03x05 - The Love b*mb Loan and Beard Product Heist

[bunniefuu]

You loaned him money.
He didn't pay you back.

We were sending money back and forth
to each other.

Then you kept dating him and
giving him more money.

[laughs] I was vulnerable.

I would say we both were vulnerable.

And you're also, you know,
a little bit of a con guy.

Mm-hmm.

[announcer]
This is Judy Justice.

[theme music playing]

Rebecca Dooley is suing her ex-boyfriend,
Isaih Quinones,

for an unpaid loan and
unauthorized credit card charges.

[bailiff]
Court, come to order. All rise.

Have a seat, please.

-[bailiff] Hello, Judge.
-Hello, Kevin.

Case #3001, Dooley versus Quinones.

-Thank you.
-You're welcome.

Miss Dooley, what kind of work do you do?

I do personal training and
an esthetician.

And how long have you
been doing that?

I just started personal training this May
and I've been doing lashes since...

-You've been doing what?
-Lashes.

-Lashes?
-Esthetician, yeah.

-How long have you been doing that?
-[Rebecca] Since 2018.

Okay. Mr. Quinones was
a short-term boyfriend.

[Rebecca]
We were never together, we were dating.

You were dating.

Dating sufficiently, that he
asked you for, according to you,

some money for an investment
that he wanted to make.

According to you, he asked you for a loan.
And that loan was for $10,000.

Correct.

In what month and year did he ask you
for this loan?

August, 2021.

And how long had you known him
in August of 2021?

[Rebecca]
About a month.

You know that that doesn't sound terribly
intelligent to me, and you look like a...

-very intelligent person.
-It wasn't very intelligent.

[Judy] So, you knew him for a month,
he asked you for $10,000.

And he told you it was for a business
he was thinking about going into.

And that business was buying and then
reselling cars.

Yes, Your Honor.

[Judy] Yeah. And according to you,
you gave him the $10,000

and he was supposed to pay you back,
he never did.

Now he's not your boyfriend anymore,
you want the money back.

Where did you get the money from
to give him?

-I just saved it. Yeah.
-You have proof of that?

Miss Dooley, I'm not invested in
your story, so far. You understand that?

Yes.

Because if he asked you for an investment
in August of 2021...

-That's what you said.
-Yes.

And he asked you, according to you
and according to his answer,

$10,000, right?

According to you. According to his answer,
"she sent me $10,000."

And he acknowledges that.
He acknowledges that you sent him $10,000.

You know who doesn't acknowledge that?

Moi. I do not acknowledge that.

Now, in August of 2021,
you sent him $3,605.

Do you know that I don't believe that
that was $10,000

for a bunch of cars and investment?
Then, you didn't send him money again,

according to this, you sent him $200
the end of October.

Then you sent him another $200.
Then you sent him $100.

Then you sent him $2,500,
and it says in that, "for car."

It says in that one, "for car."
That was, oh, my God,

it looks like it was sometime in October,
although I don't have dates on this one.

Now, if you were gonna try to convince me
that this was a $10,000 loan

that you made to him,
you're going to have to show me,

contemporaneously with this August, 2021,
some communication with him. Okay?

[Rebecca]
Okay.

Thank you.

This is August 11. "Where's my moola?"
Would that be you?

[Rebecca]
I sent that.

-[Judy] August of what year?
-[Rebecca] 2021.

August 11 of 2021, you say, where's
my money? What are you talking about?

The $5,000 he promised for the car.

When he sold the car, he was gonna give me
$15,000 back.

You hadn't given him that money
in August of 2021.

[Rebecca]
It just doesn't say the dates.

No, but this doesn't say anything
about $10,000, madam.

[Rebecca]
They're just broken up, that's why.

I understand it's broken up,
but it's broken up in October.

No, that was on top of the $10,000.

[Judy]
Well, just show me the $10,000.

[Rebecca]
Well, it's broken up, so I highlighted it.

You have $2,500, but
it's listed under October dates.

I don't understand this $3,605.

What was $3,605 for, Mr. Quinones?
Do you remember?

I don't remember that number,
no, Your Honor.

I don't remember what it was used for.

She sent you other monies over
a period of time; $200, $100, $200...

What was that for?

Those smaller amounts, Your Honor, those
were probably just when we were dating

and we were sending money
back and forth to each other for...

[Judy] Show me that you were
sending her money.

No, he was just always asking for money.

