But even with the criminals behind bars, will Therins life ever go back to normal?
[00:00:03] I want my life to go back to normal.
My intentions were never to, to be involved with the Russian Mob.
[00:00:20] Bob: Welcome back to The Perfect Scam.
I’m your host, Bob Sullivan.
Today we bring you the conclusion of our three-part series I Borrowed Money for the Russian Mob.
He runs a luxury car crime ring in Florida and is wanted for crimes around the globe.
Livesay has convinced Therin to open a car dealership with him and to borrow a half million dollars.
It turns out, illegally.
Therin is worried about his military career, his reputation, and his life.
Chulpayev has been implicated in violent crimes, including the murder of rapper Lil Phat.
Therin has been told that his part in taking out those loans constitutes multiple felonies.
Not so fast, the FBI tell him.
What does Therin do?
And we begin with Therin finally getting that callback from the FBI.
I need to meet with you.
He actually had me meet him somewhere publicly.
So I met him and another agent.
I sat with them, and he said, “Here’s the thing.
We were able to verify your story.”
I said, “Okay, that sounds good.”
Uh, so what do you want to have happen?"
Like I, I, that’s why I came to you.
I said I, “I want my life to go back to normal.
My intentions were never to be involved with the Russian Mob.
I wanted to, you know, I want to be a, a good person in society.”
I said, “I’ve been in the military for two combat tours.”
I said, “I’ve, I’ve desired nothing but that my whole life.
What do you mean I, what do I want from this?
I want things to go back to normal.”
And she said, “Okay.”
[00:04:33] Bob: And so the FBI agent and the prosecutor give Therin a choice.
“When you leave here today, we’re, just know we’re going to work with you.
We’re going to make this, make everything good.
Uh, you’re going to need to work with us.
And I said, Yes, whatever you ask.
I dont want to go to prison, I want to be there for my daughter.
I want to watch her grow up.
I, yes, absolutely.
And shes like, Good, Agent… the FBI agent, hell have some instructions for you.
And on the other side, Im sure you never set out to be an FBI informant.
[00:06:39] Therin Miller.
I stay in my room at the house, like they don’t know anything.
I don’t know, does that mean that I’m going to Florida?
Does that mean I’m going to, you know what does, what does that mean?
Does that mean I’m going to have to go face these guys?
What, what does that mean exactly?
I, of course, I mean, you know my emotions were all over the place.
[00:07:47] Bob: And youre still living with this guy, right?
[00:07:49] Therin Miller: Yeah.
I’m still living there.
I, I stayed with my parents as much as I can.
[00:08:51] Kirsten Strickler: At that point, I think he was scared.
I was definitely nervous.
I didn’t want to go to his house.
What does an FBI informant do?
There’s conference calls and all kinds of stuff.
So Brant set some appointments.
[00:10:36] Bob: Were you like wearing a recording machine like we see on television?
[00:10:40] Therin Miller: Uh, yeah, you could say that.
And yeah, so I, I had that.
And everywhere I went it was recording.
After all, as far as they know, they have his money.
So they take a stab at pay him off.
Brant makes an offer that Therin refuses.
And he’s like, Here’s the deal, Therin.
And I was like, No.
That can change a lot of things.
you’re able to go open up your own business.
You know, you could go open up another business.
you’ve got the option to go do something.
[00:12:10] Bob: Therin plays along by making himself too good of a business partner.
I, I absolutely want to be a part of this.
He moves out, finally.
And then so does Brant in dramatic fashion.
It seems like a pretty reasonable thing.
Brant eventually did move out.
I don’t think they had any idea that Therin was working with the FBI at that point.
[00:13:36] Bob: That’s so brazen to me, my goodness.
[00:13:39] Bob: Bob: At this point, what does Kirsten think about all this?
This roommate turned business partner turned loan fraud criminal with connections to the Russian Mob?
And her boyfriend, Therin, of just a few weeks, well hes now an undercover agent?
Not an easy way to start a romantic relationship.
[00:14:17] Kirsten Strickler: Yeah, absolutely.
I don’t know if you actually did that or not, but how did you feel about that?
[00:14:32] Kirsten Strickler: Um, I was actually pretty skeptical of it.
I really wasn’t telling my friends.
I don’t want to know anything else.”
And I was like, okay.
[00:15:25] Kirsten Strickler: Correct.
He regularly checks in with the FBI.
And they tried to raise the stakes.
And Brant moved out, and I called Lyle.
Let’s do this, you know, and, that’s kind of where everything went.
And so Lyle was like, Yeah, Brant, I’ve worked with him before.
He is an (BEEP).
[00:16:17] Bob: After a while, Therin settles into his life as a secret informant.
[00:16:22] Bob: Were you ever worried that oh no, wait.
[00:16:25] Therin Miller: You know what, I, actually, no.
The FBI was very good at relaying to me how natural I needed to make the conversations.
[00:17:38] Therin Miller: Yeah, I was actually.
