To say, yeah, i want to be part of that. Narrator but theres no hollywood happy ending for carpenters investors. She told people that she put hundreds of millions of dollars of her own money into the project, and that was not the case. I didnt steal their money. They made an investment. Frey what can you say, you know . Some days youve just got to go tip your hat to her ability to swindle. Narrator abundant fields of sunflowers and tomato crops surround the sleepy town of dixon, california. But in 2013, the Small Community 20 miles west of sacramento is in the whitehot spotlight. The biggest movie studio in the world is going to be built in the middle of its fertile farmland. This was cast as a 2. 8 billion movie studio project. There was nothing small about it. Narrator according to the projects supervisor, carissa carpenter, the movie studio will be the envy of the film industry. She was going to build it bigger and better than anybody else in california. Stanton she had this team of investors, who were all these hollywood moguls who were gonna come in and build this thing in dixon. Narrator carpenter says the new studio will provide thousands of highpaying jobs to this community of just under 20,000 residents. The city manager and the mayor at the time were all in. They thought this was the greatest thing that was ever gonna happen to dixon, and they were gonna be the ones who brought it home. There were opportunities for Small Businesses in town to ramp up their business due to filmmakers being in town and visiting restaurants or, you know, other stores. They talked about how great it was gonna be to have movie stars in town, tom cruise coming through, robert de niro. Narrator at a Dixon City Council meeting in march 2013, carpenter triumphantly announces that her company, morning view llc, has successfully secured the land necessary to officially begin the project. Carpenter good evening, ladies and gentlemen. We did it. We got 300 acres. It is time for morning view to move forward. Its taken us 14 years, and technically 16 1 2 to get here, and 33 individuals, and everybodys put every ounce of blood, sweat, and tears into this company. But carissa carpenters grand statement isnt exactly the triumph it appears to be. According to federal authorities, her presentation is just the latest chapter in a decadeslong con. Pickles ms. Carpenters penchant for theatrics made her almost a oneofakind fraudster, at least during my career as a prosecutor. I dont think theres any question she was a con artist. Narrator dixon is just the most recent target of her scam. Since the late 1990s, carpenter has seduced residents in more than half a dozen communities with the lure of hollywood and making herself rich in the process. She had this unbelievable ability to tap into peoples dreams. She would offer all kinds of stories about potential financiers. One of them was supposed to someone that was related to the habsburg family. You know, she had told us, i think, on several occasions that she was a child star of some kind. Narrator its true that carpenter has some kind of ties to hollywood, but separating fact from fiction is a tricky proposition. Carissa carpenter is a very complicated woman. We trailed her for years, and i still dont think i have her figured out. Narrator in the mid1990s, Michael Reinero is a Northern California entrepreneur and aspiring actor. By chance, he meets carissa carpenter on a casting call. I first met carissa sort of on a dare from my wife to go out and be an actor. There was a casting call that she saw in the paper, seeking actors for upcoming film projects. So i went, and thats when i met carissa. Narrator at the time, carissa carpenter runs a casting agency. He says she helps him land some bit parts in films and television series. She got me in a tv movie with cheryl ladd called tangled web. She got me in the Cameron Crowe film almost famous. She put me in a movie with John Travolta and Edward Oneill called lucky numbers. Narrator carpenter tells clients she has an extensive hollywood background. She claimed that she was the youngest child actress for the William Morris agency and that at some point shed had an accident and so she had to switch from acting to being an agent. Narrator in the 1990s, reinero says carpenters agency is wellknown in Northern California and works with a number of respectable hollywood studios. Carissa carpenter lives in an exclusive gated community in the sacramento suburb of granite bay. Reinero says hes blown away when he visits the home. The home that she bought here in los lagos was probably a 4 million home. She had some cred. Narrator kimberly west is a neighbor of carissas in granite bay. They strike up a friendship, initially built on their husbands uncommon first name. When i heard her husbands name, everett, which is unusual, i was, like, everett . My husbands names everett and so thats how we met. Narrator carissa carpenter lands her neighbors walkon roles in a few movies and tv shows. Dr. Quinn, medicine woman. In fact, someone came up one time and said, are you jane seymour . [ laughing ] im, like, no. Shes in that tent over there. Narrator around this time, carpenter tells her friends that she wants to take her career to the next level. She has a dream of building her own movie studio in Northern California. Shes pretty dynamic. Shed come across like, you know, were gonna have the sound stages, and were gonna have its gonna be, you know, like a universal studio along with the sound stages. Narrator kimberly says her husband, Everett Parsons, is especially intrigued by