Well, why were you giving it to him?

Because I felt bad 'cause he was broke

and he said he couldn't buy his daughter
Christmas presents.

-[Judy] So what?
-In October.

[Rebecca]
I'm a giver!

Well, then what are you
coming to court for?

To get my loan back that he said
he was gonna pay me back.

-Really? He said he was gonna pay...
-[Rebecca] The little amounts are nothing.

Oh, I understand that. You understand
that I am actually getting you.

However, you loaned him money,
according to you, in August of 2021.

He didn't pay you back. You asked him
for money because you said he sold a car.

Right? And he never sent it to you.

-Right?
-Yes.

-And after that, you sent him more money.
-[Rebecca] Yeah.

[Judy]
And kept sending him money, for months.

So, each time you sent him more money,

he never made one payment
on this alleged loan.

'Cause he's a narcissist and
he love-bombed me.

-[Judy] He what?
-[Rebecca] Love-bombed me.

What is that?

It's a term that narcissists do when
they pretend that they're somebody else.

Like making promises...

Well, that's an old story
but that's not a court case.

If you give him money and
he says this is for this,

when I sell a car, I'll give it
back to you, that's great.

And then he sells a car,
he doesn't give you any money,

and then you give him more money.
And he still doesn't give you any money,

and he needs more money,
so you sent him more money.

At some point,
you have to say to yourself,

"This is not a loan anymore,
this is my own stupidity."

She says I keep secrets
or I'm a liar.

I honestly know
I'm not a liar.

Maybe a bad businessman,
but not...

You're a bad business man
and you're also,

you know,
a little bit of a con guy.

[announcer]
And later today...

He rented a car
to come to help you.

You hadn't actually
met him before.

And he was going to stay with you
on your sofa.

You felt uncomfortable
about him

being in the house
when your children were home

so you asked him to leave.

Seems to me that you both
made some bad choices.

[theme music playing]

[announcer] Rebecca Dooley claims
her ex-boyfriend, Isaih Quinones,

sold multiple cars that she paid for
and kept all the money.

Now, you have to say to yourself,
this is not a loan anymore,

this is my own stupidity. Right?

Yeah, well, he was telling me that he was
gonna get a check coming in the mail.

He sent me screen shots.
He was on the phone with some people

that owed him a check that he sent me,
that they were gonna give it to him.

Mr. Quinones, what were you
supposed to do with this money?

I was supposed to purchase vehicles
to flip them and earn money on them.

-Is that what you told her?
-Yes, ma'am.

I see that you have a paucity of evidence
in front of you,

which means very little evidence
in front of you.

How many cars did you buy?

-I bought two, Your Honor.
-When?

Uh, in August of that year.

[Judy]
Okay. And how much did you pay for them?

All together, it was $9,500
it came out to in total.

And how much did you sell them for?

I actually lost money on them, Your Honor.
So, I actually

ended up getting back about $8,000.

And how much did you put in, sir,
of your money

into the $9,000 that you spent
on the two cars?

Nothing into the $9,000...

Fine. So, you put nothing into the $9,000
and you got back $8,000.

[Isaih]
Yes, Your Honor.

So, that $8,000 was her money.

Yes, Your Honor.

[laughs] That $8,000 was her money.
Your investment was losing,

but so far, you're ahead of the game
$8,000.

Yes, Your Honor.

Right? So far, you've got $8,000 in your
pocket and you put in Zip-a-Dee-Doo-Dah.

-Yes, ma'am.
-[Judy] And... keep going.

The next time around, I...

What do you mean the next time around?

I told her I was gonna
purchase more vehicles.

[Judy]
Yeah, and?

And I actually put some of my own money in
at that time, as well.

So, I put back in another $2,000 myself.

And how much did you spend for those cars?

[Isaih]
It came out to $10,000 altogether.

[Judy] $10,000 altogether.
-Altogether.

Okay. And of that $10,000,
$8,000 was hers.

-[Isaih] Yes.
-And what'd you do with those cars?

I sold those vehicles, Your Honor.

How much did you sell them for?

Altogether, both cars
came out to about $7,500.

-So, I lost money.
-So, you're a lousy businessman, sir.

[Isaih]
I was at selling cars, yes.

You were a miserable businessman
and you were, according to you,

your track record
is consistently miserable.

Yes, Your Honor, that's why I
got out of that and stopped selling cars.

