tonight on "20/20," shameless. it's the race to tax time. and you won't believe what some people try to write off. a stripper who deducted our breast implants. a lawyer who claims 65,000 on prostitutes as medical exchances. and 8k on cat food and kitty litter? deduct that. and a casanova who many women say, he conned them. >> you did say, stop mooching off me? >> can you put the camera down.

>> this is ray. >> hi, ray. >> he is just scum. >> and to catch scum, she used her irs refund as bait. you got taxed. and the picture perfect facebook family, with thousands of follows. giving not money but they hearts to help their boy fight cancer. none of it is reel. why would someone do something like this. what happened when they vanished from the net. what happened when "20/20" tracked them down. plus from hobbling on skruchs to running on stilettos. they are faking their way to a disability paycheck. they are all shameless. here is barbara walters. good evening. it's just three days until your taxes are due. so we start with a story of a woman who used her tax return

like bait in a honey trap to ensnare a former lover. in fact, a whole group of women say they were scammed by the so-called internet casanova who not only took them to bed. he took them to the cleaners, until they got evening. amy robach has the story. >> this is ray. hi, ray! >> hello. >> he's a filmmaker. >> reporter: say you happen to run into a man named ray holycross and right away he tells you something incredible. >> someone mugged him! can you just, like, briefly tell, like what happened? >> briefly, a rather short man came up to me, and he had a rather large gun. >> a gun? >> a gun, yeah. >> are you serious? >> yeah. yeah. >> reporter: you take pity on him right? as you're about to see, plenty of people all over the country claimed that would be one big mistake. >> when i say the name ray holycross what's your reaction? >> it gives me chills. makes me feel sick.

>> reporter: jen clark says believing ray holycross helped make her life a holy mess. just two years ago she was on top of the world. an independent career woman working for a software company in portland, oregon, she had a nice home with a swimming pool and was raising her 12 year-old daughter on her own. >> obviously, everybody wants prince charming. >> but then you thought you met prince charming? >> yeah, i did. >> reporter: prince charming, aka ray holycross, a 29-year-old heartthrob, contacted jen via the website plenty of fish. and in no time, she says she fell hook, line and sinker. >> hi, babe. i love you. he was attractive and charming and well-spoken. he said he was a director, told me that he had worked on the show "24." and movies. >> so he was exciting? >> oh, yeah, he was, you know,

it was super exciting. >> reporter: so sure she'd found "the one," she says when ray told her he'd been mugged and lost all his luggage and credit cards, jen opened her heart. right away they were living together, sleeping together, but she says not exactly spending together. >> i bought him clothes and took care of him because i cared about him. i supported him, i fed him, i you know, provided him everything. >> you sound like his mother! >> yeah, i was his mother. >> hey, it's me, i just wanted to say i love you. bye. >> reporter: for a whole year, jen says ray piled up the sweet nothings while she emptied out her savings. what do you say to people who say, there are red flags everywhere? how did this woman not know what was happening? >> i really, truly just believed him. and i think every girl wants to believe there is a guy out there that loves him that much.

>> reporter: she may be right. how many of you say ray deceived you? all of you. we went searching far and wide and brought together those left in his wake. corrine, st. joe, michigan. elizabeth, chicago, illinois. sarah, salt lake city, utah. some call him a cad, some call him a crook. all say you couldn't believe a word. knight in shining armor without money, is that a fair statement? >> yeah! exactly. >> reporter: a first class mooch. they say ray told them similar stories. >> i was willing to help him because he told me he had been mugged and that he had nothing. >> reporter: they claim holycross took whatever they would give. free food, free rent, sometimes even sex, until the day he suddenly vanished. >> what did ray take from you? >> my ipad. he took my daughter's ipad. >> around $4000 at least. >> just my time, but he gave me the ability to know that my gut instinct is number one. >> reporter: from jilted to

vigilante, they decide to turn the tables. figuring if ray found his women on the net, that would be the place to sound the alarm. they created this website and a facebook group to get the word out to ray's potential new girlfriends and locate old ones. how many girls are we talking about? >> i think we called 45 to 50 women. >> reporter: one of them was jen clark. >> they all said you know, i supported ray for however long, and then he stole from me. >> and you believed them? >> i believed them. >> reporter: but still not enough to bail on ray. months later she lost her job and says ray told her they could start over in chicago and he'd foot the bill. >> i'm being serious, can you put the camera down for a minute? >> reporter: she gave up that beautiful home with the swimming pool, and says she woke up one morning only to find all the warnings come true. ray was gone along with her atm card. she told the police he stole $900. >> i not only lost myself, my

