WEBVTT 1 00:00:03.100 --> 00:00:06.839 Last time on the Instascammer, you heard about the night 2 00:00:07.080 --> 00:00:11.609 a house caught on fire in Wisconsin. The house that 3 00:00:11.650 --> 00:00:15.029 Tom and Joanne owned and that Laura, by then known 4 00:00:15.150 --> 00:00:19.089 inside the Liana Shanti community as Gahira, had been renting. 5 00:00:20.210 --> 00:00:22.609 Tom and Joanne were in Washington state when the news 6 00:00:22.710 --> 00:00:26.390 reached them, but Dean and Charlotte were much closer. 7 00:00:27.160 --> 00:00:29.949 Have you ever seen the little fires everywhere? We were 8 00:00:30.030 --> 00:00:34.210 on the episode watching the specific part of this episode 9 00:00:34.469 --> 00:00:37.890 where the house is up in flames and the kids 10 00:00:37.950 --> 00:00:41.020 had something to do with it. And we get a 11 00:00:41.049 --> 00:00:44.960 phone call from his daughter crying because the house is 12 00:00:45.039 --> 00:00:45.640 on fire. 13 00:00:46.439 --> 00:00:50.380 Minutes after watching this part of the episode, minutes after that, 14 00:00:50.399 --> 00:00:52.859 it blew our mind. 15 00:00:53.060 --> 00:00:56.219 We were like, what the heck? So we get in 16 00:00:56.259 --> 00:00:59.130 the car. I tell my daughter, hey... The kids, their 17 00:00:59.170 --> 00:01:01.649 house is on fire. She's like, what? And I'm like, yeah, 18 00:01:01.729 --> 00:01:04.799 we're going to leave real quick. As we're driving towards there, 19 00:01:04.810 --> 00:01:07.920 we could see the smoke from miles away. 20 00:01:07.939 --> 00:01:08.939 And this was. 21 00:01:08.900 --> 00:01:10.540 At like 10, 3, 11 o'clock at night. 22 00:01:11.640 --> 00:01:16.400 And in the days that followed, the questions multiplied. I'm 23 00:01:16.439 --> 00:01:20.689 your host, Casey, and this is Episode 7 of the 24 00:01:20.829 --> 00:01:26.640 Insta Scammer. Before the fire, Dean and Charlotte say, the 25 00:01:26.659 --> 00:01:30.579 house in the quiet neighborhood appeared completely normal from the outside. 26 00:01:31.340 --> 00:01:34.439 Dean had been to the property many times. It was 27 00:01:34.519 --> 00:01:37.560 where his children were living. And he and Charlotte would 28 00:01:37.599 --> 00:01:39.239 pick them up from there regularly. 29 00:01:39.260 --> 00:01:42.200 It was a really nice house. She was going to 30 00:01:42.239 --> 00:01:44.829 rent it from them because they were moving out of state. 31 00:01:45.859 --> 00:01:49.549 And so her and the kids all moved into this house. 32 00:01:50.049 --> 00:01:51.689 We would go and pick up the kids from there. 33 00:01:52.909 --> 00:01:54.689 It was in a really nice neighborhood down the street 34 00:01:54.709 --> 00:01:56.650 from the high school. The kids were homeschooled, but they 35 00:01:56.689 --> 00:02:02.849 still attended for sports and all that other stuff. Down 36 00:02:02.890 --> 00:02:06.310 the street was the kids' work. They worked at a 37 00:02:06.349 --> 00:02:10.610 coffee shop down the street. Really nice neighborhood. Kahira had 38 00:02:10.650 --> 00:02:16.069 her own means of transportation. Then a few of his 39 00:02:16.090 --> 00:02:17.930 kids got their license, so then they would all share 40 00:02:17.949 --> 00:02:20.770 a vehicle. No, she lived a pretty normal life. 41 00:02:21.900 --> 00:02:26.280 According to Dean and Charlotte, things were pretty typical. Arriving 42 00:02:26.319 --> 00:02:28.659 to pick up the children, the street that the house 43 00:02:28.699 --> 00:02:33.759 was on looked ordinary, stable, beautiful. That is what made 44 00:02:33.860 --> 00:02:38.240 what happened next so difficult for them to process. Dean 45 00:02:38.280 --> 00:02:41.120 and Charlotte arrived at the fire as quickly as they could. 46 00:02:41.639 --> 00:02:43.800 Their first concern was the children. 