English writer Charles Caleb Colton once said,
"There are some frauds so well-constructed
that it would be stupidity not to be deceived by them."
Hello and welcome to<i> Case Closed.</i>
That's very true.
Some frauds are very well thought out...
What can I say?
Let's welcome our first case of the day.
Please bring out the litigants.
There's a saying that goes,
"It's not stealing if you rob a thief."
I didn't make that up!
Real men don't badmouth women.
Good afternoon and welcome.
Good afternoon.
Nikanol.
-Yes? -Your name's Nikanol?
-That's right. -Well, you're the plaintiff.
You're suing Johan.
Tell me why you're suing him
and what you demand to settle this case.
Ma'am, I demand that this man return everything he obtained
through his marriage with my late wife.
Who is he, though?
I'll get to that. Six years ago,
I married this woman in Maracaibo, Venezuela.
Turns out she conned me.
They currently have something that belongs to me.
Who is he?
He's supposed to be her husband.
So she married you and before even divorcing you...
She got married again.
So she never got a divorce before she married him.
-No, she didn't. -So she committed bigamy.
That's right.
And now she's dead.
She passed away in an accident.
So now you're here to recover what, exactly?
My belongings.
I'm the one who's technically married to her.
What belongings, exactly?
I can explain.
I married her six years ago in Maracaibo.
I met her at a festival.
We started going out,
I asked her to be my girlfriend,
and we fell in love.
I'll tell you what, ma'am. This woman was stacked!
She was fully set, head to toe.
What a woman!
You're shameless, bro. Shorty.
She offered to marry me in Venezuela.
So she proposed to you.
Why'd she do that?
She was an American citizen,
so she offered to bring me to this country
in exchange for money.
I asked her what the money was for,
and she said it was to cover the costs of paperwork.
To cover immigration costs.
Right. Here comes the funny part.
I sold my house, car, cellphone, dog,
and nearly pawned my mother.
I sold it all!
-Then I gave her the money. -How much was it?
$15,000.
That was a lot of money back in 2011.
It's not chump change.
Right, it's a lot of money.
So I gave her that money and she supposedly came to Miami.
Then she vanished.
She totally disappeared.
You never saw her again.
I never saw or heard from her again.
It was terrible, ma'am. I was devastated.
I got so depressed...
Were you depressed over the money loss or heartbreak?
I was heartbroken, ma'am!
Johan, wait. Relax.
You'll get your turn.
Let me hear him out.
Sorry, ma'am.
I entered into deep depression.
I turned to my savior...
who was the barkeep across the street.
I drowned my sorrows in alcohol.
That really hit me hard.
I was head over heels for this woman.
A year and a half later,
I managed to overcome the depression and pain...
and decided to file for a Venezuelan visa.
That's the only way we can come to this country.
I moved to Miami and proposed to my current girlfriend,
but I was still technically married to that other woman
because we hadn't gotten divorced.
Right.
I set out looking for her, which wasn't easy.
Miami's a huge city.
I noticed she was friends with one of my friends on Facebook.
That's how I managed to get her address.
I showed up at her house, knocked on the door,
and this guy showed up.
I asked to speak to Monica, because that was her name.
I told him I was her husband.
"You can't be her husband! I'm her husband!"
"Aw, ----. What's going on here?"
I left and came back home.
That's when I started thinking
and a light bulb went off.
That woman stole from me six years ago.
She conned me. I cried over her.
You're shameless crook.
You should see the house she lived in.
It's this huge mansion with two garages.
I figured that was a sign from God.
I then decided to get back the money she stole from me.
That's why I want this man to give back my money.
I was technically her husband.
He needs to give me my money back.
So you think the accumulation of their wealth belongs to you?
Of course.
They started off with the money I gave her.
Here's a copy of the marriage certificate
and the check I handed her.
That's all probably forged.
So what was your first encounter with him like?
The day I came to their house...
How was that?
I wanted to talk to him and try to reach an agreement.
I told him I would've settled for half,
but he's a very aggressive man.
He said he was going to slap me silly.
I was trying to be serious about it.
He was the one going off on all this silly talk.
That silly goose.
I'll slap you silly, alright...
He took out his gun and shot at me twice.
He's a violent guy.
He should thank me for saving him!
So at first you just wanted your $15,000 back,
but now you want it all.
I just wanted a divorce at first,
but God's given me a second chance at life.
If they give you lemons, make lemonade!
I want it all. It's only normal!
Makes sense.
This man needs to give me my money.
It's that simple.
Understood. You can go back now.
That's cute.
Just give me my money back!
Okay.
I see here that you were married in Venezuela
on April 5th, 2011.
Do you remember when you met? When did you meet?
Like hell he does. He doesn't remember crap.
I do remember, but I was kind of tipsy that day.
Understood.
I see you wrote her a check for 750,000 bolivars,
which was about $15,000 back then.
Okay.
He probably forged those papers.
Okay.
Johan, you also married Monica.
Yes, I did.
When did you marry her?
Five years ago.
Did you bring your marriage certificate?
Yeah, I brought legitimate paperwork,
unlike shorty here.
