7: Final Call

Why do I wash the world up? That's like asking me, "Why do I breed?" And it's beautiful. The guys are young and cute and fit. It's not PSA game, it's your culture.

I think watching it was my dad. It's a connecting force. From Futuro Studios, I'm Fernando Chavari and this is American Football. I show about soccer culture in the U.S. and it's underdog roots. Listen to American Football on the iHeart Radio App, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

“Joy is essential, and it's also elusive, but now.”

There's a new and exciting way to start your journey toward a more joyful existence. Joy 101, it's a new podcast hosted by me, How to Copy. If you're craving inspiration to maximize your joy, tune into these candid, uplifting and moving on air chats. Open your free iHeart Radio App search, Joy 101, and listen now.

Joy 101 with HotaCopy is presented by CVS. There was no anything inside those eyes, they turned black, it scared the hell out of me. People wake up, and the woman saw the murder, take place by creamet and dipipo. Anthony DiPipo showed no signs of remorse, appearing unfazed after being sentenced to the maximum.

I said I'm not guilty, I'll take it to the grave. Listen to the devil's quarre in the bone valley feed on the iHeart Radio App, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Hi listeners, I'm Michelle, host of the Kingdom of Fraud podcast.

And I'm excited to share this incredible story with you.

I'm also excited to tell you that you can get access to all episodes of Kingdom of Fraud. 100% ad-free, and one week early, through the iHeart True Prime Plus subscription, available exclusively on Apple Podcasts. Plus, you'll get access to other chart-topping True Prime shows you love, like the girlfriend's. The trail, the godmother, paper goes, picked in massacre, murder homes, unrestorable, and more.

So don't wait, head to Apple Podcasts, search for iHeart True Prime Plus, and subscribe today.

“Hey, this is Chuck from Stuff You Should Know, and we're submitting our most sciencey episodes”

for your peer review with our new stuff you should know doing science playlists. Out now, you want to know about Occam's Razor, simplest explanation is usually the right one,

we got you covered, wondered what chaos theory is ever since the first time you saw Jurassic Park?

We'll come on down. So, distill a nice pot of tea everybody, turn down the gas on your Bunsen burner, and slip into your most comfortable lab coat, and listen to the stuff you should know do in science playlists on the iHeart Radio App, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. [Music] Navo.

Hey Michelle here, I just wanted to give you a heads up. This is our last episode about Jacob and Levant's fraud, but we've got three bonus episodes still to come. In them, we'll cover the shocking

“network of corruption around this case. What life is like inside the order, and the thriving”

criminal underworld of the bio-fuel industry? So be sure to keep listening. All right, here we go, the final showdown. Over a half a dozen federal agents and prosecutors are huddled in what they call their war run. Stacks of boxes and binders clutter the conference table. It's tense in there. We're sitting as a team, and we have a conversation about like, do we let them go? Are they coming

back? Like what do we do? It's August 2018, and the federal investigation has been thrust into absolute chaos by Jacob Kingston. It popped up in our systems that he had bought this plain ticket to go from Salt Lake City to Turkey. But Jacob hasn't just bought a ticket for himself. The system is showing tickets for his wife Sally, his sons, and their wives too. So we were like, hey, this is different. This one is definitely different. And my co-case agent and I are like, if we let them go,

they're never coming back. Tyler Hatcher is certain. Jacob is about to flee to Turkey,

to build their case. We still had a lot of questions, a lot of unknowns.

“Author Eventchick, one of the prosecutors, knows that if they wait, they could still uncover more”

evidence. On the other hand, letting Jacob and his entire family fly off would be a massive

gamble. We decided, okay, we can't take the risk that he's going to go to Turkey and never come back.

Everyone in the room agrees. They're going to grab Jacob before he can get on that plane. In fact, they'll get him at the airport. That was part one. Part two, we knew that if we got Jacob Kingston, but not Levante mentioned, he would probably jet off to Turkey. And so we had to figure out a way to do an arrest of Levante mentioned at the same time that we were arresting Jacob Kingston. But arresting Levante, that's a whole other story. We were very concerned about going on to Levante

because he had security. And we don't want to have security doing anything crazy if we tried to

“arrest Levante. You have to remember the sky travels around with orange bodyguards. He is a dangerous guy.”

If there's a confrontation, things could get very ugly. The feds in this room need to come up with a ruse to separate Levante from his armed muscle. And they need a plan fast. Jacob Kingston's flight to Turkey is just days away. My name is Michelle McFeed and from the teams at novel in iHeart Podcasts, this is Kingdom of Fraud. Episode seven, last call.

