(Reuters) - Opening statements are scheduled to begin in Ohio on Monday in the trial of a man accused of running a scam charitable organization for U.S. Navy veterans that defrauded donors from 40 states of nearly $100 million.
State attorneys have charged the man, who was indicted under the name Bobby Thompson but is accused of using other aliases, with identity fraud, complicity to money laundering and engaging in a pattern of corrupt activity.
Thompson, 67, ran the U.S. Navy Veterans Association (USNVA), a bogus charitable organization headquartered in Florida. It claimed to "provide assistance to veterans" and collected nearly $2 million in Ohio alone, according to the Ohio Attorney General's office, which spent years investigating the association.
Ohio prosecutors say that little, if any, of the tens of millions of dollars Thompson raised through this association actually went to veterans or active members of the military.
The case against Thompson grew more complicated following his arrest in Portland, Oregon, in 2012. He was eventually identified as John Donald Cody, a Harvard-trained lawyer and former member of the U.S. Army's military intelligence unit who was a cold-case fugitive wanted by the FBI since 1987.
Under the name Cody, he had appeared on the FBI's most wanted list as part of an "ongoing espionage investigation."
Thompson was found with numerous fake IDs and a large amount of cash when he was arrested. He initially refused to reveal his real name, signing court documents in the name of "Mr. X," according to authorities.
