Source: Tampa Bay Times

The man known as Bobby Thompson spent years concocting elaborate disguises to trick donors out of money and elude authorities trying to track him down.

It all came to a quiet end Monday, when U.S. Marshals placed him in handcuffs as he was coming home from a Portland, Oregon bar at about 10:30 p.m.

After nearly two years as a fugitive, the mastermind behind U.S. Navy Veterans Association, a multi-million-dollar sham charity that was run out of a duplex in Tampa, is finally in federal custody.

.....

As Thompson, the fugitive operated what purported to be a prominent veterans' charity with chapters nationwide that raised nearly $100 million over eight years. A series of stories in the Tampa Bay Times in early 2010 revealed that all Navy Veterans' officers were fictional, with the exception of Thompson, and little money went to needy veterans.


Read more: http://www.tampabay.com/news/business/arti...

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(Ohio Attorney General's Office)
Bobby Thompson, shown here in pictures from a 2010 wanted poster, is the alleged mastermind behind a massive sham veterans' charity that bilked the public of millions of dollars. He is in federal custody this morning. (via Times)



(United States Marshals’ Office)
An arrest mug shot shows Bobby Thompson after he was taken into custody by federal officials early this morning. (via Times)


The backstory:


Nationwide warrant for head of sham veterans' charity: Diverted money to Republican campaigns, November 10, 2010



(Ohio Attorney General’s Office)
President George W. Bush shakes hands with “Commander Bobby Thompson’’ of the U.S. Navy Veterans Association. Also pictured is political consultant Barry S. Edwards, at a 2008 Republican fundraiser in Washington, D.C. Link




(Ohio Attorney General’s Office)
“Commander Bobby Thompson’’ of the U.S. Navy Veterans Association poses with GOP political strategist Karl Rove. “Oh my God,” political consultant Barry S. Edwards said of this photo. “That would put the commander in a different category as someone who was not just some donor.” Link




'After a daylong review by IRS agents, the Navy Veterans Connecticut chapter passed the audit.', August 14, 2011

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As the Navy Vets probe widens, Ohio prosecutors get first guilty plea, June 22, 2011



As we see, there are many, many more criminals to apprehend and incarcerate.



Hats off to determined officers of the law, who honor their oath to protect the public.