Fraud, Theft, and Schemes - Case Studies by a Special Agent

This is a case about a man, that had challenged the criminal justice system numerous times and had won. Mickey had been a con man his entire adult life, and had never been convicted or the few convictions that were part of his record, had been expunged. County officials, local police, and the FBI had attempted to put investigations together and were never able to get a charge to stick. That was until Mickey got into my cross hairs and honestly, it was a struggle. This case involved over 1,000 properties, two search warrants, and Mickey physically chasing me and my cousin around the back alleys of Van Nuys California.

The defendant in this case was convincingly the most intelligent subject I investigated during my 20 + years as an agent. Some of my other defendants might argue this point, but he was a world champion card player and he ran a very complex scheme all the while concealing his identity. He worked hard to never meet anyone in person and used false identification to open bank accounts and a private mail box. All these efforts made if difficult to determine who was running the scheme, until one night at 9:00 pm I watched a man insert a key into a private mail box, and we had him.

Part 2 of ASU Bodybuilder

This is part one of an investigation that lasted over 5 years. Thank you for listening.

Fraud, Theft, and Schemes – Case Studies by a Special Agent by James CarrieresI am retired Special Agent that worked for the US Department of Housing and Urban Development and the Department of Veterans Affairs for over 20 years. What I will discuss is the actual cases that I was the primary investigator and most were “white collar” fraud cases which resulted in convictions. A desire to be in law enforcement started at a young age for me and as I look back at my young adventures as a boy, and realized they played a part in my future career. Many of the details and the actual stories are public record. During my Special Agent career I was the affiant for 25 search warrants and each one of these affidavits told a story. I have changed the names of the defendants, just to keep the ghosts away but all other details and names are my reconciliation of what occurred.. I don't have a lot of source material from then, but have a pretty good memory.If you have a desire to go into federal law enforcement, this will provide some background and education, and insight into “white collar” criminal investigations. I hope these stories are both informative and entertaining.I retired in 2012, and have been working as a computer forensic analyst and manager for several large companies.