,885 --> 00:26:25,221 Goldberg: These victims are left without money and answers, 568 00:26:25,221 --> 00:26:27,357 but none of them could have guessed 569 00:26:27,357 --> 00:26:31,694 that the intricate tapestry of lies, manipulation, and fraud 570 00:26:31,694 --> 00:26:33,897 that shrouded this community 571 00:26:33,897 --> 00:26:40,870 would be unraveled by a routine traffic stop. 572 00:26:44,974 --> 00:26:47,644 Goldberg: Nearly 18 months after Aubrey Lee Price 573 00:26:47,644 --> 00:26:49,279 seemingly drowned off the coast of Florida, 574 00:26:49,279 --> 00:26:53,116 proper justice continued to elude Price's victims. 575 00:26:53,116 --> 00:26:56,653 But on December 31, 2013, 576 00:26:56,653 --> 00:27:00,790 it appeared that larger forces were at work. 577 00:27:00,790 --> 00:27:02,892 Juliano: My name is Justin Juliano, and I'm a Major 578 00:27:02,892 --> 00:27:05,161 at the Glynn County Sheriff's Office. 579 00:27:05,161 --> 00:27:07,797 At the Sheriff's Office, we're a unique department. 580 00:27:07,797 --> 00:27:09,265 We do have a traffic team 581 00:27:09,265 --> 00:27:11,301 that goes out and works on the interstate. 582 00:27:11,301 --> 00:27:13,002 A typical day on the traffic team, 583 00:27:13,002 --> 00:27:15,305 I would go out 7:00 or 8:00 in the morning 584 00:27:15,305 --> 00:27:16,906 and start working on 95, 585 00:27:16,906 --> 00:27:20,743 enforcing speeding laws and traffic violations. 586 00:27:23,446 --> 00:27:25,481 It was December 31, 2013. 587 00:27:25,481 --> 00:27:27,684 It was New Year's Eve, about 10:00 a. m., 588 00:27:27,684 --> 00:27:30,286 and we were traveling northbound on Interstate 95 589 00:27:30,286 --> 00:27:32,188 at about the 40-mile marker, 590 00:27:32,188 --> 00:27:35,124 and we were looking for criminal activity. 591 00:27:35,124 --> 00:27:36,859 I was in the fast lane. 592 00:27:36,859 --> 00:27:40,697 I observed a Dodge Ram pickup truck. 593 00:27:40,697 --> 00:27:42,465 I noticed that he was slowing down, 594 00:27:42,465 --> 00:27:45,001 close to the 50 mile an hour range. 595 00:27:45,001 --> 00:27:48,371 On 95, no one drives less than 70. 596 00:27:48,371 --> 00:27:51,674 His license plate was expired and his windshield was cracked, 597 00:27:51,674 --> 00:27:53,977 so we decided to make a traffic stop. 598 00:27:53,977 --> 00:28:01,451 ♪♪ 599 00:28:01,451 --> 00:28:03,686 So when I identified myself and told him why I stopped him, 600 00:28:03,686 --> 00:28:05,621 the driver was very nervous. 601 00:28:12,862 --> 00:28:15,798 He told me that he was coming from Ocala, Florida, 602 00:28:15,798 --> 00:28:17,967 where he had been visiting some family. 603 00:28:22,305 --> 00:28:25,074 He had his license in his right hand, 604 00:28:25,074 --> 00:28:28,978 and he started fumbling through his wallet with his left hand. 605 00:28:28,978 --> 00:28:30,880 And I allowed him to do that for a few seconds, 606 00:28:30,880 --> 00:28:32,548 and then I said, "Your license, 607 00:28:32,548 --> 00:28:34,183 the one in your right hand, that's the one I want." 608 00:28:37,987 --> 00:28:39,756 He was very fidgety with his hands, 609 00:28:39,756 --> 00:28:41,424 kept putting them in his pockets. 610 00:28:41,424 --> 00:28:43,192 I kept asking him to take his hands out of his pockets. 611 00:28:43,192 --> 00:28:45,395 This probably happened four to five times. 612 00:28:45,395 --> 00:28:48,264 You seem extremely nervous. 