The days after the feds learned about Jacob's escape plan, are frantic. In a frenzy, Tyler is applying for arrest warns. Coordinating was Salt Lake City Airport

“officials about how to nab someone at a busy international terminal. And he's still trying to figure”

out how to arrest Levante. But sometimes, the universe has a weird way of working. In the middle of all this mayhem, Tyler gets a call from another IRS agent out in L.A. Hey, we got this weirdest thing. Levante called in and he wants to come in and make a report about someone as like, "Oh, perfect." Put Tyler doesn't know. Levante is out of plastic about his former right-hand man.

A fellow Armenian who we went into business with. Levante claims that this dude has been skimming millions of dollars off the top of his companies. That this guy even stole a private jet from him. In now Levante is pissed off enough that he's willing to walk into a federal building to report this crook to the IRS. Even though he knows full well, he and Jacob are under the microscope. Tyler couldn't give two shits about Levante's personal beef. But this kind of serendipity,

Levante is about to make their jobs easy. The agents in L.A. schedule a meeting with Levante, on the exact day of Jacob's flight to Turkey. Thursday afternoon, August 23rd, 2018. The agent waiting to arrest Levante is Oleg Pomeraco. He's a special agent with the IRS like Tyler, and also a member of the Eurasian Organized Crime Task Force. That makes him an expert in

transnational criminals from former Soviet countries like Armenia. Levante was always in our radar.

We knew who he swam the streets. Now Oleg's waiting for him on the fifth floor of the IRS building in Los Angeles. Levante is exactly the sort of criminal Oleg lives to take down. I'm originally from Ukraine, then I moved to United States, and I decided like, I should work for the government because of I always wanted to fight the corruption in Ukraine and post-Soviet Union regions. There was a lot of corruption. And then this

one of the reasons why I left. On the afternoon of the faithful meeting, Levante arrives at the IRS

windows worth thick. Levante steps out. His body guards watch from the vehicle.

“The British were alarmed. He laughed his body guards in the car. There were waiting for him at”

the gas station. Wrath in the corner. To get into the federal building, Levante has to go through a security check. Obviously, no weapons allowed, and definitely no body guards. He walks in, pulls off his coachor belt, and unstraps his luxury watch. It's intricately designed. The dial is custom made to look like a golden oil rig. He gets weighed through the metal detector and rides up to the fifth floor in the elevator,

where he's greeted by Oleg. We sat down with him. I mean, you can tell the person's rage the way he handled himself. He's a colon. You can smell the colon. He was happy. He was smiling. He was talking to us. Looks like he was trying to work us up. He's very charming.

“The guy knows how to talk to people. Levante launches into the dirt. He wants to give them on his”

thieving business partner. He has a litany of complaints. Levante provided some information. What was the information? That's his partner's trying to screw him on a plane deal. That's the jet theft. Levante is a legend. But Oleg isn't really paying attention to any of this. Our agenda was not too less than to him. Our agenda was to put a handcuffs on him.

We talked to him for about 30 to 40 minutes.

Levante finishes his rant and then it's finally time. Oleg stands up and says,

"Thank you so much for information, Levante. I was great talking to you. But by the way, I can't let you go. You guys, what do you mean? You can let me go. I can't have a rest for you. And here's a clock. Are you joking? Now there's just another joke I'm that serious. I have a rest for and for you. And I showed it here." Levante stunned. He went from like a happy face to it was like from 100% to all the way to the zero. Oleg tells Levante his under arrest and walks

him through the building to an awaiting fed vehicle. Instead of being angry Oleg says, Levante starts chattering in his signature charming way. "You can tell like he was trying to work you off. Like I felt it. I felt it right away. I felt his manipulation. He was really friendly. He was trying to control and he was trying to get this much information as possible." But by now, it's late in the day. Oleg just wants to get Levante

booked and fingerprinted. He pulls out of the parking lot and joins the thousands of other cars caught in the early evening rush hour traffic to get Levante into a cell. It was going to be a

“long night. It was getting hungry a little bit. You have to feed him. You have to give him some food”

and ask him what you want. You want to sandwich, what would you like? He said, "No, just give me the Armenian pastries." Okay, so when let me write down what's Armenian bakery and I got him Armenian pastries. I love this scene. Oleg and another agent sharing our Armenian pastries with a suspected billion dollar fraudster, one with a terrifying reputation. But Oleg and his partner still can't fully relax. Not until they get Levante in a cell. They know all about his boys. They've seen the

armed bodyguards. There's always a chance someone tries something stupid. We'll look around

and make sure nobody's following us. Definitely you're adrenaline. What's running? But none of Levante's pals come out of the shadows. By the time Oleg finally books Levante into jail, it's dark. So he drives home to spend the evening with his family. In the end, it really was that simple with Levante. But hundreds of miles away in Utah, things haven't gone so smoothly with Jacob's arrest.

