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Hi, it's Andrea Gunning, the host of Betrayal. I'm excited to announce that the Betrayal podcast is expanding. We are going to be releasing episodes weekly, every Thursday. Each week, you'll hear brand new stories, firsthand accounts of shocking deception, broken trust, and the trail of destruction left behind. Listen to Betrayal Weekly on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.
I'm John Walczak, host of the new podcast Missing in Arizona. And I'm Robert Fisher, one of the most wanted men in the world. We cloned his voice using AI.
In 2001, police say I killed my family and rigged my house to explode before escaping into the wilderness. Police believe he is alive and hiding somewhere. Join me. I'm going down in the cave. As I track down clues. I'm going to call the police and have you removed. Hunting. One of the most dangerous fugitives in the world. Robert Fisher. Do you recognize my voice? Listen to Missing in Arizona every Wednesday on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your favorite shows.
Curious about queer sexuality, cruising, and expanding your horizons? Hit play on the sex-positive and deeply entertaining podcast Sniffy's Cruising Confessions. Join hosts Gabe Gonzalez and Chris Patterson Rosso as they explore queer sex, cruising, relationships, and culture in the new iHeart podcast, Sniffy's Cruising Confessions.
Previously on Number One Dad. So I did some investigating and I was able to find out that he's been a defendant or plaintiff in 23 court cases since 1984. That's just too good. Do you ask your mom ever about this?
No, we wouldn't talk about it. To this day, I have not talked to my mom about my father in 24 years. Wow. So I have something to tell you. It's good news. I sold a podcast to iHeartRadio. But there is a catch. It's about my father. Well, that didn't go as I'd hoped.
I think you need to understand her hesitation, obviously, because your father hasn't gone after you the past 20 years, you know? I don't know what I'm going to do. You're going to keep going.
I mean, obviously there was a ton of stuff that was bad in our childhood, but do you have any fond memories? I feel like the happiest stuff we had going on in our childhood was the traveling that we did. Although we probably lied and scammed just to get us on the vacation. I have two sisters, and that's one of them, Jamie. I feel the exact same way as her. My best memories with my family were our vacations together.
One of the few home videos I have is when we went to the Grand Canyon. It's wild to hear all of us in such a happy place. I just finished shaving. We're getting ready to go to the Grand Canyon. Horseback riding right down the canyon. Excuse me, I'm in the middle of shaving. But we're going to be leaving in a few minutes as soon as we can get Danielle out of bed right over there.
And here she is. So what do you think is the hardest part about having a con man for a father? It was a domino effect of one lie after another led to our family really just falling apart. My father's behavior led to my parents getting divorced. Me and my sisters, Jamie and Danny, chose to stick with our mother. We all decided it would be best to completely cut Manny out of our lives.
But it came at a cost. We weren't just ending things with him, we were separating from anyone who spoke to him. This included our grandparents, who we were all very close with. Sadly, I never had a chance to reconcile with them before they passed. And for me, this was the beginning of my ability just to completely cut people off, which is what I did to my oldest sister, Dani, years later.
In 2015, I learned Dani reconnected with our father. I felt betrayed. It was a person I thought we all agreed to hate. So naturally, I immediately stopped talking to her. I didn't tell her a reason, no conversation. It was just over. And Dani and I haven't spoken since. But as much as this podcast is aimed at learning the truth about my con man father and possibly reconciling with him, the first relationship I want to repair is with Dani.
So what are you going to do? Are you going to reach out to Danny? Does she still talk to him? I really don't think she does. She told me she doesn't, and I really do believe her. All right. Well, if I text her right now, what would I even say? I don't even know where to begin. I think what you need to do is make it short and sweet, and I think you need to just reach out to her and say you want to talk. All right. I'm going to write it.
How's hi Danny? I know it's been a while, but would you be up to talking? It's your brother Gary, by the way. Is that good? She might not remember. You don't have to think you wrote that. What do I put? Like period at the end? Smiley face? What do I do? Hug emoji. All right. Like, is that good?
I know it's been a while, but would you be up? Send it. Just send it. Okay. Just send it. All right. And sending. Sent. Okay. I did it. Good job. This is number one dad. Still nothing from Dani. It's been like 20 minutes. You've been dodging her for six years. Just give her a minute. All right.
One memory I have of my dad is how he would take on different personas when he would talk to people. He was like some con artist chameleon, constantly changing who he was to get stuff out of people. I was relieved to hear Jamie remembering him in the exact same way.
