Scam suspect: Harvard law graduate

US marshal in Ohio: Suspect in $100M veterans' charity scam ID'd as Harvard-trained attorney

10/2/2012

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 identity was uncovered through 1969 military fingerprints that didn’t make it into the national crime system.

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

Mr. Elliott said at a news conference in Cleveland that the fingerprint match developed from tips he found last week doing Google searches for information about the suspect, including possible military or fraud backgrounds involving a missing person.

Mr. Elliott said he found a wanted poster for a similar-looking man who had disappeared after being accused of defrauding a legal client. The FBI searched military fingerprint files and found Mr. Cody’s prints matched those taken from the suspect when he was arrested this year.

The suspect had served as a captain in U.S. military intelligence, Mr. Elliott said.

“This is definitely John Donald Cody,” Mr. Elliott said. “He’s a guy that thought, No. 1, he could never get caught, and No. 2, he would never be identified. And we were able to do both.”

Mr. Elliott also said the FBI wanted to question Mr. Cody about an espionage case but gave no details. According to the marshal, Mr. Cody graduated from the University of Virginia in 1969 and Harvard Law School in 1972 and practiced law at several locations around the country.