'Wall Street Whizz Kid' David Bloom, who conned MILLIONS out of investors including Bill Cosby and Rockefellers, arrested again in new crop of Los Angeles-based scams
- Infamous 1980s fraudster arrested in Los Angeles on nine counts of grand theft
- Reality star Caroline D'Amore among his latest alleged victims
- He claimed Netflix CEO Ted Sarandos and Whole Foods boss AC Gallo among his influential friends
A Wall Street conman who conned Rockefellers and royalty out of $15million has been arrested again 35 years after being jailed for one of the most notorious scams of the 1980s.
David Bloom was dubbed the ‘Wall Street Whizz Kid’ after amassing a fortune from around 140 clients he promised to make rich through stock market investments.
The then 23-year-old was jailed in Manhattan for eight years in 1988 for defrauding a string of victims stretching from his own grandmother to Bill Cosby and the Sultan of Brunei, at that time the world’s wealthiest man.
Now, 59, he has been arrested in Los Angeles accused of scamming at least a dozen neighbors and friends out of tens of thousands of dollars with promises of introductions to some of the world’s most famous men.
‘He’s an absolute sociopath,’ said life coach Sean Kushner.
![David Bloom has been arrested in Los Angeles, 35 years after he was dubbed the 'Wall Street Whizz Kid' in one of the most notorious frauds of the 1980s](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2023/08/29/18/74840841-12457479-image-m-29_1693329132333.jpg)
David Bloom has been arrested in Los Angeles, 35 years after he was dubbed the 'Wall Street Whizz Kid' in one of the most notorious frauds of the 1980s
![Reality TV star Caroline D¿Amore (right) and Bloom's ex-wife Nancy Ozeas demanded LA prosecutors bring charges at a protest in March](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2023/08/29/18/74842901-12457479-image-a-31_1693329178811.jpg)
Reality TV star Caroline D’Amore (right) and Bloom's ex-wife Nancy Ozeas demanded LA prosecutors bring charges at a protest in March
![Bloom claimed Bill Cosby among his clients](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2023/08/29/18/74838427-12457479-Bloom_claimed_Bill_Cosby_among_his_clients-a-42_1693329451612.jpg)
![The Sultan of Brunei reportedly invested in his schemes](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2023/08/29/18/74838523-12457479-image-m-41_1693329439064.jpg)
Bloom's victims reportedly included Bill Cosby (left), the Rockefeller family and the Sultan of Brunei (right), once the world's richest man
Bloom was seized on Monday and is being held on $500,000 bail charged with nine counts of grand theft, and nine more counts of fraud while selling securities.
His accusers say he portrayed himself as a friend to the famous and told them he promised them riches from stocks that hadn’t gone public yet, including Coinbase and Soho House.
One said he hurried to finish a screenplay after Bloom said he could hand it to Netflix CEO Ted Sarandos, and reality TV star Caroline D’Amore was promised backing from Whole Foods magnate AC Gallo for her organic pasta sauce company.
‘He kind of knew the right things to say when he first approached me,’ D’Amore, 31, told the LA Times.
‘He had heard about my company, he had actually bought some of the sauce at the grocery store next door and he had just confided in me at some point about his ex-wife and how he was heartbroken.’
![Bloom was 23 when he was jailed for a $15million fraud on clients in 1988](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2023/08/29/18/74842473-12457479-image-a-49_1693329656753.jpg)
Bloom was 23 when he was jailed for a $15million fraud on clients in 1988
A former star of The Hills: New Beginnings, D’Amore was struggling to keep her company Pizza Girl afloat during the pandemic when she moved into the Villa Carlotta where Bloom befriended her at the complex’s first-floor pool.
He said they had a mutual friend in Ron Burkle, the owner of Soho House, the exclusive international social club.
‘I never thought that somebody would make that up, D’Amore said.
‘I just thought it was such a random person to name-drop.’
But she was really impressed when he told her the Whole Foods boss wanted to talk to her about stocking her sauces in stores across the country.
Bloom arranged a call with someone pretending to be Gallo who promised her a $2 million investment in her company and scheduled a meeting at Whole Foods HQ in Austin, Texas.
‘He knew all about my history, growing up in the restaurants. He was just very excited about my company and I was ecstatic,’ D’Amore said.
In the meantime Bloom persuaded her to invest $35,000 in Soho House shares ahead of its initial public offering, promising an $850,000 return.
She invited him to her daughter’s birthday party where he said he loved her, comparing her to a ‘kid sister’, and sympathizing over her recent divorce.
‘He knew I wasn’t rich, and that’s what’s really upsetting,’ she said.
D’Amore flew to Texas but no meeting with the Whole Foods boss materialized so she searched the words ‘David Bloom, scammer’ on her phone, uncovering his identity as the notorious ‘Wall Street Whiz Kid’.
Returning home she discovered other neighbors had invested with Bloom and marched some of them to his doorstep to demand the return of their money.
‘Everybody thought it was a special deal for them,’ she said.
‘He really makes you feel like you’re his best friend.’
Back in the 1980’s Broom had used his clients’ money to spend $5.5 million on artworks, $1.9-million on an East Hampton beach house, $830,000 on a Manhattan apartment, $800,000 on furnishings and cars worth $200,000.
But he was not a qualified financial advisor, and invested none of his clients’ money before pleading guilty to mail and securities fraud in 1988.
He was jailed again in 2000, serving five years for running an investment scam on restaurant staff and bartenders in Midtown Manhattan in the late 1990s, swindling at least $50,000 from 10 people.
He was first arrested in LA in August last year on suspicion of grand theft, but the DA’s office has blamed the ‘complicated’ nature of the case for its delay in pressing charges.
More alleged victim have gone public including life coach Sean Kushner who says Bloom introduced himself in a bar and told him he knew Kazunori Nozawa, the master sushi chef behind the Sugarfish chain.
‘Within 20 minutes of meeting him, he starts talking about how he goes at 4am with Kazunori to look at the fish at and Kazunori checks the eyes of a fish and that’s how he knows what a good fish is,’ Kushner said.
![D'Amore says more victims have yet to come forward](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2023/08/29/18/74843331-12457479-image-m-59_1693331019377.jpg)
![Bloom claimed he was friends with Soho House boss Ron Burkle](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2023/08/29/18/74838655-12457479-image-a-60_1693331031563.jpg)
D'Amore (left) said he knew Soho House boss Ron Burkle (right) and promised her a 2,000 per cent return on an investment in the members' club shares
Bloom offered to help Kushner buy a million-dollar home in return for a deposit up front, but Kushner resisted despite an offer to fly his family to the prestigious Hotel du Cap Eden-Roc in France.
D’Amore joined Bloom’s ex-wife Nancy Ozeas for a protest outside the DA’s office earlier this year demanding movement in the case and has warned that there are more victims out there.
‘The reason these people get away with it is because people are too afraid to admit that they were scammed,’ she said.
‘I’m willing to be the face. You know what? We’re not the ones that need to be embarrassed.’
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