[ siren wails ] narrator september 11, 2009 an ambulance races to the posh newport beach, california, home of financier danny pang. He was only 42 and relatively thin. You had to kind of wonder what [ chuckles ]. What was behind this. Mr. Pang was under electronic monitoring, and they saw his bracelet when they took him to the hospital, obviously. Narrator pang, who is on house arrest, is under investigation by the feds, accused of defrauding investors out of nearly a billion dollars. The embattled entrepreneur clings to life overnight, and with his silence comes more questions about his alleged dirty dealing. He left all these disturbing clues through his whole life where people who were close to him felt theyd been deceived. Narrator danny pang is born in taipei, taiwan, on december 15, 1966. His father, he told people, was some kind of a trader. His mothers family owned some kind of furniture manufacturing business, and they were reasonably welloff. He went to a very Prestigious Middle School and Elementary School in taiwan, and a large part of the family moved to the u. S. Narrator pangs family settles in las vegas, nevada, in the early 80s, where they own and operate two cheap motels on the edge of the strip. One of them was called the rummel, and the family lived in the studio apartment in the rummel, and he lived there with them, and he helped manage the motel, and he went to a high school in las vegas. Narrator its here, in sin city, that pang develops a penchant for gambling, spending his free time at the glitzy casinos on the strip. You know, he liked to gamble, always had a little bit of money that he was throwing around. Kind of, you know, a guy who just liked the high life. Narrator in 2000, the 33yearold pang establishes private Equity Management group, or pem group for short, with a few partners, including nasar aboubakare. Jeff benice is aboubakares attorney. The first focus of that business was Life Settlement contracts, that is buying these insurance policies. Narrator the pem group offers people a way to cash out a lifeinsurance policy before they die. Pem offers a cash settlement in exchange for the right to collect on the policy later. He would give them the money up front, in return he would hold the policy. So when this person passed, he would get the proceeds of that policy. So that was how he was purportedly going to make money. Narrator pang, a gambler since his teenage years, is now literally betting on when people will die, and from his perspective, the sooner, the better. But its far from a safe bet. Mr. Pang was not a professional in this business. He really didnt know what he was doing. Narrator but pangs partner, nasar aboubakare, has a background in insurance, and together they make an interesting couple. Nasar was kind of an operations person, also a very conservative, straight guy. Danny was the salesperson. He had the relationships in taiwan and other Asian Countries with the investors, or so he said. Narrator pang uses his connections to court Taiwanese Banks to invest in pem group. Danny was really good at this. I mean, he dressed in 3,000 suits, and he took the finest suite at the fivestar hotels in taipei. He was sort of a guy who would try to convince folks that he had some substance and a track record. Narrator pang tells potential investors that he has that mba from university of california, irvine, and that he was once a Vice President at morgan stanley. No one ever took the time to make a simple inquiry into his background as to whether he really had that kind of experience, but it never came up as an issue. Narrator he also tells investors that pem group is backed by the irvine family, which owned a large part of Orange County in the 19th century. Danny found a member of the irvine family, whose name was morton irvine smith, to essentially serve as a front man for pem group, and they claimed in documents that he was the chairman of the holding company, that the family had a big Share Holding in pem group. Narrator irvine, which has a large taiwanese population, has a certain cachet overseas, and major Taiwanese Banks like Standard Chartered plc, hua nan, and sinopac are impressed by pangs credentials and his connections. They persuade 16,000 individual investors to pour more than 800 million into pem group. People would, you know, wire 20 million, 30 million, 50 million, and pem group grew from having 20 million or 40 million of Investment Capital from a Taiwanese Bank or a consortium of banks. Suddenly it had 500 million or 700 million. Narrator and for the next few years, pang spends it like water. He did get rich quick very quickly. He owned five cars, including very fancy ones, and he lived in this gated community in newport beach. He belonged to this club. He was flying around in jets, living the american dream. Narrator but the successful image is propped up with