Transcripts For KGO 2020 20170409 : vimarsana.com

Like this in my career and i dont expect to again. Reporter their target doesnt even realize hes been had. Doesnt even realize hes bought them fancy cars, luxury homes, and fivestar vacations. He was led to believe a fantasy. Reporter a fantasy that ended up fleecing him, costing him everything he had. Law enforcement calls it the sweetheart swindle. A sweet deal for the swindlers. Ciao it was like they won the powerball. Reporter tonight well take you inside this alltime classic con. This is one of the craziest cases ive ever seen. Reporter a long, strange trip stretching from the Pacific Northwest to las vegas and the capitals of europe. A game of deceit and double dealing starring a mildmannered millionaire who went looking for love in all the wrong places. Can you just spare us a minute . No, ive been told im not to talk. Reporter a criminal genius with a Grade School Education. A mysterious stranger with a deep dark secret. This wig, this watch, and a baby named giorgio armani. Hi giorgio armani, it is an unusual name. It tells you about what they had on their mind, what was important to them when that child was born. Crazy. Reporter get comfortable, its going to be a wild ride. Oh yeah, the Casino Royale baby good evening. Im elizabeth vargas. And im david muir. A fortune instead of a future. A growing scam called sweetheart scam. Its being used on the elderly these days. Will they be seeing prison bars in their future. Once again, heres david wright. Reporter imagine you are all alone in the world, living deep in the woods. No spouse. No children. No Close Friends to confide in. Nobody. But maybe an elderly parent, whos always been hard on you. And his father ignored him. He didnt put much stock in him. He wasnt good enough. Didnt measure up. Reporter that was the life of ralph raines jr. , a lonely bachelor from gaston, Oregon Population 660. He grew up on the family tree farm, an only child. When it came to people, ralph raines was lost in the woods. How would you describe him . Hes different. Socially inept and gullible. That was ralph. He theres no ability to understand the normal social dynamics. Reporter Marlene Olson has known the raines family since many of these trees were seedlings. Hes more comfortable with trees than people . Yes, thats actually a very good way to put it. This tree is about 5 years old to 6 years old. Reporter the trees were not only his friends. They were his fortune too. The raines tree farm, planted by his father, ralph senior. Douglas firs destined to be turned into telephone poles, each mature tree worth about 1,000. The raines family had 1200 acres of them, a lush, sustainable cash machine. What youre seeing out here is a lot of hard work. Hard, dirty work. A tree farm is intended to go on for many generations. Its a habitat. Its an investment for a lifetime. Many lifetimes. This here is a wild strawberry plant. Reporter clearly, ralph raines was more into greenery than greenbacks. Its not even clear he knew how rich he was. But he wasnt totally down to earth. I am interested in the paranormal. Reporter he loved psychics. So when a psychic named rachel lee opened a new palm reading shop in bend, ralph paid her a visit. It was at that point they began to develop a relationship. Reporter Donna Brecker Maddux is a federal prosecutor. She says that meeting would change ralphs life. Did she have any clue at that point how rich this guy was . He began to share with rachel his bestkept secrets, and they also related to his fathers wealth and to the work on the tree farm. Reporter so, once he starts to unburden himself, she presumably starts to realize this is somebody this is the powerball ticket. Thats the hook, yeah. Reporter rachel also reveals a lot about herself to ralph, says she too is alone in the world. Shes lost her parents, and had cared for her husband as he died of cancer. And that creates a sense of empathy. Reporter bob nygaard is a private investigator who has solved sweetheart swindle cases all over the world. They learned all about him, and then they specifically took what he told them to use it against him. They preyed upon him. Reporter rachel convinces ralph that her psychic abilities can help him get want he craves most companionship, a family. And now the trap is set. The number one route to fraud is to become your best friend. Im the only one thats going to listen to you. Im the only one thats going to talk to you, so pretty soon im the only one youre going to trust. And anything i tell you, you will believe. Reporter rachel has the patience of a tree. She spends the next two years grooming her mark, becoming