It didn't matter where we were. He would turn himself into whatever character he needed to be. We could walk into a Greek restaurant and all of a sudden he'd have a Greek accent. You know, you walk into the Jewish deli and he's speaking Yiddish. He could be Russian. He's Russian.
Just like sneaking into MSG, what fueled my father was this endless drive to know that he could pull one over on people. And it didn't matter how big or small an opportunity was, he had to know he could get away with it. My father didn't love to lie. He needed to. I was able to locate a YouTube clip of him back in 2013 at the Israeli Day Parade.
The parade takes place in New York City along Fifth Avenue. A lot of high-profile politicians and diplomatic officers from various countries attend, which is a perfect event for someone like my father to mingle. And sure enough, he brought his camera to give him access.
The audio clip I'm about to play is him talking to two diplomats from Greece. It took me back and reminded me of how good of a bullshitter he is. My father starts speaking Greek to them. He says, hello, and
good health. My father gets right down to business and asks what they do. Are you elected officials for a certain area? They respond, the ambassador to the United Nations and the counselor general. Thank you.
These guys bought it.
I ran my Sports Illustrated scam with him. That was our thing. Did you have anything that ever took place when you were a kid? So, a couple of experiences. I had been running chalk in
In high school, I was track, but we were running on the road. Car drove by, kids in it. They slowed down and whacked us with lacrosse sticks. I did legitimately get a pretty bad injury to my arm at the time. After that, he had me going to neurologists. I'm having MRIs. I'm having all sorts of scans. And I'm getting stuck with all sorts of needles in my arms. I'm getting cortisone shots.
Because he wants me to act like my injury is even worse for a payout. He was telling me what I should be saying when the neurologist asked me questions. Make sure you tell them that these are the fingers you can't feel. You could feel these two, but you can't feel these three. Basically, give the specific symptoms of an injury that's going to show that I have some kind of permanent damage to my arm.
Given the opportunity, that guy will sue anybody. - Totally. Did you have a specific moment where you're like, I'm cutting him off? - He offered me $100 to not come to my high school graduation. He had a business meeting in Canada.
which was like really interesting because at the time I don't remember him having a business. There was no business. Like $100 will substitute a parent's presence at one of these milestone events. Yeah, by the way, that $100 was counterfeit. It probably was. Where do you think he lives now? I believe he lives possibly in that house in Dix Hills. In our childhood home. I believe so.
Back in the early 80s, my father owned and operated a furniture showroom a few blocks from the Empire State Building called Designer's Gallery, where he sold high-end living room and dining room sets. As a kid, I remember my dad having my sisters and I act as walking billboards, wearing bright yellow Designer's Gallery t-shirts and sweatshirts wherever we went.
I was about five years old when the business abruptly closed. Recently, I discovered it was actually covered on the news. This is New Long Island.
After dozens of buyers claimed they were cheated, the state attorney general's office filed suit yesterday against a Manhattan furniture dealer seeking restitution, damages, and an order barring the firm from operating a furniture business in the state. The lawsuit was filed against Veeder Sales, Inc., and names its president, Manny Veeder. Veeder Sales does business as Designer's Gallery on West 31st Street.
A spokeswoman for Attorney General Robert Abrams said the office had received more than 100 complaints against the firm, including that it took deposits of up to $2,500, failed to deliver or deliver damaged goods, refused to return deposits, and failed to pay court judgments obtained by consumers.
I reached out to Jay Kasak, one of my father's old associates in the furniture business. Jay and my father worked hand in hand on a lot of business deals, but they had a falling out. And I learned it's been three years since they last spoke.
One of the first things Jay brought up was my dad's ability to adopt voices and accents. He speaks French. And, you know, who knew? Yeah, I didn't know that he spoke French either. Right. I mean, his personality is unbelievable. You know how he does stuff.
I remember my father being somebody who had to lie. Was he that way in business? Maybe I was naive at the time, but he knew how to do certain things. He knew how to manipulate people. Jay was hesitant to give specifics. I can't say for sure, but just like my mom, I think people who have been involved with my father are reluctant to talk about him because they're afraid of possible repercussions or blowback.
He knew how to get what he wanted. And I don't mean like salesmanship. He just knew what to say. And it always came with a friendly smile and all of that. And that was really impressive to me because I didn't know many people that could have done that.
And I saw it in action. I was very impressed.
meeting people, creating situations, getting them to do what he wanted them to do. And it all fell into place. And I learned some of those tricks, actually. I really did. Those were great things, you know? As did I. Some things were a little exaggerated, like, you know what I'm saying? But it worked. There was another guy who knew him also, Eli ***.