dignity, my faith in humanity, but i lost my daughter who now lives with her dad. really, i lost everything. >> on your side, investigator thom jensen is here with the story of ray holycross. but now, ray was on the run. with the news starting to spread locally -- >> police across oregon are looking for this man. >> reporter: -- and nationally. >> he's being called an internet casanova. even ray's own brother had had enough. >> he digs holes and gets into lies, and it's just a non-stop thing. >> reporter: but where exactly was ray? >> this is ray. hi, ray! >> hello. >> he is a filmmaker. he does hollywood edits and everything. >> reporter: hard as it may be to believe, where he was was on camera! >> we are about an hour from boise. >> reporter: incredibly, ray had crossed paths with that man we saw earlier who was driving cross-country and recording the whole trip on video. and there he is, apparently

telling the same old stories. someone mugged him. can you briefly tell what happened? >> a rather short man came up to me, and he had a rather large gun. >> a gun, are you serious? >> yeah, yeah. >> reporter: ironically, the man's video blog was called "the truth is." >> do you remember ray? >> reporter: the road trip turned to road kill when ray arrived in mishawaka, indiana and met theresa bridgegroom. with a name like hers, he might have thought he had found the perfect foil for his next romantic romp. he had no idea he had just met his match. >> who is ray holycross? >> he is just scum. >> reporter: only days after meeting him through mutual friends, theresa invited ray to live with her and her 10-year-old son. she says she even let him use her chevy to go to his supposed

tv job out of town. but this reality show should have had a tv-m.a. rating. theresa later discovered cell phone videos of him with other women having trysts in her truck. >> it just made me sick that he did that in this truck. i don't even want the truck. it just disgusts me to know he did it. >> reporter: something else disgusted her too. a receipt from a local pawn shop. she says he had sold her expensive camera. >> i thought, i am not letting him get away. there was no way i was gonna do that. >> reporter: so how do you catch a rat? with cheese courtesy of the u.s. treasury. so what did you do? >> i had texted him and told him i got my tax check. >> reporter: that tax refund. fresh money in the bank drew ray back like a moth to a flame. a half hour after ray arrived at the apartment, theresa quietly called the cops. >> within a couple minutes they were pounding on the front door.

>> tonight, the man dubbed the internet casanova has been busted. >> it felt great. i thought how many women and how many cops, police departments, were saying they were looking for him and trying to track him down and all i had to do was say i got my tax check and within eight hours, done. gone!. he's locked up. >> reporter: holycross plead guilty to a charge of theft, served nine months in this jail and then was extradited to a different county where he was convicted for another theft. he is scheduled to be released in december. >> what should happen to ray? >> he should be in a mental institution. >> reporter: in the meantime, these women simply want to warn perspective online surfers, look out. they believe whenever ray holycross gets out, he could be looking to break your heart and your bank. >> so what's the most

extravagant thing you have done with the money you got back from uncle sam? i hope you did. we are live, tweeted throughout tonight's program. let us know using the #abc2020. we'll be right back. next, is this woman eating a chocolate bar the mastermind between one of the biggest fake outs ever? >> why would she make this up? >> we're on the hunt. >> hi, it's elizabeth vargas. >> coming up. and brochures to oversized printouts and banners that will bring your designs to life. ♪ yes, staples has everything you need to get your client's attention... except your client's attention. thousands of products added every day to staples.com, even bullhorns. how much? [ male announcer ] now get 50% off marketing materials. staples. make more happen.