his closest friend and confidante. When the sweetheart swindler comes into their life, theyre giving them the attention that theyve been sorely missing. Reporter soon, hes buying her gifts and writing her checks. Along the way, she introduces ralph to somebody new a guy named blancey. Blancey, how does he come into the picture . Blancey lee was rachel lees, onagain, offagain boyfriend. Blancey held himself out as someone who could do Home Construction projects. And did a few Home Construction projects. Reporter he fixed the deck, right . He fixed the deck. Reporter blancey and rachel come from california, and until now, appear to be living a middleclass life off of rachels earnings as a psychic. But two years into the con, things really begin to escalate. Rachel, who has established herself as an authority on bookkeeping and personal finance, convinces ralph to purchase this 4,600 square foot house, a fourbedroom tudor in an exclusive suburb of portland. Price tag 915,000. A home he will never live in. What was the reason that they bought this home . Rachel lee at the time led ralph raines jr. To believe that if he purchased this home it would be a good investment for him in the long run. She also let him know that it could be a place for her and some of her family members to live while they waited to sell it. Reporter so, while ralph and his aging father stay in the aging properties on the tree farm, rachel moves into the sparkling new home with her kids. Among them, her devoted daughter porsha. And she would have done anything to stay in her mothers good graces. Reporter just how much shed be willing to do will be apparent later. Then, a turning point ralph senior suffers a debilitating stroke. From now on, hell need 24hour care. Rachel seizes the moment, and volunteers to take care of him. She weaseled her way into the residence as a caretaker. But she did a lot more taking than she did caring. Reporter by now, ralph junior was in the habit of saying yes to anything rachel asked for. But this particular decision will cost him dearly. She evidently had access to the books and conversation and the whole bit. Reporter in ralphs mind, life is as good as its ever been. His father has a caretaker. The house has a handyman. And he has a friend, someone who can help him shoulder the burden of the family business, someone in whom he can confide all his secrets. The only thing missing the thing that he wants most of all is a family, a wife and child. And thats just what rachel intends to give him. Happy birthday. She created a fake world for him, designed to exactly meet all the desires and wishes that he ever wanted to have. Reporter in exchange, shell get to live the life she always dreamed of. Well be in florence tomorrow. It was beautiful. Blancey enjoyed it. Ciao. Reporter stay with us. Announcer 20 20 saturday continues with the sweetheart swindle. Reporter the plot thickens at Portland International airport. One bright october day in 2007, ralph raines is on his way home from a timber convention. He calls rachel lee, his bookkeeper and his fathers caretaker for a ride home. But, secretly, she has other plans to take him for a ride. Her devious plot, about to deepen in a big way. He was instructed by rachel lee to sit outside on one of the benches. Reporter ralph likes blondes with fair skin. Rachel knows that from all of their private conversations. So the psychic is about to play matchmaker. She found his dream girl. She did. She created it. Reporter an attractive stranger sidles up to the bench. A blonde with a british accent who introduces herself as mary marks. She approached him and asked him if his name was ralph. He said yes and was somewhat surprised by that. And from there they engaged in a conversation. Reporter on that airport bench, she tells ralph she has psychic powers too. She offers to give him a reading. Armed with a few details secretly provided by rachel, the reading is spoton. Ralph raines jr. Is hooked. Mary marks tells ralph the occult is just her hobby. Shes a bookkeeper by trade. She explained to him that she was actually a british citizen that was here in this country and but she could potentially help him with the finances for his business. Reporter sure enough, shes soon up at the tree farm, helping rachel out with the books. Old ralph thinks the two women, who he thinks have never met before, will act as a checks and balances system. One keeping an eye on the other. Instead, ralphs now got two financial femme fatales on the books. They were taking over the management and the bookkeeping. You give up everything and you let somebody else control you. Reporter why the british accent . Mary marks tells ralph she needs a green card. And eventually he agrees to marry her, all thanks to rachels matchmaking. Rachel lee had all the information she needed to craft the exact fake lifestyle that this victim desired more than anything else and that included a fake life and eventually a fake child. Reporter the couple doesnt actually live together. The excuse being that mary marks needs to spend most of her time in california because of her fulltime job. Did they have a romantic relationship . We have no reason to believe that they did have a romantic relationship. Reporter they never consummate the marriage. But that doesnt stop mary marks from convincing ralph to father a child with her through Artificial Insemination. She convinces ralph shes pregnant with his son. And even wears a fake baby bump. She goes back to california to give birth and returns, months later, presenting him with a real baby. Ralph is led to believe thats his son. The baby, growing up to believe hes daddy. Dada. He misses you and he wants you to know it. And he wants to talk to you. Talk to mom. Reporter what does that video say to you . That video says to me that he truly believed that this was his son and that he loved and missed his wife. Reporter and heres the kicker. The little boy, supposedly the son of this oregon tree farmer, is named giorgio armani. Crazy. Well, its a very rodeo drive name i suppose. It tells you about what they had on their mind, what was important to them. Giorgio and i sure miss you. Yeah. Reporter ralph revels in his newfound romance and the joys of family life. Happy birthday to you do it one more time, ralph. Reporter these images tell a poignant story. A happy, growing family, posing for holiday pictures, smiling on trips to the pumpkin patches, sharing tender moments between father and beloved son. Giorgio and i are sending you this picture so you can kind of see how hes doing. Reporter all of it a mirage. Meanwhile, rachel is free to indulge her first love money along with her boyfriend blancey, whos been posing as ralphs handyman. Three and a half years into the con she receives the key to the treasure chest. The victim turned over control of all of his financial accounts to rachel lee. Reporter power of attorney papers are drawn up, giving rachel the power to manage every aspect of ralph juniors life and finances. Once they get the power of attorney, that then enables them to move into the financial picture and start to liquidate all the assets and fleece the victim out of their life savings. Reporter rachel sells off stocks from the raines portfolio and deposits the money in the corporate account. Shes essentially in charge of paying herself for her shoddy role as seniors caretaker and often she overpays herself. There are individuals who allege that rachel lee did not provide sufficient care to senior, that they found at the tree farm in a state of neglect on multiple occasions. And my son went over to visit him one day and they wouldnt let him in the house. They didnt want anybody to have contact with either of the raineses. One of the hallmarks of a sweetheart swindle is to isolate the victim from all friends and family and Business Associates and in this case thats what they did. Reporter at one point, the suffering senior is moved into the exclusive portland home. There he suffers one final indignity. The father is sleeping in the hallway. He was never provided his own bedroom. Rachel lee, blancey lee, and their extended family members occupied all of the bedrooms in this house. Reporter this photo shows how helpless ralph senior has become. It was shocking to us as part of the investigation, to find that out. Reporter meanwhile rachel is diverting funds by sending big checks to her family members, to blancey lee, and to her financial tagteam partner mary marks. Once she got her, you know, hands on those checks, it was, they were home free. Reporter lees family members are also Walking Around with raines Corporate Credit cards paying for anything and everything. Clothing, dining and most of all travel. Rachel and blancey start living the lifestyles of the rich and famous, jetting off on a european vacation. They fly first class to paris where they enjoy a romantic dinner for two, in the citys most famous landmark. Blancey capturing the highlights of the trip on video. Were here in paris on our anniversary at the eiffel tower about to have dinner, fivestar restaurant. Reporter there are fivestar vacations to monaco. Were here in monte carlo still enjoying the sightseeing. Reporter their hotel in monte carlo . 