I was very, very good at it.
Um, but he never really talked about him explicitly.
[00:18:52] Bob: Did he refer to him by name?
[00:18:53] Therin Miller: Yeah, actually, yeah.
There was a, a time or two where he did actually refer to him by name.
So I never pressed into that kind of line of questioning.
And, and they, they, the FBI did not want me to do that either.
And so, they knew a substantial more than anybody.
So, I never pressed Lyle on that line of questioning.
That would have probably tipped me off pretty fast.
[00:19:41] Bob: Several months pass.
Many, many more recordings are passed to the FBI.
Things seem to be going slowly and then, suddenly, the FBI moves in.
But they still dont want to blow Therins cover.
So they have to make it look like Therin is in trouble too.
And I was basically informed, Hey, we have enough information.
We’re going to go and arrest Brant, and arrest Lyle.
We’re going to issue the arrest warrants.
it’s crucial that you be away from these areas.
You know, and kind of go from there.
So that’s how they kind of played it off.
And Therin, Therin is indeed able to avoid criminal charges thanks to his cooperation with authorities.
[00:21:07] Mr. Miller had some potential culpability which he knew.
He did come forward and that’s why he was not prosecuted.
[00:21:16] Bob: Thats Julia Barry, the Department of Justice lawyer who prosecuted the case.
She wouldnt discuss much of the case with us, but confirmed Therins critical role in the prosecution.
And it carries a maximum of 30 years in prison.
It carries a potential for less prison time.
At his sentencing hearing, Brant pleads for leniency.
I let negativity get the best of me.
The person standing before you is a different man than two years ago.
Government lawyers, however, paint Brant in a different light.
So they didn’t want to tip that off and so I never went to any of those.
They always spoke on my behalf.
Livesay is sentenced to four years in a federal prison.
His case is still pending.
And Therin, well, he ended up as simply the initials T.M.
in court documents and a Department of Justice press release.
[00:24:41] Therin Miller: Yep.
[00:24:42] Bob: So thats you, right?
[00:24:44] Therin Miller: That is me.
[00:24:50] Therin Miller: You know, um, its all surreal to be honest.
And so to see my initials in there its surreal, you know, and mind-blowing to be honest.
The crime was so elaborate, the criminal actually moved in with his victim.
[00:26:11] Bob: Just how elaborate was the plot to use Therin?
Brant had begun the scam even before he moved in.
[00:26:19] Therin Miller: I found that out after everything had went down.
I was in the military.
[00:27:22] Bob: It really is incredible how far they went to keep up the ruse.
[00:28:07] Bob: I write about scams for a living.
[00:28:18] Kirsten Strickler: It’s definitely a long con.
I’m going to tell you, they don’t call it con men for nothing.
These are not dumb guys.
With all of their faults, Brant and Lyle are not stupid.
Why are you telling this story now?
Is there some reason you feel safer or is this more relevant now for some reason?
[00:29:45] Therin Miller: Yeah, you know, its funny that you asked that.
Me and my wife have been talking about this quite recently.
Now Im, Im much more confident of going after Ive gone through this.
It did financially ruin me; I will say that.
Um, you know, I did end up filing bankruptcy.
The banks still came after me.
And he wont be able to for many years.
He tried recently to refinance his car loan, for example, and was rejected.
[00:30:27] Kirsten Strickler: Yeah, so that’s probably the most difficult part.
[00:31:00] Kirsten Strickler: Absolutely.
[00:31:04] Bob: That’s maddening.
[00:31:37] Therin Miller: Yes.
Im still faced with the, uh, I guess the stain of bankruptcy.
He may have lost his credit score in the ordeal, but he gained a wife.
[00:32:13] Kirsten Strickler: He proposed in August of 2019.
So he was a, he did it all by surprise.
It was very, very good.
Very romantic, um, he did a good job.
[00:32:36] He flew a helicopter over a baseball stadium?
[00:32:39] Kirsten Strickler: Yeah, yeah, he did.
[00:32:43] Bob: (laugh) That’s an amazing story.
That was pretty far off the mark.
But it turns out the right person did come into his life right when he needed her.
Remember, she had just begun training to become a bank fraud investigator when they met.
[00:33:10] Kirsten Strickler: It’s kind of a, an interesting story.
[00:33:31] Bob: So, uh, how long after that did you get married?
[00:33:55] Bob: All this, this is a remarkable, uh romance to me.
How, how does that make you feel?
[00:35:03] Kirsten Strickler: Absolutely.
And I just kept telling that to Therin.
But next time that sounds like hyperbole, think of Therin and Kirsten.
[00:38:17] Kirsten Strickler: Absolutely.
It always starts with $50 here.
And so there’s almost always a trail.
So, I would simply say that reporting is important.
Vigilance is also important, but without reporting, we can’t do our job.
That’s the rest of that story, that, that line.
Call the AARP Fraud Watch connection 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.