Jenny Kingston and her family, including her husband Jacob Jr., all a pile into a minivan. They're on their way to Salt Lake City airport to fly to Turkey. It was just going to be a vacation like we'll be there just for a week and then come back. It might feel like an escape from the suffocating reality of her life inside the Kingston mansion.

could have. We are always fighting. He played a lot of video games and would lie about being in

“school or work. Our house was always trashed because you'd never help and then I would be like,”

"Well, if you're not going to do anything then I'm not going to do anything and then it just was always trashed." Things are even tougher once they have kids, twin boys. They live in the guesthouse of the mansion Lebanne had picked out years earlier. Jenny alleges Jacob Jr. becomes abusive. Physically and all the other kinds. We reached out to Jacob Kingston Jr. for comment about these allegations, but we haven't heard back from him. It's important to note he hasn't been charged with abuse or

violent conduct. But this vacation to Turkey fits into what has become a pattern of Jenny's marriage. She says that her father-in-law has been organizing trips like this as a way to keep her marriage together, giving the couple a change of scenery. When it would get too bad, then Jacob would just

“like he'd be like, "I think we need another trip. Take a break and go somewhere so we like”

went to Oregon and went to California." And now, Turkey, without the kids. But getting into that minivan, Jenny is in the dark about her father-in-laws' real intentions. On the other side of town, special agents Tyler Hatcher, Steven Washburn, and their team are spread across Salt Lake City Airport, waiting for the Kingston. We knew their flight times, we knew the flight details, we knew what gate it was. Tyler and Steven position themselves

right by the gate. Tyler has also in touch with a second team sitting on the Kingston mansion.

We set up surveillance at the house, trying to see when they were going to leave just so we could make sure that they go to the airport. So the car leaves from their house. But the agents in a follow car have a problem. We can't verify who's in the car. They stay on the minivan all the way to the airport. Then the situation gets even more confusing. Car pulls into the parking garage they lose them. I'm in the airport on the radio with my earpiece

in. I'm like you guys have got to be kidding me. So I pull out from the gate area and I go up to departures just looking for the family because I know what Sally looks like and I know what the kids look like. So I'm looking around and funny enough, I bump into one of my neighbors and they start talking to me. I'm here in chatter in my ear trying to be polite and like hey I can't talk right now. Well not letting them know why I was at the airport. Then an agent tells Tyler

they've finally got eyes on the family. They can see Sally, Jake and Jr. Jenny,

another one of Jacob's sons and his wife. But we noticed that Jacob wasn't with him. So it's Sally and the kids and I'm like where's Jacob? We haven't seen him. I'm like what do you mean you haven't seen him? Nobody saw him from the house like we had didn't seem to get out of the car. They're like nope we haven't seen him. I'm like you got a kid. Tyler heads back to the gate, waiting to see if Jacob shows up. Steven stays on the family. I follow through security behind

Sally and her kids and waited for him and waited for him. No Jacob. I'm just hovering around the gate. Sally and the kids roll up. They take their seats. They're checked in. No big deal.

“Jacob still hasn't showed up. And I'm like guys what do we do? Is he just not going to go?”

Is he already there? What's going on? Literally they're calling to start loading passengers. And Sally's still sitting there. The airline literally does last call like we're going to shut the doors and Jacob comes walking up. And I was like oh thank God. It turns out this entire time, Jacob wasn't even in Utah. He's been in Texas and his plane just landed in Salt Lake. Whether he planned this specifically to evade capture or whether it's a coincidence doesn't matter.

The feds have him right where they want him. We walk up to the gate. Jenny is totally unaware of the feds warming all around her. We are standing in line to get on the plane and Jacob senior went first.

in handcuffs. If you ask where to room in handcuffs do the airport?

“I just remember them like walking past me with Jacob in handcuffs and he didn't look at us at all.”

He just was like looking down. He was pretty defeated at that point. I mean he was so close to his exit strategy and we picked him up right before he was able to get on that plane. Sally was freaking out. They just didn't know that it was going to happen. So she's like calling Levant, calling Baron, calling everyone that she knew to ask like what's going on. They just arrested him. But Sally obviously can't reach Levant. He's dealing with his own situation.

The king sends weight around helpless and then the gate closed. We were just standing there still.

With all our suitcases not knowing what's going on and then eventually then Sally was like okay

“let's just go home until we figure this out. So we just drove back home.”