47 00:02:44.939 --> 00:02:46.439 We leave just to make sure and we were like, 48 00:02:46.469 --> 00:02:48.250 we can take the kids back with us. But she 49 00:02:48.280 --> 00:02:50.210 was like, no, they're staying with me. We already got 50 00:02:50.250 --> 00:02:52.979 a place. But we stayed there for a little bit 51 00:02:53.099 --> 00:02:54.879 to make sure that the kids were calmed down. 52 00:02:55.560 --> 00:02:59.479 Everyone was physically safe. But according to Dean and Charlotte, 53 00:02:59.879 --> 00:03:02.569 the choices Laura made in those first hours and in 54 00:03:02.610 --> 00:03:05.689 the weeks that followed were not ones they could easily 55 00:03:05.830 --> 00:03:10.229 account for. The Ozaukee Press reported on the fire in 56 00:03:10.310 --> 00:03:15.750 Port Washington, Wisconsin. Port Washington Fire Chief Mark Mitchell was quoted, 57 00:03:15.930 --> 00:03:18.490 We got there just at the right time. It could 58 00:03:18.530 --> 00:03:22.060 have turned into something much more serious. In addition to 59 00:03:22.099 --> 00:03:25.879 the Port Washington Fire Department responding, there were five other 60 00:03:26.020 --> 00:03:29.060 local fire departments that responded to the fire, with a 61 00:03:29.139 --> 00:03:33.340 sixth one standing by at the firehouse. The article confirmed 62 00:03:33.400 --> 00:03:36.259 that the family was renting the property, describing it as 63 00:03:36.680 --> 00:03:40.729 the house the family was renting. The article described Kahira 64 00:03:40.770 --> 00:03:44.030 Noelani as a holistic life coach and noted she had 65 00:03:44.069 --> 00:03:48.419 changed her name from Laura Lambrecht the previous year. The 66 00:03:48.520 --> 00:03:53.539 article reported that a GoFundMe had raised approximately $ 6, 500 at 67 00:03:53.560 --> 00:03:57.669 the time of publication. Tom and Joanne say that in 68 00:03:57.710 --> 00:04:00.750 the days following the fire, they began hearing things about 69 00:04:00.789 --> 00:04:04.810 the investigation that they couldn't easily make sense of. They 70 00:04:04.870 --> 00:04:07.990 talked me through the moments after learning about the fire 71 00:04:08.469 --> 00:04:11.319 and the subsequent conversations with the fire chief. 72 00:04:12.240 --> 00:04:14.360 And I said, do you see Kahira and the kids? 73 00:04:14.419 --> 00:04:18.300 Are they okay? So she runs outside. and gets through 74 00:04:18.399 --> 00:04:21.959 all this mess, and she can't find them. She finally 75 00:04:22.019 --> 00:04:26.899 finds them in Kahira's car, like a block up the street, 76 00:04:27.240 --> 00:04:30.779 and she's sitting there on the phone. So my sister-in-law 77 00:04:30.819 --> 00:04:33.800 knocks on the window, and Kahira opens the window, and 78 00:04:33.860 --> 00:04:37.439 she says, Have you talked to Joanne? Knowing full well 79 00:04:37.459 --> 00:04:41.509 that she has not, because she never called us. She goes, 80 00:04:41.569 --> 00:04:43.490 I've got her on the phone right here. Talk to her. 81 00:04:44.129 --> 00:04:46.810 She finally says yes. There's a fire. It's in the 82 00:04:46.860 --> 00:04:52.279 bathroom upstairs. My son was doing laundry and the other 83 00:04:52.459 --> 00:04:55.079 one smelled some smoke and then we all got out 84 00:04:56.000 --> 00:05:00.180 and everybody's fine. And I'm talking to Leanna and she's, 85 00:05:00.339 --> 00:05:03.839 you know, helping me. And I said, okay, you know, 86 00:05:04.100 --> 00:05:07.990 I'm really glad that you guys are all safe. Are 87 00:05:08.000 --> 00:05:12.970 you okay? And she said, oh yeah, we're fine. We'll 88 00:05:13.009 --> 00:05:15.810 be fine. I'll go, okay. So I let her get 89 00:05:15.850 --> 00:05:20.129 back on her conversation with Leanna. What we found out 90 00:05:20.350 --> 00:05:25.730 was that the fire was a dryer fire. And it 91 00:05:25.769 --> 00:05:29.689 started in the dryer. That was like a bathroom laundry room. 92 00:05:30.490 --> 00:05:34.209 All the true horrific damage was just in that room. 93 00:05:35.860 --> 00:05:39.139 The rest of the house had water damage from the firemen. 94 00:05:39.620 --> 00:05:41.939 But otherwise, if you walked through the house, you wouldn't 95 00:05:42.319 --> 00:05:45.959 have noticed anything except that maybe there was wet underneath. 96 00:05:46.959 --> 00:05:49.680 It's important to note here that these are Tom and 97 00:05:49.699 --> 00:05:54.550 Joanne's recollections of what officials told them, presented in their 98 00:05:54.639 --> 00:05:58.870 own account. And Tom and Joanne are explicit on one point. 