Читать книгу Thou Shall Not Steal - Rod Fulenwider - Страница 3

Ruger Crain is an executive with a private security company. The company performs executive protection work, investigations, surveillance, security consulting, training and other security related functions. It was a Friday afternoon and Ruger was having lunch with his friend Paul at the Legacy West destination venue in Plano Texas. Paul and Ruger worked out together at the gym on a weekly basis and had become good friends over the years. Paul had just finished telling Ruger the details of Paul winning the state amateur tennis tournament when Ruger’s phone began to ring. Normally Ruger would ignore a call at lunch and let the call go to voicemail but the caller ID indicated that the call was coming from the United States Bureau of Prisons. Ruger had a friend who was the warden at the federal prison in Morgantown West Virginia. Ruger knew that his friend, Ben, would not call during the day unless it was a problem so Ruger took the call. When he finished the call he must have had a dazed look on his face because Paul asked Ruger what just happened? Ruger told Paul that the Bureau of Prisons (BOP) had just notified Ruger that an inmate was being released from her successful twenty-year prison sentence. The BOP also informed him that she had make multiple comments to other inmates about getting even with the guy, Ruger Crain, who had taken her son away from her, destroyed her life and put her in prison for twenty years.

Paul found this situation to be exhilarating as he had never seen or heard of this situation with anyone that he knew personally. Paul asked Ruger if he would tell him what had happened, why this person was in prison and why after twenty years she would still be making threats against Ruger’s life? Ruger told Paul this story would take a little while and did not want Paul to be late getting back to work. Paul said that it was not a problem, he wanted to hear the story. Paul knew that Ruger had been a security and loss prevention executive for several national companies. Paul also knew that Ruger had worked some major cases but had not heard many of the stories so this was an opportunity to get a firsthand play by play on a very unique situation. Paul was also the department manager and knew that his team would enjoy the time without the boss in the office. Ruger and Paul reordered their standard drinks. Paul decided on a Crown and Coke and Ruger ordered his regular Dr. Pepper before getting started on what happened in this case.

Ruger told Paul that the case occurred twenty-two years ago. Ruger was the Director of Asset Protection for a multi-billion-dollar company. Ruger had been responsible for all internal investigations, executive protection, supply chain loss prevention, direct oversight for the safety program and in charge of security and safety for the corporate jet. He split his time between the corporate office in Grapevine Texas and corporate support facility in downtown Dallas. One day when he was at the Dallas location an anonymous phone call came into the facility. The call first went from the company operator to the Gabriella Hernandez Vice President of Facilities. Ruger and Gabriella worked closely together and she realized that Ruger should take the call so she found Ruger and set in while he spoke to the person on the phone.

Ruger listened as the man, Jon, tell him that Jon’s ex-wife worked for the company. Jon told Ruger that his ex-wife had been stealing from the company and shared with Ruger the items that he knew she had stolen. Most importantly Jon informed Ruger that the ex-wife, Stacy, was the administrative assistant to the Chief Financial Officer. Ruger told Jon that he did know Stacy and that Ruger was the right person for Jon to be talking to about the situation. Ruger asked Jon what was it that Jon wanted from the company and what was the outcome that Jon desired once the investigation was complete? Jon told Ruger that Jon was tired of Stacy getting away with everything and that he wanted custody of their daughter. Jon said he felt that Stacy was not being a good mother and it was his job to fix the situation. Ruger finished the phone call by taking Jon’s contact information and told Jon that he would be in touch.

Once Ruger was finished with the phone-call he began an official investigation into Stacy. Ruger knew that just because someone claims that someone else did something that does not mean anything necessarily happened. Ruger also knew that ex-spouses sometimes will say things just to make the other one look bad and to create a negative situation for the other person. Additionally, an ex-spouse can provide incredibly accurate information in an investigation. Ruger knew that he had to be very careful in his investigation. Stacy was known to be very vindictive and did not mind using her bosses authority to get things done or to get even with people. Ruger also knew that he had just been placed into the middle of a political mine field and Ruger was not very good at internal politics. Ruger was real good when it came to right and wrong but politics were not his game. Under normal circumstances Ruger would have turned the investigation over to his senior investigator. Ruger decided that given the sensitivity of the situation and due to the potential internal political issues that he should handle this investigation himself. The first part of the investigation was to verify if anything that Jon had shared with Ruger was true. What were the pieces that could be proven? What pieces were uncertain? What pieces were untrue?

