Here are a few people who completely took advantage of their situations!
5 - Fraud Advisor Bilal Abbas had a taste for the
finer things. He loved Rolex watches, luxury vacations, designer brands, pink champagne,
and flaunting his cash on social media. He was a frequent customer at the jewelry store,
David Summerfield, where he spent thousands almost every day.
But David Summerfield jewelers started to grow suspicious of their loyal customer
when Abbas's friend, Jordan Hamilton-Thomas,
came to the store three days in a row to purchase Rolexes worth nearly $20,000 each.
The next time he went to the store, a police officer was waiting at the door.
Hamilton-Thomas pushed the officer out of the way and ran away. But
he and his co-conspirators were quickly caught.
Santander Bank Police later uncovered
that Hamilton-Thomas was part of a three-man operation to steal people's bank information.
And it was all traced back to Abbas. Abbas was employed at Santander international bank.
Ironically, he worked in their anti-fraud unit. As a member of this department, he was granted access
to confidential customer details, and it was his job to protect this information at all costs.
Instead, he did the opposite. Over fourteen months, Abbas stole people's bank account
information and card numbers, selling them for over $100,000 to his accomplice, Umair Memon.
Memon used the customers' accounts to purchase luxury items and fancy vacations.
Abbas listed himself as a "fraud advisor" on his resume. He stated that working in a bank
requires trust, honesty, and good mathematical skills, all qualities he held. Oh, the irony.
Photoshoots The three-man scam of
Memon, Hamilton-Thomas, and Abbas, spent over $100,000 of customers' savings on Dolce & Gabbana,
Versace, Spanish resorts, Rolex watches, and jet skis.
They didn't try to hide their riches either. They had photoshoots with wads of cash and even
took pictures pouring Laurent Perrier pink champagne and vodka all over Rolex watches.
Busted Their crimes were
uncovered because an employee at David Summerfield jewelers had a gut feeling that something was
wrong and called the police. Police investigated the men in April 2018 and quickly realized that
they were spending a suspicious amount of money that didn't align with their salaries.
The prosecutor detailed how Abbas completely destroyed customers' trust,
and left them feeling distressed and anxious. He stole from the people he was supposed to protect.
Data from 21 customers and 13 businesses in the UK were stolen and sold. Abbas was
sentenced to two years behind bars. Memon got two years and three months, and Hamilton-Thomas
got two years and two months. Thankfully, all of the victims got their money back.
In addition to the massive scam, Memon also pleaded guilty to dangerous driving,
and Hamilton-Thomas pleaded guilty to assault with intent to resist arrest.
A spokesperson from Santander was happy to see these three men brought to justice.
4 - One Fund Boston Strong
The Boston Marathon is one of the most famous marathons in the United States.
Athletes train for years for the chance to prove ultimate endurance. On April 15, 2013, what was
supposed to be a joyful and fun challenge for runners and their loved ones turned into tragedy
when explosions went off near the finish line, leaving three people deceased and 260 injured.
One Fund Boston was set up by the former mayor of Boston, Thomas Menino, and former governor Deval
Patrick to help victims and their families receive resources and treatment after the tragedy. The One
Fund was tremendously successful and gave nearly $80 million to the victims and their families. It
used an additional $1.5 million to create programs to support survivors receiving long-term care.
As people rallied around the victims and their families with an outpouring of love
and financial support, Andrea Gause saw the perfect opportunity to make a profit.
Andrea Gause Andrea Gause was a 26-year-old
New York native and mother of two who claimed she suffered a traumatic brain injury after the
Boston Marathon incident. She filed a detailed claim that said she had long-term memory loss,
impaired speech, and loss of motor skills. She claimed to be treated at Boston Medical
Center for two days after the bombing, and Albany Medical Center Hospital for ten days after that,
which would have racked up thousands in medical bills. These lies allowed her to claim
$480,000 from One Fund, to pay for her hospitalizations and support her recovery.
Shortly after receiving her payout, Gause made a
$377,500 down payment on a home in Clifton Park, Massachusetts. Not only that, but she signed up
for a "Heroes Cruise" specifically dedicated to the survivors of the Boston Marathon.
Tipped The Boston Attorney General's Office
received an anonymous tip that Gause wasn’t even in Massachusetts during the bombings and was
lying about her supposed injuries. After some investigation, police found that Gause was
never a patient at either Boston Medical Center or Albany Medical Center Hospital. All of the
paperwork was completely fake. She was arrested, pleaded not guilty, and held on $200,000 bail.