lies. Next on american greed, a reporter digs into pangs troubled past and discovers his a reporter digs into pangs troubled past and discovers his exwife has been murdered. A reporter digs into pangs troubled past and discovers his exwife has been murdered. Wearing powerful sunscreen . Yes neutrogena® ultra sheer. No other sunscreen works better or feels better. Clinically proven helioplex® provides unbeatable uva uvb protection to help prevent early skin aging and skin cancer all with a clean light feel. For unbeatable protection. Its the one. The best for your skin. Ultra sheer®. Neutrogena®. See whats possible. By switching to xfinity x1. Rio Olympic Games show me gymnastics. X1 lets you search by sport, watch nbcs highlights and catch every live event on your tv with nbc sports live extra. Im getting ready. Are you . X1 will change the way you experience nbcuniversals coverage of the rio Olympic Games. Call or go online today to switch to x1. Narrator Orange County, california. Milliondollar mansions and megayachts dot the landscape along the pacific ocean. In irvine, financier and gambler danny pang is building his empire on other peoples graves, buying their lifeinsurance policies, betting when theyll die, then cashing out. To the outside world, it appears that pem group is on the upandup. But inside the company, theres a big problem Life Insurance is a bad bet. The mathematical calculation they were using was not correct because people are living for a longer period of time, which means the investor who buys that insurance policy isnt realizing anything in terms of a return until a much later date than was expected. Narrator one mans longevity is another mans shortfall, and pang needs a cash infusion from some other source. He started attracting new investors in order to pay old investors because the investments that his original investors had been placed in were failing. Narrator pangs partner, nasar aboubakare, grows increasingly uncomfortable with pangs handling of the business. This continuing outofcontrol spending on large and larger items, bigger parties, annual trips to taiwan, taking the whole business overseas to europe for some huge extravaganza. It was spiraling then out of control, from nasars perspective. Narrator tensions between the two reach a breaking point in 2007, and pang pushes aboubakare out of pem group. Pem group and danny elected to then oust him, essentially cut him off from any income from pem group. Thats what created the explosion between them. Narrator aboubakare vows revenge. In a wrongfultermination lawsuit, he makes several claims. He says that pang lies about his past. He has no mba. He never went to u. C. Irvine, as he claims, and he never worked for morgan stanley. I laughed when i first read the resume. It was hilarious in the sense that he would make up such a story. He created it, and you tell a lie, and you believe it. He believed it. Narrator aboubakare also charges that pem groups lifesettlement contracts are flatlining. So rather than telling the investors that things were not going so well, they would essentially take new money from new investors in order to pay the first group of investors their money back. Narrator in other words, danny pang is running a ponzi scheme. I dont think he really believed he was stealing anybodys money. What he believed was if there was a shortfall during this first time segment, in the future, itd be solved. Narrator lastditch attempts to settle fail. He wanted to control the show. If he did not control the show, he would not play the game. Narrator but aboubakare still has one last card to play. Since pang wont take him seriously, he threatens to contact the wall street journal. Jeff benice recalls pangs reaction. I dont give a [bleep] he didnt care. Danny, at that time, had a huge ego. You know, he felt that he was untouchable. You raise the specter of the wall street journal, he didnt care, and dannys not responding to it. Narrator aboubakare makes good on his threat and calls writer Mark Maremont. We got word that this fellow who was running this purported 4 billion hedge fund in Orange County did not have his degrees, and it sort of seemed intriguing. Narrator maremont digs into pangs past and discovers a shocking chapter. He learns that in may 1993, pang marries 29yearold janie beuschlein, a stripper who he had met at a club. Danny pang and janie pang had a very [chuckles] some would call it passionate, others would call it tumultuous. Call it what you will, it was a marriage that brought a lot of attention to itself. Narrator the police are summoned to the pang house at least four times over the next four years for domesticdisturbance complaints, and by 1997, divorce is imminent. She was going to visit an attorney to get a divorce the fact that she had had a private investigator, that she knew he was having an affair, or at least