99 00:05:59.529 --> 00:06:02.649 They do not know what caused the fire. They make 100 00:06:02.769 --> 00:06:05.949 no attribution. The cause of the fire has not been 101 00:06:06.009 --> 00:06:09.990 publicly determined. What Tom and Joanne describe is what they 102 00:06:10.089 --> 00:06:13.850 say they were told by investigators. Observations that left them 103 00:06:13.870 --> 00:06:18.310 with questions they say were never fully answered. As the 104 00:06:18.370 --> 00:06:22.610 investigation was still underway, the story inside Liana Shanti's community 105 00:06:22.829 --> 00:06:26.730 was already taking shape. Joanne was still a member of 106 00:06:26.769 --> 00:06:31.129 the Lemurian sisterhood inside Liana Shanti's community when the fire happened. 107 00:06:31.910 --> 00:06:34.509 She says she was watching its private group chat in 108 00:06:34.550 --> 00:06:36.310 the hours and days that followed. 109 00:06:37.509 --> 00:06:43.100 The next day in our little group chat, within the 110 00:06:43.199 --> 00:06:51.639 Lemurian sisterhood. Everybody's all concerned. Kahira's been, her house burned down, 111 00:06:51.740 --> 00:06:56.990 and she's talking about how horrible it is, and Leanna 112 00:06:57.029 --> 00:07:02.810 has diagnosed her with PTSD. Kahira said, yeah, you know, 113 00:07:02.829 --> 00:07:05.290 I went back there the next day, and it was 114 00:07:05.329 --> 00:07:10.850 amazing that my bedroom, which was right next to this bathroom, 115 00:07:11.399 --> 00:07:17.540 was completely saved and everything in there and Leanna's painting 116 00:07:17.579 --> 00:07:21.540 that she painted and all of their stuff was fine. 117 00:07:21.560 --> 00:07:25.759 It was just the one room and Leanna took credit. 118 00:07:26.699 --> 00:07:31.649 She said, yes, that's because I was saving the rest 119 00:07:31.689 --> 00:07:34.790 of the house for you and all of you. That 120 00:07:34.850 --> 00:07:38.139 she was putting some aura on it all. But what 121 00:07:38.180 --> 00:07:40.970 was interesting is that she was going on about how 122 00:07:41.009 --> 00:07:44.069 much she lost in her house. And it was one 123 00:07:44.110 --> 00:07:47.209 of the other ladies. She actually said, well, hey, wait 124 00:07:47.250 --> 00:07:50.949 a minute. Kahira was renting from Joanne. It was Joanne's 125 00:07:50.990 --> 00:07:55.199 house that has burned down. And this is horrible for her, too. 126 00:07:55.259 --> 00:08:02.060 This was her family home. So then everybody, oh, gosh, wow. Yeah, sorry. Yeah, sorry, Joanne. Yeah, 127 00:08:02.100 --> 00:08:02.660 that type of thing. 128 00:08:03.720 --> 00:08:07.959 After a few days, I resuscitated the conversation and asked, okay, 129 00:08:07.980 --> 00:08:12.180 we need to still talk about things. I think she 130 00:08:12.199 --> 00:08:14.319 was under the false impression she was going to get 131 00:08:14.360 --> 00:08:16.579 back into the house if the damage wasn't so small. 132 00:08:16.600 --> 00:08:19.620 Suddenly, for me anyway, everything was blocked. 133 00:08:20.220 --> 00:08:23.680 Then all of a sudden, she wasn't returning my phone 134 00:08:23.720 --> 00:08:28.399 calls because the insurance people said, okay, sorry for your loss, 135 00:08:28.480 --> 00:08:29.540 but we got to get moving. 136 00:08:30.199 --> 00:08:34.779 We had home insurance and a homeowner's policy. with rental coverage. 137 00:08:34.860 --> 00:08:36.059 She had a renter's insurance. 138 00:08:36.539 --> 00:08:40.559 Which, by the way, her renter's insurance was completely paid up. 139 00:08:41.620 --> 00:08:45.649 Eventually, Joanne says she had to return to Wisconsin in person. 140 00:08:46.149 --> 00:08:50.169 The insurance assessment required access to the property, and Kahira's 141 00:08:50.309 --> 00:08:53.570 items still needed to be removed before their own insurer 142 00:08:53.830 --> 00:08:55.169 could complete its work. 143 00:08:56.429 --> 00:08:59.179 She was not helpful in working with the insurance adjuster 144 00:08:59.200 --> 00:09:02.100 for getting things out of the house. And that came 145 00:09:02.139 --> 00:09:05.259 to a head when Joanne was making a visit because we. 146 00:09:05.179 --> 00:09:07.519 Needed to get things out so we could have our 147 00:09:07.580 --> 00:09:08.960 own insurance assessment done. 148 00:09:09.259 --> 00:09:12.740 