The NBC News investigation did not start with a look into his death, however. It was launched after it became clear he was at the center of a Ponzi scheme in 2011 who bilked a single mother from Mississippi. In February of 2013, news broke that Tim Dog had died from a diabetes-related seizure. A memorial service was planned at Glendale Baptist Church in Harlem and a PayPal donation account launched, reportedly to benefit his daughter. But in the months that followed, no death certificate was made available or discovered in his home state.