Celebrity Surgeon Used Love, Money, the Pope to Scam NBC Pro

[ttt]

Damn.

[mrsd2006]

Wow.

[saz]

Wow that's crazy. I am oddly fascinated with con man stories - like Catch Me If You Can - but I always figured it was kind of a dying thing with the internet. This really proves it isn't. So insane.

[Deleted]

How did they not ask about the kids?

[nsl]

OMG

[picksthemusic]

That is BSC.

[expatpumpkin]

Just who was supposed to pay for this multimillion $$$ wedding? Unless he was a marquis or something, this level of wealth for a European doctor just isn't credible. At all.

Andrea Bocelli, catered by Enoteca, officiated by the Pope??? Come on!!! None of this raised red flags with her or her friends?

And I want to know who paid for those wedding invites. And her dresses. I truly feel sorry for her - how devastating and embarrassing - but she had some serious blinders on.

[thejackpot]

This is really foolishness and I feel zero sympathy for her.

[bears]

I'm not really clear--while he was legitimately brilliant, how much of his resume was B.S.? Was he qualified to do these surgeries?

[bears]

Jan 6, 2016 20:24:48 GMT -5 @licia said:

Jan 6, 2016 20:19:45 GMT -5 bears said:

I'm not really clear--while he was legitimately brilliant, how much of his resume was B.S.? Was he qualified to do these surgeries?

I think the implication - with the multiple failures of the procedure - is that he likely isn't qualified. Or at least that's how I read it. He's conned everyone into believing that he's this brilliant, groundbreaking surgeon, when he probably is not an expert in that field. He's a doctor, but after that, who knows?

So do hospitals in Europe not check with medical boards? In the US all this info is verified through state medical boards.

[josieposy]

Woah!

[jeaniebueller]

Did he do any of these surgeries? What a bizarre story.

[elleblue]

Jan 6, 2016 20:24:48 GMT -5 @licia said:

Jan 6, 2016 20:19:45 GMT -5 bears said:

I'm not really clear--while he was legitimately brilliant, how much of his resume was B.S.? Was he qualified to do these surgeries?

I think the implication - with the multiple failures of the procedure - is that he likely isn't qualified. Or at least that's how I read it. He's conned everyone into believing that he's this brilliant, groundbreaking surgeon, when he probably is not an expert in that field. He's a doctor, but after that, who knows?

I thought it was implying that he pushed the procedures when the efficacy and safety of artificial tracheas was still relatively unknown. So not that his surgical skills were lacking but that he was overconfident in the procedure itself. 

[forreals]

That was riveting. Thank you for including pictures.
That blue dress is amazing.

[bowies]

I am agog that she believed him. Every world leader has needed thoracic surgery? AND THE POPE WAS GOING TO MARRY THEM AT HIS HOUSE?

It wasn't clear if the woman at the end was the Italian wife or a third woman in this mess. I'm assuming the latter.

[mouse]

The pictures make it seem even crazier, but I can't quite put my finger on why.

[mouse]

Jan 6, 2016 21:40:12 GMT -5 bowies said:

I am agog that she believed him. Every world leader has needed thoracic surgery? AND THE POPE WAS GOING TO MARRY THEM AT HIS HOUSE?

It wasn't clear if the woman at the end was the Italian wife or a third woman in this mess. I'm assuming the latter.

Secret thoracic surgery! And no one noticed their absence or recovery.

I get the feeling that every time she seemed ready to come back to reality, he took it up a notch. "Of course the Pope will do the wedding, even though we're both divorced and you're not Catholic. Did I mention the famous opera singer yet? Oh must have slipped my mind."

[tacosforlife]

Jan 6, 2016 20:08:43 GMT -5 thejackpot said:

This is really foolishness and I feel zero sympathy for her.

I'm really trying to because this guy is clearly an asshole of epic proportions. But they'd both been married before and hadn't had those marriages annulled and she actually thought the pope would be performing her wedding? The fuck? No. That's not how it works!

[kmpls]

So, if she hadn't called of the wedding what would have happened? What was his plan? Who paid for the dresses, inites, etc? We're the clintons etc really going?

so many questions. 

Does she have a job now? She looks like a crazy entitled bitch in the photos. Hopefully they are just high fashion shots or something. :/

[downtoearth]

Whoa - a surgeon con man in this day and age? I'm just surprised.

I'm glad she didn't show up for the wedding and has the publicity to expose him, but man, how embarrassing to get this far and then realize it wasn't real.

I'm with kmpls also - what would have happened when she showed up to get married and nobody was coming except her friends/family and it wasn't being officiated by the Pope?!

[bowies]

Jan 6, 2016 23:33:20 GMT -5 kmpls said:

So, if she hadn't called of the wedding what would have happened? What was his plan? Who paid for the dresses, inites, etc? We're the clintons etc really going?

so many questions. 

Does she have a job now? She looks like a crazy entitled bitch in the photos. Hopefully they are just high fashion shots or something. :/

I'm assuming he paid for the dresses and invites since he wasn't spending his money on reception hall deposits. I'm also assuming he would manufacture a crisis near the wedding date that would necessitate postponing the wedding or require them to elope.

