Chapters
Shownotes Transcript
This episode is brought to you by Experian. Are you paying for subscriptions you don't use but can't find the time or energy to cancel them? Experian could cancel unwanted subscriptions for you, saving you an average of $270 per year and plenty of time. Download the Experian app. Results will vary. Not all subscriptions are eligible. Savings are not guaranteed. Paid membership with connected payment account required.
Campsite Media. Hello? What is this? What do you want me to say? What is going on here? Oh, it's just a chameleon. Chameleon. Okay. You're listening to Chameleon. A production of Campsite Media. I'm going to tell you a story for a minute about consequences. About what can happen when people close to you are reckless and then you're in trouble with them, even though you didn't do anything. There was a guy in Florida named Ghassan. He came to the United States and he married the love of his life.
And shortly after they tied the knot, they had a son. Born in Florida, Ghassan's son was an American citizen. And Ghassan expected to make a new life for himself and his small family, the American dream and all that. It should have all worked out, this American dream. He had a business with two locations. Ghassan liked to drink and party. And that first year with a screaming baby in an apartment was rough. And so Ghassan would hit the bars sometimes. Sure, Ghassan wasn't perfect, but he was a good guy.
straight as an arrow, a rule follower. He knew a few people who weren't so good, who didn't play life so straight. And at one point, they tried to tempt Ghassan into getting involved in a criminal scheme, a serious but victimless crime. No one would have been hurt. Ghassan said, "No thanks. Life's good. Why cross the line?" The problem for Ghassan was that those people he knew, the ones who tried to tempt him to participate in that victimless crime, they weren't quite as adept at sniffing out bad situations.
And so these people Ghassan knew, they got in the crosshairs of the FBI. And so did Ghassan, simply for standing next to those people, being in the wrong place at the wrong time. I don't mean this metaphorically. There is a Ghassan. He's real. Off the jail he went. This story about Ghassan, it's at the heart of this entire venture, this whole podcast we're making. How and why? Well, we're going to get there in time. I'm Trevor Aronson. From Campside Media, this is High Rollers, Season 2 of Chameleon.
So last episode, I told you about how Emil Buari had problems with his diet clinic business. And also how he got into a feud with a Las Vegas lawyer, Paul Pata. Now, Emil wants to build back his weight loss empire, make it even bigger and better than the last one. He just needs more investors of any kind from any location. He's sitting in his clinic in a manicured office park, trying to figure out what to do. It's nice here. Pretty upscale.
All around him are sand-colored buildings with peach-colored trim. And that's when a guy named Michel walks through the door of his Las Vegas diet clinic. He's not at all like Kevin Romney, the straight-laced businessman from Utah, who I told you had invested in Emil's business last time. Michel is a pot-bellied man with a Moroccan accent. He's fat. He's got probably 50 pounds to lose. But Michel isn't just there to shed a few pounds.
And he starts talking about business, and he has investors in China and all this stuff, and they're looking to invest here in the States. And I'm like, well, this is the company. This is what I'm trying to grow. He invites me out to dinner a couple of times, comes in a couple of times to my clinic, just starts chatting about business. Now, it's important to remember, Emil's an opportunist, and he's not alone in Las Vegas. And I don't mean that as a slight. I've met so many opportunists in my career as a journalist, in places like Miami, Los Angeles, even Phoenix, Arizona.
I've admired many of them. There's a certain honesty and scrappiness to being an opportunist. But as far as I can tell, nowhere are there more opportunists right now than in Las Vegas. Vegas these days is a boom town. There are glitzy casinos. Sure, everyone knows about those. But there's also a legal marijuana industry with dispensaries, some the size of a Best Buy, now dotting the city. Cosmetic surgeons have been moving in from California and the East Coast. Tech companies are even setting up.
In real estate, condos rising downtown and near the Strip, in suburbs of newly constructed housing developments sprawling into the surrounding desert, there's a feeling that you can build anything you want in Las Vegas. Even pools in the middle of the desert. There are a lot of pools in the Las Vegas suburbs. So like others in Las Vegas, Emil's always looking for the next big score. And then in walks this guy Michel, who might be that score.
