The IRE Resource Center is a major research library containing more than 23,250 investigative stories — both print and broadcast. These stories are searchable online or by contacting the Resource Center directly (573-882-3364 or rescntr@ire.org) where a researcher can help you pinpoint what you need. Browse or search the tipsheet section of our library below. Stories are not available for download but can be easily ordered by contacting the Resource Center:
Search results for "credit card fraud" ...
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Grave Mistakes
An investigation showing how the database of deceased Americans created in 1980 under the Freedom of Information Act accidentally lists thousands of Americans as deceased, suffering frozen bank accounts, refused credit cards, denied student and mortgage loans, or arrests for suspected identity theft. It also exposes how identity thieves have learned to use the filed to commit numerous acts of identity theft for tax fraud.
Tags: identity theft; deceased; federal records; tax fraud
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Dart Travel Spending
CBS 11 News reviewed thousands of pages of documents pertaining to travel expenses and credit card purchases by executives and staff members who manage Dallas Area Rapid Transit, AKA DART. We discovered dozens trips around the country and around the world for seminars. While traveling, executives enjoyed expensive accommodations. The station also found questionable expenditures on expensive catering, gift cards and purchases from Victoria's Secret. The expenses came at a time when the agency faced a $1,000,000,000 budget shortfall that jeopardized key transportation projects. CBS 11 producers followed a group of executives and board members to a transit junket in California where we watched as many skipped key meetings, attended steak dinners and parties thrown by companies who bid on transit projects. The station also watched as DART executives and staff members violated internal policies by using taxis and shuttles instead of local mass transit, a pattern found while reviewing dozens of other out-of-town junkets.
Tags: mass transit; Dallas; fraud; transit authority; travel expenses; questionable spending
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Your Schools, Your Money: Dallas school district credit card oversight lax
The Dallas Morning News found more than $6 million in unsupervised credit card purchases that violated state procurement laws or district purchasing contracts. Reporters also discovered hundreds of purchases that had nothing to do with educating kids.
Tags: schools; fraud; spending; credit card; CAR; spending oversight
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Dove of oneness: Snared by a cybercult queen
This investigation exposed a grifter who solicits donations on the Internet to help spread the word about what she claims is a secret law that abolishes income taxes, forgives mortgages, zeroes out credit cards and declares peace. Although she has not broken the law, she moves frequently, hides behind cyber-pseudonyms and forwards her mail to post office boxes. She proclaims her interest as only promoting world peace but has links to an investment scam that robbed thousands of people out of millions of dollars and ultimately landed its creator behind bars.
Tags: cult; scam; NESARA; National Economic Stabilization and Recovery Act; Omega project; cyber fraud; Internet
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"Nuclear Security Problems: Los Alamos Lab Security"
CBS News reporters uncover security lapses in Los Alamos National Laboratory, a U.S. weapons laboratory. In some cases the labs failed to check visas and passports of foreign workers, even after the 9-11 attacks. Two former employees were fired after trying to expose acts of fraud and mismanagement within the labs. The reports also showed that a large number of equipment and supplies were "missing" and/or "stolen," many of which cost thousands or millions of tax dollars. Reporters also exposed a misappropriation of even more tax dollars as some employees were discovered to have spent millions on "questionable purchases" for VCRs, trips to the spa, and diamond rings. One employee who was trusted with a million dollar a month credit line charged a $30,000 custom Mustang to the government credit card, and received no penalty for her actions.
Tags: nuclear security problems; mismanagement; fraud; waste
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Caught Stealing
These stories in The Washington Post use FOIA to reveal the expenses on a government credit card issued to a former official in the Office of Property Management. This led to opening up other expenditure records for many other departments like the police and health department.
Tags: FOI; Office of Property and Management; credit card fraud; Michael Lorusso
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A Trail of Deception
Cindy McKay was a thief "who pilfered hundreds of thousands of dollars from small businesses, from a Catholic seminary, from a charity, from the aged, from lovers, from many who trusted her." Fenton in this three part series takes a close look at her past and how she was finally caught.
Tags: jail; fraud; identity; homicide; murder; police; credit card theft; Cindy McKay; Maryland; Matthew Haarhoff; Tony Fertitta; court documents
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Evans sought for ID fraud, police say; Incident handled improperly, players say
The TCU Daily Skiff reports on a Texas Christian University "women's basketball scandal" in which one player allegedly stole the identity of one of her teammates, stealing more than $1,500 through the use of credit cards and a personal check.
Tags: TCU; women's basketball; ID fraud; identity theft Texas
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Haysville School Superintendent
A KWCH-TV investigation reveals that a local superintendent embezzled thousands of dollars, paying for personal expenses with the school district credit card. While teachers suffered on a tight budget, Dr. Lynn Stevens spent taxpayers' money on expensive dinners, electronics, clothes and perfumes. This went on for years until a high-school student, running for the school board, looked into his spending and tipped the TV station about the embezzlement. Stevens pleaded guilty and was sentenced to community service and restitution payments.
Tags: embezzlement; fraud; parents; students; community; education; teachers; casinos; credit card receipts
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Sheriff Credit Investigation
WTKR-TV investigates office credit-card usage for personal spending by the Norfolk county sheriff. The story reveals that Robert Mccabehas has failed to prove the claim that he has been paying those personal expenses from his own checking account. The main finding is that the sheriff's office policy allowed employees to use taxpayer-backed credit cards to make personal purchases with a promise to pay back. The investigation examines allegations that the sheriff used the office card to pay for vacations masked as conferences that he never attended.
Tags: embezzlement; fraud; FOI requests; credit card statements; vacations; CAR