613 00:28:58,641 --> 00:29:01,244 I asked him if he had anything illegal on his person 614 00:29:01,244 --> 00:29:02,645 or in his vehicle, which he told me he didn't, 615 00:29:02,645 --> 00:29:04,414 and I asked him if I could have consent 616 00:29:04,414 --> 00:29:06,416 to search him and his vehicle, which he verbally gave me. 617 00:29:09,619 --> 00:29:12,989 As I went into his pockets, he had some debit cards, 618 00:29:12,989 --> 00:29:15,458 and the debit cards had a name on 'em 619 00:29:15,458 --> 00:29:18,795 that did not come back to the ID he had originally given me. 620 00:29:18,795 --> 00:29:20,763 And while going through those cards, 621 00:29:20,763 --> 00:29:26,002 I found another driver's license that had a picture of the driver 622 00:29:26,002 --> 00:29:27,336 and a different name 623 00:29:27,336 --> 00:29:29,439 than the original ID he had given me. 624 00:29:44,787 --> 00:29:46,389 He gave me consent to search the vehicle, 625 00:29:46,389 --> 00:29:50,359 and I started searching the interior of the truck. 626 00:29:50,359 --> 00:29:53,463 There was a laptop in the backseat of the truck, 627 00:29:53,463 --> 00:29:55,698 and because I couldn't identify him 628 00:29:55,698 --> 00:29:57,900 with his pieces of identification, 629 00:29:57,900 --> 00:30:00,570 I asked him if he would allow me to look into his laptop. 630 00:30:00,570 --> 00:30:02,371 He opened his laptop, put the password in, 631 00:30:02,371 --> 00:30:04,540 and let me look into it. 632 00:30:04,540 --> 00:30:07,210 I noticed a file on his desktop screen, 633 00:30:07,210 --> 00:30:08,845 and I clicked on it, 634 00:30:08,845 --> 00:30:11,214 and it happened to be a marijuana grow operation. 635 00:30:16,252 --> 00:30:20,356 There were photographs of plants that were being grown. 636 00:30:20,356 --> 00:30:22,758 There was a spreadsheet on how much money 637 00:30:22,758 --> 00:30:25,995 he had spent on lights and filtration systems. 638 00:30:30,900 --> 00:30:32,368 I looked at him and I told him, like, 639 00:30:32,368 --> 00:30:33,903 "I know what marijuana looks like. 640 00:30:33,903 --> 00:30:36,072 I've been doing this quite a while." 641 00:30:37,373 --> 00:30:39,075 Whoo, whoo. 642 00:30:45,348 --> 00:30:48,451 We made the decision to place the driver under arrest 643 00:30:48,451 --> 00:30:50,553 for giving a false name and date of birth. 644 00:30:50,553 --> 00:30:53,456 After we made the arrest, he did make a comment 645 00:30:53,456 --> 00:30:56,025 that he was happy to be done running, 646 00:30:56,025 --> 00:30:58,528 and he asked me if I wanted to really know who he was, 647 00:30:58,528 --> 00:31:00,696 and I said "Yes, I want to know who you are." 648 00:31:00,696 --> 00:31:03,266 And he goes, "I'm one of the most wanted men in America -- 649 00:31:03,266 --> 00:31:04,634 Aubrey Lee Price." 650 00:31:04,634 --> 00:31:06,302 Goldberg: [ Laughs ] Holy resurrection. 651 00:31:06,302 --> 00:31:09,639 The preacher is alive and growing marijuana. What?! 652 00:31:09,639 --> 00:31:11,707 Juliano: I wasn't that excited about it. 653 00:31:11,707 --> 00:31:13,643 I didn't know who Aubrey Lee Price was. 654 00:31:13,643 --> 00:31:15,077 I think I even told him 655 00:31:15,077 --> 00:31:17,914 I'd have rather him been 10 kilos of cocaine 656 00:31:17,914 --> 00:31:20,249 and, uh, he didn't think that was funny. 