Here's Emil. He started saying, "Listen, I got these powerful people, they're Asian, I believe, and they want to invest in someone. They have real estate, they have transport, they have, yeah, nutrition and all this stuff." This sounds pretty good to Emil. In Vegas, if you walk up to a few people and say you have $10 million to open a restaurant chain, they'll immediately have an idea, an angle, a way of getting a piece of that action, even if they don't know a thing about running a restaurant. That's just Las Vegas right now, home of the hustlers.
So Emil is open to what this guy is saying. When am I great, then let's set up a meeting at something like that one day. And then he keeps coming to my clinic and so on and just, you know, talking to me. Emil and Michelle leave things like that. But then Michelle returns to the clinic a couple of weeks later. In the rest of this episode, and actually this whole series, you're going to hear many of the secret recordings that I've uncovered. They aren't always the easiest to understand. So you might need to listen closely. Anyway, here's Michelle and Emil.
greeting each other on the day Michel comes back to Emile's clinic. It doesn't seem like he's lost any weight, but well, that's not why he's here anyway. Emile's pretty psyched. Michel seems like a high roller, an international businessman.
But listen, I have some good news. My guy is coming next week. He's going to take you to dinner. Really? Oh, yeah. Good, man. So that's it. Chinese guy? Good. Yeah. I mean, Asian, you know. Malaysian, Chinese. Yeah. So he's coming next week. Good. We're going to go have a nice dinner somewhere and we're going to, you know.
Close the deal, my brother? I hope so. Oh yeah. We will go to a steakhouse, wherever you want. We'll go, no problem. Michel is telling Emil about his business associate, a wealthy man of the world, who's interested in investing in Emil's weight loss enterprise. We've been busy, man, busy. Very busy, yeah. Everyone is busy. It's a good thing, it's a good thing. Yeah. I mean, in his field, being busy is good.
All he does is loan money. That's what Michel says. Emil can't help but see the dollar signs. His next big score. More after the break. You're listening to Camellia from Campside Media.
Hey, Chameleon listeners. It's Josh Dean here, your host of season one, Hollywood Con Queen. And I'm here today to talk to you about food, a thing I love. I also love to cook, but I rarely have time, which is why I love factors. No prep, no mess meals. These fresh, never frozen meals are dietitian approved and ready to eat in just two minutes, which is about as long as it takes me to do this ad twice.
We'll be right back.
Head to factormeals.com slash chameleon50 and use code chameleon50 to get 50% off your first box plus 20% off the next month. That's code chameleon50 at factormeals.com slash chameleon50 to get 50% off your first box plus 20% off your next month while your subscription is active.
Hi, I'm Dan Jones, and This Is History: A Dynasty to Die For is back for a brand new season. This time, we meet Edward II, a larger-than-life character who starts out as the party boy prince and ends up... well, I don't want to give too much away. He's got one thing on his mind: not war, not ambition, but love. And it's a love that will get him in burning hot trouble with his barons, his family, and his queen.
The king's affection for his favourite knight kicks off a wild rollercoaster reign full of love and hate, war and grief, famine and just about all the horsemen of the apocalypse. Along the way we'll meet tiger mums, Scottish legends, murderous cousins, a herd of camels and one extremely hot iron poker. Listen to and follow This Is History A Dynasty To Die For, available wherever you get your podcasts.
You're listening to Camellia from Campside Media. So when we left off, Michel and Emil were talking about Michel's business partner. He's got a lot of money, Michel says. And at this point, Michel has something else to say about his business associate. And, well, he might not be exactly on the up and up. He runs massage parlors, the kind where men leave very happy. Listen.
I want to repeat to you because I know he's going to ask you again. When he's there, he's going to ask you himself, you know. Do you know where the money comes from? And that's fine, but why do I have to know? I don't have to know. It's better if I don't know, no? Well, no, but he wants to know what the person is dealing with. I mean, he wants to know that at least you know that the money is from prostitution and ecstasy and stuff like that. No, if he makes the money, that's up to him. Yeah, so I just want you to know.
