Narrator and even from jail, kruse proves hes no average whitecollar crook. I sometimes like to call it my breaking bad case. It takes a really big leap for most people to go from Financial Crime to wanting to kill people. Narrator a oncesuccessful financial pro named paul kruse sits locked up here at the baker county correctional facility outside jacksonville, florida. Hes facing charges that, with the help of his brother, jon, hes taken the life savings of former clients, friends, and even family members. Though kruse has already signed a confession, hes now decided hes not going down so easy. He went from zero to 60, and i think it showed his true colors. He did not want to be held responsible for what he had done. Narrator for weeks, kruse has been angrily plotting revenge and meticulously planning the murder of the woman who turned him in. Today, hes eager to hear the news that will mean his freedom. [ gunshot ] [ birds chirping ] paul kruse has come a long way from his youth. Hes the son of a traveling pastor who built churches by hand. To kruse and his Seven Brothers and sisters, luxury was a stranger, hunger a constant companion. Always, we were cramped into one and twobedroom houses. At christmastime, there was no money for gifts. There seemed to be a virtue with my father and mother of being poor. Narrator dave kruse says that his younger brother paul doesnt buy into the virtue of being poor. I think he was obsessed with fine things, even from the very beginning. Narrator after studying theology in college, paul works as a youth minister for a short stretch, but the paper he likes isnt inscribed with the good word. Its the kind you fold up and put in your wallet. [ birds calling ] eventually, paul leaves the church. Dave says that he then works for a time as a developer in nebraska. He uses his silver tongue to bring in investors. He was very convincing and could lure anybody in. Narrator dave says his Brothers Construction deal goes bust, leaving investors feeling angry and rippedoff. The investors put a contract out on his life. This one guy was so angry that he wanted to kill him. Narrator kruse heads west, and in the early 1980s, he joins his older brother jon at a Company Selling mutual funds and insurance to military families. There, both brothers build trusting relationships with numerous clients. Court filings and coworkers reveal that paul is successful and his brother dave says that he gets used to living the good life. He was going to expensive ski resorts and drove the latest model mercedes. Usually, it was over 100,000 cars that he was driving. Narrator but this first taste of real wealth wont last forever. In 2001, after 20 years at the firm, kruse is fired. Cutting him off from the luxuries hes grown to enjoy. He was really lost then and was selling shoes for a while, just enough money to exist. [ birds chirping ] narrator kruse makes his way to jacksonville, florida, where he scrapes by for the next few years working as a Financial Advisor. Among the clients he brings in is darlene mae jones, a kruse family friend. She and her thenhusband first go to paul for investment help in 2003. When we first invested, we had, i think, about 28,000, and within two years, we had about 46,000. At that point in time, we really felt like paul had done what we wanted him to do. And he was just there for us. Narrator then, in 2010, kruse sets up Yorkshire Financial Services, a company that will be his ticket back to the good life. Calling himself a safe money specialist, kruse goes looking for clients. When jones retires from her job as a general manager at pizza hut, shes saved more than 100,000. Once again, kruse says he can help. He convinces her to invest her money in the stock market through his new company. I had utmost confidence that it was going to be okay. I felt like, since i had worked with paul before, that he was honest with me and that he was gonna do what was best for me and that my money would grow and i would be well set for my future. Narrator when jones signs up, kruse tells her that shes made the right decision by investing with the company he just started. Dear darlene, it is with great pleasure that i welcome you to the family of Yorkshire Financial Services group, llc. Yorkshire Financial Services has over 30 years of continuous operation, making us one of the oldest Financial Services in the united states. Additionally, we have investors from all over the globe. Thank you for giving us your confidence. With warmest regards, paul s. Kruse, president. Narrator jones isnt the only one to hear kruses pitch about yorkshire financial. He tells others that the company consists of a team of sophisticated traders with the skills to beat the market. They thought the money would be traded in stocks, bonds, and securities that would be relatively safe and appropriate for retirement investment. Narrator kruse guarantees that investors principal will remain safe and that returns will range between a robust 10 and 15 . Its a comforting pitch tailored toward people who dont have extra money to throw around. These are people that worked hard their whole lives good people, good, honest individuals just trying to make it. And he just stole from them. Narrator next on american greed. Paul kruse learns the hard way never cross an assistant who has the power to ruin you. He was going down one way or the other. If it wasnt gonna be on finding out how hes spending this money, it was gonna go a whole different route. This money, it was gonna go a whole different route. Wheyou wantve somto protect it. E, at legalzoom, our network of attorneys can help you every step of the way. 