657 00:31:20,249 --> 00:31:22,051 When I went back into the booking room 658 00:31:22,051 --> 00:31:25,621 to start putting his information on an arrest and booking form, 659 00:31:25,621 --> 00:31:28,057 it came back that he was wanted by the FBI. 660 00:31:29,258 --> 00:31:30,960 To be honest with you, he didn't look a whole lot 661 00:31:30,960 --> 00:31:33,229 like the wanted photo that the FBI had. 662 00:31:33,229 --> 00:31:36,432 The FBI photos were of a gentleman 663 00:31:36,432 --> 00:31:40,136 who was clean-shaven, had a business suit on, 664 00:31:40,136 --> 00:31:42,004 and the guy I had in booking was -- 665 00:31:42,004 --> 00:31:43,005 had long hair, facial hair, his clothes were dirty and old. 666 00:31:43,005 --> 00:31:44,340 He went from looking like 667 00:31:44,340 --> 00:31:47,343 the most Christ-like, trusted person 668 00:31:47,343 --> 00:31:49,946 to full-on criminal. 669 00:31:49,946 --> 00:31:51,447 Like, this is, like, the outfit that I would wear 670 00:31:51,447 --> 00:31:53,683 to audition to be in crime. 671 00:31:53,683 --> 00:31:56,519 Juliano: Once I ran his fingerprints, 672 00:31:56,519 --> 00:31:58,788 sure enough, he was Aubrey Price. 673 00:31:58,788 --> 00:32:01,824 You could tell at that time, he was kind of prideful 674 00:32:01,824 --> 00:32:05,261 in the fact that he was as wanted as he was, 675 00:32:05,261 --> 00:32:07,296 and I think he was prideful in the fact 676 00:32:07,296 --> 00:32:10,433 that he had gotten away with it for as long as he had. 677 00:32:10,433 --> 00:32:11,701 Goldberg: Prideful? 678 00:32:11,701 --> 00:32:13,502 He's proud that he evaded judgment 679 00:32:13,502 --> 00:32:15,137 for ruining people's lives? 680 00:32:15,137 --> 00:32:17,640 Huh. I guess this dude never read the Bible. 681 00:32:17,640 --> 00:32:19,141 I mean, what happened? Come on. 682 00:32:19,141 --> 00:32:21,110 How did a man who was minding the flock 683 00:32:21,110 --> 00:32:23,012 end up running with the wolves? 684 00:32:33,689 --> 00:32:35,324 Chapman: He explained, at some length, 685 00:32:35,324 --> 00:32:38,828 his misadventures when he wasn't dead, 686 00:32:38,828 --> 00:32:42,498 but he was somehow tied in with some drug traffickers 687 00:32:42,498 --> 00:32:46,802 and living a life of high adventure and great danger 688 00:32:46,802 --> 00:32:48,371 somewhere in South America. 689 00:32:57,747 --> 00:33:02,251 The whole thing was a tissue of lies and fiction. 690 00:33:02,251 --> 00:33:04,887 He wanted -- He wanted the limelight again. 691 00:33:14,563 --> 00:33:17,500 Goldberg: The story of Aubrey Lee Price is being told, 692 00:33:17,500 --> 00:33:20,069 but for a man who came back from the dead, 693 00:33:20,069 --> 00:33:22,405 he might not like the role he played, 694 00:33:22,405 --> 00:33:25,608 especially once the news of his resurrection 695 00:33:25,608 --> 00:33:27,109 reaches his investors. 696 00:33:27,109 --> 00:33:29,912 I'm down visiting my very elderly mother-in-law 697 00:33:29,912 --> 00:33:31,447 in Marco Island. 698 00:33:31,447 --> 00:33:33,783 My wife and I went out to dinner. 699 00:33:33,783 --> 00:33:35,584 We come back on. 700 00:33:35,584 --> 00:33:38,187 She, like most people her age, is watching the news. 701 00:33:38,187 --> 00:33:40,923 Reporter: After he was arrested, police in Ocala, Florida, 702 00:33:40,923 --> 00:33:42,925 raided the apartment he had been renting 703 00:33:42,925 --> 00:33:44,694 and removed 225,000... 