Since his travel expenses are all paid for, Rodney is not suspicious of criminal activity.
Journalist Mariana van Zeller, host of National Geographic Television’sTrafficked, tells his story.
And he thought, I mean, what do I have to lose?
They’ll pay for my flight, they’ll pay all expenses.
And so he decided at the minimum this can be a great adventure for me.
(MUSIC SEGUE)
[00:00:32] Bob: Welcome back to The Perfect Scam.
I’m your host, Bob Sullivan.
His daughter, Nicole, terrified her diabetic father will die alone in Africa.
Rodney’s story, while dramatic, is alarmingly common.
The oldest was 87.
When they can, FBI agents intercept would-be mules from leaving the country before the crimes are committed.
But Rodney Baldus wasn’t so lucky.
You know there’s rats and just terrible, terrible conditions.
Some of the worst conditions I’ve ever seen.
[00:02:17] Bob: Mariana investigates crimes worldwide, often undercover, often in dangerous conditions.
Would you help me?
Right, you get thousands of these.
Why did you respond to this one?
[00:02:45] Mariana van Zeller: A few things.
And she had tried everything.
[00:03:48] Bob: So what did happen to Nicole’s dad?
How did he end up in an African prison in a seemingly helpless situation?
It all began about four years ago.
And money, $10.5 million were waiting for him in Italy.
And he kept saying that he didn’t have any money, he’s a retired truck driver.
And he’d never traveled abroad and he thought, I mean, what do I have to lose?
[00:05:02] Bob: A great adventure, plus Rodney has something else in mind.
There’s a family farm in Minnesota, and well, things don’t look good.
[00:05:20] Bob: Heres Nicole speaking with Mariana onTrafficked.
That was his motivation was trying to save the farm, a once in a lifetime thing.
What if it were actually true?
[00:05:53] Bob: And so Rodney gets ready for that big adventure.
[00:06:21] Bob: But that gift wasn’t a gift at all.
And that little package would quickly turn Rodney’s life completely upside-down.
[00:07:04] Bob: 18 years in prison.
For a 68-year-old man in frail health, it amounts to a life sentence.
Conditions in the overcrowded prison are terrible, but Nicole does what she can to help her dad.
[00:08:00] Bob: What was it like to meet her?
[00:08:01] Mariana van Zeller: You know she opened the door to her house.
[00:08:39] Bob: Nicole tries to explain her father’s state of mind as the crime unfolded.
[00:08:44] Bob: Heres Nicole again onTrafficked.
[00:08:48] Nicole: I was.
Are they going to fly me halfway across the world if this isn’t real?
He was really lonely.
[00:09:27] Mariana van Zeller: Yes.
He had been arrested two days before.
[00:10:19] Bob: A $5000 bribe?
Nicole feels completely helpless, half a world away from her dad in prison.
But how in the world would she find them?
Well, she does have their email address and she decides to lay a trap of her own.
[00:11:03] Mariana van Zeller: Very little.
I didn’t think that it was actually going to happen.
[00:11:22] Bob: And they did.
The criminals who lured Rodney to Africa now think they can do the same thing to Mariana.
Suddenly this story is much bigger.
Mariana is on her way to South Africa.
[00:13:11] Bob: And then Mariana and her team turn their attention to getting access to Rodney.
[00:13:17] Bob: Was it hard for you to get in the jail with your cameras?
It’s an overcrowded prison.
It was built for 800 inmates, and it has about five times that.
And you know terrible conditions; the prisoners sleeping on the floor, just awful.
[00:13:48] Bob: And Rodney is, he’s in his 70s, right?
[00:13:56] Bob: What was your impression when you talked in the place?
Rodney has trouble walking and his uh, he has uh diabetes.
[00:14:38] Mariana van Zeller: Yeah, it terrible, terrible.
[00:14:46] Bob: Again fromTrafficked.
[00:14:48] Rodney: I did not expect to end up in this situation.
But here I am.
I admit I’m naive, that’s what I’m guilty of.
I’m not guilty of being a drug trafficker.
[00:15:14] Bob: As they talk, something strikes Mariana early on.
Rodney doesn’t seem all that interested in Nicole’s efforts to free him from prison.
[00:15:24] Mariana van Zeller: I think Rodney hasn’t been very lucky in his life.
But he’s had a hard life.
His wife died pretty young, and he’s had a bunch of unlucky things happen in his life.
And it was nothing he could do.
And so he didn’t see any upside to speaking to us.
And I said, “No, I’m not.”
But nobody believed a word I said.
I will die here.
I have no doubt about that.
[00:16:52] Mariana van Zeller: It is.
Hope that things are going to change and somebody’s going to believe you.
[00:17:17] Bob: But Mariana did not come into the prison alone.
Her crew had cleared the way for Rodney’s daughter, Nicole, to visit her dad.
[00:17:25] Bob: Heres that moment from the showTrafficked.
[00:17:32] Nicole: Absolutely not.
It’s still not real.
[00:17:45] Mariana van Zeller: What has he said about you, you coming here?
[00:17:49] Nicole: He was told me, do not come here, many times.
But I told him that it’s not up to him anymore.
I just want to hug him, you know.
[00:18:23] Rodney Baldus: Its good to see you.
[00:18:27] Nicole: At 42, I still daddy’s little girl.
[00:18:33] Bob: That moment, now there are no dry eyes anywhere.
They arrange that meeting very carefully.