Verdict Though she denied any wrongdoing initially,
Gause later pleaded guilty to larceny at the Suffolk Superior Court. Prosecutors wanted a four
to five-year prison sentence—the maximum sentence for theft. Her relatives took the stand to defend
Gause, saying that she didn't commit a crime and that the charges were just a "big mistake."
But the court had a hard time believing her innocence when it came out that Gause had
tried to scam the law 15 times since 2005 with charges including larceny,
forgery, and possession of stolen property.
Gause was sentenced to two and a half to three years in state prison for defrauding One Fund.
The money she swindled from the charity was recovered and dispersed to real victims.
Gause is out of jail now, and we can only hope she's learned her lesson.
Or maybe, she's trying to scam the Covid Paycheck Protection Program.
3 - Going Viral Viral
In October 2021, a TikTok went viral of a Waffle House employee holding a baby while preparing
meals. The video was captioned, "Ain't know why she got her baby in here—shaking my head."
People were shocked by how unsanitary and unsafe it was to care for a child while
cooking customers' meals. Others were saddened by how this working mother had no choice but to take
care of her baby while on the clock. The 12-second video got more than 3.7 million views in two days.
A TikTok user named Tiffany Clark reached out to TMZ, claiming to be the woman in the video,
and gave a tragic backstory to the situation. She said the baby's name was Octavia,
and she wasn't her baby but rather her brother's, who had already passed away. She said the child
could have been taken away by social services if she hadn't taken her to work that day.
Clark said she wasn't cooking with the baby in her arms and was only just setting up plates. She also
said that Waffle House was so upset by the TikTok that they suspended her from work for a week.
Fake News As soon as this woman came forward
claiming to be the mystery Waffle House employee in the viral TikTok, the media ran with the story
and posted her CashApp in the hopes of sending her money to support her and baby Octavia.
TMZ, the first media outlet to speak with Clark, didn't post the woman's CashApp, but many others
did. And it's a good thing TMZ didn't post the link because, as it turns out, this woman
wasn’t the actual Waffle House employee. Though the video is semi-true, the backstory shared
with the media was a complete lie. People who donated to the CashApp just bought into a scam.
The Truth Waffle House's VP of Public Relations told
TMZ that they investigated the TikTok video and found that the social media posts about it were
completely false. Though they acknowledged that a Waffle House employee really was holding a baby
while on the clock, the baby wasn't related to her by any means. The real woman in the TikTok never
reached out to the media nor shared her CashApp. Waffle House also never suspended her from work.
The truth is that the baby in the video was a coworker's daughter,
who the employee was trying to calm down. The employee has since been trained in proper safety
and health precautions. The scammer is still out there, with a TikTok profile with more than
14,000 followers. We still don't know how much money she made from these lies.
2 - The Great Exploit Family Affair
In April 2021, six people were officially arrested and charged for scamming the National Disability
Insurance Scheme (NDIS) out of $10 million over four years. The scammers were five men and one
woman, in their 20s and 30s. The ringleaders were Mohammed Sallam with his wife Nora Bader and his
brother Muath Sallam. The other accomplices were Gazwan Shahrouk and Ahmed Moussa. Another man,
a 37-year-old Frenchman named Jugurtha Zafrane, was also arrested as a person of interest.
They saw NDIS as the perfect opportunity to steal. They set up fake companies and then
submitted inflated invoices to get rebates from NDIS. The ringleaders alone received
more than $3 million in fraudulent payments. Their greed drove them to
steal money from disabled Australians who really needed it. But what exactly is NDIS?
NDIS
The NDIS provides financial support to Australians with a permanent and
significant disability that impairs their ability to work and make an income. By 2027,
the NDIS is projected to give out $22 billion to roughly 500,000 Australians. It also connects
disabled people with community resources, such as doctors, sports clubs, support groups, libraries,
schools, and information about the support available in each state and local government.
The team of six scammers consisted of three companies that worked to obtain funding for
people who didn't have a disability. They also received rebates for people who do genuinely
have a disability but had no idea that money was being claimed on their behalf. They collaborated
with NDIS participants and service providers to inflate claims and receive the funding they
weren't entitled to. Once they received the cash, the money went right into their pockets.
The ringleaders paid Gazwan $40,000
to set up a bank account under his name dedicated to receiving these fraudulent payments.
The Australian Federal Police estimate that they stole more than $10 million
in NDIS funding, making it the largest fraud case in the agency's history.
