Holy Smokes | 63

Scamfluencers

Wondery

Society & Culture

4.1 • 7K Ratings

🗓️ 31 July 2023

⏱️ 43 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

David Bunevacz is the king of faking it ‘til you make it. After running a shady Olympics ticket brokering scheme, he moves on to his most lucrative venture yet: A weed vape company that seems to be minting money. David and his family move into a Calabasas mansion once owned by Kylie Jenner. But when David starts enlisting his friends as investors in the company, they can smell that something isn’t right. It won’t be long before it all goes up in smoke.

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Transcript

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0:00.0	Hey, scam influencers fans, Sachi here.
0:02.2	If you live for the outrageous stories and unbelievable cons that we cover, you need Wendry Plus.
0:07.2	It's like sitting in the room with us as we unravel every twist.
0:10.5	Add free a week ahead of everyone else and packed with exclusive content you won't hear anywhere else.
0:16.1	Start your free trial in the Wendry app, Apple Podcasts, or Spotify now.
0:30.5	Sashi, I don't know if you notice this in New York, but every new business in Toronto is either a weed shop or a vape store or some combination of both.
0:34.4	Yeah, it's paradise.
0:36.2	Every time I see one, I do wonder, are these businesses
0:39.5	actually lucrative? I mean, I'm barely convinced they're all businesses, but go on. I know,
0:45.7	none of it makes sense, and today's story takes the business of vaping to a very scammy new high.
0:56.1	It's January of 2018, and we're at a party at the Waldorf Astoria and Beverly Hills.
1:02.4	The hotel opened just six months ago, and it's got a real new money vibe.
1:07.4	The event space has high ceilings, cream carpets, and huge windows.
1:12.5	It's filled with rich business people and minor celebrities, like backstreet boy Kevin Richardson.
1:18.2	The party is being hosted by David and Jessica Bunavatch in celebration of their 14-year-old daughter, Brianna.
1:25.1	She's about to make her first TV appearance on a reality show called Making a Model with
1:30.0	Yolanda Hadid.
1:31.7	Brianna is an aspiring supermodel and Jessica is her self-described momager.
1:37.0	Most of the guests at this party are friends of David's and David has a lot of friends.
1:42.3	Maybe they know him from another one of his lavish parties or from
1:45.4	the prayer circles he hosts at his mansion in Calabasas. Maybe they met him at one of Brianna's
1:50.4	equestrian shows. Either way, there's a good chance they're also in business with him. David
	...

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