Uh-huh.
From the writer of Amazon Prime's Red, White, and Royal Blue comes a hilarious and demented new audio mystery. Does this murder make me look gay? Master Vandy is dead! Then it's probable that whoever killed Vandy is in this very room. Lock her up. Lock her up. You killed your daddy. You don't get anything fizzy. 911, what's your emergency? I'm in the Monroe estate and I just caught a murderer.
Yes, I'll hold. Featuring the star-studded talents of Michael Urie, Jonathan Freeman, Douglas Sills, Cheyenne Jackson, Robin DeJesus, Frankie Grande, Sean Patrick Doyle, Brad Oscar, Nathan Lee Graham, Seth Rudetsky, Leah Delaria, Lea Salonga, and Kate McKinnon as Angela Lansfairi. Hi.
I lick them, lick those toesies. Listen to Does This Murder Make Me Look Gay? as part of the Outspoken Network on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Back in 1969, this was the hottest song around. So hot that some guys from Michigan tried to steal it. My name is Daniel Ralston.
For 10 years, I've been obsessed with one of the most bizarre and audacious cons in rock and roll history. A group would have a hit record, and quickly they would hire a bunch of guys to go out and be the group. People were being cheated on several levels. After years of searching, we bring you The True Story of the Fake Zombies. I was like blown away. These guys are not going to get away with it. Listen to The True Story of the Fake Zombies on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.
In a world where TikTok didn't exist yet, las películas no tenían color. The comedy of a genio mexicano crossed borders y conquistó the heart of America. Sus personajes acompañaron las tardes de millones de latinos. And his catchphrases are part of our culture, but... ¿Cómo logró un escritor mexicano convertirse en un símbolo de televisión? No contaban con mi astucia. No contaban con mi astucia.
Sonoro y iHeart's My Cultura Podcast Network present Nace una leyenda. Chesperito. I'm Felipe Esparza y te llevaré de viaje por la obra del super comediante Chesperito. From his television debut hasta la cima del éxito. ¡Síganme los buenos! Listen to Nace una leyenda. Chesperito as part of My Cultura Podcast Network en la aplicación iHeart Radio, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you stream podcasts.
All right, I just got off the subway and I am on my way to therapy. I don't know, maybe part of the reason I'm doing this podcast is to show my dad that I didn't end up like him because the blueprint was there. That's probably what we're going to be talking about today.
Hey, Babita. How's it going? Hi, Gary. I'm all right. What's been happening since our last session? Well, I tried talking to my mom and she doesn't want to be on the podcast.
But I'm going to still push forward and try learning more about my dad. Yeah, I think you're bringing up something that's going to be really relevant in your journey. Like where are our boundaries as far as how you're figuring this out? Because everybody is going to have their set of feelings. ♪
So I think a couple of questions that you could ask yourself: Are there things about my father that are good? Because if there aren't, what does that mean about me? And I'm wondering if this quest, might we say that it's also you ensuring, "Hey, I'm not all bad either. You know, there's some good stuff about me too." Being his son? Yeah. What part of you connects to spaces where there are qualities of your dad you'd say,
oh, that exists. I don't know really if this is a quality, but back when I was a sophomore in college, I started stealing college exams. I was in this accounting class. I realized that
My professor, on the day of the exam, there were two classes, and I was in the later class, and he would lay out all the exams in alphabetical order. And they were in these big lecture halls, so what I would do is show up to the first class and just take a random person's test off their desk.
And then I go and I bring it to somebody who I knew was smart and they would fill out all the answers. And then I would even sell that exam to other students that were in my class. I stole the midterm. I stole the final. So I was able to get away with this. And part of me is like, yeah, this is something my father would have done. I really felt that way. And I didn't like that feeling whatsoever. It's significant that you recognize that your behavior was exactly like your father's.