1,800 a night. And like characters in a james bond movie, rachel and blancey gamble the night away dressed in black tie at the legendary Casino Royale. Casino royale, baby. Honestly theres so much class in there, i never seen something so beautiful in my life. Reporter the pair of them salivate over all the luxury automobiles around them. Theres my car, theres my car. Theres the car im going to get. Reporter after monaco, they go on a grand tour of italy, rome, venice and more. Its our last night here. Well be in florence tomorrow. Ciao reporter back in the u. S. Its vegas, baby. They would do extended, luxurious days at the bellagio, at the wynn, they liked to gamble. Reporter at the bellagio, rachel buys blancey a 64,000 rolex. One of six rolexes purchased with ralphs money. Ralph paid for it all and never got so much as a postcard. More than 100,000 in plane tickets alone. Rachel and her family jet setting on ralphs dime. And rachel is even more dangerous on the ground, ralphs credit card always at hand. Thousand dollar shoes and two thousand dollar suits, they lived to excess in every way. Reporter more than 300,000 of ralphs money just at nordstroms. A money trail a mile long and the beauty of the scam is that none of it traces back to them. Anybody looking at the bills would think ralph raines was the one on the spending spree. This is one of the craziest cases ive ever seen. This is right out of a hollywood script. Reporter in 2011, rachels career as a caretaker comes to an end when ralph raines sr. Dies at the age 91. Ralph junior, thinking ahead, makes space on the tombstone for himself, his beloved bride, and his son. The con now immortalized in stone. But the scam isnt over yet. In fact, rachel and her partners in crime are about to take the con to a whole new level. Can anyone stop them . Announcer coming up when the money dries up, going after a different kind of green. What i was looking at when i stood at the gate was devastation. Announcer and two is that bride, mark marks . Even her husband doesnt know the truth. When the sweetheart swindle when the sweetheart swindle returns. Imagine if the things you bought every day earned you miles to get to the places you really want to go. With the united mileageplus explorer card, youll get a free checked bag, 2 united club passes. Priority boarding. And 50,000 bonus miles. Everything you need for an unforgettable vacation. The united mileageplus explorer card. Imagine where it will take you. Im liz cruthers, im a detective with the portland police. Reporter detective liz cruthers sees the world through cops eyes. Even when shes just driving to work. I live outside of a town called canby and i drive through there every day. Reporter on her daily commute into portland, head turning, eyes darting, cruthers spotted something that triggered her police sense. This building here. I noticed a house right on the main highway that was being extensively remodeled and that remodel job was taking about a year and a half and that seemed like a long time for a remodel job. This town, canby, its a very small farming community. Reporter a horse in a farm town shouldnt raise eyebrows, but this one sure did. I saw some expensive cars parking next to the house. In particular a white ferrari. So for a ferrari to show up in this town, it really stuck out. Reporter a 22year veteran on the job works whitecollar crimes but at this point theres no obvious crime and no complaint. Just one cops hunch. So it didnt really make a lot of sense for that kind of money to be dumped into this dumpy little house. Reporter the license plate mr. Big registered to one blancey lee. I noticed a smart car that parked there, and the license plate on it said mary with a little heart shape, ralph. So i got to wondering who ralph might be. Reporter the modest little car belongs to ralph raines, who also owns the property. In fact, its just one of a number of psychic shops and other real estate recently bought in his name from oregon to california. We were very concerned that we had a sweetheart swindle on our hands. Reporter why would an oregon tree farmer be investing in psychic shops . She has no idea. And it bugs her. For now, the pieces to the puzzle simply do not fit. We still had no crime, we had no victim and more importantly, we didnt have jurisdiction. Reporter and so, much like the trees at the raines property, the fraud is to permitted grow. Reaching new heights. Rachel, a woman with only a Grade School Education acts like she has an mba and ph. D. In psychology. She is a master manipulator wheeling and dealing with lawyers, accountants and realtors, all the while reassuring ralph that everything is under control. Then a year and a half later, a chance encounter changes