“Black-ish” star Jenifer Lewis thought she had met the man of her dreams. But the dream would soon turn into a nightmare when Lewis, who starred as Ruby Johnson in the beloved ABC comedy, learned that her charming suitor, Anthony Mariot Wilson, had seduced her with an elaborate set of lies and convinced her to invest thousands into his sound effects company.

According to her account, Wilson claimed to be an Oxford graduate who wrote theology books, worked as a professor at UCLA, and had done sound design work for blockbuster films like Jurassic Park and King Kong, according to a new episode of “American Greed” airing Tuesday at 10 p.m. ET/PT on CNBC.

But when a suspicious friend began digging into Wilson’s past, Lewis made the heartbreaking discovery that Wilson had recently been released from prison for an earlier fraud scheme.

RELATED: Oklahoma Friends Were ‘Chopped In Half At Their Waist’ Before Dumped In River, Victim’s Mother Says

“It was beyond shocking,” she said of learning the devastating truth.

The discovery left the actress and singer reeling.

“It’s an assault, you’re humiliated. It’s an impact of a tsunami when somebody gets that close to you and you find out it’s all a lie,” she said.

But rather than nurse her wounds in private, Lewis took her heartbreak public, helping eventually to bring down Wilson.

“I am sure Tony was confident that being a celebrity I would never tell. It would be a scandal….