How does that feel? It's scary. It's scary to think that there's a part of him that lives inside of me. Okay. But once I got out of college, I was like, I can't do anything like this. I can't be my father. What a turning point for you. Your dad laid a foundation of getting away with things from the time you were a little boy, like figuring out how to like get away with it, even if it's like lying or cheating, even if things are illegal.
as you're starting to uncover things, as you're hearing stories, really think about, is it possible to reconcile? Is it possible that there are pieces of my dad that I haven't known? But is it possible that maybe I won't, but it doesn't matter. I just don't want to regret not knowing. Yeah. You know, like part of this also involves me talking to my sister, Danny, and her and I, we haven't spoken in years. And
I cut her off the same way I cut my dad off. Why did you cut off that relationship with your sister? The whole reason is because she started speaking to my dad, and as soon as I found that out, I was like, I can't trust her anymore. But now here I am trying to learn more about my father and my
I'm giving him another chance, just like she did. I can see why you would want to speak to her. Are you concerned that she won't want to talk to you after all this time? Well, I sent her a text and I haven't heard back yet, but I'm hopeful that she's going to be up for talking to me. Great. You guys ready? Where are we going now, guys?
Where? Where does stop off where? Palm Springs. Right, James? What do you think, Dan? Guess. You guess? Gary, what do you say, pal? Extreme close-up. Are you ready? No, wait. I'm doing extreme close-up. Extreme close-up. Ah!
I just got a text from Dani. She wants to talk. So I am going to call her. It's FaceTime, actually. But I told her that I'm doing a podcast about our father and she's fully on board. So, yeah, I'm going to talk to my sister. Hey. Hey. I'll go first just so we could clear the air a little bit. Okay.
So I know me texting you is like out of the blue and it was a tough thing to do because part of why I stopped talking to you altogether was because you talked to our father. And I want to...
I want to be honest with you, like, I felt betrayed. Like, I didn't really want to have anything to do with him, and I felt that by you talking to him and if I was to continue to talk to you, it would be somehow letting him into my life. I feel bad that I've missed things over the last six years, been a part of your life and your kids' lives, but it was something I felt that I needed to do so I wouldn't have him be a part of anything that I was doing. I mean, I'm not going to say that
It hasn't hurt because I think not speaking to you and not being a part of your life and being there for the birth of your first kid and sharing holidays together, that's probably been the hardest thing for me. And also just knowing that there's also been a huge void in my kids' lives not having their uncle around. It was never my intention to hurt you. I think...
for myself, letting Manny into my life at the point in time, which I did was for my own healing. I think for me, the other thing that I really struggle with is I didn't know when we stopped talking. I didn't know that I had to make a choice. I didn't know that I had a choice. I didn't know
that it was him or you, because I would have chose you every single time. It was never about me sharing information about what was going on in your lives and betraying you guys in any way. It was simply because I felt I needed to get past certain things. And that was the purpose behind it all.
Now that's out of the way, you don't still talk to him, right? No. It's been quite a few years. It was at least three years ago. Okay. So, I mean, after everything we've been through, what was it like talking to our father? Definitely very guarded. I wanted to see if
he would show remorse for the things that he knew really tore us apart as a family that he did. Did he? No. You know, to this day, I don't think I've ever heard him say, I'm sorry. Did he say what he was doing back then? One of the things that he would say was that he was taking trips down to Washington, D.C. Somehow, he became a lead photographer or a reporter. He had met
Obama, but the way he would explain it was that, you know, he had a tight relationship with him. With Obama. Yeah, yeah. Then it came to, you know, closer to, you know, the most recent elections, you
where, you know, Trump was running and all of a sudden meeting Trump and... Like he met Trump? That's what he had said. That's crazy. He said that he met Obama. He said that he met Trump on Facebook. I looked him up, his profile pictures with Biden. That means he met the last three sitting presidents. Yeah. He has somehow put himself in a position where he has made these connections.
Do you remember when we were kids how he would use different accents when he would be on the phone with people? Yeah. He had a furniture business and people would call on different lines and depending on what line it was, it was this one we don't answer all the time, this one we do. And then he would answer a phone call in most cases and...
All of a sudden, his voice would be disguised. All of a sudden, he had this thick Israeli accent. And no, he wasn't Manny Vito. And someone questioned him on the phone. He was...
you know, Michael Wolff or some other obscure name just to avoid whatever anyone was looking for on the other end. Yeah, I remember that as a kid, that phone was enormous and it had a million buttons on it. I've never seen a phone like that since where you're like, what is going on? And hearing him do that, like you're watching, you know, a movie almost.
Because it's just this great actor playing a part. I remember people reaching out, you know, where's my furniture? I sent you money. And he always had a story as to where it was. You know, it was coming. Oh, yes, I'm looking up your paperwork right now. And he had nothing in front of him. It'll be there in six weeks.
I mean, it was truly crazy. Did you ever feel like he was watching you? I felt that he was watching us, showing up at places where I wouldn't expect him to be. I felt that I always had a look over my shoulder. So this was probably back in 2000. I had a guy that I was dating down in the South Florida area in West Palm Beach. There was a strip that had a bunch of restaurants and bars. And we had...
