I'm just happy that--at least this time--most of the damage from their own choices is not being externalized onto innocent bystanders.

> He later upped that investment to $480,000 so that he could gain entry to a dinner at Trump’s Virginia club.

They are victims of a sort, yes, and I'd prefer to see the perpetrators in prison... But at the same time, these participants were warned. Repeatedly. For years.

They still decided the outsiders (regular people) were lying about the conman being a conman, and they chose "invest" in their social position by proving their "loyalty" as members of the in-group.