Alexander
Appearances
Big Time
Something’s Up at the Villa Carlotta | 8
Get a text message. Can you come to the pool? Okay. We've got something to discuss. And I'm like, oh no, shit. What does that mean? It's never good. Like when someone says we've got to talk, like that's never a good thing.
Big Time
Something’s Up at the Villa Carlotta | 8
And then they told me, we found all these articles, Sam, about David in the 80s being a scam artist and stealing all this money from people with fake investments.
Big Time
Something’s Up at the Villa Carlotta | 8
They called him a whiz kid. Now he's known as something else.
Big Time
Something’s Up at the Villa Carlotta | 8
The more I read about it and the more I learned about David Bloom and his history, I realized that this guy went to prison when I was just born. I was still a baby the first time he went to prison. Apparently, like you can find this on the internet, the Sultan of Brunei and people more successful than me were victims of this too. I was really, really upset.
Big Time
Something’s Up at the Villa Carlotta | 8
Because I'd always envisaged being scammed is what happens like when a Nigerian prince calls you. Not a guy that I can see in front of me with my own eyes, who I've been socializing with for months, who lives across the hallway from me, who pretends to be my friend. I build up some kind of like rapport at this point.
Big Time
Something’s Up at the Villa Carlotta | 8
I realize now after the fact that he'd been grooming me to try and win my trust and To try and manipulate into believing what he says and what he tells me and pretending to be something he's not.
Big Time
Something’s Up at the Villa Carlotta | 8
All he did was talk about himself. And even if someone in this little group, as we were smashing the stonecrap, would tell something about themselves to introduce themselves to David, David would turn that into a story about him.
Big Time
Something’s Up at the Villa Carlotta | 8
I considered him a flight risk. I said, for all I know, David, you're going to run off in the middle of the night, never to come back. I said, so what you're going to do is you're going to surrender to me your passport, your wallet with everything in it, and your mobile phone. And at first he didn't want to do that, but then we said, well, then we'll go to the police.
Big Time
Something’s Up at the Villa Carlotta | 8
And that clearly, I mean, that scared him. He said, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. And so first he handed over his passport. Then he handed over his wallet with his bank cards in it. It was $51 in it too. And then he handed over his mobile phone. I said, and you'll get all of this back when you pay us our money back.
Big Time
Something’s Up at the Villa Carlotta | 8
Someone knew someone in politics. Well, David's ex-wife worked for Hillary Clinton. Like, okay, David, this is random. And I thought to myself, like, this guy does not listen. This guy just loves talking about himself, and that's it.
Big Time
Something’s Up at the Villa Carlotta | 8
I did everything I could to make him as comfortable as possible. Like what? We were neighbors, so every time I walked past his door, I'd knock on his door. Every time I saw him, I'd stick my middle finger to him. He told me in a text message, I said, like, why are you no longer in the villa? He said, well, I don't want to be there anymore. I'm sleeping outside.
Big Time
Something’s Up at the Villa Carlotta | 8
I come inside at night to shower and get some stuff, and then I disappear again.
Big Time
Something’s Up at the Villa Carlotta | 8
Okay, when are you paying us back? Oh no, I'll pay you back tomorrow. And then like every day he would come up with a new story why he couldn't pay us back. One time he lost his shoes so he couldn't go to the bank and then another time it was raining and he got stuck in traffic and then he got sepsis and then he got pneumonia and then it was just one thing after the other why he couldn't do it.
Big Time
Something’s Up at the Villa Carlotta | 8
Everyone's gullible up to some point. No, Marshall, like... No, David moved into the Villa Carlotta for a reason. And the Villa Carlotta, it costs a certain amount every month to live in the Villa Carlotta. The rent is expensive. So, David moves into a place where there's money to be found. And... He starts talking about the things that are of interest to you.
Big Time
Something’s Up at the Villa Carlotta | 8
But he would do that with different people with different stories. And he would talk to one person about something, learn from that conversation, and then apply it in a different scam with another person or a different conversation or a different life.
Big Time
Something’s Up at the Villa Carlotta | 8
So in my case, it was painting and food. I'm an amateur painter. He would ask me if he could lend some of my paintings to beautify his unit in the Villa Carlotta. And he was going to help me sell my paintings. I've never sold a painting.
Big Time
Something’s Up at the Villa Carlotta | 8
This guy knows his food. I love cooking. I'm into food. I'm into restaurants. Like this guy knows his stuff. And he would talk about that. And he always seemed to be able to get a table anywhere, anytime. Why? Because he was known around town and he was a big businessman and a very successful businessman. And would he pay for dinner? No, you see, and that should have been my red flag.
