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Call Me Commander: A Former Intelligence Officer and the Journalists Who Uncovered His Scheme to Fleece America Audiobook
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When Lieutenant 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, St. Petersburg Times investigative reporter Jeff Testerman visited the rundown duplex Thompson used as his home and the epicenter of his sixty-thousand-member charity, the US Navy Veterans Association. But something was amiss.
Bobby 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.
After Testerman’s story revealed that the nonprofit was a sham, the commander went on the run. US 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 US Army intelligence officer who had been wanted since the 1980s on theft charges and for questioning in an espionage probe.
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 American Greed in 2014, Daniel M. Freed dug into Cody’s backstory—uncovering new information about his intelligence background and the evolution of his con.
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“Call Me Commander shows how [Thompson’s] scam was constructed and how it unraveled when reporters began investigating. It might also be a cautionary tale about future cons when there are no more local journalists to investigate these scams.”
— Frank Abagnale, New York Times bestselling author
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“Despite its complex story and large cast of characters, the book is clearly written and crisply paced, with a structure that keeps it suspenseful all the way.”
— Tampa Bay Times -
“An exhilarating yet intricate tale of mind-boggling fraud. Readers will be rapt.”
— Library Journal -
“A riveting account of one of the most twisted con men ever to hustle a buck in Florida, and nobody can tell this tale better than veteran investigative reporter Jeff Testerman.”
— Craig Pittman, author of The State You’re In
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About the Authors
Daniel M. Freed is a senior producer for CNBC’s white-collar crime documentary series American Greed. His television and print work has been aired or published by PBS, Current TV, Amazon Prime Video, and the Los Angeles Times.
Jeff Testerman is an investigative reporter now retired from the St. Petersburg Times, where he was nominated for the Pulitzer Prize five times. The newspaper’s investigation exposing the US Navy Veterans charity scheme earned the Investigative Reporters and Editors top award for public service.
About Marc Vietor
Jim Meskimen is a stage, film, and television actor who has appeared in many well-known movies and television shows. He acted in Apollo 13 and Frost/Nixon for director Ron Howard, both of which were nominated for Best Picture Oscars. His television appearances include The Fresh Prince of Bel Air, Friends, Lie to Me, Criminal Minds, and Parks and Recreation. He is also a painter, award-winning audiobook narrator, and audiobook director for Galaxy Audio.