704 00:33:44,694 --> 00:33:47,363 And they found this guy. 705 00:33:47,363 --> 00:33:49,265 I thought, "Oh, my." I mean, I hardly recognized him. 706 00:33:49,265 --> 00:33:51,100 Reporter: And this is what he looks like now. 707 00:33:51,100 --> 00:33:53,102 Arrested in Georgia on New Year's Eve... 708 00:33:53,102 --> 00:33:55,104 And my mother-in-law is asking me about 709 00:33:55,104 --> 00:33:57,907 how was dinner, and I just about put my hand over her mouth. 710 00:33:57,907 --> 00:33:59,275 Reporter: Aubrey Lee Price, 711 00:33:59,275 --> 00:34:00,443 the preacher turned financial advisor 712 00:34:00,443 --> 00:34:01,444 who faked his own death. 713 00:34:01,444 --> 00:34:02,897 You gotta be kidding me. 714 00:34:12,140 --> 00:34:15,443 Goldberg: Despite being declared legally dead 18 months prior, 715 00:34:15,443 --> 00:34:18,146 a routine traffic stop reveals 716 00:34:18,146 --> 00:34:21,482 Aubrey Lee Price to be amongst the living. 717 00:34:21,482 --> 00:34:25,620 And the news of his arrest spreads like the gospel. 718 00:34:25,620 --> 00:34:27,555 Bam! He is risen. 719 00:34:27,555 --> 00:34:30,558 It's Easter Sunday. Aubrey Lee Price is back. 720 00:34:30,558 --> 00:34:31,859 A major break this morning in the case 721 00:34:31,859 --> 00:34:33,661 of an American banker on the run. 722 00:34:33,661 --> 00:34:34,963 Reporter: Leaving behind the customers 723 00:34:34,963 --> 00:34:36,965 whose millions of dollars he'd stolen. 724 00:34:36,965 --> 00:34:39,367 Reporter #2: Authorities say he faked his own death. 725 00:34:39,367 --> 00:34:41,202 Oh, my God, they found Lee. 726 00:34:41,202 --> 00:34:44,172 I said, "I want five minutes alone in a room with Lee, 727 00:34:44,172 --> 00:34:46,040 just five minutes." [ Laughs ] 728 00:34:46,040 --> 00:34:48,142 ♪♪ 729 00:34:48,142 --> 00:34:53,514 I never one time ever, ever thought that he killed himself. 730 00:34:55,717 --> 00:34:58,353 He loves himself too much. 731 00:34:58,353 --> 00:35:00,922 I mean, he's an egomaniac. 732 00:35:00,922 --> 00:35:05,994 If you read that rambling, rambling 22-page suicide note, 733 00:35:05,994 --> 00:35:07,562 it's just obvious 734 00:35:07,562 --> 00:35:09,764 that this guy wouldn't hurt a hair on his head. 735 00:35:09,764 --> 00:35:13,167 Goldberg: With Price now born again and under arrest, 736 00:35:13,167 --> 00:35:15,503 the prosecution is building its case, 737 00:35:15,503 --> 00:35:19,073 and a trial is set for June of 2014 738 00:35:19,073 --> 00:35:22,243 at a federal courthouse in Statesboro, Georgia. 739 00:35:22,243 --> 00:35:24,545 Smith: I got a call from the FBI, 740 00:35:24,545 --> 00:35:26,914 and they asked me if I would testify, 741 00:35:26,914 --> 00:35:28,116 and I said yes. 742 00:35:28,116 --> 00:35:29,584 And they gave me a certain entrance 743 00:35:29,584 --> 00:35:31,686 that they wanted my wife and I to go in, 744 00:35:31,686 --> 00:35:34,522 and, you know, goofy me, I said, "Well, why's that?" 745 00:35:34,522 --> 00:35:36,257 He said, "Because his family's here 746 00:35:36,257 --> 00:35:39,227 and we do not want you to see the family. 747 00:35:39,227 --> 00:35:40,962 We don't want you to go soft." 748 00:35:40,962 --> 00:35:42,563 [ Laughs ] 749 00:35:42,563 --> 00:35:44,399 I said, "You have nothing to worry about." 750 00:35:44,399 --> 00:35:47,902 A former bank director accused of defrauding his bank 751 00:35:47,902 --> 00:35:51,639 and investors out of millions appeared today in federal court 752 00:35:51,639 --> 00:35:53,541 in Brunswick, Georgia. 