The man accused of using a fake identity to set up a bogus Navy
Veterans charity (and then pocket millions in donations) has been
captured, but authorities still have no idea who he is.
In interviews with
investigators, the fugitive who was captured in Portland, Oregon this
week has refused to answer questions. His fingerprints yielded no
matches. And when handed documents to sign, he scrawls only "X,"
according to U.S. Marshal Peter Elliott.
"He's not giving up anything," Elliott said. "Nothing. Nada."
As detailed in an ABC News
investigation, the mustachioed man was charged in Ohio in 2010 on
counts of identity theft, fraud, and money laundering in connection
with a bogus charity called the U.S. Navy Veterans Association that
raised more than $100 million from unsuspecting donors around the
country.
As questions began to swirl
about the charity, Thompson abandoned his residence in Florida. He was
spotted in a New York City hotel lobby. And then he vanished. Over the
next two years, authorities believe he lived in Arizona, New Mexico,
and near Boston and Providence. After a two year manhunt, the U.S.
Marshals caught up with him outside a Portland bar. His moustache was
gone, he walked with a cane, and was carrying a backpack filled with
cash.
When Marshals were handcuffing
him, he told them: "It's my right under the U.S. Constitution not to
make any statements." Those are the last words he has spoken, Elliott
said.
While they have few clues about
his identity, investigators say, there are some details emerging about
his life on the run. Late Tuesday, when they opened the locker, U.S.
Marshals say they found two suitcases filled with $1 million in cash,
as well as birth certificates, lists of social security numbers and
other public records that authorities believe were intended to help
Thompson manufacture new identities.
"It appears he's had numerous names," Elliott said.
The man rented the storage locker in December under the name Alan Lacey.
The same name was on a fake
Canadian resident alien card that the fugitive had on him at the time
of his capture, according Elliott, who headed a three-member fugitive
task force that spent years on the case.
Investigators also now believe
he attempted to start another charity while in the Boston area, called
the Plymouth Rock Society of Christian Pilgrims. Elliott said
investigators believe that when a story about the man known as Thompson
appeared on "America's Most Wanted," he fled Boston and moved to
Portland.
Since his capture, Thompson has been held in the Multnomah County Jail
where he is awaiting extradition to Northern Ohio, a move that is
expected to occur in the next 72 hours.
Anyone with information
regarding "Thompson's" identity is encouraged to contact the U.S.
Marshals Service for the Northern District of Ohio at: 1-866-4-WANTED
or text keyword WANTED and the tip to 847411 (tip411). Tipsters may
remain anonymous and a cash reward may be available.