Fomer O-6 cauught as suspect in major Navy charity scam

First (Jun 2012) there was the confessed arsonist who damaged USS Miami (SSN-755) to the tune of $450 millions.  

Then there was (Aug. 3, 2012) Cmdr. Michael P. Ward II, the submarine commander who faked his own death to end an affair.   

Now (October 3, 2012), we have a likely double black eye for Harvard Law School graduate. The suspect had also served as a captain in U.S. military intelligence.  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.

 

He was arrested in Portland, Ore., in May and has pleaded not guilty. Found in his apartment was a DVD: Catch Me if You Can, starring Leonardo DiCaprio as a fugitive con man on the run. 

Now, "48 Hours" correspondent Erin Moriarty reports that authorities believe that Cody and a man named Bobby Thompson are one and the same person and allege he is responsible for the largest charity scam in U.S. history.

 Submarines are always silent and strange.