God, some people are gullible
Quote of note:
At one point, then-President Bill Cullom noticed Luna had upgraded his wardrobe and was traveling extensively. ''He told people he won a million-dollar lottery in Washington state,'' Cullom said.
Trusted chamber workers charged in theft
Using low-tech tools, including a typewriter with a corrective ribbon for altering checks, two employees stole $1.9 million from the Greater Miami Chamber of Commerce, authorities say.
Two former high-ranking employees in charge of the Greater Miami Chamber of Commerce's financial operations were arrested Wednesday and face charges in the theft of $1.9 million from the business organization.
Evelyn Minott, the chamber's former executive director of finance, and Freddy Luna, the former finance manager, face fraud and racketeering charges. Minott also is charged with three counts of money laundering. All are first-degree felonies.
In an era of Internet crime and other forms of sophisticated electronic thievery, this scandal is remarkable for its low-tech methodology, perpetrated against an organization whose members and leaders are among Miami's top corporate chieftains.
Evidence that in retrospect hinted at trouble was explained away. At one point, then-President Bill Cullom noticed Luna had upgraded his wardrobe and was traveling extensively. ''He told people he won a million-dollar lottery in Washington state,'' Cullom said.
According to the charges, Luna and Minott's criminal tools included carbon copies of checks, an old-school typewriter with a white corrective ribbon and a rubber signature stamp.
''This is the old-fashioned method'' of white-collar crime, said State Attorney Katherine Fernandez-Rundle.