Okay, let's say I believe you.

Is that what you told her, you ended up
losing money on both things?

-'Cause that's what you said.
-Yes, Your Honor.

It was an investment, not a loan,
but we didn't make money.

Yes, Your Honor.

Right. But so far, if I take your figures,
you had $8,000 of her money

[Isaih]
Yes, Your Honor.

You put in $2,000 of your own money,
and then bought cars for $10,000.

Sold those cars for $7,500.
So, best case scenario,

best case scenario, if you take back
your $2,000 investment,

you still have $5,000 of her money.

Yes, Your Honor. And this was
never a issue because, like Rebecca said,

we were supposedly just dating, but
it was an actual relationship we were in.

And we actually started getting closer.
I had a job on the side as well,

but during that time,
I was on family leave

because I ended up having kidney stones,
so I was in the hospital a lot.

And I was letting her know, like, hey,
I'm trying but it's not working right now.

And I ended up losing money
on our investments.

[Judy] You lost money, but you ended up
with money in your pocket.

-Do you understand?
-[Isaih] Yes, Your Honor.

If she got back all the money she put in
as an investment

and you were out $2,000. And I
don't believe you actually put in $2,000.

You have any proof you put in $2,000?

Uh, I don't have that bank account
anymore, Your Honor, and...

You don't have that bank account, I don't
have that cell phone that got erased...

She says I keep secrets or I'm a liar.
I honestly know I'm not a liar.

Maybe a bad businessman, but not a liar.

You're a bad businessman and you're also
a little bit of a con guy.

-[Rebecca] Mm-hmm.
-You're also a little bit of a con guy.

Because if you have a girlfriend
and you say, listen,

I want to do something for an investment
and you try it out and it doesn't work out

and you have losses and so far,
you don't have any losses, she has losses.

Yes, Your Honor.

Miss Dooley, you know
what that sounds like to me.

It sounds as if you made an investment,
not a loan.

And you were hoping for two things.
You were hoping you could keep him,

although I don't know why...
You were hoping you could keep him

but you were also going to make money.
But, then, he didn't sell the cars

for what he said
he was going to sell the cars for.

You kept giving him money. Now, you can't,
even if it was an investment,

-you can't keep her money.
-Yes, Your Honor.

If you lost money... Did he ultimately
tell you he lost money on the cars?

-No, he said that he sold the cars.
-[Judy] Did he tell you for how much?

No, he just said the cars already sold.

That's why I was waiting for my money.
So, I said, "Where's my money?"

But then you kept dating him
and giving him more money.

Yeah.

If I believe you bought the cars,
sold the cars, you lost money,

but you still ended up
with cash in your pocket.

-[Isaih] Yes, Your Honor.
-How much?

It was about $7,500.`

That's what it was, according to the math.

[Isaih] Yes, Your Honor.

Judgment for the Plaintiff, $7,500.
Even if it was an investment,

she's entitled to it if you lost money.
She's entitled to her money back.

You're a smart lady, you're a
businessperson, you work hard.

-You know.
-I know. [giggles] The love-bombing.

[laughing] I was vulnerable.

[Isaih]
I would say we both were vulnerable.

Yeah, but, you were vulnerable,
you got richer.

I understand that, Your Honor,
I understand what you're saying,

but that money, at the end of the day,
we were together.

I found out she was actually married at
the time, or had her husband at the time.

She ended up leaving her husband for me.

-Oh...
-[Judy] And?

We ended up not together.
The money thing wasn't an issue

-the whole time we were together.
-Ssh.

-The money thing wasn't...
-I understand, but you said to me, sir,

Mr. Quinones, you said to me
in your answer

that this was a business investment.

She says it was a loan,
I don't believe that, I don't buy it.

And, ordinarily, I would just say goodbye,
your case is dismissed,

but I think she did give you money and
I think you did use it to buy cars.

I think you actually were together,
but you ended up making a profit.

She had the loss. And that's unfair
in a business relationship,

if that's what you say it was.

$7,500, judgment for the Plaintiff.
We're finished.

[bailiff]
This court is adjourned.

I understand where the judge is
coming from saying I owe her that money.

Yeah, I just ended up falling for it
because I was in a vulnerable state.

I didn't agree with me being a con man.

The truth is he's a liar,

and he's a narcissist, and
he's a scammer, a con artist.

For the seven, eight months we
were together, there was no issues.