He came to claim some free money.
He needs to get a job.
Her ID says single.
Let me see here.
So here we have a copy of her ID,
and it does state that she's single.
I see.
Here's your marriage certificate.
You got married on December 10th, 2015.
Exactly.
Very well.
That marriage is invalid!
That's her plane ticket.
She flew to Venezuela
after telling me about some business deals.
She came back three days later.
How long have you guys known each other?
We've known each other for years.
You knew each other prior to marriage.
You knew her back in 2011, which is when she married him.
So you already knew her when she married him.
Yes.
You can go back now.
Let's take a quick break.
It's unfair that he came all this way to claim...
Good Lord!
Forget about all that.
What are the facts? What happened?
She brought back $15,000 from a supposed business deal.
I was the business deal!
We then opened up a pool cleaning business.
You have to work hard in this country.
I don't know why this guy thinks he has a right
to the money me and my late wife earned.
He keeps harassing my mother-in-law and myself.
He's always knocking at our door.
I still need to consider his case.
I'm legally married to her!
He brought evidence of having been legally married to her.
The way the law usually works is,
the first marriage is considered valid
while the second marriage is considered void.
He probably forged that marriage certificate.
I'm sorry, but you haven't proven that.
I think it's fake.
Merely saying these documents are fake isn't going to cut it.
They seem genuine to me.
This is a Venezuelan marriage certificate.
People forge all kinds of stuff.
You'll have to forgive me.
You're here to... I'm going to shut up now...
I hate people who claim stuff is fake
yet have no proof to back it.
I'm sorry, sweetie.
You don't seem like the brightest bulb, but...
This guy's trying to take my hard-earned money!
He was conned for $15,000.
That's not my problem!
It's not my fault he fell for her.
Listen up.
You started up your business with his money.
You used my money!
I could very well decide that your wealth
was built off of his money.
That would make him the owner of half your assets.
Can you please take this situation seriously?
Don't talk nonsense about forged papers
if you don't have evidence to back it up.
That's what you're doing right now.
You're making false pretenses...
so get your act straight.
Bring out his witness.
I'm going to bust your skull.
You'll be arrested for life if you do that,
so get off your high horse.
This guy has some nerve...
That's my mother-in-law, ma'am.
What's your name, ma'am?
Please forgive him. He's nervous.
-What's your name? -My name's Isabel.
I'm Monica's mother and his mother-in-law.
This man showed up at our house like a madman one day,
claiming to be my daughter's husband.
My daughter died five months ago.
Come here, ma'am. Come close.
You make more sense than either these two gentlemen.
Shameless idiot.
Your daughter apparently went to Venezuela.
-Were you aware of that? -Yes, I was.
She said she was going to sell an apartment
her father left for her.
Did she sell it?
Well, she brought back $15,000.
I thought that was the money she'd made from the sale.
But did you manage to verify that she sold the apartment?
After this man showed up, I did some research
and realized that the apartment hadn't been sold.
-She never sold the apartment. -No.
I don't know why she lied to me. We were very close.
Be quiet!
He showed up rambling like that at the house.
You aren't all that funny or cute,
so do me a favor and behave yourself.
What do you think happened?
I don't think she sold the apartment.
She just showed up with $15,000.
Which she stole from him.
He claims she stole...
There's evidence to the fact, ma'am.
Then it was fraud, I guess.
Right, that's our bank back home.
I think he used my daughter to come to the US.
So you think they had a deal.
I suppose so.
He essentially paid her that money to marry him
so he could then have rights to come here.
Given the situation in Venezuela, it makes sense.
There's no way she could've fallen for that shrimp
in just three days.
Just look at him!
Look, ma'am. Love is blind.
Bring out Attorney Leal.
I've got you, Mom.
Don't worry, kiddo. I'll provide for you, too.
-What was that? -What's the matter?
-You can't provide squat. -What's your problem?
Calm down, man.
So now you're all after me?
Let's talk, Mr. Leal. This is one mess of a case.
How would you decipher this situation?
Well, there's an immigration case
that's quite relevant to this one.
It's known as the Laureano case.
This case took place in '83.
The immigrations appellate court determined
that a marriage established for the main purpose
of obtaining or facilitating immigration rights
is to be considered invalid.
Let's be honest.
Usually when people want to get married
with someone who's not a citizen,
they bring them along with a fiancé visa
and get married here.
Exactly.
That would make things valid.
He doesn't know my daughter. He doesn't know what she liked.
Did you get to know her daughter, Nikanol?
I know where she used to sleep.
-Pardon? -I know where she used to sleep.
-Where? -On top of me.
-On top of you, huh? -What?
Did you see that, ma'am?
Show some respect!
You're going to remember me once you end up arrested.
You don't know how to control your emotions.
You're an immature idiot who needs to grow up.
I feel sorry for you.
Your claim is denied.
You made an agreement with her.
You paid her to marry you and she tricked you.
That tends to happen when you do illegal stuff.
Your claim is hereby denied.
It's final. Case closed!
Thank you, ma'am.
Không có nhận xét nào:
Đăng nhận xét