As long as I'm not doing anything, you know, I have nothing to do with that, it's fine. Okay. Let me recap what just happened. Michel seems to be working hard here to get on the record with Emil that his business associate makes money from, as Michel says, gambling. And then he switches the story and says, from prostitution and drugs. This felt awkward to me, forced even, when I listened to the tape recording. I wondered why Michel would be saying all that. But Emil lets it slide without acknowledging much of it.
Emile starts selling again, selling an investment in his business. This is an investment. We're investing in a business. We make the money. We make a lot of money. It's a good business. And you can grow this business very quickly. Listen, maybe if you grow with him and if it's a low process, you're going to go wherever he goes, my brother. So you go big, he's going big. I mean, he's big already, but we want you to go big. So it's up to you.
So Michel is speaking Emil's language here. Emil wants to expand his business, create another weight loss chain, but even bigger than his last one. Then Michel explains that his associate's investment might be, well, a little unusual. So I think he's going to do a test drive with you. I don't know how much, but he's going to let you know. He's going to do a test drive. I have no idea. $15,000, $20,000, $25,000. He just wants to see, you know.
Emile says he's fine with it, but really, Emile's irritated that Michel is talking about such a small amount of dough. What do you think? Well, I can't do much with $15,000, $20,000, but I mean, if he just wants to... Yeah, he just wants to see a bit... I mean, Michel, just, you know, I have money. I have... Let me show you... Emile pulls out some bank statements and shows Michel that he has more than $600,000 in the bank. The message Emile sends is pretty clear. I'm looking for investors, but $15,000, $20,000? That's not a lot. It's not serious money.
Michel immediately sets his mind at ease. He explains that his business associate just likes to start small. That's all. Then more money will come. Much more. I know my brother. I know. I listen.
What Emil says here is revealing.
It's clear that he thinks Michel's friend is interested in investing in his business. A legitimate investment. Okay, well, you guys can work it out. Okay? I'll be there too, you know, but I'm excited. Michel seems to be worried that he's losing Emil. Like maybe Emil isn't excited about the investment himself. Like maybe Emil thinks the amount of money involved is too small to take seriously. It should do very well, my friend. Oh, yeah? Every month we're doing better than last time. Okay. This company. Listen, he can do 25,000.
this week, I mean the next day, another two days, I mean he just wants to see how things go first. I understand. So, you know, I mean if everything goes and he's very comfortable because this is new for him, you know, weight loss, he never used any weight loss businesses before, so it's new. I mean, body shop, restaurant, nightclubs, you know, that's, he knows how it works, but this is new for him, so, you know, it's new, so you have to... I understand. Okay? But...
Now the big night comes. Michel is finally going to introduce a meal to his business associate. They meet at another one of those shishi restaurants in Vegas, Botero Steakhouse, inside the Wynn Hotel and Casino on the Las Vegas Strip. As he arrives at the table, Michel introduces a meal to...
Dennis. There's a lot of background noise in this recording. It's a busy restaurant.
Dennis is full of compliments. Here's how Emil remembers Dennis from this meeting. He's drinking double Blue Label Scotch whiskeys, five, six of them, which is a lot of alcohol. Johnny Walker Blue is about $50 a shot in a Las Vegas casino bar.
That puts a double close to $100 a drink. So five, six. Dennis alone is putting down at least $500 in alcohol. And Dennis starts talking about his massage parlors. He has a real estate company. He has a transportation company and some investment companies or whatever. And then he talks about these massage parlors. And he would say, well, you know, all our clients are from Asia. And then sometimes they, you know, who knows if they get a hand job or something like that.
At the meeting, Dennis starts talking about the clients of his massage parlors. "You got guys coming to the U.S.
either they're business people, you know, whether they're married or not, man or man, right? Yeah, right? Man or man, okay? You know they're gonna try finding something, right? They're away from their wives, they're overseas, you know, their wives are in China or in the Philippines, so they're here. If you don't have the service, what do you want them to do? Go to Hollywood and walk the streets? Guess what? They're gonna get robbed.