Yeah, because part of the assessment was that our insurance 149 00:09:12.759 --> 00:09:15.659 would not pay for the removal of her stuff because 150 00:09:15.679 --> 00:09:17.830 she was a renter. One of my older sons and 151 00:09:17.879 --> 00:09:21.850 I got there first. So we had prepared ourselves for 152 00:09:22.169 --> 00:09:26.509 the fire damage. So I'm there in port. We go 153 00:09:26.549 --> 00:09:34.700 through the house and the most... heart-wrenching horribleness was going 154 00:09:34.740 --> 00:09:39.220 through the house and seeing all the damage that had 155 00:09:39.360 --> 00:09:43.990 nothing to do with the fire. I mean, our furniture 156 00:09:44.809 --> 00:09:50.450 and faucets and sinks and things had permanent marker scribbled 157 00:09:50.529 --> 00:09:56.370 all over it, paint everywhere. The bathrooms were just filthy. 158 00:09:56.909 --> 00:09:58.909 Some would say, oh, well, there was soot from the 159 00:09:58.950 --> 00:10:01.409 fire or whatever. It's like, no, no, this is just filth. 160 00:10:01.929 --> 00:10:07.639 There was grease everywhere in the kitchen, which also didn't 161 00:10:07.679 --> 00:10:10.980 make sense because if she was such a healthy food person, 162 00:10:11.000 --> 00:10:15.500 why is she prying stuff? There's like food splattered all 163 00:10:15.519 --> 00:10:19.940 over the walls. I mean, it was just filthy. Absolutely filthy. 164 00:10:20.480 --> 00:10:23.379 And then there was like garbage, like tons of garbage. 165 00:10:24.570 --> 00:10:28.509 Literally the day before our oldest sons and I arrived, 166 00:10:29.389 --> 00:10:33.809 she all of a sudden got everything out. We rented 167 00:10:34.090 --> 00:10:37.850 the dumpster. She should have. It was her stuff. But 168 00:10:38.149 --> 00:10:40.980 we rented it. So my son and I, we were 169 00:10:41.009 --> 00:10:43.940 going to have to remove everything. And I had texted 170 00:10:43.980 --> 00:10:46.039 her and said, if you don't remove your stuff, I 171 00:10:46.080 --> 00:10:48.700 guess we'll be going through all your stuff and removing it. 172 00:10:49.080 --> 00:10:52.259 Don't you want any of your things? So they all 173 00:10:52.299 --> 00:10:54.460 of a sudden, literally the day before we arrived, got 174 00:10:54.500 --> 00:10:56.919 rid of everything. So when our son and I are 175 00:10:57.039 --> 00:11:01.830 walking through the house, it's like filthy and tons of 176 00:11:01.850 --> 00:11:05.110 garbage and this and that, but that's without her furniture 177 00:11:06.250 --> 00:11:10.509 in there. It was just so devastating. I mean, the reason. 178 00:11:11.610 --> 00:11:14.769 We asked this and I put it in quotes, friend 179 00:11:14.870 --> 00:11:16.590 to rent our place was because they were going to 180 00:11:16.629 --> 00:11:17.320 take care of it. 181 00:11:17.350 --> 00:11:20.509 Like they loved it. And And it was just trashed. 182 00:11:21.429 --> 00:11:23.210 I think it's safe to say that you're finding the 183 00:11:23.250 --> 00:11:25.649 house was a real violation. Oh, yeah. 184 00:11:26.110 --> 00:11:29.049 And that physical house violation was kind of symbolic of 185 00:11:29.090 --> 00:11:31.950 what would become the violation of the relationship that you 186 00:11:31.990 --> 00:11:33.350 had with Laura and Liana. 187 00:11:33.389 --> 00:11:39.009 The fire occurred on April 22nd, 2020. And by April 24th, 2020, 188 00:11:39.000 --> 00:11:45.419 the GoFundMe fundraiser appeared online, with Kahira Noelani listed as 189 00:11:45.460 --> 00:11:49.649 the beneficiary. The campaign was titled Rebuilding Life After a 190 00:11:49.690 --> 00:11:56.710 House Fire. The campaign raised $ 9, 785 from 82 donors towards 191 00:11:56.769 --> 00:12:01.389 a $ 20, 000 goal. The campaign description stated that the fire 192 00:12:01.429 --> 00:12:04.750 had originated in a second-floor laundry area. It made no 193 00:12:04.820 --> 00:12:08.019 reference to the fact that Kahira Noelani was renting the property, 194 00:12:08.440 --> 00:12:11.320 nor to any outstanding debt owed to the property owners. 195 00:12:11.919 --> 00:12:13.679 The campaign is currently paused. 196 00:12:15.460 --> 00:12:18.000 A couple days after the fire is when the GoFundMe appeared. 