Around Christmas time many kind souls come out in droves to volunteer to help the needy. America has hundreds, if not thousands, of charities. One charity in particular has caught the attention of law enforcement in Tampa Bay, Florida.

The U.S. Navy Veterans Association was a charity devoted to helping Navy veterans in need. In its first eight years it raised around $100 million from the charitable contributions from citizens everywhere. The head of the organization, Jack L. Nimitz, claimed the organization consisted of 41 state chapters and about 66 thousand members.

The fact the charity raised around $100 million would be a great story of success except for the fact that the “charity’ wasn’t a charity at all. The U.S. NVA didn’t have any chapters let alone 66 thousand members. Instead it was ran and founded by one man by the name of Bobby Thompson. He actually worked the charity from a duplex across the street from the Cuesta-Rey cigar factory in the Ybor City neighborhood of Tampa.

Although the charity was a fraud, the money raised was real. Most of the money raised stayed with the fundraisers, but most was taken by Thompson and a group of Republican lawmakers. Little to none ever made it to the intended beneficiaries. In 2010, Thompson fled the state of Florida.

On April 30, 2012, federal marshals tracked him down in Portland, Oregon, finding him with a card to a storage unit containing more than $980 thousand  in cash and almost two dozen fake identity cards. Police arrested Thompson and charged him with 23 felony counts.

This scandal has drawn the eye of many and in order to prevent future Bobby Thompson frauds people who donate should actually know the charity they are giving to. To find out if a charity is legitimate can visit the Givewell website for conformation.