Meanwhile, Jacob is being driven to jail. After spending tens of millions of dollars for protection from this very thing, none of Levant's boys show up to save him. Now the investigator's next challenge begins. There were very few people who truly knew everything about the fraud. Jacob Kingston is brother Isaiah Kingston and Levant mentioned. None of those people were giving us information as we were building the case. You're trying to figure out at

what point do I have enough pieces that I can convince a jury of 12 people beyond a reasonable doubt

that this billion dollar fraud was committed. Arthur and his team know that there is one

way to better their odds in a trial. Somehow they have to break down the fraud's central alliance. Jacob and Levant and persuade one to turn on the other. That's coming up after the break. In the moment, it felt like it was going on forever. I didn't think I was going to live. I was terrified. There was no anything inside those eyes. They turned black. It scared the hell out of me. That was your first murder case. Yes, sure. Fear to say this was the biggest case here,

career. Yes, sir. Red Lamar River Chang's 12 year old child. It battles against. I would think so. People wake up and the one that saw the murder, take place by crevents and the people. Anthony DiPipo showed no signs of remorse appearing unfazed after being sentenced to the maximum. I said I'm not guilty. I'll take it to the grave. Listen to the devil's quarry on the Ihard radio app, Apple podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

And to hear the devil's quarry at free with exclusive content, subscribe to Love of For Good Plus on Apple Podcasts. I love the sounds, the buzzing from the stadium, the chanting from the fans, the announcers calling the place soccer, football, at home. Why do I wish to walk up? That's like asking me "why do I breed?" I inherited that fandom from my mom. I like watching it with my dad. It's a connecting force. From Futuro Studios, I'm Fernando Chavari and this is American football.

I show about soccer culture in the U.S. and it's under dog roots. We go beyond the game to the people and the stories that make it great. I saw her game this festival. It's not just a game. It's your culture. I took an elbow to my head, which cracked my skull. It is an American game.

“The Brazilians don't like hearing that, though. Are they the only ones I don't like?”

Actually, nobody likes that. As we get ready for the men's world cup this summer, listen to American football as part of the Michael Thudapardcast Network, available on the Ihard radio app, Apple podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. We're going to have meaningful conversations with the world's most fascinating people. Like when actress Olivia Munn shared how she overcame fierce health challenges,

I've gone through breast cancer and then helped my mother through breast cancer.

depression. I was not prepared for post-parnaid anxiety. Listen to joy 101 with Hota Cotby on the

“Ihard radio app, Apple podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.”

High listeners on Michelle host of the Kingdom of Fraud podcast.

And I'm excited to share this incredible story with you. I'm also excited to tell you that you can

get access to all episodes of Kingdom of Fraud. 100% ad-free in one week early through the Ihard True Prime Plus subscription available exclusively on Apple podcasts. Plus, you'll get access to other chart topping True Prime shows you love. Like the girlfriends, the trail, the godmother, paper goes, piked in massacre, murder homes, unrestorable, and more. So don't wait, head to Apple podcasts, search for Ihard True Prime Plus, and subscribe today.

“Body bags is where you need to turn. There's no fluff. We do a deep dive into the forensics.”

Listen to body bags with Joseph Scott Morgan on America's #1 podcast network.

Ihard. Open your free Ihard app and search body bags with Joseph Scott Morgan and start listening. Jacob is Shitting Brex and a Salt Lake City jail. He's in one of those holding cells crowded with all kinds of mysteries. One day a new celly walks in. Jacob is shocked to see us live on. He's been flown from LA to Salt Lake City to a weight trial. The meeting is tense. Jacob is glowering at Levine. The man he previously thought was his friend. But no longer.

Jacob confronted Levine and was upset with him about this whole situation they're in. Levine is hardly the sort of man to eat shit from someone like Jacob. It gets ugly. Levine blames his family, the Kingston's for landing them behind bars. For once, Jacob explodes back. Jacob told Levine you're ruining my life. The chasm between them has opened up in that cell. A rift that the prosecutors will want to exploit.

I've been living with this case for years and years and you know had kind of gotten to know these guys through the tax messages and the emails and the accounts from Whittness says. Despite that, Arthur and the team know very little about the intricacies of Jacob and Levine's

relationship, how they first connected. The real power dynamics between them. In other words,

they don't know the story. In jury's need a narrative, especially in a case like this one, with a convoluted paper trail in no clear victim. On the day Jacob and Levine got arrested, the feds also scooped up Jacob's brother Isaiah and not long after they even arrest their mom Rachel and Jacob's wife Sally. This makes the prosecution really complicated. There are now multiple defendants facing a myriad of federal charges, all in one trial. Steven Washburn is working

with the prosecutors to build out the cases and present a clear story. It's mayhem and I just I remember dreading that feeling how are we going to keep this story from getting muddled and keep Levine from getting lost because it would be so easy for him to try and point the fingers that everyone else and everyone else is pointing the fingers. They need to avoid confusing the jury. We really felt like we had overwhelming evidence against these guys. So what if they change

“strategy and use all that evidence as leverage to get Jacob or Levine to turn on each other?”