197 00:12:18.039 --> 00:12:20.059 Somebody started a GoFundMe to help her. 198 00:12:20.080 --> 00:12:23.320 Nice picture of her kids in the attic with all 199 00:12:23.340 --> 00:12:24.039 the fire stuff. 200 00:12:24.110 --> 00:12:25.500 Nobody ever talked to us about it. 201 00:12:25.519 --> 00:12:27.649 No mention of the fact that it wasn't her home, 202 00:12:28.669 --> 00:12:32.350 which is kind of inconsequential, I guess, but very consequential 203 00:12:32.370 --> 00:12:33.529 if you're the actual homeowner. 204 00:12:34.269 --> 00:12:36.970 There was a follow-up article in the local weekly newspaper. 205 00:12:37.090 --> 00:12:37.750 Same thing. 206 00:12:37.769 --> 00:12:41.070 A lot of heartstrings pulled, but no mention of the 207 00:12:41.090 --> 00:12:42.149 fact that she was renting. 208 00:12:42.169 --> 00:12:44.049 And yet. 209 00:12:44.820 --> 00:12:45.460 owed us money. 210 00:12:45.480 --> 00:12:48.639 It's not like any of that ever came our direction, 211 00:12:48.720 --> 00:12:49.639 or she even talked. 212 00:12:49.440 --> 00:12:50.220 With us afterward. 213 00:12:50.299 --> 00:12:52.940 Yeah, because she made almost like 60 grand off of 214 00:12:52.980 --> 00:12:54.320 this whole fire. 215 00:12:55.399 --> 00:12:58.309 Here, Tom is describing that when he added up what 216 00:12:58.409 --> 00:13:01.070 he understood Kihira to have received from all sources in 217 00:13:01.090 --> 00:13:03.610 the weeks following the fire, he believes it to be 218 00:13:03.649 --> 00:13:07.429 around $ 60, 000. He is clear that this is his estimate, 219 00:13:07.649 --> 00:13:10.210 drawn from what he was told about the insurance settlement 220 00:13:10.350 --> 00:13:13.500 and what was publicly raised. None of it, he says, 221 00:13:13.679 --> 00:13:17.179 came their direction or helped to settle the renter's debt 222 00:13:17.419 --> 00:13:22.090 that Kahira Noelani still had outstanding. And then, Tom says, 223 00:13:22.210 --> 00:13:25.610 what happened next was something that he hadn't anticipated. 224 00:13:26.769 --> 00:13:29.009 But about that time, I was still in Washington State, 225 00:13:29.049 --> 00:13:32.389 Joanne was in Wisconsin. I was contacted by a landlord 226 00:13:32.429 --> 00:13:36.309 down in Whitefish Bay, a suburb of Milwaukee. She reached 227 00:13:36.370 --> 00:13:39.549 out to me independently and said, I have an application 228 00:13:39.590 --> 00:13:43.190 for rent from a Kahira Noelani landlord. And I happen 229 00:13:43.210 --> 00:13:45.529 to know enough about Port Washington and I've heard about 230 00:13:45.570 --> 00:13:47.269 the fire. So I put two and two together. 231 00:13:47.289 --> 00:13:51.149 Okay. Here I had listed two, three, two, whatever as 232 00:13:51.210 --> 00:13:54.629 her last address, which is our address. So I said, Oh, Oh, 233 00:13:54.649 --> 00:13:55.210 we've got a lot. 234 00:13:55.230 --> 00:13:56.350 We can tell you about this. 235 00:13:56.570 --> 00:13:58.889 And I forwarded her onto Joanne and Joanne gave her 236 00:13:58.950 --> 00:14:02.029 the whole story. And as a result, the woman was 237 00:14:02.070 --> 00:14:04.110 very thankful and said, Oh, thank goodness. 238 00:14:04.169 --> 00:14:06.429 I learned this information. I'm not going to rent to her. 239 00:14:06.460 --> 00:14:12.190 And, uh, That little act, which was simply following up 240 00:14:12.250 --> 00:14:15.820 on somebody else contacting us, is what led to real 241 00:14:16.220 --> 00:14:19.120 problems for Joanne and that whole HMI world. 242 00:14:20.240 --> 00:14:22.679 So what was funny is she called and she said, oh, 243 00:14:22.740 --> 00:14:26.179 you know, would you be a reference for her? And 244 00:14:26.200 --> 00:14:30.679 I went, she put us down as a reference? She goes, no, 245 00:14:30.779 --> 00:14:33.049 it's just that I know about the town and I 246 00:14:33.309 --> 00:14:35.509 knew about you guys. And I just called you because 247 00:14:35.549 --> 00:14:37.029 I figured you were the last landlord. 248 00:14:38.039 --> 00:14:41.419 According to Joanne, that phone call set off a chain reaction. 249 00:14:42.059 --> 00:14:45.019 The very next day, she says she received a message 250 00:14:45.340 --> 00:14:47.000 from Liana Shanti herself. 