"All the King's Men" - U.S. Postal Inspection Service Video

My partner and I are Postal Inspectors, which means we investigate any crime that involves the mail. Today that means doing a stakeout on a lowlife accountant. He works for an investment firm that is really just a front for a complicated fraud scam. They have been ripping people off to the tune of thousands of dollars. He's got no clue what that kind of financial loss means to his victims. He never gets to see that side of the story… but I do. Did you have any luck flipping this guy? No, he dummied up on me. Said they kept him in the dark about how business operated. Certainly living the high life for a CPA. Not anymore. Goddard. Inspector Goddard, this is Andrea Beshears with News 12. Did I catch you at a bad time? Actually Andrea, I got nothing but time. What's up? Well, we are doing a special on fraud for sweeps, and we need some first person perspective on the crimes. You know, talk to victims and hear their stories. Do you think you could help us out? Yeah, it sounds good to me. We could stop a lot of this stuff if more people were aware of it. Hey, do you know Karla Horan, our Victim Witness Coordinator? She might have some leads for us. Let me run this past her, and I'll get back with you later this week. Financial crime attacks its victims at their core. Whenever someone loses control of their money or their identity, they often also lose their critical sense of security. They doubt their own judgment, and many suffer depressive episodes after the crime. My job is to help people rebuild not only their financial security, but their lives. Mr. & Mrs. Patterson? Thanks so much for coming in. Listen, please don't be nervous. If you stumble or you're not happy with what you say, we can always shoot it again, OK? You ready to get started? Sure thing. Have a seat. Standby studio. Open us up in five-four-three-two-one. We're hot. Tonight on News 12 we continue our special series on mail fraud, "Return To Sender." Three years ago Matt & Lisa Patterson were the victims of identity theft. Along with hundreds of other victims in the area, they had their lives turned upside down by two young criminals. Lisa, how did you find out that there was a problem? We were trying to buy a new house, and our real estate agent called and said that our loan would not be approved, that we had outstanding bills on our credit cards, and we even had a loan that we had defaulted on. Matt, do you remember how you felt that morning? Oh, it was awful. Your first response is that it is a mistake, it is just an error. Then it sinks in, and you feel angry, powerless. We didn't get the house. But we were actually lucky. The Postal Inspectors had a specialist to work with the victims, and she explained what steps we needed to take to repair our credit report. She helped us with letters and affidavits and really walked us through the whole process. She called my boss to explain why I would have to miss work to appear at the trial. She even helped us with the victim impact statement for the judge to read before sentencing those two men. Think you could handle things for awhile? Sure. What's up? I think I know someone who needs to hear these stories, and I do not want to wait for him to catch the news. I won't be long, ok? Who is it? It's Postal Inspector Alan Goddard. Open up Harrison. Hello Inspector. What can I do for you? Well, you could ask me in for starters. I thought we would have a little chat. I told you I don't know anything about this case. I don't know what good it can do to keep talking to me about it. Can I come in, or do I need to get a warrant? Hold on. Pardon the mess. She asked you to leave, didn't she? What did you expect after she found out what kind of man you really are? It didn't have anything to do with these allegations against the company. Right. OK if I sit? Can I offer you a shot, Inspector? I guess not, on duty and all. You didn't come here to talk to me about my marriage, did you? I came here to ask you a question, Mark. Do you believe in fairy tales? What kind of talk is that, man? Fairy tales? Yeah, you know, Little Red Riding Hood, Humpty Dumpty...fairy tales. Do you believe in them? No, of course not. Me either. That's why I'm not believing any of this crap about you not knowing anything about the scams that your company is pulling. See what I'm saying? Buy what you want. Believe what you want. I told you already. I mean, what do you want me to do? I want you to take a ride with me. Are you arresting me? No, you are not under arrest. There are some people I want you to meet. I just want you to listen to what they have to say. Can you do that for me? I lost nearly thirty-thousand dollars in an investment fraud. The worst part about it was that I thought it was a good investment. I really thought it was good, and I encouraged my family and friends to invest also. And because my background is in banking, my friends, they listened to me. When I found out though that I had been conned, I felt personally responsible for the money they had lost. You know, I felt like I lost my credibility. Can you imagine having to go home to your wife and tell her that you've lost a large chunk of your savings, or calling my best friend to let him know that, "Hey, the stocks that I told you were good were actually a scam?" You know, I felt responsible for that, you know, and it made