[Ninong]

Refund fraud!

In general, a refund-fraud scam goes like this: You purchase an item—a CD player, let's say—and leave the store with it. Then you come back to the store and pick up exactly the same CD player; you take the CD player and receipt from the original purchase to the returns desk, claiming that this is the item you bought, and get a refund for it. You keep the original CD player, and pay nothing. Professional shoplifters like refund fraud because it's relatively safe. Since you never actually steal an object from the store, no one can chase you out to the parking lot. According to Richard Hollinger, a professor at the University of Florida-Gainesville and the author of the only yearly survey on retail theft, figures vary but "some say that figures lost to refund fraud reach $16 billion a year." (P.S. -- Which means we all pay for it in the form of higher prices!)

So now we know why Claude Allen, President Bush's longtime domestic-policy advisor, resigned suddenly on Feb. 9th. Seems he had been caught redhanded the month before by a Target employee.

According to the Montgomery County Police Department, Allen was arrested Thursday, March 9th., and charged in a felony theft and a felony theft scheme.

According to a department press release, Allen conducted approximately 25 fraudulent "refunds" in Target and Hecht's stores in Maryland. On Jan. 2, a Target employee apprehended Allen after observing him receive a refund for merchandise he had not purchased. Target then contacted the Montgomery County Police. According to a source familiar with the case, Target and the police had been observing Allen since October 2005. Allen is charged with practicing a form of shoplifting called "refund fraud."

This is the morality-issues Christian-right Republican the President nominated for the 4th. Circuit Court of Appeals a couple of years ago but his nomination was blocked by the Democrats -- twice! Here's what they were saying about him then: "Claude Allen promises not to advance a political agenda from the federal bench he has been nominated to, but to be the type of judge who buttresses the foundation of American government -- by applying the rule of law however he finds it."

And this is the guy who was in charge of the White House Katrina task force during the early days of Hurricane Katrina.

This is a senior White House advisor whose pay grade was exactly the same as that of Karl Rove or Harriet Miers:

Allen Claude A. $161,000 Assistant to the President for Domestic Policy (dearly departed)

Bartlett Daniel Joseph $161,000 Counselor to the President

Card, Jr. Andrew H. $161,000 Assistant to the President and Chief of Staff

Hadley Stephen J $161,000 Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs

Libby I. Lewis $161,000 Assistant to the President and Chief of Staff to the Vice President (dearly departed)

McClellan Scott K. $161,000 Assistant to the President and Press Secretary

Miers Harriet E. $161,000 Counsel to the President

Rove Karl C. $161,000 Assistant to the President, Deputy Chief of Staff and Senior Advisor


And we thought they couldn't possibly get any lower than the Bernie Kerik pick. Or David Safavian, the Administrator for the Office of Federal Procurement, who resigned recently just prior to being arrested for lying to the FBI about freebies he received from Jack Abramoff, his former employer. (Just for the record, President Bush doesn't know Jack!)



P.S. -- Mr. Allen reportedly said in his defense that it's tough to make ends meet on $161,000/year, especially if you don't know Jack!

[zhenya]

P.S. -- Mr. Allen reportedly said in his defense that it's tough to make ends meet on $161,000/year, especially if you don't know Jack!

Yep, the poor guy was starving...

[Poseidon]

Holy cow, 161K and has to rip off target! GEesh, I wonder what he would have been doing if he had MY SALARY!

[Ninong]

How could he expect to get away with doing this 25 times and not get caught? Even if he was using a different phony I.D. each time (which he wasn't), I'm sure the stores have video cameras trained on their refund counter and those tapes are surely reviewed by the store's security department looking for repeaters.

Thank goodness he wasn't given a lifetime appointment to the federal bench!

[Ninong]

I think I'll post the report in this thread because every time I post just a link, a week or two later the link no longer works.

Detectives from the Montgomery County Police Retail Theft Unit arrested a man yesterday for a continuing retail theft scheme.

Claude Alexander Allen, age 45, of the 7200 block of Cliff Pine Drive in Gaithersburg, was charged with theft scheme over $500 and theft over $500. He was released on his own recognizance.

