Springtime for Scammers in Nashville
🦆 Conmen on the hunt · Not so Boring tunnel · Green's new gig · ODs in Nashville · Repeat offender all-star · Much more!
Good afternoon, everyone. It’s open season for scammers in Middle Tennessee… The tunnel is not as Boring to some as it is to others… Mark Green’s new gig… And the repeat offender of the day.
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Be careful out there: Two high-profile scams hit Middle Tennessee recently.
First, two Chinese nationals, Fan Zhang and Zhen Chen, scammed a Brentwood man out of $650,000 by posing as FBI agents attempting to protect the man’s assets from identity theft.
The play involved the man liquidating hundreds of thousands of dollars from his 401(k), IRA, and bank accounts to purchase gold bars that were then given to the Chinese duo.
The two men were mules in a well-known national operation creatively named the “Gold Bar Scam.” The FBI estimates that American citizens lost $219 million in 2024 to scammers running the play. I think I might be in the wrong business.
Second, in a more Faulknerian register, a local confidence man unsuccessfully made off with millions of dollars in cryptocurrency he’d stolen from Nancy Jones, the widow of famed country singer George Jones.
After her husband’s death, Nancy began a romantic relationship with Kirk West, who assisted her in opening the George Jones Museum on 2nd Avenue and managing the Jones estate.
West pleaded guilty to bank fraud in 2016 for exaggerating his income to secure loans, owing Reliant Bank nearly $1 million in restitution. Nancy paid off the penalty for West. The affair disgraced the George Jones Museum, which was sold later that year.
As West lived in Nancy’s home and continued to leech off her largesse, he began to fancy himself a “crypto expert,” persuading the widow to lend him money to invest in cryptocurrencies like Ripple, Shiba Inu, and Ethereum.
By all accounts, it seems West did well enough, but the play came crashing down after Jones discovered that West was sleeping with another woman. Jones kicked him out of her house, which he’d lived in for 12 years, and soon discovered that cash and a crypto wallet were missing from her safe.
It didn’t take long to track down West. Less than 24 hours after Jones called in the theft, the Franklin Police Department slapped the cuffs on West. He’s currently being held on a $1 million bond. DAVIS HUNT
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🖋️ Edited by Megan Podsiedlik.
🚌 Big Bad Transit Solutions The Boring Company’s plan to construct an underground tunnel connecting the airport to downtown has some opposition. For starters, the East Nashtivists will be protesting Elon Musk’s Music City Loop project during the State Building Commission Meeting at Cordell Hull tomorrow morning.
Though the rapid transit solution is a private venture with no cost to taxpayers, Tennessee House Democratic Caucus Chairman John Ray Clemmons (D-Nashville) also issued a warning about the project:
“What Tennesseans witnessed today was the result of a smart businessman identifying an easy target in starry-eyed Bill Lee,” he said in a release. “No responsible executive would give away unrestricted and unlimited underground property rights to an unhinged billionaire, who Donald Trump doesn’t even trust anymore, and grant him and his company exclusive access rights beneath our city and a monopoly to profit in perpetuity.”
Meanwhile, Representative Justin Jones (D-Nashville) created a spectacle by showing up to Monday's announcement uninvited, trying to make his way into the event. As for local support, Governor Lee thanked Mayor O’Connell on Monday for his involvement in preliminary conversations that took place before The Boring Company unveiled its plans.
That said, according to the Lookout, O’Connell released a statement Tuesday distancing his office from the project: “We are aware of the state’s conversations with the Boring Company, and we have a number of operational questions to understand the potential impacts on Metro and Nashvillians.” Behind the scenes, many speculate that the mayor is downplaying his role and enthusiasm, taking into account the lack of support the project is likely to receive from council members and his left-leaning base.
🟩 Green Going After The Green Mark Green has officially stepped down from his congressional position in the House, but his private sector pursuits have left some questioning the ethics of his exit. In an interview with Tucker Carlson two weeks ago, ousted New York Congressman George Santos called out Green for faking his support for President Trump and his questionable pursuit of a “gold deal in Guyana” while still serving in office.
“You're lobbying for a new job while still holding a position of public trust,” Santos told Tucker. “That's, per se, freaking criminal!”
Considering the source, taking Santos’ comments with a grain of salt is understandable. The ex-congressman began serving his 7-year federal prison sentence for fraud on Friday, but he isn’t the only one who’s found Green’s exit to be ethically dubious.
The nonprofit, nonpartisan publication NOTUS spoke with Green about his private sector plans and whether the way he’s gone about it is above board. “Part of the reason why I was so cagey about it is if I go and tell you the name of the company while I’m still a sitting congressman, couldn’t you make the accusation that I’m using my position to advertise my new company?” he asked NOTUS during a sit-down interview. “Wouldn’t that be inappropriate? Potentially unethical?”
Green went on to answer questions about soliciting partnerships with colleagues while still on the job. He also indicated that he’s keeping an open mind regarding his future involvement in politics. “I don’t know that I’m done with politics. I hope I’m not,” said Green. “Partly why I’m meeting with you, or I wouldn’t care.”
💉 OD Spikes In Nashville According to the Metro Public Health Department, overdose deaths in Nashville have decreased year over year due to life-saving access to naloxone. That said, Music City continues to see issued warning after issued warning from the Metro Nashville Police Department about spikes in overdoses, including one just last week.
Regardless of improvements, Nashville’s ballooning opioid crisis has remained a complex problem that resulted in Davidson County having the second-highest overdose death rate in the country in 2022. While the availability of Narcan kits around the city may be helping to decrease overdose fatalities overall, the recent OD spikes could be a result of something naloxone simply can’t fix.
Back in April, the Metro Public Health & Safety Committee heard from Sgt. Michael Hotz of MNPD’s Special Investigations Division. At the time, the department warned of a deadly drug combo resistant to Narcan. “We are seeing increases in the amount of xylazine that's being adulterated into the fentanyl supply,” explained Sgt. Hotz. Not only does the mixture cause a dual addiction, but xylazine is non-opioid, and overdoses can’t be reversed using Narcan. It also causes large, open sores that can lead to complications, including amputation and death.”
DEVELOPMENT
- ✈️ Allegiant to connect Nashville, Gulf Shores (Post)
- Boring Co. seeks to lease downtown state-owned lot (NBJ)
- Bearded Iris acquired by Memphis beer company (Post)
- Metro Planning Commission OKs rezoning for Oracle site (Post)
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✹ REPEAT OFFENDER ALL-STAR OF THE DAY
Not the most illustrious repeat offender we've profiled here before, but Tavion would make a good six-hole hitter on just about any squad. (More Info)
THINGS TO DO
View our calendar for the week here.
📅 Visit our On The Radar list to find upcoming events around Nashville.
🎧 On Spotify: Pamphleteer's Picks, a playlist of our favorite bands in town this week.
👨🏻🌾 Check out our Nashville farmer's market guide.
TONIGHT
🪕 The Cox Family @ The Station Inn, 8p, $20, Info
🎸 Other Vessels w/ Purser @ The Basement, 7p, $19.78, Info
🎸 Grocery Bag @ The Basement, 9p, $12.85, Info
💀 Tennessee Dead @ Tennessee Brew Works, 6p, Info
🪕 Bluegrass Night @ The American Legion Post 82, 7p, Free, Info
📰 Check out the full newsletter archive here.
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Today's newsletter is brought to you by Megan Podsiedlik (Nashville), Jerod Hollyfield (Crowd Corner), Camelia Brennan (Local Noise), and Davis Hunt (everything else).