{"product_id":"call-me-commander-a-former-intelligence-officer-and-the-journalists-who-uncovered-his-scheme-to-fleece-america-9781640123045","title":"Call Me Commander: A Former Intelligence Officer and the Journalists Who Uncovered His Scheme to Fleece America","description":"When Lt. Commander Bobby Thompson surfaced in Tampa in 1998, it was as if he had fallen from the sky, providing no hint of his past life. Eleven years later, \u003ci\u003eSt. Petersburg Times\u003c\/i\u003e investigative reporter Jeff Testerman visited the rundown duplex Thompson used as his home and the epicenter of his sixty-thousand-member charity, the U.S. Navy Veterans Association. But something was amiss. Thompson's charity's addresses were just maildrops, his members nonexistent, and his past a black hole. Yet, somehow, the Commander had stood for photos with President George W. Bush, Senator John McCain, and other political luminaries. The USNVA, it turned out, was a phony charity where Thompson used pricey telemarketers, savvy lawyers, and political allies to swindle tens of millions from well-meaning donors. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e After Testerman's story revealed that the nonprofit was a sham, the Commander went on the run. U.S. Marshals took up the hunt in 2011 and found themselves searching for an unnamed identity thief who they likened to a real-life Jason Bourne. When finally captured in 2012, Thompson was carrying multiple IDs and a key to a locker that held nearly $1 million in cash. But, who was he? Eventually, investigators discovered he was John Donald Cody, a Harvard Law School graduate and former U.S. Army intelligence officer who had been wanted since the 1980s on theft charges and for questioning in an espionage probe. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e As Cody's decades as a fugitive came to an end, he claimed his charity was run at the behest of the Central Intelligence Agency. After reporting on the story for CNBC's \u003ci\u003eAmerican Greed\u003c\/i\u003e in 2014, Daniel M. Freed dug into Cody's backstory--uncovering new information about his intelligence background and the evolution of his con. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eWatch a book trailer \u003c\/b\u003eat callmecommander.net.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAbout the Author\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eJeff Testerman\u003c\/b\u003e is an investigative reporter now retired from the \u003ci\u003eSt. Petersburg Times\u003c\/i\u003e, where he was nominated for the Pulitzer Prize five times. The newspaper's investigation exposing the U.S. Navy Veterans charity scheme earned the Investigative Reporters and Editors top award for public service. \u003cb\u003eDaniel M. Freed\u003c\/b\u003e is a senior producer for CNBC's white-collar crime documentary series \u003ci\u003eAmerican Greed\u003c\/i\u003e. His television and print work has been aired or published by PBS, Current TV, Amazon Prime Video, and the \u003ci\u003eLos Angeles Times\u003c\/i\u003e. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e","brand":"Potomac Books","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":51176293073170,"sku":"9781640123045","price":25.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0831\/4771\/8930\/files\/img_a7049581-5eed-4dcb-bf9c-510e10bb8a23.jpg?v=1744298193","url":"https:\/\/surprise-castle.myshopify.com\/products\/call-me-commander-a-former-intelligence-officer-and-the-journalists-who-uncovered-his-scheme-to-fleece-america-9781640123045","provider":"Surprise Castle","version":"1.0","type":"link"}