753 00:35:53,541 --> 00:35:55,777 [ Crowd shouting ] 754 00:35:58,913 --> 00:36:02,050 The judge threw the book at him, and rightly so. 755 00:36:02,050 --> 00:36:03,818 Chapman: I think that's appropriate. 756 00:36:03,818 --> 00:36:08,623 I think that it is a good thing when folks of that kind 757 00:36:08,623 --> 00:36:11,959 are imprisoned and pay a serious debt to society. 758 00:36:11,959 --> 00:36:14,295 I think justice requires no less. 759 00:36:14,295 --> 00:36:17,965 Goldberg: Forgiveness is a core tenet of Lee's Christian faith, 760 00:36:17,965 --> 00:36:20,601 and he has little to do but ask for it 761 00:36:20,601 --> 00:36:22,403 as he writes to his victims 762 00:36:22,403 --> 00:36:26,674 and apologizes for everything he's done. 763 00:36:26,674 --> 00:36:29,744 In the letter he wrote everybody, he quoted scripture, 764 00:36:29,744 --> 00:36:32,113 every part of the Bible you could choose. 765 00:36:32,113 --> 00:36:33,981 And I wrote him one back, and it came out, 766 00:36:33,981 --> 00:36:36,417 "Exodus -- Thou shalt not steal," 767 00:36:36,417 --> 00:36:38,319 because that's what he did. 768 00:36:38,319 --> 00:36:41,923 So, these are letters that Lee Price sent to me 769 00:36:41,923 --> 00:36:43,124 from prison. 770 00:36:43,124 --> 00:36:45,960 February 6, 2014. 771 00:36:45,960 --> 00:36:48,429 "Dear Wendy, I'm writing to you once again 772 00:36:48,429 --> 00:36:51,766 to express my deepest and most sincere apologies 773 00:36:51,766 --> 00:36:55,169 for the financial, emotional, and painful losses 774 00:36:55,169 --> 00:36:57,205 you've experienced as a result 775 00:36:57,205 --> 00:37:00,041 of my mismanagement of your investments. 776 00:37:00,041 --> 00:37:03,811 I am truly sorry, and I do not expect your forgiveness." 777 00:37:03,811 --> 00:37:06,114 Well, that's good, Lee, 'cause you're not getting it. 778 00:37:06,114 --> 00:37:08,483 "Nor do I expect any second chances. 779 00:37:08,483 --> 00:37:10,151 Again, I'm truly sorry 780 00:37:10,151 --> 00:37:11,986 for the pain I've caused you and your family. 781 00:37:11,986 --> 00:37:14,722 Sincerely, Aubrey Lee Price." 782 00:37:14,722 --> 00:37:17,458 What a bunch of bull[bleep]. 783 00:37:17,458 --> 00:37:19,460 People can say whatever they think and -- 784 00:37:19,460 --> 00:37:22,063 and what their opinions are about this whole thing 785 00:37:22,063 --> 00:37:24,298 that took place for all of us, 786 00:37:24,298 --> 00:37:28,636 but he's written a couple really heart-wrenching letters, 787 00:37:28,636 --> 00:37:31,172 and I just don't think he's a con man. 788 00:37:31,172 --> 00:37:34,142 I think money will do terrible things to people 789 00:37:34,142 --> 00:37:36,144 and it can get you in a lot of trouble, 790 00:37:36,144 --> 00:37:40,581 and I think Lee's a prime example of that. 791 00:37:40,581 --> 00:37:43,651 So, only God knows the real story. 792 00:38:08,075 --> 00:38:10,344 Damian: We actually met with him several times in prison. 793 00:38:10,344 --> 00:38:13,781 He was very cooperative in helping us find some assets 794 00:38:13,781 --> 00:38:15,183 that were a little bit harder to find 795 00:38:15,183 --> 00:38:17,785 because there weren't good records. 796 00:38:17,785 --> 00:38:20,888 I think our ultimate return was about 18%, 797 00:38:20,888 --> 00:38:24,091 but 18% of your life savings 798 00:38:24,091 --> 00:38:27,595 isn't what you're hoping for at that stage of your life. 799 00:38:28,863 --> 00:38:30,598 Smith: I took a picture of that little old check that came 800 00:38:30,598 --> 00:38:32,800 and said, "This is it." [ Chuckles ] 801 00:38:32,800 --> 00:38:35,970 Pennies on the dollar. Pennies. 