the proposal. He came from texas, so he really loved cowboy movies. He just got really excited about the whole thing. More than i did. Narrator Everett Parsons is newly retired. After a career working for the Department Store montgomery ward, he recently took a buyout from the company. Kimberly says carissa carpenter takes a special interest in her husband when she learns of his financial situation. I know she was really pushing it when everett got his buyout, and she started enticing him to get more involved. Narrator Michael Reinero says carissa carpenter also pitches him on the movie studio. So, her pitch to me was well, first it was very secret. You know, cant let this out. We have the opportunity here to bring hollywood to Northern California and do so on a grand scale. Narrator the dream isnt that farfetched. Los angeles may be the center of the worlds film industry, but in the 1990s, hollywood begins to make inroads north of the border. Reinero vancouver, obviously, was a location that was highly desired. It was actually a relatively short plane flight. You could tell that there was a Tipping Point happening. Narrator carissa carpenter has a grand plan to keep the movie business in the golden state. And she said she had done a study in 1994 where they showed the lack of space in hollywood, in los angeles, and the wait lists of people sometimes, productions were waiting, you know, two, three, four years to have a sound stage to create their film. Narrator carpenter says, with the right plan, they could make millions. Reinero so she made a pitch to me, and thats when i wrote my first check for 50,000. I said i wanted in, and so i got in. She gave me my stock, and that was that. Narrator Michael Reinero and Everett Parsons help form a board of directors for carissas new project declaration studios. Reinero says the project has approximately 20 initial investors. Carpenter claims many are bigname hollywood players who prefer to remain anonymous. She had said that george lucas was involved in some way. He was going to bring his clout into the project. She was very, very vague about all of that. Narrator he says carissa carpenter is also willing to put her money where her mouth is. She had said she had put in close to 4 million at that point in time. Narrator next on american greed. The declaration Studios Group is ready to put their plans into action. But unforeseen circumstances derail the project. Anytime she was backed into a corner, she would say that she was having openheart surgery. It was hard to keep track of what all the Health Problems were. Now, theres skyrizi. Things are getting clearer yeah i feel free to bare my skin, yeah thats all me. Nothing and me go hand in hand nothing on my skin thats my new plan. Nothing is everything. Woman keep your skin clearer with skyrizi. With skyrizi, 3 out of 4 people achieved 90 clearer skin at 4 months. Of those, nearly 9 out of 10 sustained it through 1 year. And skyrizi is 4 doses a year, after 2 starter doses. I see nothing in a different way and its my moment so i just gotta say nothing is everything. 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Thats simple, easy, awesome. Visit your local xfinity store today to ask, shop, discover the latest on xfinity mobile. Narrator carissa carpenter has her executive team in place and, by 1999, is in search of the perfect location for her dream movie project declaration studios. She, i think, really believed that she was going to do something amazing. Narrator carpenter is the projects chief executive officer. Carissa, in stature she only stands maybe slightly north of 5 feet tall. So shes not super tall. Shes a bundle of energy. She comes off very intelligent, very dynamic. She liked being in the limelight. Narrator the group sets it sights on vacant land just east of sacramento. Reinero there was a property in El Dorado Hills that was exactly what she wanted a huge tract of land out there, and she was very, very excited about it. Narrator the land is hilly and rugged, but is wideopen and could provide the perfect spot for the studio. And she had one of the Biggest Developers in town helping her to look over the land. He told me that he had heard george lucas had flown in twice on his helicopter to look the property over. Narrator over the next year, the group takes steps to secure the land rights. Michael reinero says he puts in another 50,000 to help the venture move forward. Reinero so when the additional 50,000 came in and i had a chance to get more shares and increase my ownership, of course, im in. I see everything thats happening. This is gonna close quickly. I could feel it. Narrator Everett Parsons puts in a couple hundredthousand dollars of his own. Now, i knew money was really tight, cause hed given most of it to her. As he called it, you know, investing in that project. Narrator but the project is spending a lot of money. Reinero she had attorneys involved. She had accountants involved. She had architects involved. She always paid top dollar for the advice that she was getting. Narrator carissa carpenters personal expenses are also extensive expenses such as stays at the finest hotels, designer clothing, even horses. If you are giving an investment, thats for capital to use in the business, right, not for the owner of that business to, you know, live in luxury hotels. We had advised her, look, take a salary. Spend it however you like. But when you ask for reimbursement from the company for something that might not quite be a business expense, thats not quite how you do it, because that can be questioned. Narrator