He doesn't know the Clintons like that lol.

[ttt]

Jan 7, 2016 8:06:36 GMT -5 1234FIF! said:

I'm still trying to figure out how her friends spent money to fly across the ocean to stand in the street and make small talk with this man. Had it been me or my friends, we would have been asking who is this woman and who are these kids? Asking her "do you know this mofo is a liar and a con man?" And fuck giving him a bottle of wine. They wasted good money and vacation time for nothing. If you are going to show up, SHOW OUT, hell, otherwise stay home and cry over Starbucks and Ben & Jerrys. LOL

I do not get this part AT ALL. What were they trying to do?? What was the point of that?? I would have hurled that bottle of wine at his sorry ass, not given it to him as a gift. 

[eclaires]

I think he was probably good at scamming people, but I think she's also delusional and was particularly susceptible. I mean, she seems to have some of her own issues with lying and embellishing - like covering the wedding?

[nikki25]

Jan 6, 2016 22:25:02 GMT -5 tacosforlife said:

Jan 6, 2016 20:08:43 GMT -5 thejackpot said:

This is really foolishness and I feel zero sympathy for her.

I'm really trying to because this guy is clearly an asshole of epic proportions. But they'd both been married before and hadn't had those marriages annulled and she actually thought the pope would be performing her wedding? The fuck? No. That's not how it works!

Okay, I am glad someone else thinks this, lol. I don't know if the article purposely did this but it really makes her very unsympathetic. She seemed to love the extravagant lifestyle clearly and seemed very money hunger or something.

The thing that really bothered me was when she was contacted by a friend who stated he lied about the Pope and he will not be officiating the wedding. She states that she immediately canceled the wedding. Really lady? It really came off princess-y, like, " omg, the pope isn't actually officiating the wedding, well, I am NOT getting married now! How dare he. I will not have a no-name marry us!" :stomps feet:

And lol that she wore a blonde wig to hide her appearance while she sat in a car two blocks away. That story was about 25 paragraphs too long.

[jeaniebueller]

So basically she violated ethics as a journalist by her involvement with him and bought this guy's tale, hook, line and sinker? Had she ever met these people who were supposedly going to attend their weddings--the Obamas, Clintons, etc.? Also, I am heavily side eyeing NBC for not having discovered these discrepancies in this background as part of their story. Shouldn't they have looked into that?

[bowies]

60 Minutes should make a one-hour special about this story and submit it for Emmy contention.

[ttt]

Jan 7, 2016 8:42:39 GMT -5 nikki25 said:

Jan 6, 2016 22:25:02 GMT -5 tacosforlife said:

I'm really trying to because this guy is clearly an asshole of epic proportions. But they'd both been married before and hadn't had those marriages annulled and she actually thought the pope would be performing her wedding? The fuck? No. That's not how it works!

Okay, I am glad someone else thinks this, lol. I don't know if the article purposely did this but it really makes her very unsympathetic. She seemed to love the extravagant lifestyle clearly and seemed very money hunger or something.

The thing that really bothered me was when she was contacted by a friend who stated he lied about the Pope and he will not be officiating the wedding. She states that she immediately canceled the wedding. Really lady? It really came off princess-y, like, " omg, the pope isn't actually officiating the wedding, well, I am NOT getting married now! How dare he. I will not have a no-name marry us!" :stomps feet:

And lol that she wore a blonde wig to hide her appearance while she sat in a car two blocks away. That story was about 25 paragraphs too long.

Yeah, I feel like there was a lot missing from the story. Did she tell him she was canceling the wedding? What did he say? What happened there?

I don't feel particularly bad for her either, because it sounds like she just enjoyed the money and prestige too much to use an ounce of critical thinking skills. And really? You're a journalist but you can't even use the most basic of investigative skills to find out your subject's marital status? 

[nikki25]

Anyone catch the thing about the invitations? It was lambskin, fucking lambskin! Poor lambs, lol.

[nikki25]

Also, I completely lol'd that her friends gave him a bottle of wine then he immediately walked across the street and chucked it in the neighbor trash right in front of them. The mental image is killing me.

[noradog]

Jan 7, 2016 8:29:47 GMT -5 ttt said:

Jan 7, 2016 8:06:36 GMT -5 1234FIF! said:

I'm still trying to figure out how her friends spent money to fly across the ocean to stand in the street and make small talk with this man. Had it been me or my friends, we would have been asking who is this woman and who are these kids? Asking her "do you know this mofo is a liar and a con man?" And fuck giving him a bottle of wine. They wasted good money and vacation time for nothing. If you are going to show up, SHOW OUT, hell, otherwise stay home and cry over Starbucks and Ben & Jerrys. LOL

I do not get this part AT ALL. What were they trying to do?? What was the point of that?? I would have hurled that bottle of wine at his sorry ass, not given it to him as a gift. 

And why in all hell would they tell him they were sorry it didn't work out between him and their friend?  That whole section was bizarre.