802 00:38:35,970 --> 00:38:41,209 Chapman: Victims of Ponzi schemes often blame themselves, 803 00:38:41,209 --> 00:38:44,111 and they wish they could turn the clock back, but they can't, 804 00:38:44,111 --> 00:38:47,748 and they blame themselves for not being careful enough. 805 00:38:47,748 --> 00:38:51,919 They blame themselves for not asking more questions, 806 00:38:51,919 --> 00:38:53,888 and they're ashamed. 807 00:38:53,888 --> 00:38:57,458 They feel that they have betrayed their family. 808 00:38:57,458 --> 00:39:03,130 There's also an awful cynicism and lack of trust. 809 00:39:03,130 --> 00:39:06,801 I think when you go through an experience like that, 810 00:39:06,801 --> 00:39:11,772 you never look at the world in exactly the same way again. 811 00:39:12,907 --> 00:39:16,510 Smith: I had no reason to distrust him, none whatsoever, 812 00:39:16,510 --> 00:39:20,081 and he bamboozled me pretty good. 813 00:39:20,081 --> 00:39:22,116 I guess that hurts more than losing the money, 814 00:39:22,116 --> 00:39:23,684 if you know what I'm saying. 815 00:39:23,684 --> 00:39:26,921 You know, I mean, the money, well, that's bad enough, 816 00:39:26,921 --> 00:39:29,090 but it really hurts how human beings 817 00:39:29,090 --> 00:39:31,792 can disappoint you so badly. 818 00:39:31,792 --> 00:39:34,829 It is a horrible thing to have to survive. 819 00:39:34,829 --> 00:39:36,430 It stays with you. 820 00:39:36,430 --> 00:39:39,600 I mean, it's -- you know, there's a trust issue now. 821 00:39:39,600 --> 00:39:42,837 I never, ever reinvested after that, you know, 822 00:39:42,837 --> 00:39:45,106 and it changes you. 823 00:39:45,106 --> 00:39:47,775 It changes you for the rest of your life. 824 00:39:47,775 --> 00:39:49,143 Smith: I struggle with that a little bit 825 00:39:49,143 --> 00:39:52,113 because he hurt a lot of people -- 826 00:39:52,113 --> 00:39:53,547 a lot of people. 827 00:39:53,547 --> 00:39:56,951 These people lost everything. 828 00:39:56,951 --> 00:39:58,853 But I gotta forgive him. 829 00:39:58,853 --> 00:40:00,454 You know, I'm not his judge. 830 00:40:00,454 --> 00:40:02,356 Yocum: He kept writing me letters and saying, 831 00:40:02,356 --> 00:40:04,792 "Oh, please forgive me. Please forgive me." 832 00:40:04,792 --> 00:40:08,963 And I finally said, "Stop asking me for forgiveness. 833 00:40:08,963 --> 00:40:12,166 I forgave you once and for all, and it's done." 834 00:40:12,166 --> 00:40:14,201 It was just money. 835 00:40:14,201 --> 00:40:16,304 ♪♪ 836 00:40:16,304 --> 00:40:18,239 [ Crying ] It was just money. 837 00:40:22,543 --> 00:40:25,012 Goldberg: It's hard to know how an entire community 838 00:40:25,012 --> 00:40:26,647 can begin to heal 839 00:40:26,647 --> 00:40:31,385 after Aubrey Lee Price left them with such deep wounds. 840 00:40:31,385 --> 00:40:33,654 All they have is their story to tell 841 00:40:33,654 --> 00:40:37,091 and the small measure of justice that he's behind bars. 842 00:40:37,091 --> 00:40:38,859 [ Telephone ringing ] Price is still preaching 843 00:40:38,859 --> 00:40:41,595 about divine justice... 844 00:40:41,595 --> 00:40:44,065 Operator: This call is from a federal prison. 845 00:40:44,065 --> 00:40:46,534 ...just this time, from prison. 846 00:41:20,768 --> 00:41:30,978 [ Cell door slams ]