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shameless continues. elizabeth vargas with one of the biggest facebook scams ever. >> reporter: ah, the internet. playground for every pajama-clad pretender looking to pull a fast one, for profit, attention, or perhaps just the twisted satisfaction of messing with someone's head. >> the latest bizarre twist in an admittedly bizarre story. >> day two of the manti te'o story. >> case in point, manti teo's head. the star linebacker who found out a few months ago that his gorgeous girlfriend was actually a guy. but nev shulman will tell you that the cat and mouse game between a hoaxer and their prey is often more complicated than it looks. a new york photographer, nev fell for a 20-something in michigan only to discover that, oops, she was actually a middle-aged mom.

the whole cyber-saga caught on tape by his brother and a friend, and turned into the indie blockbuster catfish. >> why were you so captivated by her? why this anonymous person on the internet? >> it was different. it was something new. it was a little mysterious. >> reporter: the hit film became a hit tv show on mtv. nev now playing dr. phil to other lonely hearts who've been duped. like this blonde who learns that the male model she's been cyber-dating is, surprise, another woman. >> i mean, who does that? that is just so [ bleep ] up. i mean -- >> reporter: multiply that stunned reaction by a thousand and you'll begin to understand the dimensions of a global internet hoax so vast and elaborate it makes what happened to nev look like an email typo. it started with a pitch-perfect combo of pictures and posts that

just hooks your heart. a young boy fighting a brave battle with cancer. his name, eli dirr or warrior eli. taryn wright, from chicago, stumbled across the story through a friend. >> i think he had three different types of cancer at one point. >> and how old was he? >> he was about to turn six. >> that's a lot of cancer. in a short amount of time. >> it was a lot of cancer. >> reporter: the internet had been humming with his story for years. cancer support pages on sites like alex's lemonade stand. the story book family hailed from saskatchewan, canada. eli's dad? a handsome mountie, of course. his mom dana? a pregnant trauma surgeon with ten adorable children. right. >> it just seemed, like, really easy to, like, fall in love with them. >> reporter: this 18-year-old in california, who asked that we not reveal her identity, became a faithful supporter of eli's. like so many others she devoutly wore eli's bracelets and ribbons sent in care packages from the

family. >> i would spend my lunch breaks at high school passing them out to all my friends and saying, "wear this to raise awareness to childhood cancer." >> reporter: then, out of the blue, a heartbreaking mother's day post that would send eli's dedicated followers into mourning. j.s. dirr solemnly writes that his wife had been hit by a drunk driver, she survived just long enough to give birth to a baby girl. the web erupts in sorrow. hundreds of people posting their condolences. but nev shulman says such a surplus of tragedy should have sent up red flags. >> if the person you're talking to has a -- series of family incidents, illness, often times cancer, which we see a lot -- >> miraculous survival. >> car accidents, yeah, things like this, something to watch out. >> reporter: taryn wright reads the story and desperately tries to get more information.

oddly, she can't. >> i googled the name of the person that had died. and there was no real google hits at all for her. just the news value of a mother to 11 children dying on mother's day. >> it should have been covered. >> exactly. >> so at that point, are your alarm bells ringing loud? >> yes, at that point they were super loud. >> reporter: on a hunch, she tries searching the web for other places the dirr photos might have appeared. lo and behold, this image of eli's siblings in sunglasses posted on j.s.' facebook page also appears on the site of a popular mommy blogger in, of all places, south africa. >> so you contacted her and said what? >> i said, hi, i'm taryn wright from chicago. >> there was an e-mail saying, i think that your pictures of your children are being used by somebody. and as i clicked more and more, i just saw more and more photos.

>> reporter: photos of tertia albertyn's kids adam and kate identified as the dirr children jude and lily. and not just once. >> i probably discovered over 70 images of my children. >> reporter: but it wasn't just tertia's photos that were lifted. the entire dirr family. the birthdays, the memories, all of it was a fiction, stitched together with purloined photos from various unsuspecting uploaders. pregnant dana? she's actually a photographer from new york. the sweet and brave little eli? those photos belong to jenny. her son adam is a healthy kindergartner who, thankfully, never had cancer. and eli's dad, the dashing mountie j.s.? hi, it's elizabeth vargas. >> come on us. >> reporter: well, we found him

not on horse back on the canadian tundra, but in an apartment in new york city, just a few blocks from our abc news. his real name is ryan. they shake hands at door, and it turns out he has very little in common with his alter ego, j.s. >> so you're not a canadian mountie? >> no. >> you don't have 11 children? >> i do not have any children. >> reporter: back in chicago, taryn wright has unraveled a decade long deception, but it's the victims who will hand over the most crucial clue. remember those rubber bracelets and the care packages? well, the return address wasn't from canada, where the dirrs said they lived. it was from ohio. >> because of j.s.'s top secret canine mountie job he couldn't -- >> his top secret canine mountie job? >> yeah. so he had a sister in the united states that would send this out for the family. >> how convenient. >> right. >> and who was the sister in the united states? >> the sister's name was emily dirr. >> reporter: but unlike the fake