everything. Detective cruthers is at a Training Seminar and she happens to sit next to another detective. And at one of the breaks we got to talking and he mentioned that he was from canby police department. Reporter that detective is 28year veteran steve floyd. Computer forensics, his specialty. And i very flippantly sort of asked him, what are you going to do about that psychic shop right in your backyard . Reporter floyd is drawn to the case in part because his dad was a victim of elder abuse. The house was being fully remodeled, high end stuff. Reporter theres another person there. Raines family friend Marlene Olson, who grew up logging in oregon. Now she works for the department of justice. I turned. I said, ralph raines, raines tree farm . Marlene popped up and said ralph raines . I know him. I know that property. I used to be a logger. In fact, i used to go walking all over ralph raines tree farm. What are the odds that the three of us would be in the same place at the same time . Reporter from that chance encounter, an unofficial task force is born. They bring in cameron wall from the irs to dig deeper into the finances. The unit now has the expertise, the jurisdiction, and the juice to turn this into a federal case. Ive never worked on anything like this in my career and i dont expect to again. Reporter because she used to work as a logger at the tree farm, Marlene Olson is asked to quietly poke around. She is stunned by what she sees. It still takes my breath away when i think about it, what i was looking at when i stood at the gate was devastation. There was no trees. Reporter that lush, sustainable atm . Stripped bare. Whoever said money doesnt grow on trees never imagined a swindler like rachel lee. Once the investment accounts are liquidated and there is no money left in the investment accounts, rachel lee turned to the one asset that was left, that was the tree farm. Reporter olson sounds the alarm. Ralph raines jr. Hasnt just lost the trees. Hes lost almost all of the land. New owners with chainsaws whirling slice and dice his departed fathers legacy to pieces. With the sale, rachel lee has turned herself into an instant millionaire. She sold off that tree farm in four parcels that brought in 12 million in one year. Reporter adding insult to injury, rachel told ralph hes flat broke. Rachel told him that he had to sell the tree farm to pay his inheritance tax. He says, don, i dont know what im going to do. Im broke. Which wasnt true. Reporter the man who spent his whole life tending these trees now watches his fortune fall. Ralph raines ends up with just two slivers of land to provide for his wife and child. While his trusted confidante rachel is now going wild providing for herself. And as soon as that money began to roll in, she and blancey lee and the rest of the family really ramped up the lavish spending. Reporter as soon as those land sales went through mr. Big makes good on that promise he made in monte carlo. Theres my car, theres the car im going to get. Reporter the notsohandy man splurges on not one but two brandnew cars. He bought the ferrari, the next day he saw a bentley so he spent 500,000 on two cars in two days. Reporter the ferrari that first caught the eye of detective cruthers eye now going nowhere fast in this undisclosed irs warehouse. This one . A little over 56,000. Reporter inside the ferrari, mr. Big left his calling card. Look at this, theres a prayer card here. It says on the back, lord jesus christ, son of god, have mercy on me, a sinner. Thats for sure. Now the day of reckoning is fast approaching. Prompted by all the suspicious transactions, detective floyd drives through the barren landscape that used to be the raines tree farm. To ask ralph a pressing question. I needed to know if he was a victim. Reporter so this was full of trees . Yes. Reporter kind of a metaphor there for what happened to his financial life, huh . They took it, yeah. Cut it, spent it, wasted it. Reporter he knocks on the door and immediately asks, what does ralph know about rachels creative approach to accounting . We started asking him, do you know that shes spending 230,000 on a ferrari . Reporter when we return, ralphs reaction. For the first time ever, the very private ralph raines goes public. Well, that is a weird story. Announcer and next, its about to get weirder, and maybe even deadlier. You were concerned he was going to get killed . Announcer after all the money is gone, is he worth more Grocery Outlet Grocery Outlet is the home of wow savings. Wow means you save 50 or more. There are three stages of wow. Denial. Is this price right . Acceptance. And boooyah wait for it. Boooyah has three os. Grocery outlet bargain market right now get a bonein spiral half ham for just 1. 