251 00:14:48.299 --> 00:14:51.169 So then the key thing was the day after that, 252 00:14:52.950 --> 00:14:56.529 all of a sudden I get a text message directly 253 00:14:56.669 --> 00:15:04.519 from Liana saying that I have been kicked out of 254 00:15:04.559 --> 00:15:10.379 the Lemurian sisterhood. that the rest of my monthly fee 255 00:15:10.480 --> 00:15:12.720 of $ 89 would be reimbursed to me. And I'm like, oh, well, 256 00:15:12.740 --> 00:15:20.080 that's nice. Because supposedly I had said all these horrible 257 00:15:20.200 --> 00:15:25.899 things to this perceptive landlord and made it so that 258 00:15:25.970 --> 00:15:31.610 Kahira could not rent from anyone. And so I texted 259 00:15:31.649 --> 00:15:34.549 her back because I was thinking, Wait a minute. I 260 00:15:34.610 --> 00:15:36.529 shouldn't be the one that's being kicked out. It should 261 00:15:36.549 --> 00:15:43.389 be Kahira. She's the one that's not legit here. And so, amazingly, 262 00:15:43.409 --> 00:15:48.580 Leanna did call me. And she didn't charge me. So 263 00:15:48.620 --> 00:15:51.419 I told her everything that had happened to the house, 264 00:15:51.639 --> 00:15:56.440 all the stuff that's going on. Leanna screwed up. She 265 00:15:56.480 --> 00:15:59.440 made a huge mistake. Because I said, yeah, she hasn't 266 00:15:59.480 --> 00:16:04.080 paid us 15 months of rent. And she goes, oh. Well, 267 00:16:04.139 --> 00:16:07.059 I knew she was behind on rent for maybe like 268 00:16:07.120 --> 00:16:09.320 two months, but I didn't realize it was that long. 269 00:16:09.759 --> 00:16:12.679 And the light bulb went on in my head. I'm like, oh, 270 00:16:12.759 --> 00:16:18.250 wait a minute. You're the clairvoyant one that supposedly can 271 00:16:18.309 --> 00:16:22.009 see people's bathrooms and if they're dirty or not. And what? 272 00:16:23.549 --> 00:16:28.870 You didn't know that she hadn't been paying rent? And 273 00:16:29.149 --> 00:16:35.250 she said, well, you're dark. For some reason, I'm dark. And, 274 00:16:35.429 --> 00:16:38.830 you know, I'm just going to let Kahira decide if 275 00:16:39.009 --> 00:16:42.690 and when you're allowed back into the group. And I 276 00:16:42.730 --> 00:16:44.730 was just like, what the heck? 277 00:16:45.610 --> 00:16:46.110 Okay. 278 00:16:47.100 --> 00:16:47.389 Great. 279 00:16:48.080 --> 00:16:48.399 Fine. 280 00:16:48.500 --> 00:16:48.860 Whatever. 281 00:16:48.879 --> 00:16:54.399 I obviously figured out that it was a total scam. 282 00:16:55.559 --> 00:16:58.379 But the key thing she said to me at the 283 00:16:58.500 --> 00:17:02.750 end of that conversation was, do not talk to anybody 284 00:17:02.769 --> 00:17:07.009 in the group. Do not contact anybody. And if anybody 285 00:17:07.089 --> 00:17:11.509 tries to contact you, do not talk to them. And 286 00:17:11.750 --> 00:17:15.500 I will know if you do. So that was her threat. 287 00:17:16.180 --> 00:17:19.519 And then I thought back over time of threats that 288 00:17:19.559 --> 00:17:22.000 had been made to other people and other people that 289 00:17:22.099 --> 00:17:25.400 had been like kicked out or she removed them because 290 00:17:25.440 --> 00:17:28.319 they were dark. And she even went so far to 291 00:17:28.400 --> 00:17:31.420 say is this one woman who was going against her 292 00:17:32.089 --> 00:17:38.750 now has cancer and was dying because she went against Leanna. 293 00:17:39.950 --> 00:17:44.329 One woman had been sucked back in by her husband, 294 00:17:45.170 --> 00:17:48.210 and now she no longer does any of her artwork 295 00:17:48.299 --> 00:17:52.519 and stuff. She's lost all creativity because she went back. 296 00:17:53.059 --> 00:17:56.940 She got sucked back in by her husband. Anyway, so 297 00:17:56.960 --> 00:18:00.099 there was a threat. So I have no idea what 298 00:18:00.240 --> 00:18:03.369 horrible story was told about me within the group. 299 00:18:04.450 --> 00:18:06.289 You had seen people kicked out of the group while 300 00:18:06.309 --> 00:18:08.329 you were a member, so you kind of knew the drill. 