Remember, Mariana is pretending to be a family member trying to collect Rodney’s inheritance.
That must have thrown you off.
[00:20:11] Mariana van Zeller: Immediately.
We also had cameras filming me at that location.
So moving to a new table was not ideal.
And uh, and I wasn’t prepared for that.
[00:21:07] Bob: Were you scared?
[00:21:08] Mariana van Zeller: I wasn’t, I don’t get scared in these moments.
But I was nervous.
So I was, I was nervous, I was shaking, but I wasn’t particularly scared.
[00:21:28] Bob: Shaking but not particularly scared?
As they talk, Mariana makes sure she’s talking to the right person.
I have no doubt.
So she reaches out to other people in the underground crime world there.
I’m controlling you.
That just struck me, it’s such a dramatic thing to say.
I’m the one in charge.
I’m controlling you.
It’s really terrifying.
I’m going to give up.
He’d fallen victim for, to a scam, and that he wasn’t the only one.
But I, in this one it became very personal to me.
And so far, you know he hasn’t really received any help.
[00:26:47] Bob: This, this show hasn’t had the impact that you thought it would.
[00:26:50] Mariana van Zeller: Uh it has not.
[00:27:04] Bob: And as we make this episode, Rodney is still in the same situation.
I wish and I, I’m still hoping that things will change.
There are things happening behind the scenes, but not enough has been done.
[00:28:35] Bob: Hundreds or even thousands of Americans living in conditions just like Rodney?
He’s Arun Rao who spent many years at the Department of Justice.
He’s now a partner in a DC law firm named Mayer Brown.
How common is that?
[00:29:13] Arun Rao: It’s sadly common.
You know the, the particular scam here is known as an inheritance scam.
But it’s really just a flavor of what are more generally known as imposter scams.
These are basically scams in which a fraudster pretends to be someone they’re not.
And you know what they’re trying to do is get the victim excited about a potential windfall.
They may use legitimate looking legal documents as part of the scam.
Why do these criminals need mules?
[00:30:00] Arun Rao: Well, they have to move items.
They have to move money sometimes in the case of financial fraud.
[00:30:26] Bob: But some it involves the challenge of moving money overseas for example, right?
Maybe there’s some other reasons why they, the criminals use mules as well.
The term, you know, originated, uh, in the narcotics world.
[00:31:18] Bob: Hmm-hmm.
There’s a concept known as willful blindness.
What it means to know that one is engaging in illegal activity.
[00:32:53] Arun Rao: Yes, I have certainly uh heard of this before.
It is sadly, sadly common.
It’s uh, you know a series of discussions back and forth about some kind of benefit.
Sometimes it’s romantic, other times it’s financial.
That was really striking to me.
[00:33:53] Arun Rao: Yeah.
I think the sophistication is, is certainly worth noting.
Is this an incredibly rare event?
I mean how, how would you express the scale of the problem?
[00:34:33] Arun Rao: I don’t uh is the honest answer.
There are certainly are a number of high-profile incidents of which I am aware.
[00:35:45] Arun Rao: Yes, certainly.
Sometimes they don’t find out until it’s too late.
Sometimes they are not clear uh as to what degree of involvement and knowledge that individual has.
And so you know these, these can be very, very difficult situations for that reason.
It adds a massive layer of complexity to these situations when you travel out of the country, right?
[00:36:39] Arun Rao: Yeah, that’s, that’s completely true.
This is a global problem and it requires coordination by law enforcement around the world.
So how can you protect yourself from being the victim of a terrible crime like this?
Do some online searches to see if that person really exists.
And then, you know, conduct a gut check, right?
Talk to friends, talk to family, talk to some trusted individuals.
You know, unfortunately, none of this is foolproof, right?
What, what are signs people should look out for?
[00:38:47] Arun Rao: Yeah, I mean I think these develop over time.
Are you being asked to forward money to other people who you don’t know?
Those are the kinds of, of things that one should look for.
And so it’s sort of a first step, right?
[00:40:28] Arun Rao: Yes.
[00:40:38] Arun Rao: Yes.
Yes, um, particularly with someone you don’t know well or have just met.
And particularly where, you know, that is the extent of your relationship, right?
How do I help them?
You have to act now, you have to, this is a limited opportunity.
So that’s, that’s part one.
One is the National Elder Fraud Hotline; it’s 1-833-FRAUD11.
There can be a sense of hopelessness sometimes that the money is gone, and so why bother?
[00:44:05] Mariana van Zeller: Exactly.
So when that’s the case, you know, it’s so hard.
His own government isn’t willing to help him.
That’s all they’re asking for.
And the scale of crime around the world really is staggering.
[00:45:03] Bob: And I think this will shock people.
So this Rodney Baldus story is a small part of a very large story.
Can you just paint that picture for me?
[00:45:17] Mariana van Zeller: Absolutely, yeah.
It’s what economists call the hidden third.
It’s a real crime and I think more awareness needs to be uh done, had for this.
[00:46:53] Mariana van Zeller: Absolutely, there’s a real human toll.
It’s not just about money lost, it’s a real human toll.
[00:47:35] Bob: For The Perfect Scam, I’m Bob Sullivan.
Call the AARP Fraud Watch online grid Helpline at 877-908-3360.
Their trained fraud specialists can provide you with free support and guidance on what to do next.
That address again is: theperfectscampodcast@aarp.org.
Be sure to find us on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen to podcasts.
For AARP’s The Perfect Scam, I’m Bob Sullivan.
