Conman who posed as wounded veteran held on $1M bail

Conman who posed as wounded veteran held on $1M bail after giving 'full, video-recorded confession'
NEW YORK DAILY NEWS
BY SHAYNA JACOBS
January 6, 2016

More than 200 forged checks, military uniforms, fake passports from Canada and the U.K., and other false official documents were recovered from the 10 Hanover Square apartment he rented.

JEFFERSON SIEGEL/NEW YORK DAILY NEWS
Jeremy Wilson went before judge Heidi Cesare wearing a grey Harvard Law School hoodie, dark blue jeans and a grim expression.

It's the end of a long con.

A seasoned grifter who posed as a wounded veteran and used stolen loot for a Manhattan pad gave a “full, video-recorded confession” to his latest antics — less than two months after leaving prison for similar crimes, prosecutors said Wednesday.

Jeremy Wilson, 42 — whose true name is unknown because of his rampant use of fake identities in a “Catch Me If You Can”-like career of scamming — was ordered held on $1 million bail at his arraignment in Manhattan Criminal Court.

Wilson got up to his old tricks again at Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge, Mass.

He “created an alias and posed as a U.S. Army veteran,” Diaz said.

At the prestigious college, Wilson hung around campus and “stole computers and an MIT corporate credit card.”
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Fake Iraq Veteran Got Free Drinks Then Wrote About it?

Backlash grows after column sparks outrage 
Citizens Voice
BY BOB KALINOWSKI
Published: December 29, 2015

The public backlash against the Weekender continues to mount following a column in last week’s edition in which a writer boasted about scoring free drinks at a bar by pretending to be an Iraq war veteran.

Veterans expressed outrage, with some accusing the writer of “stolen valor.”

One of Northeastern Pennsylvania’s leading civil rights activists launched a petition demanding apologies — from the columnist all the way up to the head of the Weekender’s parent company, North Carolina-based Civitas Media, which also publishes The Times Leader.

The writer and the Weekender’s editor have issued public apologies, but some local businesses still vowed to pull their advertising and stop distributing the free weekly entertainment newspaper.

“R bar and grill Nanticoke will NEVER advertise or distribute this paper again. It’s a disgrace to all of NEPA. pathetic!,” Lauren Temarantz Maga, owner of R Bar and Grill, proclaimed on her Facebook page with a link to the column.

“We come from a family of veterans,” Maga said Monday. “The men and women that serve are heroes.”

Maga said the business called the Weekender offices Monday to demand they stop delivering the paper to the restaurant.

River Grille in Plains Township did the same.

“We haven’t advertised with them in a long time anyway, but we don’t want to have the paper even available at the bar anymore,” River Grille manager Erica West said.

The controversial column, titled “Free drinks come at a price,” was written by Justin Adam Brown, who was laid off in November as a full-time staffer, but continued to write his weekly “Sorry mom and dad” column. Last week’s column described his musings about a summer night out when he and a friend ran into a drunk Vietnam veteran. He said it was then he “discovered the secret to getting a free drink” as a man at a bar.

“Just say you’re a veteran,” Brown wrote.
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Army Ranger Jujitsu Instructor Outed As Non-Deployed Carpenter?

Naples businessman, jujitsu instructor Bill Oliver falsely claimed to be an Army Ranger 
Naples Daily News
Ryan Mills
December 18, 2015

While he never served as a Ranger, Oliver did spend three years on active duty in the Army as a carpentry and masonry specialist, according to military documents on the Guardian of Valor site. He never saw combat and had no special training.

Over a decade's worth of lies are crashing down on Bill Oliver.

Since at least 2001, the Naples-area businessman and jujitsu instructor has passed himself off as something he's not: an Army Ranger and a member of the U.S. Special Forces.

He lied in the bio on his Naples Aiki Ju Jitsu website. He lied repeatedly on Facebook. He even lied in several newspaper articles, including a 2009 photo feature in the Naples Daily News.

Oliver's lies caught up to him Monday when the Guardian of Valor website, a national organization that shines a light on military impostors, exposed him. The six-month investigation has left Oliver reeling; he admits to the lies, but argues he didn't profit off them. He only lied, he said, because of deep-seated insecurity and a consuming fear of rejection.