We offered Levine the opportunity to plead guilty, but he was not seriously interested. Levine is clearly not going to roll. So that leaves them with just one other option, Jacob. Jacob hired top-notch lawyers. These guys reviewed the evidence and it's pretty clear they went to Jacob Kingston and said, "Your text. I mean they've got mountains of evidence against you."

Sitting in his cell, Jacob has to weigh his options. He could maintain his innocence and stick

“by Levine. Or he could plead guilty and cooperate with the government for a later sentence”

by testifying against Levine. A man he once considered family. A man who it seems, Jacob now fears. He truly believed that the umbrella of protection that the boys was real. He was terrified that Levine, to take care of him, that one of our agents was secretly working for Levine. Either way, he's screwed, but he decides to play the prosecutor's game.

We were kind of going back and forth with his attorneys on what a guilty plea might look like,

and those were all kind of hopeful signs. At the same time, we are worried that this is a distraction, because if he's not going to plead guilty, every hour that we'd spend working on this guilty plea is an hour that we don't have to build our case. Until the very last second, there's a chance Jacob could back out. So when he steps into the courtroom, for the hearing where he's supposed to plead guilty, everyone holds their breath. When he finally pleads guilty

in front of the judge, that's a huge moment. I mean, he pled guilty to a billion dollar attempted

fraud against American taxpayers. Jacob's plea isn't a get out of jail free card. He's going to prison, but he might be able to get out in time to see his grandkids grow up. Soon, Jacob's first wife Sally, his brother Isaiah and Nair Mom Rachel all make their own deals to cooperate against Levant. The feds hope they'll help them get their great white whale. Jacob will be the star witness. The first time we interviewed him, it was in a secure government

“building. He was transported in this armored vehicle, which in retrospect, I think it's spooked him”

a little bit. All this security, it just intensifies Jacob's fear that Levant is coming after him. Arthur and Stephen a swage him that he's safe as he starts to spill his guts. I was curious to meet the guy to kind of see what he was actually like to understand him better. And then you meet Jacob Kingston and he's kind of underwhelming. He is this shy engineer who has a lot of trouble recalling events because not particularly eloquent or good with his words.

Jacob's story is that it was Levant who controlled the entire operation, which was the agent's

“suspicion. But remember, Levant's name is barely on any of the paperwork. The case will come”

down to Jacob's word against Levant's. Jacob also reveals the vast network of dirty law enforcement surrounding Levant. This whole time, Jacob thinks he's been paying them for protection. But it's becoming pretty clear that they haven't done very much to keep Jacob out of jail. Even the feds can see that Jacob is a little delusional about this so called umbrella of protection. It's very murky, but he understood it to involve high-ranking federal law enforcement

officials, FBI officials, maybe even the CIA. And they were apparently very connected to Levant to mention, and Veronica Mas. Here's the crazy thing. There was a big wig FBI agent convicted in connection with this case. There was a dirty homeland security agent, not to mention the corrupt Glendale Police Detective. And Veronica, the Turkish businessman allegedly helping Jacob in Levant laundered the fraud money, does have a reported relationship with former CIA director James Walsy.

It seems that with all of these US intelligence connections in the mix, Jacob became an easy mark for a shake-down. But it becomes clear, no one is coming to save him or Levant.

wire fraud by federal prosecutors, but he still hasn't been tried, and he has pleaded not guilty

to all charges. We've tried to reach him for comment, but he hasn't responded. As I record this, he's a free man, and no trial date has been set. Judging from his very active, LinkedIn, and ex-presence, he lives in New York City. Veronica Mas is a frequent topic of discussion between Jacob and Stephen Washburn, who spends dozens of hours going down memory lane with him, rehashing the last 10 years of his life. Jacob opened up to him more than anyone else

“have spoken to. I think he was just ready to be done with it all. He had almost a feeling of relief”

when we met with him. And yeah, there were some points where I felt like he was upset with Levant, but he's upset with himself mostly. Once it all got before him and hit him, the amount of Friday committed, the amount of lies he said his facade was crumbled down. He, I think, just looked at himself and like, "I'm a bad, terrible person. I'm just a total scumbag." After many months of extracting Jacob's version of the conspiracy, which puts the blame

squarely at Levant's feet, the feds are finally ready for his trial.