Big Time
Something’s Up at the Villa Carlotta | 8
He'd always split the bill. If I invite someone out for dinner, I will sometimes pay for dinner for them. But I don't think I've ever known David. I'm not even sure David ever bought a bottle of wine.
Big Time
Something’s Up at the Villa Carlotta | 8
I was in the Villa Carlotta. It was late at night. Yeah, come over because I got something to discuss with you. So I met him in an apartment. He said, like, there's this investment opportunity. I have this mentor. It's a pre-IPO, a gift IPO. Like, I've got this. boatload of pre IPO shares in this company.
Big Time
Something’s Up at the Villa Carlotta | 8
And because I care about you and I love you and I have an opportunity, I want to share the wealth with you. And I remember him saying the amount and he said it in this New York accent. And then it'll take a couple of weeks for the funds to settle and then I'll pay you back. Okay. Let's draft up some paperwork.
Big Time
Something’s Up at the Villa Carlotta | 8
Not like this. So, no, not at all. And even at the time, to me, like, it didn't make sense. But at this point, I am convinced that David is a better businessman than I am. He's made millions selling to Netflix. He makes... Bucket loads of money selling advertising billboards all across town. Like, he's a good businessman.
Big Time
Something’s Up at the Villa Carlotta | 8
He claims that the owner, Ron Burkle of Soho House, was his mentor and his friend. Like, he showed me messages, emails with the guy on his mobile phone. Like, I didn't quite comprehend it. I understood some parts of it. And that was that.
Big Time
Something’s Up at the Villa Carlotta | 8
David made it abundantly clear not to discuss this opportunity with anyone else. They must have repeated that a hundred times. Don't talk to anyone else about this.
Grits and Eggs Podcast
Episode 52 - 40 of 400
Ah, Larry. Hello, Beyonce. Hello, Big Ice. Big Gullah Gullah. Big Taylor Port. Cat. My name is Alexander. I am 22. I'm from... I'm from New England, just graduated college recently, data science engineering. Shout out to me. Yeah. Oh, first, I just want to shout out the podcast. You guys are doing really, really cool stuff.
Grits and Eggs Podcast
Episode 52 - 40 of 400
Shout out to, I've just learned so much about hip hop, particularly like hip hop in the South. I wouldn't call myself a hater, but at least someone who is uninformed, someone who is still like Lil Wayne, I'm sure he's great. That kind of energy, you know what I mean? I've learned so much about, yeah, Lil Wayne and T.I. and all of these other really cool groups.
Grits and Eggs Podcast
Episode 52 - 40 of 400
So thank you so much just for the information. Thank you for, like, the context. Thank you for the history that you guys have given on black culture and all of these uplifting messages and energy that I can, like, bring to, like, friends who are in my life who might not be exposed to that kind of stuff. Thank you. Thank you a hundred times. Thank you so much. This is very specific.
Grits and Eggs Podcast
Episode 52 - 40 of 400
Thank you for putting me out to Adri. I really, really enjoy Adri's videos, and I really enjoyed your episode with Adri. I think she's a really great, like, I guess maybe force in, like, the hip-hop online sphere. So thank you for that specifically. Yeah, thanks a lot. As far as my advice, yeah. So, like I mentioned, graduated recently-ish. I've been struggling to find a job. And I...
Grits and Eggs Podcast
Episode 52 - 40 of 400
I've been doing what I can while I can. So, like, I'm at home. So it's like, all right, how can I build skills? And then how can I try to build community where I'm at while I'm still here? So I had an idea recently to try to start trying to – sorry. I wanted to – I had an idea for a community project that I wanted to try to start in my neighborhood.
Grits and Eggs Podcast
Episode 52 - 40 of 400
And I finally got to the point where it's like, all right, time to stop theorizing and, like, actually start going outside and talking to people. And I just got hit with that wave of –
Grits and Eggs Podcast
Episode 52 - 40 of 400
don't do that like just like internally that kind of apprehension and fear so first maybe just would love a little support just like words of support for someone who like has an idea wants to try to bring it to people but just doesn't low-key doesn't have other people around him saying like oh you should do this oh this is a good idea this is really cool um and just is very nervous about like talking to new people and just talking to people who i don't know
Grits and Eggs Podcast
Episode 52 - 40 of 400
whether they're going to be interested or not, or whether they're going to, they're going to like use this kind of thing positively, whatever, all that stuff. But just, just feeling like, like, I'm not sure if I'm ready for this. That'll kind of just that whole fear of a little, a little, a little positive, you know, imagery or, you know, it would be, wouldn't be nice for that.