And it wasn't until we broke up that
all of a sudden, there's an issue.

I got mixed up with the wrong person.

I've been here awhile now and
we've seen this scenario over and over.

I don't think I've seen
a single successful investment loan

from a woman to a man
where it worked out positively

-for the woman.
-We don't see those here, right.

As she said, and we
were talking back here,

you were trying to explain to me
the term...

-Love-bombing.
-[Judy] Love-bombing.

Do it one more time.

From what I understand,
I'm not an expert on the matter,

but it's when your partner shows you
affection, or gifts or...

You mean, a new partner.

No, no, a very new partner.
And there's some psychological explanation

as to why it has the other person
completely off guard

and fully trusting of that person
who's doing that.

And then, they slowly start to retract
that love and affection,

leaving the other person, sort of...

-[Judy] With a lighter bank account.
-Yes.

Well, that's what she said
happened to her.

Case #3007, Lacey versus Mayo.
All parties, please, step forward.

[announcer] Courtney Lacey
is suing her former friend,

Marcus Mayo for business products,
lost wages and harassment.

All right, Miss Lacey,
there's a whole story here

that really doesn't necessarily impact
on the bare-bones facts of this case.

The bare-bones facts are,
you met the Defendant on TikTok.

-Correct.
-[Judy] You were in the beard business.

That is, you made products for men
for their beard.

-[Courtney] Yes, ma'am.
-I assume that that jar

that's there for show and tell,
is one of them.

You threw her product away.

There were other things
you could've done with it.

-You sure you threw it away?
-I did.

Why? You couldn't use it?
You didn't like it for your beard?

It meant nothing to me after that.
Just looking at it made me mad.

[theme music playing]

[announcer] Courtney Lacey
claims her former friend,

Marcus Mayo threw away her beard products
without permission.

Marcus is countersuing
for rental car charges and lost work.

Now, the Defendant traveled to where
you live, from what state to what state?

Connecticut to Ohio.

In order to help you at a fair
to sell your product.

Yes, ma'am.

When? What month and year?

My event date was April 1 of 2023.
And he did come...

So, around April of 2023 is when you
went to the fair. And there was a fair.

I don't know whether you sold products
or not, but you went with her.

Yes, ma'am.

Was there a business arrangement?
Were you supposed to get

any financial remuneration,
or were you just meeting this person

in the flesh that you had met on TikTok.

Nothing was talked about.
We just showed up and winged it.

And, then, whatever happened, you were
leaving and going back to Connecticut.

Yeah.

And when you left,
you took some product with you.

I was given the product.

-But you took some with you.
-[Marcus] Yes.

I didn't say you stole it.
You took some product in your car.

-Right?
-[Marcus] Yes.

[Judy]
Tell me what you took in your car.

It was a couple of cases, I believe,
which she said was 78 jars of a product.

[Judy]
Seventy-eight jars of her product.

How many had you sold at the fair?

I sold about three at the vendor's event.

-[Judy] You sold three.
-Yes.

-I also donated $40...
-[Judy] I don't care.

-Seventy-eight jars is what you took home.
-[Marcus] Mm-hmm.

Okay. And what is the retail cost
of these 78 jars?

Twenty-five dollars a jar.

And what is your cost, you're in business,
to make that jar?

What is the jar and the product...
How much does it cost?

With everything put together, it costs me
roughly around six, seven dollars.

It just depends on what scent I'm using.

So, say it costs you six dollars a jar.
That would be $468.

You're suing for $3,600, so that's
ridiculous. So, he took this product.

-And at some point, you wanted it back.
-Yes.

[Judy] When did you tell him
you wanted it back?

When I seen that he was bashing me
on social media once he left.

I wasn't aware he felt some type of way.

Just tell me what date it was
you wanted it back.

It would've been April third.

And did he tell you that he would
send it back if you paid for it?

Um, he did several times.

He did several times say I'll send it back
if you send me...

-[Courtney] Yes.
-[Judy] And did you?

He said that he was gonna go
to the UPS store and overnight it.

I told him I did not have overnight money.
Then he told me

he was gonna throw my product away,
that he wasn't gonna mess with it.

And that was in April.
What'd you do with the product, Mr. Mayo?

-I held onto...
-[Judy] No, no.

It's April, that's not a long time ago.
How long did you hold onto it?

I held onto it for a week. The following
Monday, I'd heard nothing from her.

