The ‘shutter bug’ case

It was another Monday morning at Flagler County (Florida) Sheriff’s Office (FCSO) Criminal Investigation Division (CID). On the first day of the workweek, we’d review all the crimes committed over the weekend and return to a plethora of police reports and messages from citizen and deputies.

I’ve always taken an interest in patterns of behavior. In my more than three decades as an investigator, I noticed that fraud and theft schemes were on the rise not only nationally but also in Flagler County. I believe this increase was in part because of a difficult economy, availability of prime victims and a greater chance of getting away with fraud over crimes of violence. Also, some prosecutors and detectives don’t always see a fraudster’s modus operandi as criminal in nature. Other factors include limited resources, unreasonable detective caseloads and prosecutors’ and police personnel’s lack of understanding of fraud crimes. This leaves many fraud victims without closure.

I think I looked at fraud differently than many other law enforcement investigators. Of course, I would be upset if someone forcibly pushed me to the ground and took my Casio watch (valued at $125) and $20 of U.S. currency from my wallet. However, if someone defrauded me out of US$10,000 in a hurricane shutters fraud scheme (later we would nickname it “shutter bug fraud”) I would be severely financially injured, possibly for the rest of my life.

My interest in fraud cases at the police department spurred me to be more attentive to the many potential schemes that were classified as civil and not criminal. These crimes left a trail of devastated victims in their wakes. In Florida, like most other states, larceny occurs when someone temporarily or permanently deprives someone of something of value (currency, property, etc.).

According to the ACFE’s Fraud Tree, larceny of cash is one of the main components of asset misappropriation; identifying it is a good place to start when investigating fraud. The next step is gathering information to see if there’s a pattern and hence a fraud scheme or an isolated theft.