"I just want it to be over," said Oliver, 54. "I've done wrong. I lied to everybody. I portrayed myself as that. The way I see it, I need to take my medicine. It's not easy. I've hurt a lot of people."
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Linked from Stars and Stripes


From Guardian of Valor

"Oliver’s lies stretch back many years, the first of which we found in the State Newspaper out of Columbia, South Carolina. In this article he claims to have been an Army Ranger who is upset about the Black Beret being issued to all Soldiers. The Black Beret was traditionally worn by Army Rangers until 2001, when the Rangers switched to the Tan beret and the Black Beret was issued to all Soldiers.

In the article, from 2001, he is quoted as saying “It devalues, Symbolically, what the Rangers stand for. Rangers have done something extraordinary and are different.”"
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Stolen Valor in Australia Too

Ex-serviceman Timothy Koch fined for falsely claiming to have served in Afghanistan 
ABC Australia
By court reporter James Hancock
Posted about 3 hours ago

An ex-serviceman from Port Lincoln in South Australia who falsely claimed to have served in Afghanistan has been convicted and fined $1,000.

PHOTO: Port Lincoln man Timothy Koch (left) was fined $1,000 for falsely claiming to have served in Afghanistan after he was pictured in the Port Lincoln Times. (Port Lincoln Times)

Timothy Robert Koch, 25, was too scared to appear in court at Port Lincoln after a website exposed his fraud, the court heard.

Koch enlisted in the Army in March 2008 and completed basic training in Darwin, before being honourably discharged in June 2010 after injuring his wrist during combat drills.

He pleaded guilty through his lawyer to falsely representing himself to be a returned soldier after being photographed by the Port Lincoln Times at a local RSL club on Remembrance Day last year wearing Afghanistan war medals.

His lawyer, Rachael Shaw, said Koch was deeply ashamed of his actions.
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New Jersey Man Bought Uniform But Not Honor

The article says that the fraud bought his uniform and badges at Fort Dix but you can't buy anything at a PX (military store) without an ID. How did he do it?

POLICE: NJ MAN IMPERSONATED SOLDIER ON VETERANS DAY 
A New Jersey man has been arrested for allegedly impersonating a soldier on Veterans Day.
ABC 11 News
November 13, 2015

GALLOWAY TWP., N.J. -- A New Jersey man has been arrested for allegedly impersonating a soldier on Veterans Day.

Michael Porter, 25, of Galloway Township, is charged with Impersonating Military Personnel / Stolen Valor.

He was found dressed in a military uniform in the area of a base near Pomona Road and Atlantic Avenue on Wednesday.

Patrolman Gary Brenner from Galloway Township Police says he recognized Porter as a man who had prior contact with police.

"It was the same exact uniform that active military reserve would be wearing.

He stated that he bought the uniform from Fort Dix along with all of his badges," said Ptl. Gary Brennan.

Department of Corrections records show Porter has served time for eluding police, theft and illegal possession of a weapon among other crimes.
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Is Ben Carson Guilty of Stolen Valor?

Is Ben Carson Guilty of Stolen Valor? 
Military.com
UNDER THE RADAR
NOVEMBER 7, 2015

Anyone close to the Army knows that there’s no such thing as a “scholarship” to the United States Military Academy: all cadets receive tuition, room and board in exchange for their commitment to future military service. West Point says they have absolutely no record that Carson was admitted or that he even applied to the service academy.

Dr. Ben Carson’s campaign for the Republican presidential nomination has been gaining momentum lately and much of the political outsider’s appeal is based on the compelling life story he told in his 1996 autobiography Gifted Hands.

Carson grew up in poverty in Detroit and won admission to Yale before becoming a respected pediatric neurosurgeon. One of the key stories in that book is his decision to forego a “full scholarship” to West Point, an offer that supposedly came after Carson met General William Westmoreland after a Detroit Memorial Day parade in 1969.
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James "Jim" Boedeker the Death Spiral Dude

Phony Navy SEAL of the Week. James "Jim" Boedeker the Death Spiral Dude

Published on Oct 25, 2015

Retired Navy SEAL Senior Chief Don Shipley BUSTS James ’Jim’ Boedeker the Death Spiral Phony SEAL Dude.

Join the fight at www.phonyseals.com and see all the latest BUSTS not available of YouTube. Many thanks for the support...

-----I already knew Jim to be a fake Navy SEAL when I called.

***’Jim Boedeker and I were first introduced online through email a few years back. His background as a Navy SEAL was intriguing as hell, and we met in Patong Beach, Phuket, Thailand one weekend. Jim’s life story is flat-out amazing. Though this, his first book, is all fiction, I am hoping to read his biography at some point. He undoubtedly has had the most interesting life of anyone I’ve ever known.’
(http://www.thailandebooks.com/thailan...)