she also likes to travel. Pickles she traveled a lot to europe. She would often use that as an excuse or a lure for investors, telling them that she had financiers in europe who were gonna fund the project. But really, she was just using investor money to fund her lifestyle. Narrator kimberly west says that she and her husband, Everett Parsons, accompany carissa on one trip to london. West we had a beautiful dinner with the lloyds of london. They bought out some highend 400 bottles of wine. I said, well, we paid for that, anyways. But we had this lovely dinner by the london bridge. Narrator carissa carpenter eventually divorces her husband, ditches granite bay, and sets her sights on southern california. When she was negotiating one of the deals, she was staying at the Beverly Hilton at that time. She was taking meetings and meeting with investors and people, and so she said she had to be down there. Narrator Everett Parsons declines an oncamera interview with american greed, but tells us on the phone that he personally pays for her weekslong stay at the Beverly Hilton. He even gives carissa his wifes car. West i mean, he gave her my mercedes. I mean, hed be paying next thing i know, hes paying her phone bills and the rent and all kinds of crazy things. Narrator carpenter also claims to have extensive medical bills. She had every ailment imaginable, from her heart to cancer to things ive never heard of. She told us on several occasions shed had a hysterectomy, and i think you only get to have one of those. Narrator in an exclusive interview with american greed, carpenter insists her medical issues are legitimate. My medical issues are consistent and have been since 1991. Ive had 51 major events since 1991. So i have worked through and continue to work regardless even if i was in the hospital. Narrator she also disputes the accusation that she misused investor funds. No, thats not true. Let me explain. I sold and loaned on a portion of my percentage of stock. Now, when youre doing a private placement memorandum, you can borrow money or loan on money on your personal stock. Narrator in late 2000, the declaration Studios Group receives unexpected bad news the El Dorado Hills site allegedly has environmental problems. El dorado hills we hit asbestos and serpentine rock. That killed us. We couldnt go any farther. So we backed out of the land. It was at that point where costs started rising. So, to get that abated, you know, the cost of the project was starting to increase. Narrator but the group is in luck. Next on american greed. Carissa carpenter quickly lines up a new location. Reinero she had the land together. She had the people together. She thought that the financiers would come in, say, this is perfect, and wed be off to the races. Why . ahhhh incoming ahhhahh im saved water tastes like, water. So we fixed it. Mio. Water tastes like, youre having one more bite no one more bite kraft. For the win win. Its black friday now. This weekend only. Save on tvs. Electronics. Kitchen appliances and more. Friday through sunday only. With new deals every week. Its black friday, now. At target. brad more renters find their place than any other site. As helped by digitally upgrading every one of our employees. Physically. Now, everybody at apartments. Com can, and does, give one hundred and ten percent. [rapid typing and clicking] apartmentsdotcom. The most popular place to find a place. Narrator after an initial setback, carissa carpenter has a new location for her dream studio, just north of sacramento, in Sutter County. She even gets a fullpage spread in the local newspaper. Reinero and ill never forget the picture. It was on the front page the Sacramento Bee, and it showed her in the middle of the sutter property with an umbrella, and it said dreamer on it. She was so happy with that article. She described this disneylandlike village she was going to build with a studio on this farmland. Narrator carpenter tells the paper that the project has major backers. She said that she could get the white house on the phone to clear any hurdles. She could get george bush on the phone. Narrator but the excitement is shortlived. Just like the El Dorado Hills project, there seems to be a problem. Carissa tells her board she needs more money to see the project through. Reinero we were in contract to buy the property. And she put an amount down when she signed the contract, and then six months later, 150,000 was due as good faith to continue the transaction. Narrator Michael Reinero contributes another 50,000 to keep the dream alive. Other Board Members put up the remaining money. If we hadnt have done that, we would have lost the sutter property. So we were kind of. We were forced into doing it, in my perspective. Narrator reinero says he drops a total of 150,000 into declaration studios. Everett parsons tells american greed he invests over 400,000. West he just ran out of money. We had no more money to give her. He ran out of money. He kept going until it was gone. Narrator despite their investments, the declaration studios project in Sutter County falls apart when the board says carissa carpenter fails to close the deal. Reinero when we lost that last deal, then things got really. Things got real. Her board of directors got wind of the fact that she was spending money extravagantly, and they confronted her on it. And we all resigned on the same day. The whole board left on the same day. And then she disappeared. The people in the planning people in Sutter County said, yeah, you know, she was going through the permit process and then vanished.