49 a pound. Someday, gus will invent this thing and change the world. This is the thing that could change gus world. And this is the doctor that could cure that thing so he can grow up to invent this thing. Sutter health. Proudly caring for northern california, birthplace of pioneers. Jack vo things get a lot more jack vo vampires wake up. Ia, jack vo werewolves come out. Jack vo the boogie man gets his boogie on. Jack vo and my hashbrowns turn into my new munchie mashups. Jack vo they come with crispy hashbrowns and tasty white cheese mashed up with your choice of savory egg and bacon, buffalo chicken and ranch, or jalapenos and bacon. Jack vo so you can keep going until the sun comes up. Jack vo ouch, thats gotta hurt. Jack vo introducing my new munchie mashups. Only at jack in the box. Announcer 20 20 saturday continues with the sweetheart swindle. Reporter his beloved douglas firs have been clear cut. His fathers legacy, gone. But ralph raines jr. Appears to have no idea where the money went. When we were up at the tree farm with detective floyd, ralph refused to talk to us. Are you i will not talk. Reporter but yet a sudden change of heart. Opening up to one of our producers. We have a sustainable certified forest. Reporter mostly he wanted to talk about trees. He explained there was plenty he couldnt discuss about the case. Im going to be quiet on that. Yeah. My lawyers have told me to say nothing. Reporter but then he invited us up to his house for a longer chat, discussing his side of that First Encounter with the task force. He says, let me show you some things. Reporter they went down the list expensive cars hell never drive. Vacations he never took. Mansions hell never live in. And i said, well, i got rachel taking care of a lot of my affairs. He was just completely checked out on the money side. Yeah, didnt want to deal with it, gave it to rachel. Let rachel deal with it, shes taking care of me. And he said, she is not. And well, i was willing to listen to them. I felt we had a problem. Reporter investigators now worry that by confronting ralph, they may have tipped their hand. Right after they spoke with him the very first time, they realized that he was going to immediately go to rachel lee about the allegations. Reporter sure enough, they were right. I sprung this on rachel. And rachel, jaw dropped. Reporter the detectives move fast, getting a search warrant for that psychic shop in canby, which turns out to be a treasure trove of evidence. We found rolexes, we found expensivelooking jewelry, we found valuable coins. Reporter but theres more than just bling. Investigators discover what appear to be disguises. We found two different sets of blonde wigs. The second blonde wig we found was tucked in between the mattress and the bed frame. And it also had a pair of glasses and a hat with it. Reporter blonde wig, glasses and a hat. That description fits mary marks to a tee. Investigators now make a hairraising discovery that blows the case wide open. Ralphs bookkeeper bride mary marks is really rachels daughter porsha lee. Rachel lee used her own teenage daughter to scam ralph raines jr. Reporter yup. Take a look at this halloween photo. Ralphs not the only one wearing a costume. Remember that chance meeting at the airport . Planned to perfection by rachel, who pimped out her own daughter to seduce ralph and become his wife, a charade porsha somehow managed to keep up for seven years. Putting on the wig and the british accent. You can hear it here. Happy birthday to you do it one more time, ralph. Reporter a major player in the scam and it turns out she was a minor. At the time that rachel lee enticed her daughter to become part of this fraud scheme, porsha lee was 17 years old. Reporter and what about that exquisitelynamed child giorgio armani, supposedly conceived through Artificial Insemination . Hes another standin, a grandchild of rachel lee from a different daughter. At one point, mary marks even wore a fake baby bump. So this wasnt just one person scamming an elderly person. This was a conspiracy. This was a whole group. This was a whole family preying upon one man. And they were all playing different parts in the scheme. Reporter one more revelation it turns out theres a very real person named mary marks, tracing back to the trunk of this twisted family tree. Rachel lees biological mother is named mary marks. If youre going to open a bank account, and youre going to transfer property, it helps to have a real name, and it helps that that person is somewhat in your family. Reporter even though the scam is unraveling