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Bonding with Aunt Helen made me feel like she would be able to have that experience. Every child should know the love of a grandparent. Natasha had dance practice today and Aunt Helen volunteered to take her for me. They were also going to see a movie afterward. Natasha seemed excited to have an agenda. She packed a bag the night before with clothes for the movies and her favorite tutu for ballet practice.
My meeting with Steve was set for ten and Peter sent me a text this morning that he planned to be there for the debrief. Peter was the brother I never had. We grew up together, went to college together, and both started a family at the same time. He was now divorced and they had no children. I think that was why he was so fond of Natasha. He had always wanted children. I wasn’t surprised when he walked out onto the balcony. “Uncle Peter! Come say hi to Aunt Helen. We’re going to the movies after my ballet practice today.”
Peter scooped Natasha up and stared at the iPad screen so he could join in the conversation. “You don’t say? So what movie are you planning to see?” He looked at Natasha, she looked at Aunt Helen and back at Peter and whispered, “It’s a surprise.”
Peter joined in the fun. “Can I come? I love surprises.”
Aunt Helen quickly responded, “Maybe next time, Peter. This is a girls’ day out.” That was enough to get a loud burst of laughter from Natasha. Peter gave her a kiss on the forehead and gently sat her back in the chair where she continued her banter with Aunt Helen.
I was now seated in a patio chair closer to the edge of the balcony out of earshot of Natasha. Peter sat in the chair next to me. “Good morning, brother.”
I was grateful to have my old friend with me. “Steve is on his way.” We sat in silence and listened to Natasha and Aunt Helen talk and laugh about their fun day ahead.
* * *
Steve arrivedat 9:50 a.m. We huddled at the dining room table. Steve pulled out a manilla envelope along with the binder I saw the first day we met. He thumbed through documents before laying out what I suspected was a few that were relevant to the investigation.
I sat in anticipation to hear what Steve found out in Jersey. “Frederick Smith is the only child of Ben and Sally Smith. Both parents are now deceased. From what I could gather, Ben died from cancer a few years back and Sally passed away from natural causes shortly after that. Fred graduated from high school in 2002 and dropped out of college after two years. He had some trouble with qualifying for student loans. I suspect it had to do with distribution charges on his police record the year prior.
Fred got caught dealing in the dorms. That’s when his first alias popped up. He was arrested for possession with intent to distribute but he was also charged with using a stolen identity, Roger Byer. He got off with a fine and his scent goes cold for a few years until he resurfaces in Dayton, Ohio. This time he was picked up for defrauding an elderly woman. He worked as a handyman for her for a few months and was secretly writing checks to himself without her knowledge. Her daughter was notified by the bank and the police got involved, he was arrested and convicted. He spent one year in prison for these charges. After he got out, he was picked up a few times over the previous eight years for identity theft before being employed by you. He managed to get bail in each instance but took off before any court dates.”
I was in shock. I had this criminal in my house with my wife and my child for the past eight years. I started to wonder about every missing document or piece of jewelry I owned. I rarely took inventory because Brandon was the gatekeeper of the estate. He was only in charge at the ranch but that was where most of the valuables were kept. Over the past eight years, the ranch was our primary residence. Brandon/Fred was there full-time and had access to everything in the house except for the safe. I insisted on having both safes installed after a break-in at the ranch five years ago. Now I have to wonder if Fred wasn’t behind that as well.
Steve continued, “Fred made a living off identity theft and elderly fraud scams. He worked with a small group of criminals to create ruses aimed at unsuspecting elders who had no family to oversee their estates. The crew would set up a scenario that would force the vulnerable victim to run to Fred for help. In one case I found, they had someone take pictures of an elderly woman and send her threatening letters. He used so many fake identities it was hard for the police to keep up with him. Each state has a different name and he was not in the FBI’s database so when they ran his prints, nothing popped up for outstanding warrants.”
My mind started racing as Steve pulled out a file from the manilla envelope and showed me a police report involving an elderly woman. “Fred was her caretaker at the time and when she received a threatening letter, she ran straight to him for help. Fred offered to help, of course, and she gave him access to her bank and retirement account. He withdrew as much as he could, and the report states he got away with about $300,000 before the bank notified the police. The poor lady passed away two months later. The money was never recovered.”
“So how many of these fraud jobs is he suspected of pulling off?” Peter asked.