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How much money marin saved by switching to geico. Yo, icet its lemonade, man fifteen minutes could save you fifteen percent or more. Im raph. My name is anne. Im one of the real live attorneys you can talk to through legalzoom. Dont let unanswered legal questions hold you up, because were here, were here, and weve got your back. Legalzoom. Legal help is here. Legal help is here. [ birds chirping ] narrator paul kruse runs Yorkshire Financial Services from his home office in a quiet suburban neighborhood in jacksonville, florida. Eventually, he invites a mother of six named Amy Weatherford to live with him here. Kruse knows her sister, and when he learns weatherford has fallen on hard times, he makes her a deal. Paul was lonely, and he said, you know what . Why dont you just move in my house rentfree, buy some groceries, clean up, do a couple of personal errands for me . I really thought i was with a good christian man as a friend, just helping me out and im helping him out at the same time. Narrator eventually, weatherford and two of her children move in. She says that at first, she knows little about kruses business, beyond the fact that hes very disorganized. But its not hard to notice that hes burning through cash. Its like, he would have money big money and then hed be broke at the end of the month and, of course, borrow money off of me. Narrator thats not tonly strange thing she sees at kruses home. I went into his bedroom cause he had papers all over everything, and he was signing their names. I said, what are you doing . And he goes, uh, im signing the clients names. I said, you got a power of attorney for that . And he goes, of course i do. Narrator weatherford keeps her mouth shut. For now. A few months after he begins bringing in investors, pauls brother jon joins him at yorkshire. A seasoned broker in the small town of oak harbor, washington, jon has longstanding relationships with many clients. Some of these people come from the nearby naval base, and he set up their retirement accounts. Now he has a new place where they should put their money yorkshire financial. Most of the investors were brought in by jonathan and jonathan going back and recontacting his clients and telling them that his brother paul had something new that was better, with higher returns. It was guaranteed. You wont lose your money, and just really selling it as something that was safe and highreturn. Narrator in an email exchange, one investor pushes jon, asking if this is truly a safe place to invest his life savings. Jonathan responds very quickly with, this is 100 safe. You know, this is something i would put my own money in. I would never take your money and risk it in that way cause i know this is your retirement money. Narrator paul kruse does make two initial investments, but returns are nowhere near the 10 to 15 hes promised. After this, he makes no further efforts to invest his clients savings. Yorkshire financial is an illusion. There were no traders. There was no staff. He wasnt trading in stocks or bonds. It was all a lie. Narrator so, where is investors money going . Prosecutors say that for his recruiting efforts, jon receives 100,000. The rest of the money remains with paul. Months after moving in with kruse, Amy Weatherford notices hes kicked his spending into overdrive. He bought a jaguar. He bought a mercedes. He had his whole 1994 bmw revamped into gator colors so it looked like a gator bmw. That was pretty cool, though. Narrator nearly 300,000 comes out of kruses Bank Accounts as cash withdrawals. He starts dating a stripper, showering her with jewelry, clothes, trips, and a certain medical enhancement. He bought her a boob job for 5 grand. I mean, 5 weve got a 5,000 bill that he paid out of these peoples hardearned money. I mean, i think thats pretty despicable. Narrator kruse also spends hundreds of thousands of dollars to buy part of a Stone Company in jacksonville. And he spends more than 100,000 turning this somewhat average home in a middleclass neighborhood into a middleaged bachelor pad. The centerpiece is the yard, which he tricks out with a 7,500 grill and a large fountain that weatherford calls the ugliest thing i ever saw in my life. Though they dont know it, kruses hardworking investors are footing the bill. I mean, this was their nest egg to supplement their life. So hes actually looking people straight in the eyes and saying, im gonna take care of your future, and he knows at the same time in his heart of hearts that hes stealing their future. Narrator oddly, its not kruses wild spending that will be his undoing. A few months after meeting him, weatherford confronts kruse. She says shes caught him sending Inappropriate Text Messages to her 17yearold daughter. Ill buy you a bmw if you would show me your boobs. You dont have to tell your mother, stuff like that. I mean, lewd and lascivious in this county. I just. I was so mad at him, okay . cause this was my kid, and we were supposed to be friends. How dare you, right . I told him, they wont find your body parts if you ever make a pass at my kid again. How dare you. Thats about the bottom line. Narrator when asked about this by american greed, kruse did not deny the story. After weatherford first discovers the texts, she decides she wants