She blocked me on everything. I said
I'd give her two days to give me a call,

let me know what's going on.

Do you have that in messages?

Every message between us
that whole morning is right here.

By the way, what were you gonna do
with these 78 jars...

[Marcus] She wanted me to sell them
for her and give her the money.

-I was under the understanding...
-[Judy] Shh...

Did you say to him, throw it away,
I'll report it as stolen property?

-After the numerous threats...
-[Judy] Just a second.

-Did you say that to him?
-Yes.

Okay. So, sounds a bit to me,
and I've read the papers,

and the text messages between you
seem to support the idea

that he came for a few days.
You rented a car.

I rented the Tesla.

[Judy]
How much was the Tesla to rent?

Rented me about... $1,400.
I have actual...

Okay. No, I'm not entertaining
your counterclaim, sir.

Your counterclaim's nonsense.
But he rented a car to come to help you.

-You hadn't actually met him before.
-Right.

And when he came, your children
were someplace else for the event,

for the weekend, or you thought
for a few days,

and he was going to stay with you
on your sofa. That's what you said.

Only for the event.

Well, he wouldn't have driven,
I don't know how many states away,

and rented a car to come for one day.
That sounds ridiculous.

And you actually acknowledge
that you weren't expecting

your children to come home,
but your children were coming home

and you felt uncomfortable about him being
in the house when your children were home,

so you asked him to leave.
That you acknowledge.

Right.

Okay. So, he left. I don't know whether
he left during the course of an argument,

but somehow, he took these jars of product
worth $460.

And he didn't take them
without your permission.

-He took them with your permission.
-[Courtney] We had an agreement.

[Judy]
That was?

That he was gonna take some back.
He had some barber friends

and friends that was interested in buying.

And he asked if he could have a box
of each scent.

Okay. And he took 78 boxes back
which are worth $468.

-That's your cost.
-That's the price it costs me...

He's not paying you
for what you retail it for.

You had a disagreement. He offered
to send it back if you paid for it.

He held onto it for a week.
Should he have held onto it longer?

I don't know. That is
sort of a subjective thing.

I can't say he should hold onto it
for a month.

You should've sent it to her C.O.D.
If she didn't want to pick it up,

she didn't have to pick it up. I don't
know where you send things C.O.D.,

I don't think they do that anymore.

Anyway, your whole loss
is maybe $400 in product and jar.

But he took the jars to sell them
for me to his friends...

I don't care. I don't care.

Seems to me you both
made some bad choices.

It wasn't explained to him,
and I don't know what he was thinking,

nor do I want to know
what he was thinking.

You know, to drive for a day and a half
to come to your house

not knowing who you are.
He went to the event.

He was helpful at the event. Then, you
told him he had to leave, go to a hotel.

That's what you said.

[Courtney] We didn't talk about
plans after the event.

Well, then, you should have.

And I took accountability for that.

Four hundred and sixty-eight dollars.
You threw her product away.

There were other things
you could've done with it.

-You sure you threw it away?
-[Marcus] I did.

Why? You couldn't use it?
You didn't like it for your beard?

It meant nothing to me after that.
Looking at it made me mad.

Okay, good. $468, judgment
for the Plaintiff. We're done, thank you.

[bailiff]
This court is adjourned.

I held onto it as long as I could. I tried
to be reasonable for as long as I could.

The beard whip is my passion.

And to know that somebody can just
take it and throw it away...

It got to a point where she was
unreasonable, so I discarded the product.

He took my jars and he said,
I have friends back at home

that's willing to buy, 'cause they want to
try it and they're in barbershops.

She was not gonna pay
to have it mailed back.

He was just a friend I met on TikTok
who I thought was my friend,

but obviously,
he had other intentions.

Immediate red flag all women
should look out for.

If you don't know a guy's middle
and last name,

you should not be driving states,
flying states,

going to an airport, going on vacation
if you just met someone.

If the only way that you are able
to contact someone

is through social media because
you don't have their phone number,

they should not be coming to your house.

That's true.

So, immediate red flag.

But I don't understand him either.
You know, there's another universe there.

I'm sure there had to be underpinnings
of promises or whatever from her end

because he didn't seem like a stupid guy.

He doesn't seem like someone
that has nothing to do.

He rented a Tesla and
drove a day and a half to get there

just to help her with the fair.
Yeah, give me a break.

[announcer] Are you a victim of a scam?



[theme music playing]