On January 2, 2006, a Target store Loss Prevention Manger observed an unknown man enter the store located at 25 Grand Corner Avenue in Gaithersburg. He was observed in the store with an empty Target bag in a shopping cart. The man was then seen selecting merchandise throughout the store and placing items in the Target bag. He put additional items in his cart. The man then went to guest services where he produced a receipt and received a refund for the items he had just selected from the store shelves. After receiving the refund he left the store without paying for the additional merchandise in the shopping cart. He was apprehended by the store employee.

The Target Loss Prevention Manger contacted Montgomery County Police and through the police investigation it was learned that Allen had been receiving refunds in an amount exceeding $5,000 during last year. Some of the fraudulent returns were made at Target stores and some at Hecht’s stores. He would buy items, take them out to his car, and return to the store with the receipt. He would select the same items he had just purchased, and then return them for a refund. Allen is known to have conducted approximately 25 of these types of refunds, having the money credited to his credit cards.

Throughout 2005 he obtained refunds for items ranging from clothing, a Bose theater system, stereo equipment, and photo printer to items valued only at $2.50.

[schrocat]

And this is the guy who was in charge of the White House Katrina task force during the early days of Hurricane Katrina.

BWAHAHAHAHA!!
My kingdom for a looting quote from this guy!

[Ninong]

He continued in his White House job, even holding press briefings, right up until his abrupt resignation on Feb. 9th.


President Bush and Claude A. Allen, Jan. 25, 2006

Mr. Allen participated in a press conference on Feb. 6th., two days before submitting his resignation. The resignation was submitted on Feb. 8th. and accepted on Feb. 9th. His last day of work for Feb. 17th.

February 17, 2006

Claude A. Allen
Good Afternoon. It a pleasure to be with you today from the White House and the Domestic Policy Council. As we are celebrating African American History Month, I am reminded of my own heritage and am thankful for the opportunity to celebrate it as a member of the President's staff.

The Domestic Policy Council serves the President by providing advice on all non-economic policy issues including education, health care, labor, housing, veterans, HIV/AIDS, and other domestic issues. I look forward to receiving your questions.

http://www.whitehouse.gov/ask/20060217.html

[schrocat]

I wonder why he needed untraceable cash?




Funniest Title so far: Bush's Refundamentalist

[Ninong]

President Thanks Domestic Policy Advisor Claude Allen for Service

Claude Allen has been a trusted advisor since 2001. As Deputy Secretary of Health and Human Services, he worked hard to improve the health and welfare of all Americans. During the past year, he has served as my top domestic policy advisor at the White House and has helped develop policies that will strengthen our Nation's families, schools, and communities.

Claude is a good and compassionate man, and he has my deep respect and my gratitude. I thank him for his many years of principled and dedicated service to our country. Laura and I wish Claude, Jann, and their family all the best.

http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/relea...0060209-5.html


P.S. -- This raises the same interesting question again: "What did the President not know and when did he not know it?"

Just another example of the White House's "Don't ask him, don't tell him policy."

[Poseidon]

No wonder the country is in such bad shape.... At least if the pres is an idiot, he could surround himself with educated folk, not our pres, he picks petty THIEVES!

[Ninong]

Now we know why the White House response to Hurricane Katrina was somewhat slow in developing. Their task force coordinator was busy shopping at Target and then standing in the return line for his refunds. Bush was on vacation in Texas, Cheney was on vacation in Wyoming and Chertoff was on his way to a speaking engagement in Florida. Meanwhile, eighty percent of New Orleans was marinating in 8 to 12 ft of saltwater mixed with 8 million gallons of every petrochemical known to science.

I finally found Scott McClellan's mention of this ("Claude Allen, who is overseeing the White House Task Force") in an August 31st. press briefing. Scott, as usual, didn't know what he was talking about. He claims that "marshal law" was declared in Mississippi and Louisiana. First of all, it's "martial law," not "marshal law." And secondly, it wasn't declared. A state of emergency was declared. And no, they're not the same thing.

These are the guys who can't shoot straight and they're running the country. Even if they did have a worthwhile idea, they wouldn't be capable of implementing it. Arrogance and incompetence is not a very good combination.

[Ninong]

Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina said of Mr. Bush: "He's right about the big things of his time. Executing has been a problem. Implementing has been a problem."

Yeah, right.

Aside from that, Mrs. Lincoln, how did you enjoy the play?




