Man Poses As Navy Vet, Raises Millions For Fake Charity

St. Petersburg Times:

Bobby Thompson came out of nowhere, as if he'd fallen from the sky.

He landed in Tampa in 1998, walked wherever he went and kept to himself. His landlord thought he looked like a bum.

Read the whole story: St. Petersburg Times

Comments

[Nevada Scribbler]

04:44 PM on 01/03/2011

The money line: His landlord told the reporter this guy was a tightwad because he wouldn't buy an AC. I think the landlord is the tightwad. They poor guy's brain baked and he turned into the criminal. Blame the landlord, says I.

[Madison Lib]

07:56 AM on 01/03/2011

Hey Boehner! Is this what you consider a "job"? Where are the jobs?

[Behind the Tweed Curtain]

08:24 PM on 01/01/2011

I really wish people would investigate charities before they donate their finite charity dollars. That includes people coming to the door with chocolate bars and kids in parking lots, etc. (Not the Scouts selling apples) Some of those questionable charities use names that are so close to the legitimate ones, and describe themselves in a way that makes it easy to confuse. There should be more oversight.

[TeeLolly]

01:18 AM on 01/03/2011

You really have to investigate even the legitimate ones, to make sure your charitable dollars are spent on the intended cause, and not just more fund-raising. A wilderness group I've supported wastes tons of money sending cheap pens (to sign their petitions) in huge mailers that can't be good for the environment, and the pens are close to useless. I finally wrote and told them I'm not giving more until their solicitations are more reasonable. Meanwhile, the nonprofit where I used to work wastes piles of money on fancy luncheons and various "events" to attract publicity, but devotes fewer resources to the people they're supposed to help.

[Behind the Tweed Curtain]

04:17 AM on 01/03/2011

I agree completely. Charity Navigator is the best tool I've found - maybe there are better ones. The cheap pens story should surprise me, but it doesn't, really. I used to volunteer with a non-profit living history site that was very bad at everything except deluding themselves and wasting money. Some of their income-earning and fund raising schemes were absurd, and some had hilarious unintended but predictable consequences. If I'm in the right mood, I can have people in stitches recounting the ridiculous things that went on.

[realitytrumpsbull]

07:16 PM on 01/01/2011

There is no cause so noble as to be automatically exempt from use for purposes of exploitation of the public, by unscrupulous persons.

[shthar]

06:15 PM on 01/01/2011

Now I feel better about not following through on my pledge.

[tompoe]

05:47 PM on 01/01/2011

What's worse, impersonating a military veteran, or representing the military with Bush, the war criminal?

[shthar]

06:15 PM on 01/01/2011

Well, this guy didn't steal as much money...

[TeeLolly]

01:18 AM on 01/03/2011

Or take as many lives ...

[Nevada Scribbler]

04:46 PM on 01/03/2011

That wasn't the first or last photo of Bush posing with criminals. The only difference is, this time he didn't know the guy was a crook.

[Smirk]

05:28 PM on 01/01/2011

Such a shoddy and dishonorable thing to do.