Duplicity - A True Story of Crime and Deceit by Paul Goldman (surface ebook reader txt) 📗

“Sure, I’ll be by aroundnoon.” And at exactly twelve o’clock, my doorbell rang. I openedthe door, expecting a gawky, computer nerd with taped glasses and apocket protector. What I found, however, was a thirty year old,polished man who had recently moved to the States from Israel,where he had been a Network Administrator for many years. I invitedhim in, and showed him my laptop.

Sam was serious, eager,and extremely knowledgeable about computers. I liked himimmediately, and couldn't resist telling him the reason he washere. Needless to say, Sam was shocked and angered at my story.While he worked, he provided me with a running commentary of whathe was doing, which I appreciated greatly. Sam had brought with himan advanced computer recovery software program and, over the courseof the next two hours, made some very interestingdiscoveries.

“What’s that?” I askedSam, pointing to an unknown file I had never seen before. I waspeering over his shoulder while he worked, looking for anythingunfamiliar.

“It’s a WPS file. Let’sopen it and find out what's inside.” When Sam opened the document,a page popped up entitled “To Do List,” which Audrey had created onFebruary 6, 2008, at a time when I thought we were happily married.I looked down the list and six items popped out at me, six itemsthat were totally inconsistent with Audrey's claim of being astay-at-home mom living on a fixed income.

Expedia

Debit-business (*2) -2- Stuart

Savings - $501 (-2-Mom)

Nextel Upgrade- Recordcapabilities/alarm/photos

Phones- T-Mobile

IBIS / land

We looked at item number 1. “Sam, why wouldAudrey have Expedia on a to-do list for February? We took our tripto California in January. Was she planning another trip inFebruary? To where?”

“I don't know, Paul,” Samresponded.

“Look at that second item.It looks like she was getting two debit cards, for business, andwanted to make sure the statements were sent to her trailer inStuart, not my house where I might see those additional bankaccounts.”

“From what you told me,Audrey claimed to have no other job besides being a stay-at-homemom. Why would she possibly need two business cards?” Samasked.

“That’s a great question,Sam,” was all I said and my eyes moved on to the third item, listedas “Savings.”

“You know, Sam, Audreytold the judge that she lived on a fixed income of $1,600 a monthin child support. If that was really the case, how could she save$501, and why was she giving it to her mother?” I shook my head inconfusion, and then I saw the fourth and fifth items, which provedonce and for all that Audrey did have other phones in addition tothe AT&T phone she claimed, under oath, to be her only phone.“My private eye videotaped Audrey using two phones, one black andone red. In the tape, she used the black one as a walkie-talkie,just like I had in my business to talk with my partner Daniel whenhe was in the field. Mine was a Nextel.”

“In 2008, Nextel was theonly company that had walkie-talkie phones,” Sam added. “It appearsshe wanted to upgrade her Nextel, and maybe buy another phone, aT-Mobile.” I quickly grabbed a piece of paper and jotted down areminder to have Adam send a subpoena to both phonecompanies.

“Look atthis last one, Paul. I have a friend who lives inIbis.”

“I know it too, Sam.” Isaid. “It's all built out now, but in 2008, there were stillbuilding lots available. I guess Audrey bought some land to build ahouse on.”

“You can check the taxassessor's office to see if there is anything under her name,” Samrecommended. “Unless she bought it under some corporatename.”

“I'll check it out.Thanks, Sam.” Ibis, along with the Savings, the phones, and thedebit cards all prompted the same question: where was all the moneycoming from? I decided that the answer to this might interest ajudge as well.

I asked Sam to print outthe “to do list” for me to add to my now sizeable dossier onAudrey. Next in line was a Word document that I didn't recognize.It was a letter from Audrey’s father, Richard Allen, toFEMA, referencingApplication #920958216, rental assistance request:

We had been renting atemporary residence at 1502 S. Ocean Court, Fort Lauderdale, FLwhile our damaged condo was being repaired. Our 12 month leasethere (copy enclosed) expired on November 30. We paid $1,400 rentfor October (copy of check enclosed) and asked our landlord toapply our pre-paid last month’s rent of $1,400 (copy of receipt forfirst month, last month enclosed) to November. We had to have amover place our furniture and belongings in storage and find ashort term rental to live in after November 30. We found a month to month rental at 23511 North Main Street,Apt. #23, Stuart, FL and paid $1,500 rent for December and $1,500rent for January (copy of rental receipts enclosed).

Reading this, my mind went back tothe very first time Audrey took me to Ft. Lauderdale to meet herparents. They were staying at that small condo inSeaside Terrace whiletheir home was being renovated after serious hurricane damage hadleft the house unlivable for anyone except, apparently, Audrey andher small children. This letter was a request for FEMA aid and,though everything in the request seemed in keeping with theiractual schedule, the reference to a rental property on 23511 N.Main Street, Apartment 23 wasn’t exactly forthcoming becausethat was the address of Audrey’strailer, co-owned by Audrey and her fatheraccording to its Motor Vehicle Report.

Based on the letter, it lookedlike Mr. Allen charged FEMA$1,500 a month for two months to rent his owntrailer to himself. He also alleged in the letter that rentalreceipts were attached, which certainly would look legitimateto FEMA, sinceAudrey and her father had different last names. So, Richard Allenrented his own property from his daughter, the landlord, and thenbilled FEMA $1,500 a month. Notwithstanding that illegality, the fairmarket rent for that dump was probably closer to $500 a month, ifthat. Clearly, the apple didn't fall far from the tree. This was aclear attempt to defraud the federal government and, again, made anice addition to my ever growing evidence file on Audrey. I alsomade a note to contact the FEMAfraud department.

Satisfied with what we had found,I was all set to thank Sam for his