USNAviator
05-21-10, 06:16 PM
Marines;
Did a search for this here but couldn't find it so I hope it's new news.I only posted the first of five pages in the article. This individual stole not only money but affection and trust from his neighbors and Honor from the Corps.If you do check out the link you'll see a copy of a letter the Corps sent to him telling him to cease and desist from his fraudulent behavior
How a local 'war hero' went AWOL
By Larry King
Inquirer Staff Writer
The local war hero has vanished, having slipped out of Bucks County as quietly as the Delaware flows past his riverfront loft in Upper Black Eddy.
Behind him lie debts exceeding a half-million dollars, an unfinished McMansion on three acres, and a criminal inquiry into the deceit of Andrew Alexander Diabo.
In news stories, private conversations, and public documents, Diabo cast himself as a wounded Marine helicopter pilot who deployed repeatedly to Afghanistan and Iraq.
Visitors tell of having seen Marine dress blues and West Point cadet grays hanging in his apartment closet and, on a wall, framed Purple Heart and Silver Star certificates.
The Marines, however, never have counted Diabo, 38, among the few and the proud.
Marine investigators not only have debunked any tie to Diabo, but also say he used fake written orders to buttress his ruse, according to documents obtained by The Inquirer.
"If you say you are a Marine, by God you'd better be one," said airline pilot Mitchell Bell, a lieutenant colonel in the Marine Corps Reserve who has doggedly sought to expose Diabo since learning of him in January.
Faux heroes infuriate veterans' advocates, who clamor for tougher criminal sanctions and better military recordkeeping. Posers, they say, increasingly hamper true veterans seeking the benefits and respect they are due.
"You get so darn many phonies that the real deal becomes suspect," said Doug Sterner, a decorated Army veteran lobbying for a public database of all military medals and honors awarded.
Last month, the Marine Corps Inspector General's Office in Washington went after Diabo. On March 10, it sent a letter warning him to end the charade, and it referred the matter to federal prosecutors in Philadelphia, The Inquirer has learned.
"A review of Marine Corps current and former active duty, reserve, and retired personnel lists reveals that you have no affiliation with the United States Marine Corps," the letter said.
Diabo disappeared days later.
Until then, Diabo's claims of valor - taken on faith by journalists, friends, public officials, and even his own lawyer - had helped him deflect creditors, win public sympathy, and obtain free legal help. For years, his story had silenced residents upset with the weed-choked orphan that his unfinished "dream home," begun in 2000 but not yet inhabitable, had become in nearby Tinicum Township.
That property - its owners more than $530,000 in hock to GMAC Mortgage - is up for a May 14 sheriff's sale.
Which might be the least of Diabo's concerns right now.
Federal law makes it a crime to impersonate a military official for personal gain or to falsely claim military honors. In late March, federal investigators drove up to the hills and hollows near Diabo's apartment, flashing badges and asking questions.
But Diabo, his wife, Evelynn, and their 5-year-old son had cleared out, having told acquaintances they were leaving for his native Canada.
Link: http://www.philly.com/philly/news/92029914.html
Did a search for this here but couldn't find it so I hope it's new news.I only posted the first of five pages in the article. This individual stole not only money but affection and trust from his neighbors and Honor from the Corps.If you do check out the link you'll see a copy of a letter the Corps sent to him telling him to cease and desist from his fraudulent behavior
How a local 'war hero' went AWOL
By Larry King
Inquirer Staff Writer
The local war hero has vanished, having slipped out of Bucks County as quietly as the Delaware flows past his riverfront loft in Upper Black Eddy.
Behind him lie debts exceeding a half-million dollars, an unfinished McMansion on three acres, and a criminal inquiry into the deceit of Andrew Alexander Diabo.
In news stories, private conversations, and public documents, Diabo cast himself as a wounded Marine helicopter pilot who deployed repeatedly to Afghanistan and Iraq.
Visitors tell of having seen Marine dress blues and West Point cadet grays hanging in his apartment closet and, on a wall, framed Purple Heart and Silver Star certificates.
The Marines, however, never have counted Diabo, 38, among the few and the proud.
Marine investigators not only have debunked any tie to Diabo, but also say he used fake written orders to buttress his ruse, according to documents obtained by The Inquirer.
"If you say you are a Marine, by God you'd better be one," said airline pilot Mitchell Bell, a lieutenant colonel in the Marine Corps Reserve who has doggedly sought to expose Diabo since learning of him in January.
Faux heroes infuriate veterans' advocates, who clamor for tougher criminal sanctions and better military recordkeeping. Posers, they say, increasingly hamper true veterans seeking the benefits and respect they are due.
"You get so darn many phonies that the real deal becomes suspect," said Doug Sterner, a decorated Army veteran lobbying for a public database of all military medals and honors awarded.
Last month, the Marine Corps Inspector General's Office in Washington went after Diabo. On March 10, it sent a letter warning him to end the charade, and it referred the matter to federal prosecutors in Philadelphia, The Inquirer has learned.
"A review of Marine Corps current and former active duty, reserve, and retired personnel lists reveals that you have no affiliation with the United States Marine Corps," the letter said.
Diabo disappeared days later.
Until then, Diabo's claims of valor - taken on faith by journalists, friends, public officials, and even his own lawyer - had helped him deflect creditors, win public sympathy, and obtain free legal help. For years, his story had silenced residents upset with the weed-choked orphan that his unfinished "dream home," begun in 2000 but not yet inhabitable, had become in nearby Tinicum Township.
That property - its owners more than $530,000 in hock to GMAC Mortgage - is up for a May 14 sheriff's sale.
Which might be the least of Diabo's concerns right now.
Federal law makes it a crime to impersonate a military official for personal gain or to falsely claim military honors. In late March, federal investigators drove up to the hills and hollows near Diabo's apartment, flashing badges and asking questions.
But Diabo, his wife, Evelynn, and their 5-year-old son had cleared out, having told acquaintances they were leaving for his native Canada.
Link: http://www.philly.com/philly/news/92029914.html