Kidnap, get beat up, and who knows what kind of shit they're going to catch. Dennis makes it clear. He operates massage parlors in Los Angeles, where the women aren't just giving massages. They're also having sex for money. The bill then comes to the table, and Emil offers to pay his share, the half-hearted way you do when you're expecting the other person to pay, and you're just being polite.
How much do you want from me, Dennis? No, this is my number. Yeah, yeah. I mean, heck, man, it's way past your bedtime. I'm keeping you up, brother. I don't have my milk. I tell you, I'm sure you and I will run into each other. Emil leaves the dinner confused. He expected Dennis to want to know more about his company. He was considering an investment and all, right? But all Dennis talked about was his business, his happy-ending massage parlors, and his escapades in bars and clubs around the world.
They never asked, can I see your investment? Let me see your numbers. Let me see your bank accounts. Let me see anything of that nature. And I would ask Michel over and over again, what about this? Don't you want to see this? Do you want me? He's like, no, no, it's okay, brother. They'll take your word for it. That type of thing. He always came back with an answer, even if it didn't make sense. Emil senses something's odd, but he's got investors here on the hook. And Emil's thinking, well, let's see where this goes. More after the break. You're listening to Chameleon from Campside Media.
You're listening to Chameleon from Campside Media. So far in our story, I think Emil may have been a little confused by Michel and Dennis. Were they investors or not? All he knew was that they were in businesses that weren't exactly above board. But he still liked both of them and wanted to see where this would go. They were fun to be around. Even Emil's brother Gus thought so. Here's how Gus summed up Michel and Dennis for me. Yeah, I know what kind of guy this is, sure.
You know, the guy, the little guy who comes up to you with the hundred little Swiss watches in his pocket and says, hey, what do you want to buy? You want to buy this one? You want to buy that one? You look like the kind of guy that buys this. Hey, try this. You know, this looks good on you. Try it. I give you best deal. That's the kind of guy that I felt this was Michel. You had Dennis, this other guy, Asian-American, and also a lot of fun, wearing jeans and fit and tall.
And very friendly and high-fiving and buying drinks. Hey, what are you going to drink, dude? To Emil, these guys were fun. But the next time they show up at Emil's weight loss clinic in Las Vegas, they're accompanied by a guy that Emil hasn't seen before. Hi. Are you guys here for Emil? Yes. Emil walks out from his office. Hey, guys. Come on back. This new guy they're with, there's an intimidation factor about him.
He's this really tall guy, and he comes in, and he says he's Chinese or something, and he's the bodyguard. He's Dennis' bodyguard. And he seemed all professional. He'd close the door, lock the door, and, you know, I remember Michelle telling me, this guy's black belt, 6'10", and karate, and he knows how to kill. As they're huddled in Emil's office, this large guy, Dennis' bodyguard, walks over to Emil's desk and plops down a large pile of cash. Look at that. Yeah. Yeah.
That noise you're hearing is a money counter. A money counter is about the size of a small printer. There's a tray at the top where you place the bills. And then those bills are sent to a lower tray as they're counted by the machine. A digital display shows the count in real time.
The noise the machine makes comes from the individual notes passing rapidly through the counter at a rate of more than 1,000 per minute. Emile is running thousands of dollars in fives, tens, twenties through his counting machine. 5-0, as in $50,000. Denis and Michel have brought Emile $50,000 in cash, in small bills.
And Emil's running all this money through his counter. It takes Emil the next 20 minutes to count most of the money. So they agree on the count: $50,000.
And that's when Dennis makes his request. Can you cut three checks? Yes. Okay, so let's do this. Do you want to write the names down? Yeah, I'll do it. Dennis gives Emil three companies to write the checks out to. Pineda Printing Services, Mendez Movers, and Torres Gardening. In all, Dennis gives Emil $50,000 in cash. And Emil, in turn, gives Dennis three checks from his weight loss business account, totaling $46,000.
But Emil doesn't have a good feeling about all this. I remember getting very hot and started getting scared. And then I do it, and then it's done. What's happening here, what Emil does, taking $50,000 in cash and then writing business checks for $46,000, that's money laundering. The $4,000 left over after the $46,000 in checks, that's Emil's cut, known in money laundering lingo as Emil's points. He got 8%.