fast, ralph is still caught in the web, rachel still spinning lies to try and explain things. And she said, yes, i spent a lot of money on myself. And she said, yes, i did accumulate a gambling debt. We had so many cockandbull stories, i didnt know what to think. Reporter but at the onehorse tavern in this onehorse town, the locals said it was perfectly obvious that this little acorn didnt fall from this tree. You didnt think it was his kid . No. How come . Didnt look like it. Reporter they tried to tell ralph, but he wouldnt listen. I told him, i said i didnt think that was his child, kid. Reporter and what did he say . He said, yes, it is. Reporter he believed it . Yeah. Reporter we dont know what they knew or thought. They declined our request for comments. But Authorities Say they never raised the alarm. The reason it got so bad was i didnt get enough good advice on what to do and what i cant do. Reporter and it sounds like theres plenty of people who should have known better, people who should have been watching out for him. There are a number of people who could have intervened at an earlier date and who didnt. Reporter it was about this time raines hired a new lawyer, brett hall. Brett hall, thats right. Yeah. Reporter did he have a clear sense as to how much he had lost . No. He didnt have any idea. But even at that point, again, he was still very much under the influence and control of rachel lee. Reporter in fact, after investigators explain the full extent of the scam, ralph goes missing. When brett hall cant get in touch with ralph, he contacts the prosecutor. I said, donna, if you dont take these people into custody, theres nothing i can do. Theres nothing i can do. And he communicated to us that the only way that we could ensure the victims safety at that time was to make sure that rachel lee was arrested. Reporter you were concerned that he was going to get killed . The victims attorney was concerned for his clients safety. Reporter thats when the agents race up to bend, oregon, to the psychic shop where ralph had his first consultation with rachel a decade ago. Agents in bulletproof vests move quickly toward the house. Inside they find rachel and porsha, bags packed, looking like they are about to embark on a thelma and louisestyle getaway. Their bags were packed. And it looked like they were getting ready to leave. They had what we called burner phones. They had gotten rid of their traceable iphones and had disposable phones. Porsha lee had 36,000 in cash in her underwear at the time. Reporter in her underwear . In three rolls in her underwear. Reporter no sign of ralph. In the psychic shop. But out back, in a separate building, they find him. Squirrelled away and not at his best. I would describe him as disheveled. I had met him on two prior occasions and he didnt recognize me even when i introduced myself. Reporter Property Owner Randy Sargeant shows me the room where they found him. The heir to a multimilliondollar timber fortune living in a converted garage. Not exactly a multimilliondollar home, huh . No, its not. Reporter the irs agents lead mother and daughter out in handcuffs. First porsha, then rachel. Later, blancey turns himself in. Prosecutors claim they took advantage of a farmer and burned through millions of dollars. Reporter we notice a picture, a smiling ralph raines jr. With the young boy he loved like a son. We did a lot of things together. I have very good memories from them. Reporter up next judgment day for the scammers. Mary marks unmasked. And then she took it off. Correct. Reporter but even now, with the scam exposed, ralph raines is still in love with mary marks, his bogus bride. I can say this i view mary as a real person. Reporter his blind devotion now threatens to torpedo the now threatens to torpedo the case. Seriously, what is this place . Its heaven. Yeah, muscle heaven. You want to take one for a test drive . tires squealing, engine revs the challenger and charger have the most affordable v8 engines in their classes. Check them out now during the fast and furious sales event. The fate of the furious. In theaters april 14th. In dealerships now. Now get 20 off msrp cash allowance on select 2017 Dodge Charger models in dealer stock. Has crazy low prices. Do you know how we do it . How . Bargainomics say, if california has a bumper crop and produces too many oranges. Or a winemaker in sonoma suddenly has 1000 bottles too many. Weve got namebrand, topquality groceries priced 4070 off every day. Bargainomics. Thats our Business Model. And our Business Model is. Delicious. Grocery outlet bargain market to take advantage of this offer on a volvo s90, visit your local