suspected he was having an affair. Narrator on may 29, 1997, the p. I. Spots danny pang Holding Hands with another woman. The next day, as janie pang prepares to meet with the investigator, a welldressed man with a pencilthin mustache and a briefcase rings the doorbell. He pulls a gun and pushes his way in. Chasing janie pang through the house, he finally corners her inside a masterbedroom closet and fires a single round at pointblank range. [ gunshot ] its the pangs fourth wedding anniversary. When american greed returns. Murder is just one of many suspicious things that Mark Maremont uncovers about suspicious things that Mark Maremont uncovers about pangs past. Everyone talks about what happens when you turn sixtyfive. But, really, its what you do before that counts. See, medicare doesnt cover everything. Only about eighty percent of part b medical costs. The rest is on you. Consider an aarp Medicare SupplementInsurance Plan insured by unitedhealthcare insurance company. Like all standardized Medicare SupplementInsurance Plans, it could really save you in outofpocket medical costs. So, call now and request this free decision guide. Discover how an aarp Medicare Supplement plan could go long™ for you. Do you want to choose your doctors . Avoid networks . What about referrals . All plans like these let you visit any doctor or hospital that accepts medicare patients, with no networks and virtually no referrals needed. So, call now, request your free guide, and explore the range of aarp Medicare Supplement plans. Sixtyfive may get all the attention, but now is a good time to start thinking about how you want things to be. Go long™. If theres anybody who knows anything about this, please contact the police. Narrator days after janie pangs murder, Police Release a sketch of the suspect, who they say bears a striking resemblance to hugh mcdonald, danny pangs former attorney. An arrest warrant has been issued for an Orange County attorney, hugh randy mcdonald. At the time of the homicide, he handled all the Business Affairs for the victims husband. Narrator mcdonald remains on the lam for four years until 2001, when police finally track him down. Michael molfetta is mcdonalds attorney. My client has maintained his innocence from the getgo. He has always told me, i did not do this. I had no reason to do it, which is true he really didnt. Narrator at trial, molfetta argues that danny pang was responsible for janie pangs murder, that he was an abusive husband, and that he hired a hit man to kill his wife. The question of whether or not i think danny pang is guilty of the murder of janie pang, i think hes complicit in it. I think, at a minimum, he knows way more than he let on. Narrator danny pang takes the fifth and doesnt testify, and on october 4, 2002, the jury returns a 10 to 2 not guilty verdict, and the case against mcdonald is dismissed. To this day, who killed janie pang is an unsolved mystery. Murder is just one of many suspicious things that Mark Maremont uncovers about pangs past. When maremont examines pem groups investments, he discovers that pang is luring investors under false pretenses. Turns out, pem group isnt backed by the wealthy and influential irvine family. Pang has fabricated his entire past, and hes using the pem group as his personal piggy bank, taking out over 100 million in salary, fees, and bonuses. There was all kinds of loans, unauorized loans or undocumented loans, going from the companys funds, to danny personally, to companies that he controlled. Every time theyd place an investment, danny would pay himself and other partners at pem group a pretty substantial fee. Narrator with those fees, pem group buys not one, but three private jets. Pang uses one of them to take his employees to las vegas on a highstakes gambling trip. Maremont knows he cant sit on this story for long. Eventually, these little pieces started coming into place, and it just seemed really intriguing. I mean, who is this guy . Howd he raise this money . What was he doing with the investments . What did he tell the investors . Was all this stuff that he looked like he fabricated, did he really fabricate it, and why . Narrator when the wall street journal publishes the first of a series of articles about pang in april 2009, alarm bells sound at the s. E. C. , and the heat comes down. There was no way there was gonna to be a frontpage article about an Irvine Company involved in a massive ponzi scheme where the s. E. C. Is not gonna get in their car, come down here, and shut them down. Narrator when american greed returns. With pangs web of lies exposed, will he crack under the with pangs web of lies exposed, will he crack under the pressure . With pangs web of lies exposed, will he crack under the pressure . Its realizing beauty, doesnt stop at my chin. Rocs formula adapts to delicate skin areas. My fine lines here, visibly reduced