family she created, emily dirr is real. that's the mistress of deception there, in the sweatshirt, munching on a snack, outside her parent's house in ohio. emily dirr declined our invitation for an interview through her attorney. she has not been charged with any crime. the only thing she appears to have violated is the terms of the service agreement on sites like facebook, and of course, everyone's trust. she did, however, offer an apology to the internet community that she betrayed, which taryn posted on her website. why would somebody do something like this? why would she make all this up? she didn't profit from it. >> she did not profit from it. i think that she must have had, you know, the attention must have kind of been addicting. >> people who do this, i think, justify it by saying, okay, i

know i lied but what is important, it was still me. >> but, but do you buy that? do you buy that this is a victimless act? >> no, it's -- it's -- there's absolutely a victim. to share intimate details of your life and feelings with someone who's deceiving you is wrong, and no one should go through that. >> do you think we're going to see more of this kind of phenomenon? >> absolutely. and so long as we're not looking people in the eye face-to-face, there's always going to be room, a lot of room for deception. >> next, they're walking and playing just fine. except when it comes to walking to work. fake disabilities, free rides and some injury free activity. >> dare i ask what you mean by activity? >> paid for by your tax dollars,

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>> shameless continues. cecilia vega, with little injuries, turns into big pay outs. >> police, we have had reports of blind men pretending to be blind and cripples. >> i would like to help you. i haven't seen anything since i stepped on a land mine in nam. >> in the movies, faking injury to make a buck is a tried and true scam until, that is, you're busted by the cops. >> i can see! i can see! i have legs! >> reporter: eddie's made a remarkable recovery, but he's got nothing on real life con artists caught on tape. ignacio maciel collected disability payments after claiming he hurt his back working at a department store cosmetics counter. watch as he limps to his doctor's office for an appointment. but this doc must be a miracle worker. maciel immediately heads to the gym where he's caught on camera burning up the elliptical

machine, pumping iron, even taking a 45-minute exercise class. the payoff for all that hard work? hard time. in 2011, maciel was convicted of insurance fraud. catching fake injury scammers is just another day at the office for southern california p.i. john hakala. his personal "hall of shame" includes this man hakala says he caught at the driving range, despite his supposed back, neck and arm injuries. talk about a no handicap golfer. when he's out on a stakeout, >> have camera. >> weapon number one. hakala comes armed with the tools of his trade. hidden cameras to catch the suspect in the act, even one in a cigarette box. >> you're a sneaky guy! >> you have to be. these people are pretty sneaky, themselves. >> reporter: according to hakala it took years of surveillance to

get the goods on this guy, who hakala says claimed to have injuries to his knee, back and arm. yet here he is loading a heavy lawnmower into the back of his pickup truck. >> maybe he went to lourdes and bathed in the fountain over there and got healed. >> reporter: behold, a similar miracle on the streets of san mateo, california. our subject, modupe martin, who collected almost $30,000 in disability payments after claiming she hurt her ankle while working as a school janitor. the insurance company was suspicious and placed martin under surveillance. she certainly looks like she's hurt as she's seen visiting her doctor's office on crutches. but later she's seen running like a gazelle in sky high heels no less. >> what's going through my mind is she's a big old fake and that she's committing fraud. she's lying to her doctors, she's lying to her employers.

>> reporter: but the icing on the cake for investigators was her activity on this day. she starts with another visit to the doctor, her trusty crutches doing the legwork. later, she hooks up with her boyfriend and they head to the park. she may be too injured to go to work but she's certainly healthy enough to get right down to business. >> she is engaging in, uh, activity with this young man. >> dare i ask what you mean by activity? >> well, it appears some sexual activity. >> reporter: and this is where we have to stop the tape to avoid an x-rating. and investigators had seen enough, too. martin was convicted of insurance fraud and served nine months in jail. why is this worth doing running a scam for these people that takes so much energy?