Accused of Stolen Valor, Real Marine Iraq Veteran Beaten

Sacramento Marine Vet Says He Was Beaten Over Mistaken Case Of Stolen Valor
CBS News
By Nick Janes
October 28, 2015

SACRAMENTO (CBS13) — A Marine Corps vet who served his country in combat says he was attacked by someone who believed he was lying about his military service.

It happened over the weekend at The Long Shot, an Arden-area bar. Michael Delfin says the man was looking for a fight, saying Delfin had never served.

He says he was jumped by the first man and one of his friends. Delfin’s tibia is broken, and his jaw might be too.

As for the claim of stolen valor, his service was very real.

“I did over 12 years in the Marine Corps; I was a tracker and I was in combat in 2004 in Fallujah,” he said.
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Darkhorse Fake Marine Called Out

Stolen Valor
KMPH News
BY SHELDON GAJARIAN
OCTOBER 26TH 2015

A Fresno Marine called out a store clerk after hearing talk about the clerk's supposed deployment.

U.S. Marine Dave Kind was standing in line listening to the clerk talking about being in the service and deployed overseas and was going to join the conversation, but then heard things that made him suspect the kid's story.

He decided to record the conversation with his phone and called him out.

After he put it on Facebook, it took off, getting shared over 3500 times.
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Ex-Deputy Facing Charges as Fake Veteran With PTSD

How is it that there is still a stigma about being a veteran with PTSD yet so many non-veterans are claiming they have it from service?

Former Warren County sheriff's deputy accused of filing false report, lying about military honors
KMOV News
By Stephanie Baumer, Online News Producer
Oct 28, 2015

WARREN COUNTY, Mo. (KMOV.com) – A former deputy with the Warren County Sheriff’s Department is accused of faking a report and lying about being a combat veteran with post-traumatic stress disorder.
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Man Charged After "Navy SEAL Sniper" Claim

Man claiming to be Navy SEAL sniper charged with bar assault 
FOX News 9
Mike Durkin
October 15, 2015

Clark indicated he was a Navy SEAL and a sniper, and the victim said that was of interest to him. Clark then accused the victim of not believing him, at which point he grabbed a steak knife from the bar and held it to the victim’s throat.

BURSNVILLE, Minn. (KMSP) - A man claiming to a Navy SEAL sniper is accused of putting a steak knife to the throat of another bar patron in Burnsville, Minn. Leo John Clark III, 27, is charged with second-degree assault with a dangerous weapon for the Sunday, Oct. 11 incident.

The U.S. Navy confirms there is no one with the name Leo John Clark III in their system read more here

George Williams College Disciplines Real Marine For Calling Out Fake?

UPDATE
Iraq War vet faces hearing after stolen valor argument

Veteran at George Williams College disciplined for calling out stolen valor
The College Fix
DAVE HUBER
ASSISTANT EDITOR
OCTOBER 14, 2015

Ryan Lonergan is an Iraq War veteran who had served in the Wisconsin National Guard from 2006 through 2014.

Now a student at George Williams College in Williams Bay, Wisconsin, Lonergan was approached last Tuesday in a campus dining hall by a gent “who saw his tattoos and asked [him] if he had served.”

After Lonergan affirmed his service, the man then informed him that he, too, had served — that he was a Marine Infantry Officer who had “attended Spartan Academy in Arizona.”

While Lonergan initially was a bit surprised that the guy approached him and offered up various personal information, what really made him suspicious were the man’s “insane stories and the fact that he would so freely share them with a stranger …”

The next day, Lonergan found out that the college had begun discipline proceedings … against him.

As for the student who approached Lonergan and filed the complaint, the veteran says he heard from other students that “[he] apparently ‘packed up his car, and he skipped town’ …”
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Fake Camp Pendleton Marine Can't Keep Story Straight

Fake Marine vet caught trying to get discount on pepper spray
Popular Military
By Michele Katz
October 1st, 2015

He claims he was a Gunnery Sgt. stationed at Camp Pendleton.

But when confronted with more probing questions, it becomes clear that the man being recorded on this cell phone video is stealing valor.

When asked if he was retired, the man claimed he was “Section A: medically discharged.”

“You were a gunnery Sgt. over there, what pay grade is that?”

“It’s a G9,” the man says.

The person recording the exchange, later identifies himself as an Army veteran but initially tells the man he’s doing a school project — some documentaries –and asks, “Do you mind if I record this?”