The initial investigation revealed that everything that Jon had shared with Ruger appeared to be true including a critical piece related to Stacy’s home. It turns out that just prior to Jon and Stacy’s divorce they had filed for bankruptcy. Shortly after the divorce Jon remarried. Jon earned $160,000 a year and his new wife earned $174,000. It was interesting that with a combined income of $334,000 Jon and his new wife were not able to purchase a new home without a third person co-signing on the loan – all of this because of the bankruptcy. Stacy earned a salary of $54,000 and had been able to purchase a new home. Ruger did not know initially how this fit into the equation but something did not seem right to him about how Stacy had been approved to purchase the home. Ruger put the home information to the side and continued to investigate. He spoke with a couple of close friends who worked in finance and was able to attain a number of important files related to the CFO’s (Steven) expenses as well as other important company documents.

Since Ruger was in charge of executive protection he had full access to the Steven’s calendar. Ruger went unannounced and met Steven at the airport hangar. Ruger and Steven sat alone inside the company G5 and Ruger shared what had been revealed in the investigation. Steven told Ruger that given his travel schedule as CFO that Steven had given Stacy full access to all of his company and personal credit card information as well as his personal checks. Steven said that he needed Stacy to assist him in taking care of some personal issues while he was on the road. Steven gave Ruger his full authority to fully investigate the matter. Steven told Ruger to contact Ryan, the Senior Vice President of Finance, and Ryan would give Ruger access to every written and electronic document that Ruger needed. Ryan would not know what was going on but would provide full disclosure and assistance as needed. Ruger spent weeks working on the investigation and determined that Stacy had stolen in excess of three hundred thousand dollars in money, services and products from the company. It was time for Ruger to brief the bosses on what he knew. Ruger met Steven and Lucas (the Chief Executive Officer) unannounced on the G5 and briefed them on the status of the investigation. All three agreed that it was in the best interest of the company for Ruger to interview Stacy regarding her actions. Ruger met with the head of human resources and the chief legal officer to brief them on the investigation and on an interview strategy. The next morning Ruger and a human resources manager appeared at Stacy’s desk. They informed Stacy that they needed to speak to her in private to discuss a sensitive matter. Stacy voluntarily went with them to a conference room so that Ruger could perform an interview with Stacy.

Ruger informed Stacy of who he was and why they what the meeting was about. Ruger told Stacy that he had been working on an investigation for some time and that the investigation revealed that Stacy had taken money, products and services from the company. Ruger told Stacy that this was not a situation where she might have done something but a situation where the investigation revealed facts and that she clearly was involved. Ruger stated that he would like to discuss the situation and see if Stacy was interested in setting the record straight. Stacy said she definitely wanted to discuss the matter. Ruger and Stacy talked for a little over two hours. At time during the interview was Stacy promised anything nor was she threatened in any way. In fact, Ruger placed Stacy nearest the exit door and told Stacy she was free to leave at any time. By the time they were finished talking Stacy had voluntarily admitted to stealing more than one hundred thousand dollars in company product and/or equipment. Some of the equipment in question was expensive audio and video equipment that she was using in her home. She had also stolen two large flat screen televisions for her home. She said that the electronics were easy to steal. She would place an official company order for the equipment and have the product direct shipped to her home. She would sign the company requisition form and then forge Steven’s signature on the form. She knew that no one in finance or procurement would dare ask Steven if he had actually signed the form himself which made it easy for her to get away with. Stacy also admitted to Ruger that yes she had used Steven’s American Express card to purchase her tickets to company events in Las Vegas and in Los Angeles. Once she had made the trips she was able to complete the correct forms and have Steven’s AMEX paid. Once the AMEX bill was taken care of she would then change expense vouchers and have the company cut checks made out to her for the same trips. She also stated that she had herself paid for trips that she never made. She admitted to a number of pieces of jewelry that she purchased for herself and other items that she purchased with the company credit card. She told Ruger that he was right that she did have the company pay for five trips to Miami and three trips to the Bahama’s. The Miami and Bahama trips were tickets for two people and she stayed in executive suites at exclusive resorts. Ruger pressed Stacy for details on who she took on these trips but Stacy refused to provide that information. Stacy wrote a full confession of what she had told Ruger. Ruger told Stacy that she was suspended pending the outcome of the investigation. He also told her that she had twenty-four hours to return all the goods that she had stolen.

