FBI called in as 'ghost' scouts boost numbers - and funds

[emad]

Julian Borger in Washington
Thursday January 27, 2005
The Guardian

Whoever thought up an apparent scam to raise money for the Alabama Boy Scouts by inflating membership numbers will not be getting badges for originality. Many of their invented "ghost" scouts had the same name.
The FBI has been called in to investigate after the discovery of lots of scouts called Doe on the Alabama membership rolls who do not seem to exist.

If the idea was to escape detection, it was a particularly poor choice of name. People whose identities are being sought by the police are generally labelled John or Jane Doe.

There are also claims that whole "ghost" scout troops have appeared in official documentation. High membership numbers do not just make the scouts look good, they can bring in millions of dollars. The donations the regional and local scout councils raise depend largely on those figures.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/usa/story/0,12271,1399390,00.html

[sarcasmo]

1. Why in the world does the FBI need to mess with this and not local police

I guess because the donations make it non profitable and there for a federal case. Good to know our tax dollars are at work keeping the boy scouts in check.

[NNN0LHI]

2. Here is another thread about this

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=102&topic_id=1176489

[Moderator]

3. Duplicate

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=102&topic_id=1176489