While the conversation continues for a while after that, the man first says that he can’t talk on camera because he’s in “private contracting.” He goes on to say that he works ‘private security’ for non-profit organizations.

Then, pointing to his clothes, says “These are ACU’s.”

The soldier who posted the video on YouTube wrote: “Caught this POS in a tobacco store in Orange, CA trying to get a discount on pepper spray because he apparently was a purple heart recipient, gunny sergeant, recon, about to deploy.”

Apparently the man who was stopped on the sidewalk, graduated with a psych degree from Cal State, and went to officer training school.

“You got gunnery Sgt. in a year,” the service member asks. “I was only in Marine Corps for a year made it out of boot… was supposed to get Lieutenant – I went to basic OCS.”
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From September 8, 2015
This was filmed by an Army Officer, and his wife Michelle, he noticed a guy that seemed out of place in a Marine Corps uniform. His wife posted a photo to our FB page and asked if he looked out of place, he threw up a lot of red flags. They confronted him, and he admitted he was a fake. said he was attending a wedding.


This one is from September 11, 2015

This guy claimed he was a member of 7th Special Forces Group, he was confronted by several current military members. He was also wearing several badges, including a CIB. It would seem he was getting discounts or free drinks, several national chains give free drinks to military in uniform.

Special Forces Soldier Calls Out Fake SF At Rhode Island Airport

Special Forces Soldier Calls Out Fake SF 

At T.F Green Airport, Stolen Valor This was filmed at the T.F. Green Airport in Rhode Island by an active member of the Special Forces.

Stolen Valor "Marine" Arrested After This Ain't Hell Report

Police: Man lied about being in military
ABC WTVQ Lexington Kentucky
Paris Lewbel
08/17/2015

The Stolen Valor blog This Ain't Hell exposed Alcorn back in January. The website filed Freedom of Information Acts with the National Personnel Records Center, and received responses that Alcorn was never found in any of their records.

LEXINGTON, Ky. (WTVQ) – A man was arrested after police say he stole from two different charities for veterans by pretending to be a wounded marine.

Jefferey Alcorn claimed he was a wounded Marine suffering from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder from his deployments in Afghanistan and Iraq, according to police reports obtained by ABC 36 News.

But, police say, Alcorn never served in the military.

According to the reports, he falsified documents to get a service dog, from the organization Paws4Life, to deal with his PTSD. The trained service dog, he was given, was valued at $2,500.00.

According to the police report, Alcorn also falsified documents to the Veteran’s Airlift Command to pay $2,700.00 for the flight to and from Georgia to pick up the service dog.

Alcorn was arrested Saturday afternoon at Blue Grass Airport after he returned from picking up the dog, police says.
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Nigerian Fake Pretended to Be US Army Captain on Match.com

Fake soldier pretended to be a US Army Captain in Afghanistan on Match.com dating site to trick lonely women out of £400,000
Daily Mail UK
By AMANDA WILLIAMS FOR MAILONLINE
July 2015

Tosin Femi Olasemo, 37, pretended to be American Captain Morgan Travis

Nigerian fraudster used profile picture of man wearing full military uniform He soon struck up intense relationships with women and asked for money
Has been jailed for four and a half years after admitting 12 counts of fraud
Nigerian fraudster Tosin Femi Olasemo masqueraded as a US Army captain serving in Afghanistan to scam lonely women out of more than £400,000

A Nigerian fraudster masqueraded as a US Army captain serving in Afghanistan on an online dating profile to scam lonely women out of more than £400,000.

Tosin Femi Olasemo, 37, was allowed into Britain on a student visa, where he set up a Match.com profile from his Cardiff home, pretending to be an American serviceman.

The women believed heroic Captain Morgan Travis was on the lonely hearts website looking for love. But a court heard it was Nigerian-born Olasemo, 37, who used a picture of a soldier wearing full military uniform as his profile picture.

He began 'intense online relationships' with the women before beginning to ask for small amounts of money to help pay for leave to visit them over two years.
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Stolen Valor Fakes Called Out

Fake Marine In Reno, Gets Called Out By Female Claims He Is On High Alert
Stolen Valor
July 6, 2015

This video was sent to us by a lady out of the Reno, Nevada area. This guy was walking around pretending he was a Marine. When asked for his name he responded that, "He was on High Alert, and couldn't give that out."