301 00:18:08.670 --> 00:18:10.910 Yeah, I knew that, you know, some horrible story would 302 00:18:10.930 --> 00:18:14.509 be told. Because no one could make a decision without, 303 00:18:14.569 --> 00:18:18.210 of course, asking Leanna first. And she would say, yes, 304 00:18:18.299 --> 00:18:20.559 you need to do this. You need to do this. But, 305 00:18:20.900 --> 00:18:22.680 you know, don't tell anybody that I told you to 306 00:18:22.720 --> 00:18:24.779 do this. It has to come from you. You have 307 00:18:24.819 --> 00:18:28.990 to believe. I just remember this one woman saying, And 308 00:18:30.029 --> 00:18:35.069 she was like so torn, probably like me, about leaving 309 00:18:35.109 --> 00:18:36.950 her husband. And she was being told, you know, you 310 00:18:36.990 --> 00:18:39.109 need to leave him. We need to leave him. And 311 00:18:40.289 --> 00:18:43.210 all of these, the planets are in the right vector 312 00:18:43.230 --> 00:18:45.950 or whatever. You need to do it now. Otherwise, you're 313 00:18:45.970 --> 00:18:49.990 going to lose your opportunity. And she would never do it. 314 00:18:50.970 --> 00:18:52.799 So then the next week they ask, oh, well, did 315 00:18:52.819 --> 00:18:56.900 you do it? No. Because I wasn't doing it either. 316 00:18:57.299 --> 00:18:59.619 You know, I wasn't leaving Tom, and I kept questioning, 317 00:18:59.640 --> 00:19:03.789 kept questioning. And you could just hear it in the 318 00:19:03.829 --> 00:19:07.170 things that she said, that she was just frustrated because 319 00:19:07.210 --> 00:19:10.529 they weren't doing it. I remember that woman, because she 320 00:19:10.549 --> 00:19:15.599 just would not take her star moments and leave her husband. 321 00:19:15.799 --> 00:19:17.720 Then all of a sudden, she just wasn't around anymore. 322 00:19:18.519 --> 00:19:23.950 Then she would come up with some crude story. I 323 00:19:23.970 --> 00:19:27.210 just remember one person, she said, oh, yes, I found 324 00:19:27.250 --> 00:19:30.519 out that she was very dark and she was doing 325 00:19:30.619 --> 00:19:34.440 voodoo on people in our group and had made all 326 00:19:34.480 --> 00:19:36.859 these dolls and was shoving pins into them. 327 00:19:49.369 --> 00:19:52.859 Alongside the community and spiritual elements of the group, there 328 00:19:52.880 --> 00:19:56.380 was also a business structure that Joanne had been operating within. 329 00:19:57.220 --> 00:20:00.420 As a now-certified HMI coach, she was supposed to earn 330 00:20:00.460 --> 00:20:04.309 commission when clients enrolled in courses through her referral code. 331 00:20:05.529 --> 00:20:08.549 One of the things that we kind of skipped over 332 00:20:08.849 --> 00:20:12.630 here was that I was doing HMIs things and, you know, 333 00:20:12.650 --> 00:20:16.430 working with people. And how it all worked was that 334 00:20:17.160 --> 00:20:22.119 your clients would buy the course material through Leanna, through 335 00:20:22.160 --> 00:20:26.890 Leanna's website, and they would use a code that was 336 00:20:26.970 --> 00:20:31.470 connected to the health coach directly. And so then that's 337 00:20:31.490 --> 00:20:38.750 how Leanna would then pay you our commission for it, right? Well, 338 00:20:38.869 --> 00:20:41.890 I think the very first client I had, I got paid, 339 00:20:42.730 --> 00:20:46.329 but then everybody else after that never got any money. 340 00:20:47.089 --> 00:20:49.970 I was working with a website guy who said, oh, well, 341 00:20:49.990 --> 00:20:54.210 we can fix that. Because I was told that Leanna 342 00:20:54.250 --> 00:20:58.710 was so busy, she couldn't get to everybody's commissions because 343 00:20:58.730 --> 00:21:01.470 she was working on all these new things and she'll 344 00:21:01.509 --> 00:21:05.240 get to it. She'll get to it. So I proposed 345 00:21:05.599 --> 00:21:10.059 what we can do is your customers can buy their 346 00:21:10.119 --> 00:21:15.039 course material on my website and my website would automatically... 347 00:21:14.819 --> 00:21:19.680 take my commission and then send Leanna her portion of it. 348 00:21:20.289 --> 00:21:22.589 And so no one has to do any kind of 349 00:21:22.609 --> 00:21:27.789 administrative work. And I actually talked to Kahira about it because, 350 00:21:27.809 --> 00:21:30.569 you know, now she's supposed to be managing the HMI stuff. 