what do they get out of it? >> big pay day with very little effort. doesn't cost the person a penny. >> reporter: and if you think you've seen it all, please consider the curious case of james farkus cohan. cohan is notorious for filing more than 180 lawsuits against los angeles businesses including this bike store, this beauty salon and this tire store. his m.o.? according to these business owners, an ingenious shakedown, he demands fat payouts claiming the businesses haven't made the necessary modifications to accommodate his severe disability. >> he hit businesses up and down the street here. >> reporter: pizzeria owner chris caminiti says many businesses simply paid cohan off for a few thousand bucks rather than take on the expense of fighting him in court. >> it's a terrible, you know, a terrible circumstance, and a lot of our neighbors were victimized and paid him. >> reporter: business owners say during court appearances like this one, cohan certainly looked like a suffering senior. in fact, in a court document, cohan claimed he had "end stage

emphysema," which he said limited his ability to "walk, work, speak and breathe" and required him to use a wheelchair and oxygen tank. but a suspicious business owner made a surprising discovery about cohen and tipped off our l.a. affiliate kabc, which shot this video of cohan outside his home in 2011. apparently the fresh air had worked wonders for that "end stage emphysema," the wheelchair and oxygen tank were nowhere in sight, just the bronzed, if slightly saggy, torso of the 72 year-old as he trekked up this steep slope. >> we just saw you take a pretty nice hike up that hill. do you have any explanation for that? >> why don't you talk to my attorneys or doctors about that? >> reporter: the business owners sued by cohan gathered at a local bar to screen the footage of their suddenly nimble tormentor.

>> look at him, he is hiking with his dog! >> he's actually waiting for the dog to catch up. >> he wants to be in good shape to spend all the money he's getting back from everybody. he's done, he's done. >> reporter: but guess what? when cohan later showed up at court, his condition had apparently taken a turn for the worse -- cue the crutches! >> you really can put down the crutches now, we know you can walk. you really don't need to do this. >> i can walk, yes. and sometimes i have trouble. >> reporter: kabc's expose helped business owners win their cases and cohan's now in even more trouble. he was recently convicted in a different scheme involving bilking government agencies out of benefit money. so for all you wanna-be scammers out there, watch out. the investigators are on the prowl with their cameras just waiting to bust you. >> they always think that, "i'm such a small fish, who's gonna bother with me?" but the likelihood is if they do it, they're gonna get caught. >> next -- >> this is a sweet house. >> no mortgage, no taxes and no

money. just a mansion on the water. free for the taking. >> all you have do is file a little be the of paper work and bingo, this becoming your backyard. >> shameless squatters coming up. to oversized printouts and banners that will bring your designs to life. ♪ yes, staples has everything you need to get your client's attention... except your client's attention. thousands of products added every day to staples.com, even bullhorns. how much? [ male announcer ] now get 50% off marketing materials. staples. make more happen. [ male announcer ] now get 50% off marketing materials. your first breath, your first grasp, your first smile... we were there. your first roll, your first friend, we were there too. and swaddlers blanket-like softness, that you've loved since day one,

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"20/20" continues with dan harris and squatter scams. >> reporter: boca raton, florida. a city synonymous with conspicuous consumption, designer clothing, designer dogs and bombastic boats. welcome to the aptly named golden harbour drive, where everyone's backyard is right on the water. rockin' the infinity pool. pretty good look. it is a tony enclave that not long ago played reluctant host to a strange and uninvited guest. >> this is it right here. >> reporter: shortly before christmas, mike avirom notices something odd transpiring at a house on his block.

this is a sweet house. it is a $2.3 million, 7500 square foot plus-sized palace. the previous owner had money problems, signed it over to bank of america and moved out. now a stranger is moving in without paying a penny to the bank and he's not alone. >> a bunch of guys pull up and move into this beautiful house and tell you they are establishing an embassy? >> an embassy for their mission. >> their religious mission? >> they're going to have transient families coming in and out in accord with their ministry. >> and your response to this was? >> i don't think that's gonna fly. >> reporter: it gets even weirder, quickly. the new occupant posts paperwork on the house saying nobody can enter without an invitation and two types of i.d. on the elaborate forms, the name of the man who now claims ownership, andre barbosa. neighbors google him right away and up pops the facebook page of a 23-year-old brazillian, an aspiring hip-hop artist who