He then said he was a member of the 3rd Battalion, 26th Marines, which have been deactivated sine 1970. The Marines do have a 26th MEU(Marine Expeditionary Unit), but it doesn't have a 3rd Battalion.

He was trying to get a discount on or a free venue for his wedding using the claims.



Perfect,,,,in this one veteran asked the fake for an ID card

Stolen Valor BUSTED! Fake Soldier Confronted!
Stolen Valor Compilations
Jun 18, 2015

Two soldiers confronted this man for stolen valor, he claimed he was with the '33rd out of the Pentagon' then claimed he was working with the Secret Service. This man was a total fraud yet refused to take off his uniform.

Subscribe for more Stolen Valor Videos!

Again thank you to all the soldiers that have actually served for our Country.

Highly Decorated Ranger, Wasn't

Stolen valor can also be a problem among active-duty troops 
Stars and Stripes
By Ashley Rowland
Published: July 5, 2015

Rare are the reports of active-duty servicemembers trying to paint themselves as heroes.

SEOUL, South Korea — Damian Barbee was a model soldier, a highly decorated Ranger with nearly a dozen awards for valor and ribbons recognizing his overseas service.

His story was too good to be true.

In May, the former senior noncommissioned officer was found guilty of lying about items on his service record, including claims he earned a Bronze Star, Purple Heart, Master Parachutist Badge and a valor device on his Army Commendation Medal. Even his Ranger tab was fake.

In addition to being court-martialed for seven false claims of wearing decorations and badges, Barbee also lied to investigators, telling one official he had been awarded the Combat Action Badge in 2002, producing a falsified document as proof.

Barbee, formerly an E-8, was sentenced to hard labor without confinement for three months and given a reduction in rank to staff sergeant.

A groundswell of support for U.S. troops after more than a decade of war has led some to take advantage of that goodwill — lying about military service for adoration and financial gain. The practice is so offensive that it’s punishable by federal law under the Stolen Valor Act, which was signed by President Barack Obama in 2013.
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Real Marine Confronts Imposter on Video

UPDATE
Fake Marine’s lawyer says client wasn’t trying to steal valor

Confrontation between Marine and ‘imposter’ goes viral 
WDTN News
Jeff Wagner
Published: June 12, 2015

INDIANAPOLIS, Ind (WISH) — A confrontation between a local veteran and a man he says was posing as a Marine has gone viral.

The incident happened outside the graduation ceremony for Noblesville High School Tuesday. Since then, the video of the confrontation has gotten more than 100,000 views online.

Marine Brandyn Skaggs, who was attending the ceremony for his younger brother, said his plan was to expose the man in uniform as a fraud in front of the man’s family, then leave it alone.

But Skaggs’ father recorded it all. And little did he realize that his fight to keep someone from stealing valor was a battle going on across the country every day.

In the video, you can hear Skaggs ask the man where he was stationed. The man answers Camp Pendleton. Skaggs follows that up by asking what unit the man served with. The man then replied, “none of your business.”

“I started to call him out and, obviously, at that point, he is a fake,” said Skaggs.

From the uniform to the medals, Skaggs, who spent four years in the U.S. Marines, said he had all the evidence he needed.
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Hunting For Fake Veterans Caught Real Disabled Marine Veteran

Pennsylvania police officer wrongly accuses veteran of being a fake Marine
NEW YORK DAILY NEWS
BY ALIZA CHASAN
Thursday, June 4, 2015

A police officer and a soldier accused a man of being a fake Marine during a Pennsylvania art festival on Memorial Day.

Turns out they were wrong: Robert Ford, 75, served in the Marines from 1958 to 1964, Pennlive reported.

“It was the most humiliating experience of my whole life,” Ford told the site.

Ford’s day started off with a visit to the cemetery for a wreath-laying ceremony. He played taps and then left for Harrisburg’s Artsfest to find a gift for his granddaughter.

But an Army soldier attending the festival thought Ford’s uniform looked fake. His hat was wrinkled and the belt buckle looked off, the soldier assessed.

He spoke to Detective John O’Conner, a Harrisburg officer and a Marine, and they accused Ford of being a fake.

He eventually pulled out his U.S. Veterans Affairs Card to show the officer and soldier. The soldier looked it over and said it was a fake, Pennlive reported. It wasn’t.

"He's as legit as you can get," said Doug Sterner, a Vietnam veteran and archivist who does military fraud work, told the site.

“There's a lot of bullying going on in the community now,” Sterner said. “It's almost like hunting game, going out looking for phonies."
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