dealer. Announcer 20 20 saturday continues with a sweetheart swindle. Reporter the federal courthouse in portland. Southwest salmon street. Ralph raines is a fish out of water. Now almost bankrupt by the family of fraudsters he bankrolled. The amount they stole from him is staggering. More than 15 million. But, astonishingly, he doesnt blame them. I have very good memories from them. We did a lot of things together. And, you know, with my dad. And giorgio. Reporter that sentiment made the prosecutors job harder. As they were working to win a conviction, ralph was writing them notes like this one, insisting i am not a victim. Theres that handwritten note. Im not a victim. We were not surprised at all that mr. Raines would come in multiple times to cover for rachel lee. Reporter the handwriting is ralphs. But the words come straight from rachel. When rachel lee realized that the meeting that mr. Raines had with agents hadnt stopped our investigation, it was then that she began to work with him to craft the letter that you referred to. Reporter how is that possible . For ten years, rachel lee brainwashed ralph raines jr. Its unclear what he understood at the time. Reporter the brainwashing so complete that at the sentencing hearing, raines actually takes the stand. Raising his ring finger high, to prove to everyone he still loves his wife. Even though she and her family took him for all he was worth. And hes still wearing his wedding ring. Yes. Thats the most heartbreaking of all, you know. Maybe the day he takes it off we can all breathe a sigh of relief. Reporter he hasnt taken it off yet. Mary gave me the ring. I view myself as i i was married to her. Reporter that, even after an unorthodox meeting just prior to porsha lees sentencing. Ralph raines jr. Had never before seen mary marks out of disguise. So the prosecutors agreed to a sitdown where the bogus bride would reveal all. She wore the hat and the wig and then she took it off. Correct. Reporter but hes still not convinced. I view mary as a real person. Reporter in court, porsha lee claims shes a victim. Betrayed by her mother, forced to wear that disguise. The judge doesnt completely buy it. She had an opportunity to stop this years ago and she chose to stay engaged in the fraud. She chose to play a fake wife for years. Reporter 25yearold porsha is sentenced to 33 months in prison. Roughly 2 1 2 years. Blancey gets 24 months. 2 years. A reduced sentence because he cooperated. He promises to pay ralph back. Which may take a while, as blancey was last seen selling cheesesteaks from this trailer. Under the alias of gino. Rachel lee, the mastermind, gets the longest sentence of all. 100 months in prison. About 8 years. Amazingly, ralph raines wishes only the best to the gang who stole 15 million from him. I want them all to get out and do well. Yes. Start leading a normal life. I want them to do well honestly. Reporter he still wishes he could play a role in the life of the boy whose companionship meant more to him than money. Little georgio now lives in california with his real mom, porshas sister. Ralph hopes he was a good influence. I do have an interest in giorgio even though hes probably not my child, because i took the boy in and i had a relationship with the boy. Reporter ralph raines now has a courtapproved conservator, someone to protect any money recovered from the sale of the cars, the real estate, and other assets from any future swindlers. Its going to be several Million Dollars by the time we get it back to him. Reporter but nowhere close to 15 million. Nowhere close. Reporter ralph will have enough to live on quite comfortably for the rest of his days. I expect to live another five to ten years. I just want to watch the trees grow. Reporter the raines tree farm may be gone, along with most of his inheritance. But ralph isnt bitter. They may have taken his trees, but ralph says his roots are still here. Having this much ground clear cut, its kind of interesting because this is how the place looked when my dad bought it. If you grow up here, you really can be anything. Sutter health. Proudly caring for northern california, birthplace of pioneers. A few updates since we begin reporting on this investigation. Rachel lee is still behind bars until the year 2020. Her boyfriend was released a few years ago. But por sha is serving out the final months of her sentence in a halfway house. The conservator for ralph raines has recovered a substantial amount of his lost money. Thats our program for tonight. Thanks so much for watching. Im elizabeth vargas. And im david muir. For all of us here at 20 20 and abc news, enjoy the rest of your weekend. Have a great e