calls himself "loki boy" after the norse god of mischief. that is when neighbors call 911. >> they've changed the locks, they've put a no trespassing sign out and they're moving in. >> all right, i'm going to have an officer dispatched as soon as possible. >> we called the police on these [ bleep ] right here. squatters, they're just defiant. >> reporter: the cops show up and speak to loki boy, who you can see right there on a neighbor's cell phone video. but here's where what seems like a clear-cut trespassing case gets truly crazy. loki boy presents the police with this document which stops them in their tracks. loki boy is claiming something called "adverse possession." >> the notion is that someone can move onto a property, fix it up, take care of it and after a period of time it's their property. >> reporter: it is an obscure but very real law that is on the books in all 50 states. if loki boy stays for seven years, the mansion is his. >> so this kid was pretty

clever, because he was using language that was very confusing for you and your force. >> absolutely. >> reporter: thus begins a bizarre stalemate with loki boy occupying the house day after day. police, prosecutors and the bank are in a state of confusion and paralysis. in fact, at first, the bank denies even owning the house, which is a lucky break for loki boy, who, meanwhile, is living large, working on a new rap video with the mansion as a backdrop. was that frustrating for you? >> very. >> reporter: more than four weeks into this thing, lyn houston, a nervous next door neighbor, has had enough. >> i was going to do anything to get rid of him. anything. >> you were willing to buy that house? >> yes. >> you were gonna take out a mortgage? >> no. >> just pay cash? >> yes. >> cash for this house to get this kid out? >> yes. >> neighbors outraged to find out a squatter. >> when her phone calls to the bank are not returned she alerts

the media. >> we have a hard to believe but true story out of florida. >> reporter: the story goes national. >> this guy is making it his home for free. >> reporter: meanwhile, the nervous neighbor is convinced that the nightmare here on golden harbour drive is connected to something much larger. we decide to do some digging. remember those weird documents loki boy posted on the front of the house? there is another name on there, james mcbride, who, as we learn, is the founder of a mysterious group called divine province. >> we can take back all this property that has been taken from us. >> reporter: mcbride is an ex-con, who's done time for cocaine importation and run-ins with the irs. he says he hasn't paid federal income taxes in 26 years and claims he can teach you how to live like him. mcbride is very suspicious of the media, but he agrees to speak exclusively with abc news. what was your connection to

andre? >> he's a member of the divine province. >> reporter: he says he didn't know in advance about loki boy's mansion takeover, but he now supports him fully. it's lawful to move into a house -- >> absolutely. >> -- that's not yours and say, "this is mine"? >> correct. >> reporter: but there are many other laws mcbride feels he and his followers are not subject to. how? he shows me a seal he says was a gift from pope benedict himself. what can you do with this? >> it means i can now give orders or issue decrees that the vatican and the roman curia must follow. >> are you saying that you have some sort of papal authority here in north america? >> in the globe. >> in the globe? >> correct. >> so you have primary control of the earth? >> correct. >> that seems like a lot of power. >> i understand. it is. and a lot of responsibility. >> reporter: this may sound ridiculous, but the fbi is not laughing. there are an estimated 300,000 people in this country who share some version of

mcbride's belief that american laws do not apply to them. some of these people are using tactics like adverse possession to take over vacant homes. >> this one right here has been claimed by a guy named paul delatour. >> reporter: we found examples all over south florida. >> all you have to do is file a little bit of paperwork and bingo, this becomes your backyard. and it's not just in florida. it's happening all over the country. people are taking over empty mansions without paying anybody a dime. >> why did you decide on this house? >> why not, it's a beautiful house. >> reporter: meanwhile, back on golden harbour drive, fully aware of this situation now, nervous neighbor lyn houston once again takes action, hiring off-duty cops to watch loki boy's mansion. >> some people aren't sleeping, some people can't eat. >> reporter: just two days later, with media attention reaching a fever pitch, the cops mount a raid.

>> we showed up here, opened the door, walked in, no one's here. >> reporter: they haul away loki boy's stuff and change the locks. 51 days after it began, the nightmare on golden harbour drive ends with a whimper. loki's house of cards has tumbled down. he has sneaked off quietly. the home is now back in the hands of the rightful owner, the bank. the neighbors have not, however, heard the last of loki boy. days later, he officially releases this music video where he is seen dancing with his mom agains a backdrop of the mansion on golden harbour drive, which, by the way, has now been sold >> i think the whole neighborhood feels safer. i feel resolve. we will sleep better tonight. >> reporter: if anything good has come out of this ordeal, the neighbors say it's that they've grown much closer. they throw a victory celebration complete with a surprise guest. >> ok, loki, come on out!