The United States first has lived Aslan, German, is scheduled for January 2020 in Salt Lake City. After the jury has been seated, the government is ready to present their key co-operator. Jacob lumbars into the courtroom. He takes this seat on the witness stand looking down at Levant,

“and for the next six days, Jacob repeatedly throws his former friend and protector under the bus.”

After the break, it's the end times. In the moment, it felt like it was going on forever. I didn't think I was going to live. I was terrified. There was no anything inside those eyes. They turned black. It scared the hell out of me.

That was your first murder case. Yes, sure.

Fear to say, this was the biggest case you're career? Yes. Right, the murder of Sean's 12-year-old child. The battles against. I would think so. People wake up and the woman saw the murder, paid place by crevents and the people. Anthony DiPipo showed no signs of remorse, appearing unfazed after being sentenced to the maximum. Listen to the devil's quarry on the Ihard radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

And to hear the devil's quarry add free with exclusive content, subscribe to love a fruit-good plus on Apple Podcasts. I love the sounds. The buzzing from the stadium, the chanting from the fans,

“the announcers calling the place soccer, football, at home. Why do I wash the work up?”

That's like asking me, why do I breed? I inherited that fandom from my mom. I think watching it was my dad. It's a connecting force. From Futuro Studios, I'm Fernando Chavari and this is American Football. I show about soccer culture in the US and it's under dog roots. We go beyond the game to the people and the stories that make it great.

A soccer game is festival. It's not just a game. It's your culture. I took an elbow to my head, which cracked my skull. It is an American game. The Brazilians don't like hearing that though. Are they the only ones I don't like? Actually, nobody likes that.

As we get ready for the Men's World Cup this summer, listen to American Football as part of the Michael Thudapardcast Network, available on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Hey, I'm Hota Katt, the host of the podcast, Joy 101 with Hota Kattbe, together. We're going to have meaningful conversations with the world's most fascinating people.

Like when actress Olivia Mann shared how she overcame fierce health challenges, I've gone through breast cancer and then helped my mother through breast cancer. And that was more difficult. There's a lot of people who understand post-harmored question. I was not prepared for post-harmored anxiety. Listen to Joy 101 with Hota Kattbe on the iHeartRadio app,

Hi listeners, I'm Michelle, host of the Kingdom of Fraud podcast.

“And I'm excited to share this incredible story with you.”

I'm also excited to tell you that you can get access to all episodes of Kingdom of Fraud. 100% ad-free in one week early through the iHeart True Crime Plus subscription available exclusively on Apple Podcasts. Plus, you'll get access to other chart-topping True Crime shows you love, like The Girl Friends, The Trail, The Godmother, Paper Ghost, Piked In Massacre, Murderhomes, Unrestorable, and More. So don't wait, head to Apple Podcasts search for iHeart True Crime

Plus, and subscribe today.

Behind these cases that we hear about in the news,

“body bags is where you need to turn. There's no fluff. We do a deep dive into the forensics.”

Listen to body bags with Joseph Scott Morgan on America's #1 podcast network. iHeart open your free iHeart app and search body bags with Joseph Scott Morgan and start listening. Jacob Kingston takes the stand against Levant for six full days, some of which you've heard during the show, read by my producer Jake. But look, the prosecutors know that as someone trying to save his own ass, Jacob's credibility is suspect. It is very reasonable for every single

juror to have significant doubts about whether they can believe anything that Jacob Kingston sets. And that's why throughout the trial, we painstakingly presented corroborating evidence in the form of testimony from other insiders, but also the defendant's own statements in videos and in text messages, bank records. Levant's defense hammers the obvious. Arguing that it's Jacob's name on all the people work,

while Levant is barely mentioned. His theory of the case, as presented by his lawyers was that he was a buyer of buy a fuel from Jacob Kingston. And that that was the extent of their relationship. And so to the extent Jacob Kingston was committing fraud, he knew nothing about it had no involvement in it. When I talk to Satarra Kasim, one of Levant's attorneys, she continues to maintain this narrative,

and she continues to fight to prove Levant's innocence. In fact, she says Levant never even considered

Jacob a friend. I don't think he thought about Jacob like that. He was a business partner in terms of their initial relationship that Neul was buying fuel from Jacob and then Jacob needed a place

