TIPS: Do your research.
Check that you are investing with an accredited firm or financial adviser.
double-check they are up to date on all licensees.
Dont invest with anyone promising extravagant returns.
[00:00:04] I don’t think anyone realized the degree that he was living a double life.
It was a very devastating, indescribable time.
I felt like I had been thrust into the deepest, darkest, blackest pit.
I could never have imagined.
Frank, good to have you here.
[00:00:54] Frank Abagnale: Thanks, Will, good to be here.
[00:01:00] Frank Abagnale: Ponzi scams have been around forever and go on every single day.
You give me so much money, I tell you I’m going to invest it in something.
I come back, give you your money back, plus a bunch of money.
And then I come back to you again.
And that is how we got our start.
[00:01:48] Andrea: The church was a big part of my life growing up.
So, he did serve as a bishop for five years, but he wasn’t compensated.
[00:03:27] HOST: Which on the surface would be just fine, right?
[00:03:29] Andrea: Yes, and I believe that’s what I believed he was doing.
[00:03:49] HOST: How did he begin it?
I know that can be confusing.
He had left it off his statements.
I think he had good intentions.
And so, it was too late even then.
[00:04:56] Andrea: He, in the end wasn’t even investing money.
So, you’re really not getting what you think you’re paying for.
The money was not being invested.
[00:05:37] Andrea: Uh-hum.
[00:05:38] HOST: That was owed to a lot of good people.
[00:05:40] Andrea: In the end.
[00:05:41] HOST: Yeah.
Were they people that you knew?
He, he was constantly cultivating relationships with people.
[00:06:09] HOST: Were there any signs along the way to you?
Did you feel like there was something nefarious going on?
Now, I was just his wife living my life and raising our family.
[00:07:13] HOST: Obviously, within a marriage, there can be secrets.
This is one where he was really leading a double life in a sense.
[00:07:24] Andrea: Absolute 100 percent double life.
I never had a clue he was living a double life ever, in all those years.
[00:07:59] HOST: How many children do you have again?
[00:08:01] Andrea: We have four children.
How did it unravel?
You said he went forward, he came forward eventually?
[00:08:16] Andrea: He did.
Um, in March of 2009 he hired an attorney and confessed his crimes to his attorney.
I was the last to find out and it was something I never expected.
It took a while for it to sink in.
[00:09:17] HOST: I can’t even imagine what that was like for you.
And did he come to you and he told that one-on-one?
Or did you find out, it wasn’t in the news or anything, right?
You found out from him.
And he said, “I’ve actually been running a Ponzi scheme.”
And he said, “No, you don’t understand.
It was a very devastating, indescribable time.
[00:11:49] HOST: Was he apologetic when he came to you?
Or was this, it sounds almost, it sounds almost matter of fact.
[00:11:57] Andrea: Yeah, he, he was a very matter of fact person.
And didn’t ever show a lot of emotion.
It was the worst moment of my life.
I wouldn’t wish it on anyone.
[00:13:13] Andrea: Well, it’s a continual process.
Um, I have learned that rebuilding from complete financial devastation and loss takes time.
So, I don’t anticipate ever being able to retire or do anything like that.
[00:14:00] HOST: Have you been able to forgive your husband?
I had to do it thoroughly, and I had to do it completely.
So, I knew that I couldn’t have that happen to me.
So, I worked to forgive him, and I have.
Forgiveness I’ve learned is a continual process.
So, I didn’t want that to be me.
[00:15:18] Andrea: I think his sentencing took place in 2009.
So, he has been in prison all of these years and is still there.
I think people look from the outside.
I had friends accuse me of, you had to have known.
You’re too smart not to have known.
It’s, you just feel very alone.
It was, it was a very, very hard time.
[00:17:01] HOST: What do you hope to get out of it when you tell the story?
That’s why I tell my story.
[00:17:41] HOST: I’m back with the AARP Fraud Watch online grid Ambassador, Frank Abagnale.
Frank, it’s a harrowing story Andrea has to tell.
Many wives are not involved in their husband’s business.
There’s family members, people related to you, people who care about you.
That was the real thing that kept me from ever going back to doing something.
Especially people who don’t have a lot of money.
You’re like be cautious about it.
[00:22:02] Frank Abagnale: Thank you.
