Written by Joshua Patton
The jargon of the grifter is so lively. The names of their scams are often innocuous and, sometimes, cute. The looky-loo, the pigeon-drop, and others are classic confidence scams that seem to be more part of literary tradition than any real-world criminal enterprises. And perhaps this is true. Once the general public becomes aware of a certain kind of scam – whether a classic short con or an e-mail from the prince of Nigeria – it loses its effectiveness and forces the grifter to tap into his or her creativity to enter into a new scam. A scam that won’t be caught until the grifter, and the money, are long gone.
Such is the case with the man known only as Commander Bobby Thompson. He appeared in Florida claiming to be a naval veteran and created a charity, the US Navy Veterans Association, that is believed to have raised almost $100 million that, along with Commander Bobby, has vanished without a trace. Bobby Thompson is a larger man, with a thick swatch of dark curly hair on his head, matching the beard which covers the lower half of his face. His cheeks are lumpy, his features uneven. Almost as if he was in a horrible accident or perhaps had some low-rent work done, but in every picture I have seen of the man he has a large, warm smile on his face. Of course, this also might be because every picture I have seen of him also contains a powerful political figure whose war chests he contributed to with the charity’s money, over $200,000 worth of donations. Once he had created the illusion of access, the real hustle began.
In June of this year, the lawyers hired by Thompson to represent the charity, after deflecting accusations of impropriety for months, fired themselves after discovering that other than Thompson there were no board members, no offices, and no charity. One of these attorneys met with Thompson in New York and raised his concerns. Thompson assured him everything was on the up-and-up and then vanished. No one knows his real name, the actual Commander Bobby Thompson is a man living in Washington state who had no idea his name was being used by this charlatan in his long con.
Blanca Contreras, a Tampa woman who was an unpaid volunteer for the group, has been arraigned for supposedly withdrawing over $400,000 from the charity. She has pled not guilty, saying she was also duped. The facts may come out once her case goes to trial, but the bottom line is that “Thompson”, the real culprit, is gone. A hundred million is a lot of scratch and could set up a nice retirement on a small tropical island somewhere. I wonder if he isn’t stretched out on the beach right now, new hair, new face, sipping a drink with a little umbrella in it. The road to HIS heaven, paved with the good intentions of people donating money to help veterans.
While the scope of this operation was unlike anything we’ve seen before, the veterans’ charity scam has been done before. It is a good angle, even people against the war tend to feel sympathetic towards the troops. In 2007 the Missouri Attorney General’s Office disrupted a scam in which James Barbee, also coincidentally posing as a Navy Commander, fraudulently claimed to be running a retreat for veterans suffering from PTSD. He pled guilty to the charges in April.
When donating to a Veteran’s Service Organization, do your homework. Make sure you know about the organization you are donating to and who might be behind it. These grifters operate without conscience or remorse. They don’t play on greed but on sympathy. There is no promise of a return on the investment, but instead a promise that they will help someone in need.
If you liked that post, then try these...
Rightsizing the DoD: Ending the Culture of Endless Money by JoshuaMPatton on August 17th, 2010
Written by, Joshua M.
Top Military News Headlines | November 15, 2010 by freedom on November 15th, 2010
Obama administration lays out plan to end combat mission in Afghanistan by 2014.
Proposed Pay Freeze Allegedly Will Not Touch Military by Michael on November 29th, 2010
Written by Michael Dakduk,
On Monday, The White House Office of the Press Secretary released a fact sheet on the President’s proposed federal government pay freeze over the next two years.
Military News | Top Military Headlines by freedom on January 17th, 2012
.
Childhood Sexual Abuse: Service Members Can Get the Help They Need Through the Civil Justice System by freedom on February 16th, 2009
By Patrick Noaker, Attorney at Law
For many service members, the return from an overseas assignment can be bittersweet.
Comments
Powered by Facebook Comments