Bobby Thompson caught
About two years ago, we wrote about Bobby Thompson who ran the US Navy Veterans Association which does what VoteVets does but under the guise of a charity. He and his officers made hundreds of thousands of dollars in salaries from veterans’ donations that donors thought were directly supporting veterans, but were instead funding conservative candiates. Well, it seems he was finally caught after two years on the run from authorities;
Authorities acting on a tip tracked Thompson to a bar in Portland, Ore., on Monday night, followed him home and made the arrest, Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine said. He had multiple fake ID cards from Canada and a backpack containing cash, DeWine said.
Thompson refused to speak to investigators, authorities said.
At a hearing Tuesday, U.S. District Judge John Acosta of Portland ordered Thompson to be returned to Ohio. Thompson, who limped into the courtroom, spoke frequently with his public defender during an hour-long hearing to establish he was the man authorities were looking for.
DeWine said authorities hope to have the man returned within 10 days to Ohio, where he will be tried in state court in Cleveland. The alleged fraud, which DeWine called “despicable,” spanned 41 states, including up to $2 million in Ohio.
If I remember correctly, there’s some questions as to whether Thompson is really a veteran at all, since we’re not even positive that is his real name.
That’s pretty much why I turn away advertising for charities that support veterans – I’m not going to put this blog between dueling lawyers. And, frankly, I just don’t have the time to check out every person and organization which comes here with their hands out.
Thanks to Sparky for the link.
Category: Shitbags
This is terrible news. I’m heartbroken. (smile)
Speaking of this, something I’ve wondered about: is there a source somewhere of what the various military related charities record is on overhead? For instance, I donate to the Salvation Army rather than the Red Cross because almost every penny goes to the needy and not the “management”. I’ve been donating to USO but have no idea of their ratio. Same for Wounded Warrior. Thoughts? Steve
SJ, this site might be helpful:
http://www.charitychoices.com/
It lists charities that have met OPMs 10 standards for CFC participation. These are typically the better charities.
Under “All Charities A to Z”, you can select charities by name. At the bottom of the page for each charity is a selection something like, “How do I know you’ll use my donation wisely?” (I’m paraphrasing). In there, the charity specifies the % of each donation that goes to program costs. The rest is presumably overhead.
For USO, 89% go to program costs, so 11% is overhead. For USO, I’d guess program costs include field rep salaries/billeting/messing and transportation to/from deployed locations. You kinda need folks to run their local offices, and in non-accompanied tour areas you’re not exactly likely to find many local volunteers.
Thanks Hondo…looks interesting. That’s not bad for USO. Didn’t see some of the others but will look harder.
SJ: Glad to help. Yeah, the list only includes about 300 charities. But they’ve been through OPM’s screening for CFC, so the charities on that site’s list should all be fairly decent.
You’re welcome. If I hadn’t been reading when the stupid spam bots post in the recent comments section, I never would have recognized this doucheweasel.
[…] antics while on a layover in Tampa back in 2010. If you have minute, go check out this link from This Ain’t Hell and my link on him. Be very careful how you donate and click over on the right where it says […]
[…] remains in jail without bond May 9th, 2012 We talked about the arrest of Bobby Thompson who absconded with the donations made to his organization US Navy Veterans Association. He made an […]