Been out for not too long, but all I remember is someone tapping me on the shoulder. And this is 22 years later, and I will never forget it. Said, hey there, little lady. I turn around, and it's our father. I hadn't at this point spoken to him in many years. And I just remember...
Being in such shock, my boyfriend at the time knew that we didn't speak. And I remember him just saying, you need to respect her wishes and let her be. And we wound up leaving. But it was almost like he was tracking me. Jeez.
But, I mean, you still reached out to him years later. What made you do it? So I just felt that I needed to come up with my own conclusions about him now as an adult. And it's definitely helped me heal in a lot of ways. The outcome isn't what I had hoped for.
But at the same time, I don't have any doubts about whether or not the decision I made to distance myself from him was valid. I mean, that's why I'm doing this whole podcast. And I know that we had our reasons for not talking to him anymore when we were younger. But what was the reason you stopped talking to him the second time?
So he had taken a trip to Israel and had met up with a great uncle of ours who was not doing well. And it was brought to my attention from that side of the family that Manny had somehow convinced him to hand off some money.
valuable items, family heirlooms to him. And that was really the last that the family saw those things. And that was the end of it. He would call. I didn't answer the phone. I didn't respond to messages. I just avoided conversation with him. That's crazy. And I mean, I'm wondering, does he live in our house still? Yeah.
So I'm not sure where he is now, but I can say that he still, he had the house when I last spoke with him. Do you have his phone number? I deleted his cell phone number, but the old house phone was working when we last spoke. Okay. Yeah.
So I know this won't come as a shock or anything, but I have been seeing a therapist. And one of the things we talked about was reaching out to you. But I have to say, like, after having our conversation and seeing where you were coming from, it's the exact reason why I'm doing this. It's I understand more about myself.
the decisions that you made. And I hope that I could get some of those answers that you got by talking to him and whether it was closure or not, I, that that happens. And I have to say that, you know, I feel awful that so much time has gone by of us not talking. And I would like us to reconnect and that this isn't just the end of it. I hope so too. I think one of the things that we did really well as a family was brushing things under the rug. And I,
I think that one of the reasons why I opened myself up to, I don't even want to call it a reconciliation with Manny. I want to call it more of an experiment was because Manny
I felt it was the healthiest approach to healing and to kind of getting those answers to some questions, maybe things that you couldn't put into words before in your younger years, but things that I think you really need to properly close the book on if you're going to truly get past things.
Yeah, you know, I really, I do appreciate you talking to me and I know it's been forever and we never had a heart to heart and I want to see you soon. Yeah, I feel the same. All right, I'll talk to you in six years. Reaching out to Dani and having a serious conversation was totally out of my comfort zone, but it was exactly what I needed.
I now see her reasons for talking to our father again are the same as mine. To get answers and to see if he's changed. I feel like I'm ready to reach out to him. It is March 9th, 2022. And I am going to call my house phone. Number One Dad is a production of Radio Point, Big Money Players Network, and iHeart Podcasts.
Created and hosted by Gary Veeder. Executive producers are Gary Veeder, Adam Lowitt, Alex Bach, Daniel Powell, Houston Snyder, Kenneth Slotnick, and Brian Stern.
Written by Gary Beter and Adam Lowit. Produced by Bernie Kaminsky. Co-producer is Taylor Kowalski. Edited and mixed by Ian Sorrentino at Little Bear Audio. Recording engineer is Kat Iosa. Original music by Andrew Gross. Special thanks to Charlotte DeAnda. Jonathan Karsh is creative consultant. Executive producers for Big Money Players Network and iHeart Podcast are Will Farrell, Hans Sani, and Olivia Aguilar.
Sound services were provided by Great City Post. Am I doing the right thing with my finances? Am I saving enough? Can I buy a house? Am I paying too much in taxes? Will I be able to retire? Putting a financial plan together feels impossible. What if I told you there was another way? Take Facet's free financial wellness quiz to get your score and a snapshot of your current financial health. Visit facet.com now and discover your financial wellness score today. That's FACET.com.
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Hi, it's Andrea Gunning, the host of Betrayal. I'm excited to announce that the Betrayal podcast is expanding. We are going to be releasing episodes weekly, every Thursday. Each week, you'll hear brand new stories, firsthand accounts of shocking deception, broken trust, and the trail of destruction left behind. Listen to Betrayal Weekly on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.