“That’s where it gets tricky. He was very careful and never stayed in one place for too long. He would stay on the move and only target victims after watching them for about two months. He made sure no one was around to protect them and then he would swoop in as their savior. I found two cases where charges were officially filed but I suspect there may be a dozen more out there that never got reported.”
I asked, “Do you have any more reports of victims he ripped off. Did anyone get killed? How did none of this show up on the background check I had him complete?”
“Yes, I have a few cases with me, and no, no reports of anyone getting seriously injured or killed.
The alias Brandon White is an actual person. He was born in New Jersey around the same time as Fred, they both attended the same high school but that’s where everything got weird. There is not much on his whereabouts after that. He does have an extensive credit history and no criminal record though. When I ran down his family in Jersey it seems as if he just disappeared. I suspect Fred knows Brandon and has had this identity on ice for years. You wouldn’t have caught anything suspicious on a background check. I was able to find this information because I went to Jersey and interviewed a distant cousin who still lived in the area. All his family is either dead or living in another state.
This is a police report of an elderly tycoon in Florida. He met her on a dating app. They were together for about four months when he returned home one day with his face beaten to a pulp. He spun a tale about owing money for a bet gone wrong. She was skeptical and wanted to meet the lenders before offering up any money. She walked into a nightmare when the assailants visited her residence one night. She was roughed up and quickly gave the money to the goons to cover the debt in fear for her own life. He promised to pay her back but disappeared three days later with $500,000 of her money. She never reported this to the police and she still has a bounty out for him.
“He was also the primary person of interest in Alabama for defrauding an oil millionaire in her seventies. This case was provided some valuable insight because he stuck around for about a year. There was a lot of evidence left behind such as photos and finger prints. I am not sure if it’s because she was cautious and kept her information guarded or that he thought he could get more money if he stayed longer. Based on the police report, he may have intended to get married to her and devise a longer end game to inherit her estate.”
I was captivated at this point.
“They met through a dating app,” Steve continued, “and Fred got very involved in her life. He was the chair of her charity foundation and was praised for finding and rooting out fraud by a few committee chairs. He turned down being treasurer and settled for a small salary of $80,000 per year. After eight months he finally turned up the heat; it was very sudden. He tried the gambling ruse but she didn’t bite. Finally, he had his crew break in one night while they were both there. They beat him to a pulp and she gave in and paid them $600,000 to leave. Fred stuck around for two months after that. He left one night to get groceries and never came back. She passed away last year and never recovered any of the money she paid that night.”
I couldn’t help but wonder what he had planned for me. He’d been with us for eight years and nothing remotely close to these cases had ever happened. Aside from the break-in five years ago, I had nothing in common with his other victims. Or so I thought.
“Mr. Brooks, this is where I think you will find the link to a possible motive as it relates to your deceased wife. In 2012, Fred was a person of interest in a police investigation in Kansas City. A seventy-year-old billionaire met and married a woman forty-five years his junior. His family was concerned but soon they got held at bay when his new wife convinced him to sign over power-of-attorney of his estate to her. His family was suspicious and quietly started to investigate her. They found out she had a fake name and a string of petty theft in her background. The elderly man was not convinced and pushed his family further away. The story followed the same patterns, one night a few goons showed up and kidnapped his young bride. The elderly victim received a ransom note but refused to call the police. Despite advice from his children to call the authorities, he paid the ransom—a cool million bucks—to get his wife back.”
I jumped to speed things along, “So he had an accomplice play the lead role in the ruse. Was he protecting himself because he had so many open investigations?”
“Those are all good questions,” Steve said, “but Fred would be the only person I could think of that could answer those for you. What may be of interest is that five of his known associates were now in prison for fraud. They all got picked up in a bar fight before this con job in Kansas.”
I was not sure what to say at this point, I wasn’t sure why Fred wanted me to go to prison for Victoria’s death and I wasn’t sure why he was still around. Steve’s investigation now shed light on the connection between him and Victoria. Now it was slowly becoming clear to me that Victoria was a part of Fred’s crew.
Peter must have read my mind: “So was Victoria involved?”
Steve started rummaging through the manilla folder. I was now on the edge of my seat. I sensed something sinister was about to get revealed. He seemed to have so many papers and photos he had a hard time finding what he was looking for. He finally continued, “The last case I found in connection with Fred was this incident in Kansas City. After the ransom was paid, the victim received an envelope with a severed finger; that’s when the police were notified. I dug through records last night to find a picture of the wife.”
