Feds: Notorious Alleged Con Man 'Bobby Thompson' Was Military Spy

John Donald Cody is jailed awaiting trial on charges of defrauding donors in 41 states of up to $100 million through a bogus Florida-based charity.

Associated Press

CLEVELAND -- A former fugitive suspected of running a $100 million cross-country scam collecting donations for Navy veterans has been identified as a Harvard-trained attorney wanted on unrelated fraud charges since 1987, authorities said Monday.

U.S. Marshal Pete Elliott said the man who identified himself as Bobby Thompson and signed legal papers as "Mr. X" is really John Donald Cody, 65, whose true identity was uncovered through 1969 military fingerprints that didn't make it into the national crime system.
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According to the marshal, Cody graduated from the University of Virginia in 1969 and Harvard Law School in 1972 and practiced law at several locations around the country. Harvard confirmed a John Cody graduated from its law school in 1972.
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Federal authorities finally have determined the identity of a man who used the name Bobby Thompson and allegedly ran a fraudulent veterans charity that bilked donors in Virginia and other states out of millions of dollars.

The Cleveland Plain Dealer reports* that authorities will disclose Thompson’s identity this morning in a press conference at the federal courthouse in Cleveland. Thompson is in custody in Ohio** awaiting trial on charges of theft, money laundering, corruption and tampering with records for his role running the now-defunct U.S. Navy Veterans Association. He also has been under investigation in Virginia, where the USNVA collected at least $2 million from state residents.

Authorities said Thompson stole the identity of a Washington man to orchestrate a fundraising scam that generated tens of millions of dollars since 2001. The Florida-based organization collected at least $2 million from Virginia residents over a five-year period that ended in 2010, according to findings by the state’s consumer affairs agency that were made public last year.

Thompson gave $55,500 to the campaign of Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli in 2009. After Thompson went missing in 2010, Cuccinelli donated the sequestered campaign funds plus interest to veterans support groups in the state.

Update: The Tampa Bay Times reports*** that authorities will announce that the suspect’s name is John Donald Cody, a former military intelligence officer who has been on an FBI wanted list since 1987.

The state agency began investigating the charity in 2010 after news reports raised questions about its fundraising and spending practices and the whereabouts of its leaders. Cody donated $68,500 to Virginia politicians. With the help of lobbyists, he urged members of the General Assembly to pass a bill exempting his organization from registration and reporting requirements for charities that solicit in the state.

State lawmakers passed the exemption in 2010 and repealed it a year later after investigators in the state's consumer affairs agency concluded that Cody's charity was a fraud.

The agency's findings were turned over to Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli's office, which has civil enforcement authority under the state's charitable solicitation law.

Cuccinelli has distanced himself from the case because he accepted $55,500 in political contributions in 2009 from the man known as Bobby Charles Thompson, who was the second-largest individual contributor to Cuccinelli's campaign.

After Thompson went missing in 2010, Cuccinelli donated $55,700 - the sequestered campaign funds plus interest - to veterans support groups in Virginia. Cuccinelli's chief deputy, Patricia West, is overseeing the investigation of the U.S. Navy Veterans Association.