“to invest money that he had and he made the introduction to Barnes and I think that was really”

the scope of the relationship. Friend or not, one thing is for sure. Jacob and his family spent a lot of time with Levant. Jacob testified he was among the mourners at Levant's wife's funeral. Jenny Kingston told us he paid for her wedding on that yacht in Turkey. She also says Levant and Baran came to stay with them and Utah often enough that she called them family. There are countless photos of Levant and Jacob together, hanging out in Turkey and Belize, stating next to various

shiny expensive vehicles posing in front of Levant's private jet. In the end though, it's down to the jury to decide who's story they buy. I felt pretty good that we were going to get a conviction. It was a perfect defense, the credibility of every single witness was really, really challenged. I mean, there were no credible witnesses left in this case. The seven-week trial culminates in March just as

the COVID pandemic erupts. There's, as you can imagine, a lot of antsy energy waiting for the final word from the jury on this. In the end, jurors deliberate for two days. And then, at one thirty p.m. on March 16th, 2020, a verdict has been reached. The defendant comes in,

judge that they have reached a verdict and hands over the jury form. And then, the jury verdict

“proceeds by count. The first count conspiracy to commit malafraud was the big count.”

And so, when they said guilty, that was a huge sigh of relief. It's guilty on all counts. Conspiracy to commit malafraud guilty, concealment of malafraud guilty, guilty, guilty, guilty, guilty. It's a big win for the federal government. It's a huge relief and, you know, culmination of so much work. And, at the same time, you know, the defendant is getting a verdict that is

changing the course of their life. Levant could face decades in prison.

He didn't really have much of a reaction. His son was crying. I kind of went after his son to comfort him. I was crying. And I thought it was the end of the world. I just couldn't believe it. By the time of their sentencing, which only happens years later, I'm already reporting on this story for LA Magazine. I fly out to Salt Lake City to be in the courtroom for the action. As Levant, Jacob and his family all find out their fate. It was especially fascinating to see Levant in person.

He really is wildly charismatic. At one point, I even saw a court officer approached the defense table and shake Levant's hand. The judge in this case was also riveting. She was almost too nice, even comforting to all of these suspects. I was thinking the whole time, these guys are just going to get slaps on the wrists. Then, bam, she hits them hard. Sally gets six years in prison. Jacob's mom Rachel, seven. Isaiah, Jacob's brother, twelve years. Jacob, even with his cooperation,

is sentenced to 18 years in prison. But the judge saves her real iron full of bond. The only one in the case that didn't cut a deal. He is hit with a 40 year sentence, which at his age could mean spending the rest of his life in prison. How is your client doing? Where is he now? Where's he being held? He's in Vectorville. He's an older guy, so I don't think he's involved in any, you know,

“action in prison. I think he probably just sits there and watches TV, eats his commissary and”

reads books. As I record this, Jacob is locked up in a high security federal prison in Tucson. He's due to be released in 2032. But returning home to his family and the order might be tricky. Because on the witness stand, he didn't just spill about Lavod. He detailed a lot of the inner workings of the order, including money links between his company, Wari, and order linked businesses. I questioned if he cared about protecting the family. Andrew Robinson, Jacob's half-brother,

was still in the order during the trial. He didn't seem to care who he was going to throw under the bus because it seemed like he was just complying with whatever they want. Which is what you're supposed to do year under oath. Jacob claimed he gave $30 million from the scheme to the order, which they told us was payment for, quote, legitimate services or to repay money already loaned. Jacob also testified about using the fraud money to pay off his father's debt in the order,

which prosecutors claim was $17 million. Jacob's dad, Daniel, didn't respond to our request

for comment. Now to be clear, the order was never charged with taking part in Jacob in Lavod's fraud.

Neither was it's leader, Paul Kingston, who wasn't arrested or implicated in this conspiracy.

“Steven Washburn says that the order has stepped back from Jacob. I think Jacob feels like he is a”

fall guy, when it all came crashing down, he was left holding the bag and everyone else had walked out of the room. In the end, Jacob is left without a single penny of the money he stole. He's essentially been excommunicated by his family. The order told us they find Jacob's actions,

It can't be overstated. What should piss off every single one of us is how easy it was for these

guys to get half a billion dollars of our money. And they are at the only ones. In total,

many billions of dollars have been lost to fraudsters in the renewable fuel space alone. Even the agents working this case couldn't believe what a shit show the industry was. It's pretty obnoxious when I look at how easy it was. It got to the point where it was hard to wrap your head around the amount of money. To the point, it became a joke. We're used to working like 10 million dollar cases as a huge case. And now you're like 10 million dollars goes out.

And you don't like think too much about it because there's hundreds of millions more behind it.

