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Let's talk about how this under-influencer actually led a person to death. So the story begins with this guy, Flores. Flores is about 40 years old at the time and lives in Fresno, California. Flores really wants to live the glamorous life of Los Angeles, like they show on TV. The problem is that he can't. He doesn't even live in Los Angeles. Besides, he can't afford it. He earns little money. He works as a hairdresser. But one day in 2017, he finally gets his chance. Because he and his girlfriend are vacationing in Venice Beach. His girlfriend is a woman named Anna. Anna is a novice actress, which, in my opinion, means she is
unemployed. So, Flores and Anna are in Venice, hanging out at a vegan ice cream cafe, because of course, where else would they be? And there they meet this guy, Mark. Mark is a very successful person. He is an influential ophthalmologist. Plus, he's obviously a very skilled investor. So, the guy is extremely rich. His fortune is estimated at around $60 million. Here's something else about Mark. He has a lot of mental health problems. Severe bipolar disorder. He ended up in the hospital at least eight times because of it. At one point, things got so bad that he had to close his medical practice. And right
now, Mark is having a manic episode. In short, they are getting to know each other. The three of them begin to communicate, find common ground, and very quickly become friends. That same evening, Mark lends his Tesla to Flores and Anna. They are driving away and heading to And from that moment on, Flores and Anna decide they will take full advantage of Mark and his mental problems. He is the key to the lifestyle in Los Angeles they desire. So, the three of them start spending time together all the time. They have beach days, go on hikes, watch sunsets together, all that kind of stuff. And pretty quickly, Mark begins to consider them his best friends. He trusts them, they offer to help with whatever he needs, and Mark agrees.
He even starts calling them his personal rescue service. And after just a week of dating, Flores and Anna move in with him, to his very expensive beach house in Malibu. Now Mark pays for everything. They don't pay rent, he pays all their food bills. So, as you can imagine, life is going pretty well for them. But at this time, Mark's severe bipolar disorder continues to worsen. So over the next few months he gets mad at them and kicks them out of the house. But pretty quickly they sneak back into his life and settle down again. And this actually happens quite often. Mark is then arrested for appearing drunk and failing to pay the bill at a restaurant.
I'm not sure what happened there. And then, a few days later, he is arrested again for throwing rocks at cars on the highway. Obviously, things are bad for him. Now that Mark is arrested and in prison, Flores realizes that he will no longer have access to his wealth and generosity, and he is not going to leave it that way. So he comes up with a plan to support their new lifestyle. So, Mark and Flores are talking during one of those recorded jail phone calls, and Flores lies to him, saying that in order to post bail, Mark needs to hand over his power of attorney. Otherwise, he will not be able to access n't worry about
it. It's only temporary." And Mark trusts Flores. I mean, he's his best friend. So he doesn't know any better and signs it. Then Flores does get the money and posts the deposit, but never returns the power of attorney to Mark. He now has full access to Mark's entire $60 million fortune and his assets, including a beach house in Malibu. And from that moment on, Flores immediately opens three new bank accounts in Mark's name. And he spends Mark's money wildly. He and Anna go to nice cocktail bars and expensive restaurants in the Los Angeles area. They organize shopping trips. They throw huge parties at the beach house, hiring personal chefs. Flores begins investing money directly into his own failing business ventures,
while Anna invests money into her yoga business, which is probably also failing. And she hires personal assistants. And this woman decides she wants to be an influencer. For example, she hires photographers to follow her around She begins to appear at Hollywood events. And these two are not being honest about where they are getting all this money from. For example, Flores likes to brag to all his friends about this newfound wealth he has acquired. So, in short, it's 2018 now. And in just 6 months, these two scoundrels spent $600,000 of Mark's money. Now, while all this is happening, Mark's bipolar disorder continues to worsen. And Flores and Anna are not properly qualified to take care of him and help him with this. So, they start hiring a bunch of staff to
look after Mark and work at the beach house. They actually employ about 20 people, like housekeepers and handymen. They employ six massage therapists. So Mark gets massages 12 hours a day. I think Flores and Anna think that a 12- hour massage will somehow help with his manic episodes. But what they're really doing to control Mark and his behavior is giving him a lot of drugs. LSD, mushrooms, lots of different pills, plus he gets weekly ketamine infusions, which are supposedly supposed to treat depression. So poor Mark is always too "high " to realize that his friends are openly robbing him. And as his mental health
deteriorates, he is constantly drugged, and Flores and Anna repeatedly give him LSD during this period, his behavior becomes even more manic, unpredictable, and chaotic. And in this drugged state, he fights with Flores and Anna again and kicks them out of his house. So, with access to all this money, they move to a luxury hotel nearby. Meanwhile, Mark is at his estate, dying from a mixture of ketamine and alcohol amid heart problems. Less than a day later, two massage therapists show up, as planned, find Mark's body, and call 911. So, now that Mark is gone, Flores and Anna immediately get back to their routine. The very next day after his death, they move back into his beach house. A week after that, Mark's funeral takes place. On the day of
the funeral, they go shopping and spend over $10,000 of Mark's money on expensive food, electronics, and new clothes, because now they have all his money but no Mark himself. It would seem that Flores and Anna will forever escape punishment for spending his millions. Until Mark's mother and sister step in to take care of the inheritance and start checking his finances. That's when they see that millions of dollars have disappeared, having been transferred to bank accounts controlled by Flores and Anna. So they go and hold them accountable. And Flores and Anna begin to claim that they didn't steal anything, and that Mark actually owes them money. They each
claim that the estate owes them a million dollars for care services. In addition, they claim that Mark promised them a third of all his property and his beach house. So, in total, they're trying to get about $20 million. What audacity. In response, the family files a massive lawsuit against Flores and Anna and involves the FBI. After several years of investigation, bam, the feds arrest Flores, and then, bam, they arrest Anna. I couldn't find their photos after their arrest, but here's a photo of them together . Ultimately, Flores agrees to a plea deal and receives almost 16 years in prison. Anna also agrees to the deal and receives 7 and a half years in prison.