in 4 weeks. Chest, neck and face cream from roc. Methods, not miracles. Wearing powerful sunscreen . Yes neutrogena® ultra sheer. Unbeatable protection helps prevent early skin aging and skin cancer with a clean feel. The best for your skin. Ultra sheer®. Neutrogena®. Narrator in april 2009, the wall street journal blows the whistle on irvine, californiabased financier danny pang. Mark maremonts searing pageone article recounts pangs shadowy past his wifes murder, his false credentials, and his alleged 800 million ponzi scheme. He was just a really, you know, interesting, colorful guy who obviously had lots of intelligence and maybe brilliance in financial matters, but he left all these disturbing clues through his whole life where people who were close to him felt theyd been deceived. Narrator 24 hours later, the s. E. C. Launches its investigation into pang. S. E. C. Attorneys paris wynn and David Van Havermaat allege that by falsifying his resume, pang violated the Investment Advisors act. Youre telling investors that, look, based upon my background and my expertise, you should hire me. We would consider that a material fact. Youre telling people one thing thats important in their decisionmaking process, when in fact theres no truth to your representation. Narrator they also look into the ponzi scheme that pang is accused of running, and they file a civil suit against him. At the same time, the fbi begins its own criminal investigation into pang. They allege that he is illegally diverting more than 360,000 of Investor Funds for his own personal use. Pang steals the money in amounts just under 10,000 to avoid federal scrutiny. Its a crime the feds call structuring. It was the most egregious structuring case that ive certainly seen. When we normally see structuring, we see it to the tune of, you know, five, six, seven, eight transactions, and here you had more than 50 transactions to the tune of close to half a million dollars. Narrator within a week, the fbi arrests pang for the structuring offenses and hes placed on house arrest. The feds buy themselves time to look into the allegations that pang defrauded taiwanese investors out of at least 800 million. Its not a situation where you have unsophisticated investors that are being taken in by mr. Pang. These were all big Taiwanese Banks that got taken in by him and were convinced to invest their money with him in what turned out to be a fraud. Narrator but no one could imagine what pang would do next an act so shocking, it would stop the investigation in its tracks. September 11, 2009, just five months into the investigation, pangs mother finds him in bed. Hes unresponsive. A family friend calls 911, and hes rushed to the hospital, where hes pronounced dead the next day. Pang, the man who once believed he was invincible, has taken a cocktail of prescription drugs. More than five times the lethal dose is found in his system. It was strange. That was way out of character for him. He was not a guy who, you know, would give up easily, typically, so a lot of people just dont believe that he, you know, could have or would have committed suicide. Narrator for such a mysterious man, pangs suicide poses the ultimate question, leaving everyone scratching their heads. This fbi agent is working undercover and asked that we protect his identity. That was obviously a big shock to me. I was preparing a case, and we had a trial date set. Once hes no longer living, there really isnt a case against danny pang. Narrator a month later, pangs family releases a statement. But the s. E. C. Continues with its civil suit and will sue pangs estate in an effort to get restitution. In all, pang allegedly defrauded 8 banks and 35 individuals who had invested 823 million with pem group. Only a small fraction of that amount has been recovered. These were very sophisticated Financial Institutions that were victimized by mr. Pang, and if they can become victims of a fraud like this, it just goes to show that Everybody Needs to be careful with their investments. Narrator still, questions about pangs life and death remain. But for a man who gambled on other peoples fate, controlling his own destiny was his safest bet. Hes just this iconic type of figure in america of the immigrant who looks like hes making good, but in fact, you know, the whole thing was based on a false underpinning, and it obviously came crashing down. Announcer the following is a paid advertisement for the back2life 12minute back pain solution, brought to you by back in five, llc. Pain pills, hot and cold packs, endless doctor visits, injections, even surgery. If you or anyone you know have tried these or any other ways to relieve yourself of back discomfort, only to find you still suffer from debilitating back pain, then stay tuned, because your life is about to change forever. 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