It's somewhere else. I was pissed. I was angry because it should not be so easy for people to

rip off my employer. I mean taxpayer money going out the door like that just it cuts against everything we do. I couldn't believe like the more I dug into this program kind of at large. I was shocked to see the lack of guardrails and the lack of checks and balances. And like

“how a company that existed for I think at that time maybe a couple of years was able to make”

claims in the hundreds of millions of dollars. Like nobody did their homework. [Music]

I kind of knew at the beginning that I didn't want to be with him. Like I wanted to leave.

But I just didn't see it as an option. I didn't see how I could get out. And then also like I still believed the order was right. After Jacob and Sally are arrested, Jenny Kingston's life doesn't change all that much. She's still living with Jacob Jr. raising their twin boys. And Jenny says their marriage hasn't gotten any better. She tries to get support in the order, advice on how to deal with the continuing abuse she alleges.

What she's told by elders in the group and even members of her own family is troublesome.

“I'm maybe very upset. It's just a test. It's just a test. All you need to do is please”

one over you and you'll make it happen. One day, Jenny claims Jacob Jr.'s abuse reaches an entirely new level. We got on a big fight and he threw me guess the wall in front of my boys. Jenny can't stomach the idea of her sons of watching this. That's when she decides to leave. She will take the boys and start a new life away from Jacob Jr. and the order. We've reached out to Jacob Jr. for comment, but he hasn't responded. It's worth noting he has not been

charged with abuse or violent conduct. And the order told us they quote "encourage anyone who is experiencing abuse to seek help from the authorities immediately." In any case, Jenny decides to leave the order. She joins forces with a friend. Together, they line up a job and an apartment on the outside and then one day, Jenny just drives off to start a new life with her kids.

Maybe a year later than my fucking realized it clicked in my brain. I was brainwashed my entire life and I started just learning so much about myself and about the order and about this world. And why we're here and all the connection to Earth like everything.

“So in my head, like I just created something that I am at peace with believing. I think that we are”

just here to experience and when we die, then we'll go on to another experience like karma. If you do bad things to people in this lifetime, like you're gonna pay for it. In the order, all Jenny has ever done is follow. I feel like I just wasn't a person as a little robot. But she's done with that now. Today, Jenny wants to do things differently. She wants her sons to do things differently.

I want them to know that they have options. They can make their own choice. They can speak for

not living the order standards. But Jenny isn't the only influence on the kids.

“She and Jacob Jr. are divorced now, but she says they still share custody.”

So the boys, Jacob Kingston's grandsons, still spend a lot of time living in the order. I'm the only one in their life that doesn't believe what they believe in. They are already brainwashed already in their seven. Like they come home to me saying, the Emily father is gonna tell them who they're supposed to marry and their dreams. Like no,

you're gonna experience and date a lot of girls figure out what you like, what you don't like.

No, no, that's bad. That's breaking order standards. They don't believe me. They're just like, now you're wrong. Daddy's right. For these kids, there are two roads.

“He's a following the order is intoxicating promise of eternal life in the kingdom of God,”

or taking control of their own lives. Time will tell what they choose. [Music] Kingdom of fraud is produced by novel from iHeart Podcasts. For more from novel visit novel.odio. The show is hosted by me, Michelle McPhee, and produced by Jake Otayovic. It's reported by me

and Jake Otayovic. Our system produces our megandee and amalia sortland. With additional production from myron Kaplan and Liz Sanchez, our editor is Sandra Schmuelli, production management from Shari Huston, Joe Savage, and Charlotte Wolff. Our fact chapter is Fendell Fulton. Sound designed and mixing by Mark Pittum, original music composed and performed by Nicholas Alexander in Daniel Compton. Music supervision from Jake Otayovic, Sandra Schmuelli,

and Max O'Brien. Willard fofston is creative director at novel. Our executive producers are me, Michelle McPhee, Max O'Brien, and Craig Stracken, for novel and Stephanie Len. Katrina Norvell and Nikki E. Torre are the executive producers for iHeart Podcasts, and the marketing lead is Alice and Canter. Special thanks to Carrie Lieberman, Will Pearson, and the whole team at WME. It's that time to put on your jersey and wave your flag, whoever you root for. Why do I

wish to walk up? That's like asking me, why do I breed? And it's beautiful. The guys are young and

“cute, and fat. It's not PSA game. It's your culture. I think watching it was like that. It's a connecting force.”

From Fultonos Studios, I'm Fernanda Chavari, and this is American Football. I show about soccer culture in the US and its underdog roots. Listen to American football on the iHeart Radio App, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

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High listeners on Michelle host of the Kingdom of Fraud podcast, and I'm excited to share

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