me look like a fool. Mandy Richards served a six-month sentence in Alderson Federal Prison for Women for her part in helping provide lists of potential victims that were used in an identity theft scam by her boyfriend. She joins us by satellite now. Mandy, I know you have been through a lot over the past year. How did your boyfriend get you involved in all of this? Well, he fooled me. He told me that he really needed some help to meet a quota at work, and he said, "How about giving me some of those applications that people turn in, the people that you guys don't hire?" What was he doing with those applications? He was stealing people's identity. I didn't know that. He told me he was trying to do a good job at work, so naturally I wanted to help him out, but that was not what he was doing. How did you find out what he was using the applications for? Well, when they came to my job and interrogated me, and then eventually I was arrested, and they took my little girl away. Well, that's one person who has suffered a lot is your daughter. Tell us about that. Well, I mean like I said, they put her in foster care. I went to jail. They supervised my visits with her. You have kids, don't you? Yeah, two girls. People never think about the kids that get left behind when their parents go to jail. I know that your boyfriend has threatened to kill you in the past. What happens when he gets out of jail? Well, I don't know, but there's a way I can find out when he gets out. It's a website, and it's called VNS, and everybody should know about it. It's a Victim Notification System, and it lets me know when he gets out of prison so I don't have to be afraid all the time. Miss Horan, you're up next, so we need to get you into makeup. Great, thanks. You think your girls would be proud of what you're doing? I lost everything. My wife wouldn't forgive me for…I had borrowed money from our son's college fund. I wanted to send him to a better school. I thought I could double my money, but I can barely afford the community college tuition that he goes to now. And a few months after the trial, my wife left me. These crooks got eight years for mail fraud, and the cells they live in, they're bigger than my apartment. My ex-wife has to take a second job, so do I. It seems like my family went to prison too, except they didn't do anything wrong. I did. That reaction isn't uncommon. People often blame themselves for things that happen to them even though they're really no fault of their own. Often times they're so embarrassed that they won't even tell their own family. We see all kinds of very intelligent, educated people who fall into these scams. Well, is Mr. Matson's story unusual? I wish that it were. I've seen victims lose their homes, suffer job losses, have problems in relationships, even divorce. Ready two, take two. Well the good news is that you're there to help them rebuild their lives. We're out. Fade to black. Alright, let's get out of here. Inspector, I'd like to talk to you about the company now. I think maybe I can help put some of the pieces in place. Alright. Do you want to bring your lawyer in? That would be best, wouldn't it? Do you think maybe the U.S. Attorney would make me a deal? Well, I can't speak for him, Mark, but I'm sure he'll take your cooperation into consideration. Were any of those people we were watching today ones that lost from our company? No, no, no. Those were all from older cases. I always thought the banks or the credit card companies would cover their losses. Well, it's just like the fairy tale. All the king's horses and all the king's men just couldn't put things back together again. Let's go take that statement. I need that paperwork by Tuesday. You got it, boss. Alright. Thanks. Mark Harrison's remorse about his crime proved to be short lived. After agreeing to testify against the leaders of the fraud ring, he was arrested again less than a year later for helping to operate an internet auction scam. These types of criminals rarely have any regard for their victims or the damage they've done to their lives. If you or someone you know has been a crime victim, it's important that you know about victim's rights and the services available. In 2004, the Justice For All Act was passed, strengthening rights for federal crime victims. Most states have similar protections for cases handled in the local criminal justice system. All of these Victims Bills of Rights were created to give victims a proper place in the criminal justice system. They provide an opportunity to participate and be heard, and offer practical assistance to minimize the inconveniences and frustrations that crime victims suffer. You can find out more about your rights as a federal crime victim by visiting this website: www.crimevictims.gov. The U.S. Postal Inspection Service investigates many different types of financial crimes. Most are handled in the federal justice system. In addition to providing educational material about crime victims' rights and services, the Inspection Service continually strives to inform the public about current fraud scams and how to avoid becoming a victim. Education is your best defense. Keep up to date on the latest scams by visiting our websites: www.usps.com/postalinspectors and www.lookstoogoodtobetrue.com. Remember, being a victim of a crime is nothing to be ashamed of. Neither is seeking help to recover from it.