How Houston Con Men Blow Their Covers

HOW HOUSTON CON MEN BLOW THEIR COVERS Jennifer Estopinal gets all Encyclopedia Brown on Dinesh Shah, aka Dennis Shaw, aka the subject of Michael Phillips’s recent book Monster in River Oaks and John Nova Lomax’s 2-part con-man saga: “Estopinal then asked Shah what kind of law he practiced, and told her he was a semiretired New York corporate attorney back home in Houston to manage his many investments. ‘And I’m from River Oaks,’ he added. The arrow on Estopinal’s bullshit detector immediately leaped to DefCon Five. ‘People from River Oaks don’t just go around saying that,’ she says. ‘That was when I really knew something was up.’” [Houston Press; part one]

6 Comment

  • okay, I’m listening

  • The city is full of con artists now….it surprised me when I found out many of my own newer friends were not what they seemed. It never crossed my mind that some people only tell lies and the truth is something they don’t even know.You should look out for company’s with basic names since most cons want to blend. A legitimate company is never afraid to draw attention. Anyone who seems to always have money, but never works and is not from a Forbes 500 family…run! In my experience I have never met a trust fund baby who calls themselves that. Most trust kids are really out of control or extremely low key fund raiser types. Money just is and is never spoken of in polite circles because money is a four letter word. Another thing you will motice is someone who notices everything that is expensive and proceeds to talk about their same Hermes whatever……I always smile, nod my head and leave promptly…..hope this helps some of you keep those hard earned fortunes or it at least made you laugh..:)

  • Just have to say that the Houston Press article is a great read. I hope Lomax’s work gets recognized.

  • If people don’t go around saying they are from RO, does that mean LandedGent is a fraud???

  • Great article in the Press – I eagerly await next week’s installment. Dennis Shah is creeeeepy. Amazing he got as far as he did.

  • Reminds me some of J. R. McConnell…