Eight points. People who want to conceal criminal proceeds use businesses that take in cash and mix their illicit cash with legitimate cash. You've probably heard of the mafia buying restaurants, or maybe you saw Breaking Bad. Walter White buys a car wash. Those are money laundering fronts. The person whose money is being laundered hands over cash and then gets a check, minus a cut, to a company he controls, like a fake landscaping company. For services he never delivers.
Once the check is deposited into his bank, the money is clean, legitimate, laundered. During one of my conversations with Emil, I'm in his clinic in Las Vegas. I ask him about this first transaction with Dennis.
Had you ever before or after laundered money? No, absolutely not. Had it ever occurred to you that money laundering would be a thing? No, I didn't even know what money laundering was. I used to hear it on TV and I never even understood really what it meant. Just like wire fraud, I never understood it. I know what embezzlement means, I know what cocaine distribution means or whatever, but I never even knew what money laundering exactly meant. And you can see me on the tape, I'm hesitating, I'm like, I didn't want to do the first deal.
And then I did it, and then thinking I was going to get invested. Emil says he was feeling pressure. He needed to do this in order to build trust with Dennis, and then Dennis would invest in his company.
Michelle told me, brother, just do this one thing so they trust you and then we'll get investors. We have people in Malaysia. They have nutritional supplements. I remember telling me stories and stories and stories about investors. They're huge. They'll buy lots of your weight loss kits and send them to Malaysia and China and so on and so forth. There was always that do this and we're going to do all this for you. OK, let's get back to Emil's office. Dennis and Michelle are there. And Emil's just counted Dennis's $50,000.
And he's given Dennis three checks totaling $46,000. After he's got the checks, Dennis leans in and asks Emil a question. Dennis' dumb question, whether Emil has enough money in the bank, is actually a critical one. He wants to make sure Emil's check is going to go through, because if it bounces, well...
That ain't money laundering. And he just lost a ton of cash. After Dennis and Emil finish up their transaction, Michelle asks Emil to come outside to talk privately. Emil and Michelle are standing in front of Emil's building, number 8687.
And it's strange because I don't know where Dennis is at it, but Michelle's like, come out, come out, brother. I want to tell you something. So we go out of my clinic, out the door, and we're standing outside. He said, listen, now you're part of us. You're our friend. You're our family. Do you have any problems? Like, do you need people to be, you know, taught a lesson? And I'm like, what are you talking about? Taught a lesson. Michelle tells Emil that if he has any problems, anybody giving him trouble, that, you know, he and Dennis will take care of them. It sounds like mafia shit.
what the hell's Emil got himself into? But it turns out Emil has no idea who Dennis and Michel really are. - We lied. - Okay, good.
I didn't do the preamble. I'll do it. Good luck. Case number 281N-LV-4663064. Today is October 27th, 2014. Approximately 11:40 a.m. This is High Rollers. In the next episode, you'll hear how the investigation of Emile Bouhari got started. CHS will meet with Emile Bouhari
Las Vegas, Nevada. You'll learn how Emil's free-spirited friend Mary gets lured into the trap. Well, I tried two guys at once. You did? Have you? Yeah, I have. Did you like them? Yeah, it was alright. Of course, one got jealous, but... And you'll discover that Emil gets himself in deep. How much is this now? Total? Total is $150 and $25. $175. $175.
Chameleon Season 2 comes from Campside Media. It's hosted by me, Trevor Aronson. Our executive producers are Vanessa Grigoriadis and Adam Hoff. Alex Yablon fact-checked the series. Margo Williams also contributed to research. Mark McAdam composed the theme song. Doug Slaywin and Sam Leeds provided production support. The executive producers at Campside Media are Josh Dean, Vanessa Grigoriadis, Adam Hoff, and Matt Scherr.
If you enjoyed High Rollers, please rate and review the show on Apple Podcasts. It really does help other listeners like you find the show. And make sure to subscribe to the show on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts.