Lifestyle They spent the money on anything and
everything, including sports cars, gold bullion, cryptocurrency, and even nose beers. 11 search
warrants across Sydney revealed that the team of six had a treasure trove of valuables, including
eight kilograms of gold bullion with an estimated value of $600,000. They also had $600,000 in cash,
another 600,000 in cryptocurrency, and a large amount of jewelry. Several sports cars, including
a BMW M3, Audi Q7, and Porsche Cayenne, worth over $250,000, were seized and towed by the police.
Aftermath They were
arrested in April 2021 and spent the night in jail before appearing in court. They
were all granted bail except for Mohammed, the ringleader. The others were given very
strict bail conditions in which they had to surrender their passports, forbidden to
leave New South Wales, and can't be involved with any company that provides NDIS services.
Mohammed Sallam and his wife got hit with some pretty heavy charges for ripping off NDIS. She was
also accused of enrolling NDIS participants using fake documents and submitting claims for services
she never provided. She had a history of failing to comply with court orders.
All of them are currently out on bail as of June 2022, while they await their fates.
The investigations into the scheme continue with more arrests anticipated.
1 - The Cougar Consultancy
Willard "Ross" Lanham was a former New York City Department of Education consultant who
was convicted of stealing $1.7 million from the school system. He defended his crimes by saying
he deserved some sympathy due to the lavish spending habits and exploits of his "cougar"
ex-wife. He claimed that his ex-wife, Laura, was going through a costly mid-life crisis
involving nightclubs and dating young men in their 20s. He said the situation drove
him to steal funds from the city's school system to support their 16-year-old daughter.
According to the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York, Lanham worked
as a consultant to the DOE and managed multiple initiatives, including Project Connect, which was
intended to provide Internet access to all public schools in the city. During his tenure, he was the
man in charge of Project Connect in addition to two other initiatives and was responsible
for hiring contractors and subcontractors to execute the projects. He made $200,000 per year,
for a total of $1.4 million during his six years with the DOE. Apparently, that wasn't enough.
The Scam Without approval,
Lanham used $1.7 million of DOE money intended for Project Connect for his
own personal use. He did this by using his own outside consultants through Lanham Consultants.
Then, he used Lanham Enterprises to pay the consultants directly. He billed a Project
Connect subcontractor for work done by Lanham Consultants, unrelated to the DOE. The amount
he billed for was much greater than the actual rate, so Lanham could pocket the difference.
Then, he told another DOE subcontractor to bill Lanham Enterprises for the same amount,
and used his company to charge another subcontractor an excessive amount for
the same work. Again, he pocketed the difference. In both cases,
Lanham Enterprises didn’t contribute anything to the actual work that Lanham
Consultants was doing for Project Connect. Yet, the DOE was paying for all of it.
The scam went on for nearly six years,
allowing him to pocket $1.7 million in addition to his $1.4 million
salary. He used the money to buy luxury cars and purchase and develop Long Island real estate.
Cougar Defense
When Lanham appeared in court, he asked for leniency because his "cougar ex-wife"
had spent all their money. To prove his point, he spoke of how Laura Lanham
posed her pics online and was an Internet blogger on a website called
Cougarlife and called herself a "yummy mommy" who was "proud to be" a cougar.
She said she only joined the website after the financial difficulties following separating
from her husband. She submitted photos to Playboy and embraced the cougar life after realizing she
enjoyed attention from younger men. She called it an "empowering" experience that allowed her
to flirt and have fun without the long-term commitment most older men are looking for.
After hearing that her husband used her "mid-life crisis" in his defense,
she was furious. Laura argued that everything her ex said about her was a complete lie and called
him a "master manipulator" who has been a "cheater forever." Laura wanted to turn her husband's
failed scam into her own success. The 42-year-old vowed to be America's next big reality star.
She went on "Good Morning America," "Inside Edition," and "Dr. Phil" to tell her side
of the story. Unfortunately, the couple had to continue living together in their Long Island
home on Laura Lane (a street named and built for her) due to financial difficulties. Talk about
a tense household. The scandal has wreaked havoc on the lives of their three children.
Aftermath
Ultimately, Lanham was found guilty of four counts of fraud and theft and faced up to
seventy years in prison. He was eventually sentenced to 37 months. In addition to his
prison term, the judge ordered three years of supervised release and a $100 special assessment
fee. He was ordered to forfeit $1.7 million and an additional $1.7 million in restitution to the DOE.
But it seems like the city didn't learn its lesson. Even after Lanham was convicted,
the DOE hired Custom Computer Specialists again, the company that worked closely
with Lanham while scamming the New York school system. Despite the red flags,
the DOE has awarded the company over $21.5 million in contracts since 2011.
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And let us know in the comment section what’s
the most ingenious scam you’ve ever heard of or seen yourself?