>> reporter: a loki boy impersonator. ♪ i don't want to let you go ♪ next, are they just trying to punk the irs? deducting best implant, prostitutes, rub down oil for muscle shows and kitty litter. the craziest tax write offs rewound. and crazier, some of them were approved. shameless deductions when we come back.

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>> "20/20" continues, once again, barbara walters. >> when tax time rolls around, it's a given there will be creative book keeping with deductions. crazy like a fox when you hear what some of your fellow americans think they can get away with. and some of them do. here is paula faris. >> albert einstein says the hardest thing to understand is the income tax. well, fear not, uncle sam does have a soft spot for brilliant minds like yours who come up with imaginative deductions. chase in point, model and dancer chesty love. that is not her real name and those are not her breasts.

he argued with the irs that her 56 "m" implants, were necessary for our job as a model. the tax court argued with her says her freakishly large breasts were part of her business costume. an anchor woman in ohio had a business costume as well and her expenditures were bigger than chesy's. he v she wrote off $90,000 enter audited. it cost me a lot of money. >> i had to buy specific shoes and jewelry. and a wardrobe she could behind caught in off air. she challenged off court where she wrote off lingerie. you know, no unslightly lines on

tv. >> makeup? >> you have to have it. high-definition television changed our lives. and it's expensive. >> i choose to spend a lot of money on makeup and hair. manicures. pedicures. i admit that even if i wasn't working in this business, i probably still get a lot of these services done, which is why the irs told anietra, "nice try." >> and that's the key. is it a business expense? and is it ordinary? and is it reasonable? >> this familiar face from h&r block explains. he's got the 411 on that 1040. >> if you're getting your hair done into a 19th century look or an 18th century look for an audition or for a performance, then you can deduct it. but if you're just getting your hair cut on a regular basis to look good for tv or whatever, then it's not going to be deductible. >> know what else is not gonna be deductible? spending 65 grand on hookers.

but that didn't stop this brooklyn lawyer from claiming it as a medical expense for stress relief. and what about the california man who totaled his $40,000 truck driving while under the influence? when he wrote it off, the irs blew a gasket. but he won when a judge ruled, yeah, it's negligence, but not gross negligence. so much for you booze, you lose. meanwhile, back in ohio, the irs taking a second look at anietra's taxes. her on-air expenses were looking more like hot air. bedding, contacts and contact lens solution, ohio state jersey, active wear, softsoap morning mist hand soap, a robe, teeth whitening. anietra admits some of those were submitted by mistake. >> i have nothing to hide. i did everything right. what i did was follow my

accountant. >> and then where is your accountant when the irs comes after you? >> gone. >> gone, too, is anietra's face from the evening news. she now runs a tourism website where no one will care what she looks like sitting behind a keyboard. >> for many people, if they've taken deductions that they're not entitled to, they're gonna end up with a bill, and nobody likes that. >> so while some americans may forever try to push their luck, one thing the irs never lets slide. >> well, my advice to people finishing their taxes this week is, by all means, finish your taxes this week. if you're living with moderate to severe crohn's disease, and it feels like your life revolves around your symptoms, ask your gastroenterologist about humira adalimumab. humira has been proven to work for adults who have tried other medications but still experience the symptoms of moderate to severe crohn's disease. in clinical studies, the majority of patients on humira

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that's our program for tonight. all new edition of "nightline" prime is coming up. taking you inside the

unification church and a mass wedding that is about to happen to 4,000 people at once. that is a lot of i dos. i'm barbara walters. that story starts right now. it's saturday night in america. lights on. this is "nightline" prime. tonight, would you buy a $7,000 cat? well, lots of people did. because this man's been claiming it's like no other cat on the planet. but guess what we found when we tracked down the world's most elusive pet salesman? and the type-o.-cat. and then w go inside the unification church and travel to a mass wedding with young american bride and grooms. they say this man is the messiah and their marriages are a match in heaven.