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True Crime News Presents: American Hustlers

True Crime News Presents: American Hustlers

Kaushal Niroula and Danny Garcia - two gay con artists who committed crimes from San Francisco to Hawaii to Mexico, each one more unbelievable than the last. They were tracked for years by Tyson Wrensch, a citizen detective who vowed to bring them to justice after they emptied his bank accounts. Kaushal and Danny masqueraded as real estate moguls, art dealers, bankers and even royalty – taking advantage of corruption and weaknesses in the American business structure – the banking system, academia, immigration laws, the private fine-art market, and more. They even conned each other. They were never pursued by law enforcement for their crimes until they committed the one crime they couldn’t con their way out of: murder.

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38 min•
Monday

Episode 9: Stealing Property

Kim and Julie unravel the complex web of events that unfold in the months after Cliff’s murder - and the ordinary people who are key to bringing down these extraordinary conmen. In San Francisco, a notary public meets with someone claiming to be Cliff to notarize the sale of his home. As part of the sale, a thumbprint is inked in the notary’s book. A few days later, Kaushal asks realtor Mark Evans to sell Cliff’s house. But something about the situation feels off. When Mark discovers that Cliff has been reported missing, he calls Palm Springs PD. Meanwhile, in Palm Springs, Cliff’s neighbor calls 9-1-1 and reports three strangers loading all of Cliff’s possessions into a U-Haul truck. Within a few hours police arrest one of the movers - Miguel Bustamante. Miguel tells detectives that a man named Kaushal Niroula put him up to the robbery. Back in San Francisco, the notary public gets mugged, and the thief tries desperately to wrench the notary’s book from his grasp - even going so far as to drag him down the street. Somehow the notary clings to his journal, and then turns it over to the police. Inside is the thumbprint – the single piece of hard evidence linking Kaushal, Danny, and their gang of thieves to Cliff Lambert. But Detectives don’t realize that yet. And if they don’t make the connection soon, Kaushal and Danny might just evade justice again. To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policyLearn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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43 min•
17 Mar

Episode 8: Rincon Hill

Kaushal and Danny have just gotten away with murder. Literally. They move swiftly to put Cliff’s affairs in their control, using a notary public to notarize the “sale” of Cliff’s home to Kaushal and roping in a former unwitting accomplice in the art fraud to impersonate Cliff and withdraw money from his accounts. Now, they turn their attention to their biggest score yet - the theft of multiple high-end condos in the Bay Area. To do it, Kaushal reels in a mark he’d been working for weeks - a tennis coach with no idea what he’s truly involved in. The tennis coach does Kaushal “a favor” - one that will eventually land him in prison with a 13-year sentence. Julie and Kim piece together how Kaushal and Danny - posing as serious buyers, with the tennis coach as the front man - “buy” several units from an unsuspecting Rincon Hill resident and owner, Shirley Hwang, who has no idea her properties are being sold out from under her. Through a crew of straw-buyers, corrupt attorneys, and careless mortgage lenders they acquire the units and take out $2.2M dollars of home equity loans against them. Another massive score. But what Kaushal and Danny don’t know is that Palm Springs PD have started putting the pieces of the puzzle together. The same steps taken to help secure the prize from Cliff’s murder are about to become their undoing. To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policyLearn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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44 min•
10 Mar

Episode 7: Unraveling the Murder

Kim and Julie arrive back near where we started our story - with a missing person, but no body and no leads. As they try to unravel how the murder was discovered, their first surprise comes from Dennis, Danny’s cousin and an accomplice in former cons. According to him, there wasn’t originally supposed to be a murder at all. That realization leads them to question why that plan changed. We also meet Mark Evans, a wealthy realtor in NorCal and something of a mentor to Kaushal. When Kaushal asks Mark to sell Cliff’s house, he unwittingly starts the chain of events that will lead to his and Danny’s downfall. But they don’t know that yet. So what do you do after you’ve committed the biggest crime of your career? Try and top it of course. Plus, Kim receives a letter from one of the men later convicted of Cliff’s murder - Craig McCarthy, declaring “I’m ready to talk.” Looks like Kim’s headed to prison. To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policyLearn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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44 min•
3 Mar

Episode 6: Cliff Lambert

Kim and Julie have tracked Kaushal and Danny from visa scams to jewel theft to art fraud. Now, finally, they begin to see how it all leads to murder. Since pulling off their lucrative art con, Danny and Kaushal’s friendship has mended though they don’t seem to be working together. But Danny, it seems, has been working Cliff - a beloved but lonely man looking for love. After connecting online, Cliff invites Danny to Palm Springs for a weekend. There was no love connection, but their friendship blossomed. Cliff was more than willing to fund Danny’s lifestyle in exchange for his attention. And Danny was there to help Cliff through a series of strange break-ins and odd experiences at home. Things were not where he’d left them, other items were missing completely. But eventually, Danny and Cliff have a falling out over money. As Julie and Kim dig into the details, they realize this may have been the fork where a plan to merely con Cliff turned deadly. Following his fight with Danny, Cliff told friends he felt like someone was watching him. He was right. Days later, Cliff vanished. To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policyLearn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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50 min•
24 Feb

Episode 5: Priceless Paintings and Family Jewels

After returning from Hawaii, Kaushal is riding high and living large. He and Danny continue to mix with the upper echelons of the Castro’s gay scene which is how Kaushal becomes friends with Stephen Valentino, a bon vivant radio personality, host, and opera singer. Eventually, Stephen lets Kaushal move in with him and his ailing mother. Stephen doesn’t know it, but this choice will land him a front row seat to Kaushal and Danny’s next big score - a high level art scheme worth millions. But the success of this con also exposes cracks in Danny and Kaushal’s partnership. When Danny turns on him, Kaushal finds himself in need of more money - fast. Soon Stephen will discover he was never Kaushal’s friend at all - and just how far Kaushal is willing to go to cover his tracks. To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policyLearn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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45 min•
17 Feb

Episode 4: Aloha Keiko

How did Kaushal go from nearly broke to Armani suits, private limos, and a suite at the Four Seasons where the staff referred to him as “your Highness”? A prison interview from Danny gives Kim and Julie a clue - maybe the answer is in Hawaii. It’s there that Kaushal befriends Keiko, a Japanese businesswoman and mother of two on vacation. Like all of Kaushal and Danny’s victims, Keiko is smart and competent. And yet, before long, Kaushal will con Keiko - not once, but twice - to the tune of half a million dollars. Nearly her entire life savings. Investigating how he did it reveals an international visa scam, an elaborate - and fake - kidnapping plot, and possibly willing participation from someone inside the Bank of Hawaii. And it sets the stage for Kaushal and Danny to go from thick as thieves to partners in crime. To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policyLearn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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