Stacy arrived at Ruger’s office the next morning with the goods that she had admitted to stealing. Ruger believed that there are three types of confessions from a thief. There is the verbal confession where someone verbally states what they have stolen. There is the written confession where a person actually writes down what they stole. Lastly, there is the physical confession. The physical confession is where someone physically delivers back what they stole. Ruger has never had a theft or robbery case turned over in court. Stacy brought back all of the items that she confessed to stealing and a few more items that she had forgotten to admit to stealing. One of the items that she brought back was a special movie poster. This poster was an 19” x 33” framed poster from the movie Face Off. The movie starred John Travolta and Nicholas Cage and was directed by John Woo. This particular poster had been signed by all three men. The poster is the only known to be signed by all three men and had a value starting at $35,000. Apparently, the movie studio had shipped the poster to the company as a thank you for a successful joint venture. Stacy took receipt of the poster and had it hanging in her home. A week later Ruger and human resources met with Stacy for a second time. Stacy admitted to more things that she had stolen. Ruger informed her that he knew she still had not been honest with him. Ruger told her again that he did not like being lied to and this was her chance to get in front of the issues. Stacy said some not so nice things about Ruger’s mother and said that the company owed her. Ruger ended the meeting by telling Stacy that she had seventy-two hours make contact with him come clean on all issues.

Ruger gave Stacy a week and when he did not hear from her he took the next step and met with Detective Slidell of the Dallas Police Department. Ruger and the detective had worked some cases before so they were very familiar with each other. Detective Slidell contacted Ruger two days later and invited Ruger to police station. The detective had arrested Stacy and was going to interrogate her. Detective Slidell invited Ruger to participate in the conversation. Stacy shared everything with the detective that she had admitted to with Ruger. Stacy refused to name who had taken the trips to Miami and the Bahama’s. Stacy was charged with multiple counts of fraud, theft by deception and several other charges. The detective decided to wait to charge her with credit card fraud and two other related charges. Stacy was release on her own recognizance. It took another month before Ruger was able to figure out who the final player was in these acts of theft and fraud. Ruger contacted Detective Slidell and informed him of the person that went on the trips with Stacy. Ruger and Slidell decided it was best to bring the FBI into to play for the final step of the investigation. Ruger and the detective met with Special Agent Foster to discuss the case. A strategy was put into place and a date set for one last discussion with Stacy. The plan was put into place and Stacy was arrested by the detective again on charges of credit card fraud. Once again the detective and Ruger met with Stacy to discuss the matter. Ruger informed Stacy that he knew who it was that had made the trips with Stacy and she had one last chance to share the name and cooperate. She said she would not say a word about who it was. Ruger picked up his cell phone and called Agent Foster. Agent Foster told Ruger to wait three minutes and then to tell Stacy what the FBI was doing. Ruger took his watch off and laid it on the table. Stacy asked what was going on with the watch? Ruger said they had to wait three minutes. After three minutes Ruger put his watch on and informed Stacy that Rachel had just been arrested by the FBI. The impact of the statement was so much that Stacy also passed out. Ruger informed Stacy that since Stacy was now in the custody of the Dallas Police Department and that when they were finished with her that she would be transferred to custody of the FBI on charges of mortgage fraud. Rachel was the loan officer on the purchase of her new home. Ruger also told her that a Dallas County Family Law judge had just signed off on her ex-husband being awarded full custody of their daughter.

Stacy clearly did not meet the qualifications for a home loan. Stacy had worked out a deal of financial compensation for her girl friend and they jointly had defrauded the home loan mortgage laws. Stacy was found guilty of all charges in both State and Federal Court. She was sentenced to eight years at Gatesville State Prison for Women. Once she completed her State term she was then transferred to Federal Prison to complete her twelve year federal term. She completed her combined twenty years, now she is ticked off, is talking smack and wants to get even with Ruger. Ruger shared with Paul that will keep an eye for Stacy but was pretty certain she will find other ways to get herself in trouble. Paul said he found this fascinating and wanted to know how Ruger got into this business and if there were more cases that Ruger could discuss. Ruger told Paul that the investigation had uncovered that two other executive assistants had also been stealing. Ruger turned those cases over to his senior investigator who ended up working those cases. Both of those people were found guilty and ended up on probation. Ruger told Paul that he could tell him more. Paul and Ruger decided to take the rest of the day off and Ruger began to share some of the information that Paul was interested in hearing.