revenge. She has an inkling that something is fishy at yorkshire and feels theres only one option. Taking his ass out. You want me to put that more mildly . Id rather not. He was going down one way or the other. If it wasnt gonna be on the paperwork and finding out how hes spending this money, it was gonna go a whole different route. It didnt matter, you know . But this guy was gone. Narrator to take him down, she needs more information. She knows kruse needs help getting organized and goes to him with a proposal. I said, look, paul, if you need to get these promissory notes out or whatever you need to get done, let me do it for you as a parttime job, and well be good to go. He was all for it. It was like he trusted me completely. What a fool [ laughs ] what a fool narrator coming up on american greed. Paul kruses plans tudeadly. I sometimes like to call it my breaking bad case. It takes a really big leap to go from Financial Crime to wanting to kill people. From Financial Crime to wanting to kill people. Hahaha umhmmm hey nikki what are you doing here . You tell me, stephen. What . Im snapping. Youve been streaming my videos all morning. Now youre with this thing . No its not you its verizon they limit my data. I had to choose. Come on, girl. Lets get us a man with unlimited data. Why pay verizon more for data limits . 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Looking at kruses bank records for a single month, what she sees is shocking. 400,000 in, 400,000 out. How do you spend that in a month . I dont know. I dont know what he was spending it on. Alls i saw was cars, jewelry, trips. Narrator but shes doing more than just sneaking a glance. I copied everything cause i knew something was wrong. How can he do this and im not seeing investments . There is nothing in any of the files for stocks, bonds, anything. So, i emailed the fbi, and i swear to god, the very next day, i got a call from Byron Thompson. Narrator at the end of march 2011, paul kruse takes a trip to china, and weatherford brings agent Byron Thompson this huge box of papers from yorkshire financial. Its not long before he realizes that kruses operation is a scam. Whats not so clear to him is how and why kruse turned bad. Hes a confusing individual. I looked a lot at his background, and i learned about two different people. The early paul kruse was a licensed Securities Broker who, you know, legitimately managed peoples money. And then, at some point, not knowing how it happened, he came up with this scheme that, to me, was just so callous and brazen because he knew these people really well, and he knew the money that he was taking from them was all they had and, in some instances, all they were ever gonna have. Narrator in july, agent thompson heads from florida to washington state, where jon kruse has recruited the bulk of the scams victims. When i went out to greet some of these people for the first time who were their longterm friends, associates, and knew them well, some of them, it was pretty difficult to convince that there was a scam at all. They thought their money was still safe, and they hadnt experienced a problem out of it. Narrator Thompson Says that for some, the conversations are difficult. Some people, you know, the light comes on, and they realize, oh, my goodness, you know, this person ive trusted for all these years that knew, you know, im not a wealthy person this is my life savings theyve stolen our money. Narrator that fall, hoping they can stop the bleeding, the feds begin seizing kruses assets. Agent thompson meets with paul kruse, but he says he wont talk. By the end of 2011, investor Darlene Jones has begun to notice that her safe investment might not be so safe. Shes having trouble getting money from kruse. Paul kept telling me he said, you dont understand whats going on. Thats all he would tell me. He said, there are some things going on, and you dont understand, and i said, no, paul,dont. I dont know whats going on. I said, am i gonna get a check . And he says, im not sure. Well have to see what happens. Narrator what happens is that one month later, fbi agent thompsons phone rings. Its paul kruse. He called me and said that he was tired of fighting the case, that i knew he was guilty and he knew he was guilty, and he wanted to come in and just face what he had done. Narrator two days later, kruse comes to the Federal Building in jacksonville, where he signs a written confession. A portion of that statement read, investors were not told the truth about their investments. Sometimes i solicited investors, and sometimes they were recruited by my brother, jonathan kruse. I am remorseful for what ive done. Ive hurt a lot of people by stealing their retirement savings. It is my desire today to take full responsibility for what ive done. It was like a ponzi scheme, and im admitting im guilty because i amguilty, and it was signed paul s. Kruse. Narrator for thompson, it feels like its time to close the book on kruse. I thought that was the end of the case. It just seemed like all of the fight had gone out of him. He wanted to admit what he had done wrong, and he told his attorney, in spite of your advice, this is what i want to do. I want this case over with. I want to plead guilty because i am guilty. Narrator but the odyssey of paul kruse is far from over. Shortly after kruse confesses to fbi agents in florida, his brother jon is behind bars in washington state. But his situation has nothing to do with preying on financ