The United States Navy Veterans Association (USNVA) was founded by Harvard-trained attorney John Donald Cody, who claimed to be some guy named Bobby Thompson.
In 2013, Cody, aka Thompson, was sentenced to 28 years in prison for racketeering, theft, money laundering, and stealing people’s identities including, evidently, Bobby Thompson’s. According to its hideously ugly and practically unreadable archived website, USNVA was dedicated to supporting policies favorable to the U.S. Navy and helping “disabled and needy war veterans,” hospitalized veterans, and the dependents and widows of deceased veterans. The organization also promised to sponsor or participate in “activities of a patriotic nature,” which obviously meant engaging in the very American pastime of making as much money as possible at the expense of other people.
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According to Charity Watch, USNVA told donors it was an old charity with 66,000 members and a bunch of local chapters. “Thompson” and his co-executives claimed to be veterans, which meant they could totally be trusted to use the funds wisely. And just to add a little frosting to the credibility cake, USNVA also claimed to have the support of multiple large foundations that didn’t actually exist. In reality, there was just one guy: Cody, who collected around $100 million in donations. When he was finally apprehended, Cody had a suitcase full of almost $1 million in cash, but the rest of the money remains unaccounted for (via The Guardian).