Additional juicy quotes from the same article:

Several Republicans here said Mr. Bush urgently needed to shake up his staff. Senator Norm Coleman, Republican of Minnesota, pointed to what he described as a series of management and political failures as he urged Mr. Bush to bring in a new team.

Some senior Republicans with ties to the White House, who asked for anonymity because they did not want to be identified describing internal White House deliberations, said there was a widespread feeling here that Mr. Bush would be well served to bring in new advisers, either replacing Andrew H. Card Jr., his chief of staff, or Karl Rove, his senior political adviser.

P.S. -- Karl Rove is now employing 'enhanced interrogation techniques' to find out the identities of these "senior Republicans with ties to the White House" who are calling for him to be sacked.

[Ninong]

All these guys were involved in Hurricane Katrina efforts while they were preoccupied with personal problems. No wonder the response was slow and inadequate.

The Bush administration's top federal procurement official resigned Friday (Sept. 16, 2005) and was arrested yesterday (Monday, Sept. 19, 2005), accused of lying and obstructing a criminal investigation into Republican lobbyist Jack Abramoff's dealings with the federal government. It was the first criminal complaint filed against a government official in the ongoing corruption probe related to Abramoff's activities in Washington.

The complaint, filed by the FBI, alleges that David H. Safavian, 38, a White House procurement official involved until last week in Hurricane Katrina relief efforts, made repeated false statements to government officials and investigators about a golf trip with Abramoff to Scotland in 2002.

It also contends that he concealed his efforts to help Abramoff acquire control of two federally managed properties in the Washington area. Abramoff is the person identified as "Lobbyist A" in a 13-page affidavit unsealed in court, according to sources knowledgeable about the probe.

Until his resignation on the day the criminal complaint against him was signed, Safavian was the top administrator at the federal procurement office in the White House Office of Management and Budget, where he set purchasing policy for the entire government.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn...091901859.html

[ANGRY JOHN]

what i ask myself is how did these politions feal when they saw the "looting" when they were at home or target for instance. how can we expect the american people to act when there elected or appointed leaders are out there commiting the most pety crimes. from a young age i have been taught that politions are shamsters so why do they keep proving it. they know there in the spotlight whilist in office so why do all this supid stuff.:slap:

[The Grim Reefer]

Jay Leno had a good line. The guy is anti-gay and for abstinence, he is just going to love prison.

[Ninong]

He won't do any time. He'll get probation and a few months community service. His career, however, has been ruined, considering that he has a doctorate in jurisprudence.

P.S. -- Too bad his offense wasn't politically motivated. Then he could expect a pardon in January 2009 and a job in the next Republican administration, if he should live so long.

[schrocat]

Originally Posted by Ninong

P.S. -- Too bad his offense wasn't politically motivated. Then he could expect a pardon in January 2009 and a job in the next Republican administration, if he should live so long.

Nice. :slap:

[The Grim Reefer]

I wouldn't put money on him not doing time. Pretty high profile and he committed a good ol fashion crime so their wont be a judge worring about him not getting treatment in jail. I hope he at least gets thrown in the county lock up for a few months.

[Ninong]

Let's look at the facts. Unlike his identical twin brother, he has no prior record. He's a Republican attorney with lots of connections in the D.C. area. He admitted his guilt at the time he was apprehended. He will have excellent legal representation.

It is highly unlikely that this case will go to trial. His attorneys will almost certainly arrange a deal with the prosecutors resulting in probation and community service. If he had a prior record or if he didn't have an excellent legal team, things might be different. He will plead emotional distress, say that he is VERY sorry for his lack of judgment and ask the prosecutors for a few months community service and a couple years probation.

BTW, the charging document is online and it's an interesting read, all six pages of it. The guy was either extremely stupid or supremely arrogant to think that he could get away with this over and over again. So far they have his American Express statement but not his VISA statement. Based on the AmEx statement alone, they have proof of more than $5,000 in refund fraud between 10/29/05 and 1/2/06. He was even out running this scam on Christmas Eve (good family values there) and New Year's Day! And they have him on video tape for several of these days.

P.S. -- Remember Winona Ryder? All she got was 12 weeks community service and probation for shoplifting in excess of $5,000 worth of clothes from Saks.

[The Grim Reefer]

I think because of the number of times this guy pulled the stunt he may get some jail time. Hell, being a "rich" republican might hurt him in front of some judges