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‘Call Me Commander’ tells the rest of the true story of a con man Colette Bancroft, Tampa Bay Times
When Jeff Testerman rolled up to a ramshackle Ybor City duplex one August morning in 2009, he didn’t think he was walking into one of the biggest stories he’d ever write.
Testerman was more than 30 years into his career at the then-St. Petersburg Times, with a reputation as a relentless investigative reporter. That day, he was looking into the questionable military background of a local politician, and he had come to the Ybor City address hoping to grab a quick quote from an officer of a group that had made a campaign donation to the politician, the U.S. Navy Veterans Association.
Excerpt from ‘Call Me Commander’ by Jeff Testerman and Daniel M. Freed Jeff Testerman and Daniel Freed January 27 Call Me Commander by Jeff Testerman and Daniel M. Freed.
When Lt. Commander Bobby Thompson surfaced in Tampa in 1998, it was as if he had fallen from the sky, providing no hint of his past life. Eleven years later, St. Petersburg Times investigative reporter Jeff Testerman visited the rundown duplex Thompson used as his home and the epicenter of his 60,000-member charity, the U.S. Navy Veterans Association. But something was amiss. Thompson’s charity’s addresses were just maildrops, his members nonexistent and his past a black hole. Yet, somehow, the Commander had stood for photos with President George W. Bush, Sen. John McCain, and other political luminaries. The USNVA, it turned out, was a phony charity where Thompson used pricey telemarketers, savvy lawyers, and political allies to swindle tens of millions from well-meaning donors.
If youâve ever wondered how gumshoe-style investigative reporting works, thereâs a new primer out. Itâs about a Harvard Law grad â John Donald Cody â who orchestrated a nationwide scam that swindled millions from people in the name of a fake veteranâs charity.
Using a stolen identity, Cody billed himself as âCommander Bobby Thompson,â leader of the U.S. Navy Veterans Association. The Navy Vets claimed 67,000 members. Its tax returns pegged its fundraising totals at more than $100 million.
âThompsonâ operated the con mostly hiccup-free across 41 states for years, during which it passed at least one IRS audit. He also made hundreds of thousands in campaign donations. He had his photo taken with political luminaries such as President George W. Bush, Rudy Giuliani, Karl Rove and others.