The FBI's Most Wanted Veterans Charity Scammer: Part 1
The Perfect Scam
AARP
4.5 • 1.1K Ratings
🗓️ 3 May 2019
⏱️ 34 minutes
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Summary
The U.S. Navy Veterans Association claimed to be a charity headquartered in Washington, D.C. Founded by Bobby Thompson, known to top politicians as a retired lieutenant commander in the U.S. Navy Reserve, the charity's stated purpose was to support veterans and their families. Using telemarketing firms, the association secured contributions from donors big and small, collecting from everyday people who wanted to honor the service of men and woman in the U.S. military by giving back to veterans in need. While that was a noble cause, nothing about the U.S. Navy Veterans Association was what it seemed. Buoyed by the eccentric Bobby Thompson, the association thrived on more than $20 million in revenue. Thompson's status as a well-respected fundraiser allowed him to circulate among Washington's elite, pose for pictures with presidents and donate large sums to political campaigns under the guise of championing veterans. But when Jeff Testerman, an investigative journalist from Florida, tracked Thompson down to ask a simple question about one of his political donations, Thompson was evasive and combative. Testerman knew there was a secret hiding behind Thompson's behavior and dug in. Little did Testerman know how deep the lies and secrets of the charity and Thompson went. The U.S. Navy Veterans Association wasn't sending money to veterans; it was an elaborate scam. And Jeff Testerman discovered that its founder was not a retired naval officer — nor was his name Bobby Thompson.
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | This week on AARP, the perfect scam. |
| 0:03.2 | I've never seen anybody hide on plain sight like this. |
| 0:06.4 | Nobody but him to this day knows exactly who he is or why he did what he did. |
| 0:13.0 | He was an individual that under his fake name was able to gain access to the President of the United |
| 0:18.9 | States and to a number of high-level politicians. Welcome back to AARP the perfect scam. |
| 0:25.0 | I'm your host Will Johnson. |
| 0:26.0 | Joined as always in the studio by aARP's Fraud Watch network ambassador Frank |
| 0:30.1 | having now. |
| 0:31.1 | Great to be with you, well. |
| 0:32.1 | This week, actually over the course of the next three weeks, we are going to delve deep into the story |
| 0:37.0 | of Captain Bobby Thompson. |
| 0:39.2 | This was a Veterans Charity Scam that was fairly big news in parts of the country. |
| 0:44.0 | A lot of people might not have ever heard about it. |
| 0:46.0 | I understand you have some familiarity with Bobby Thompson. |
| 0:50.0 | And the scam, which there are so many charity scams so I'm familiar with quite a few |
| 0:55.7 | of different types of charity scams today more so than ever before there are all of these so-called charity scams that people just start up, |
| 1:07.0 | create a website, and then start soliciting people for money, |
| 1:10.0 | and people give money without ever verifying it in fact is legitimate |
| 1:14.2 | where is the money going or are they doing with the money. I can't even tell you how |
| 1:18.7 | many I get at home just in the mail every day that are just all types of charities. Some legitimate, some not |
| 1:26.2 | legitimate, but there are so many out there that, you know, I would never give money or part |
| 1:31.2 | with my money to anyone that I really didn't understand was it real and |
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