351 00:21:30.609 --> 00:21:34.230 And she's thought, wow, that's awesome. That's really a great 352 00:21:34.269 --> 00:21:37.809 thing because everybody was kind of having troubles, right? Getting paid. 353 00:21:38.930 --> 00:21:42.009 And she goes, this is fabulous. Well, she lent up 354 00:21:42.130 --> 00:21:46.460 the ladder to Kahira. Liana, and Liana absolutely kiboshed it. 355 00:21:47.059 --> 00:21:50.480 No way. Nope, that's not how I do business. We're 356 00:21:50.500 --> 00:21:53.279 doing it this way and only this way. So she 357 00:21:53.319 --> 00:21:56.480 wanted everything going through her thing and that she would 358 00:21:56.519 --> 00:22:01.220 pay out people when it was convenient or, in most cases, 359 00:22:01.420 --> 00:22:02.900 not convenient for her. 360 00:22:03.960 --> 00:22:07.769 Joanne says Liana Shanti's reasoning, as relayed to her, was simple. 361 00:22:08.109 --> 00:22:12.329 All transactions had to go through Liana Shanti's system. No alternatives. 362 00:22:12.920 --> 00:22:16.369 and Joanne says that left all commission payments subject entirely 363 00:22:16.430 --> 00:22:20.549 to Liana Shanti's timing and discretion. The irony, Joanne says, 364 00:22:20.670 --> 00:22:23.769 was not lost on her. Kihira had spent months doing 365 00:22:23.829 --> 00:22:28.279 advanced coursework through this same system. Coursework, Joanne says, Liana 366 00:22:28.299 --> 00:22:31.500 Shanti gave her for free, while owing Tom and Joanne 367 00:22:31.619 --> 00:22:34.140 nearly $ 20, 000 in unpaid rent. 368 00:22:34.160 --> 00:22:38.029 I don't know, a couple hundred bucks. But then there 369 00:22:38.049 --> 00:22:42.089 were all these courses... here and there. Then they had 370 00:22:42.170 --> 00:22:46.609 another one of these just for special people course, you know, 371 00:22:46.630 --> 00:22:48.690 like the second time. And they encouraged me, oh, you 372 00:22:48.710 --> 00:22:51.900 should do it again because you learned so much more. 373 00:22:51.920 --> 00:22:56.059 And Kahira was going to be on that one. And 374 00:22:56.119 --> 00:23:00.279 that one, I think, you know, it was probably $ 1, 500 or, 375 00:23:00.319 --> 00:23:04.109 you know, whatever it was. And I do remember her 376 00:23:04.769 --> 00:23:09.130 like saying to me, oh, well, Leanna is, she's letting 377 00:23:09.190 --> 00:23:12.210 me do this one. I'm not paying for it. So 378 00:23:12.250 --> 00:23:17.779 she did, she saw the disconnect of that she was 379 00:23:17.839 --> 00:23:19.660 doing all these things with Leanna. 380 00:23:19.680 --> 00:23:20.599 But not paying us rent. 381 00:23:20.799 --> 00:23:21.700 But not paying us rent. 382 00:23:21.759 --> 00:23:23.599 So the excuse was it was for free to her. 383 00:23:23.880 --> 00:23:24.140 Right. 384 00:23:25.220 --> 00:23:28.319 By the end of 2020, Tom and Joanne say they 385 00:23:28.359 --> 00:23:30.930 had accepted that the informal route was not going to 386 00:23:30.970 --> 00:23:36.029 resolve things. They began gathering every document they had, communications 387 00:23:36.130 --> 00:23:39.190 the rent spreadsheet Kahira had agreed to, and filed a 388 00:23:39.349 --> 00:23:43.049 civil lawsuit. Tom says he also wrote letters to two 389 00:23:43.109 --> 00:23:46.789 people directly connected to Kahira's life at the time. The 390 00:23:46.829 --> 00:23:50.259 first letter went to Gordon Eisendrath, the actual owner of 391 00:23:50.299 --> 00:23:53.160 a property in Whitefish Bay where Tom understood Kahira to 392 00:23:53.200 --> 00:23:57.440 be living, identified through public tax records. The letter described 393 00:23:57.480 --> 00:24:00.079 the rental, the fire and the outcome of the civil proceedings. 394 00:24:00.740 --> 00:24:03.750 The second letter went to Dean, a factual account of 395 00:24:03.789 --> 00:24:07.450 the judgment. Tom says both letters were written without accusation. 396 00:24:07.910 --> 00:24:11.210 He wanted people in Kahira's immediate orbit to have the 397 00:24:11.289 --> 00:24:14.210 information he hadn't had when she first approached him. 398 00:24:15.369 --> 00:24:18.690 So we put together all the facts and communications and 399 00:24:18.730 --> 00:24:20.769 we put it in front of a small claims. 400 00:24:20.490 --> 00:24:21.309 Lawyer back home. 401 00:24:22.369 --> 00:24:25.309