Foxwwods pitboss in
$13million MacSwindle
On duty, Jerome "Jerry" Jacobson was an ex-cop and head of
security for the firm that ran McDonald's million-dollar prize contests - a man
who was entrusted with carrying the winning pieces to the company's "Monopoly"
and "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire" contests.
But off duty, this ex-lawman was "Uncle
Jerry" - the alleged mastermind of a $13 million scam, in which he stole the
game pieces he was supposed to protect and handed them over to a network of
accomplices to claim the ill-gotten prizes.
"You know what it is about
this case? It's Americana that got ripped off," said FBI special agent Tom
Kneir. "For every kid or person who came through a McDonald's hoping that,
'Hey, maybe it'll be my day and I'll win $1 million,' it wasn't going to
happen."
The 58-year-old Jacobson - who was charged with mail fraud
this week along with seven others in the McDonald's scheme - was living in a
quarter-of-a-million-dollar home in the quiet middle-class suburb of
Lawrenceville, Ga., in 1995 when he hatched a plan
Faced every day with
the task of handling the super-valuable game pieces - which can win lucky
fast-food customers millions if combined in the right way -the retired
Hollywood, Fla., police officer allegedly approached a Statesboro, Ga.,
strip-club owner to help him turn the potentially valuable tickets into a
bonanza, feds say. The club owner - whom the FBI identifies as "Dominic" and
who is now deceased - soon found a customer who bought one of the tickets and
won a car. From there the scam grew bolder and spread from Georgia to New
England, authorities say.
The way it worked was simple: Through
relatives and acquaintances, Jacobson developed a band of recruiters, who in
turn recruited a group of "winners," feds say.
They had to be far
removed from Jacobson, so no one would get suspicious, and they had to be
willing to pay for the winning pieces up front and then take the risk of
approaching McDonald's to collect the prizes. The price of the winning pieces
was high - sometimes a large percentage of the expected winnings. Some of the
scam participants even mortgaged their home for a shot at the sure thing.
Then, after the winner collected the money, Jacobson still kept a large
hunk of the prize loot - after one $1 million grab, he kept the first $50,000
annual payment, feds say. Still, more than a dozen people were willing to pose
as winners.
One of them was allegedly Michael Hoover, of Westbury, R.I.
A slight-statured pit boss at the Foxwoods casino, Hoover was known as a
"nice guy" to his co-workers. But most didn't know he had financial trouble and
had filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy protection in 1999. But on July 20, 2001,
Hoover's financial fortunes changed.
He called McDonald's and told them
he had won the $1 million prize in the famous, 10-year-old Monopoly game.
Hoover, who was recruited by Jacobson's pal Andrew Glomb, of Ft. Lauderdale,
Fla., was told by Golden Arches brass that they would pay him the winnings.
Excited at the prospect of the huge annuity, Hoover soon bought a boat, a
co-worker said. But he didn't get a chance to enjoy his winnings. On Aug. 3,
the bureau sent a group of agents to his home posing as a camera crew shooting
a promotional video for the company.
The FBI said Hoover told the
camera a tall tale about how he got the winning game piece: He said he had
fallen asleep on a beach and his People magazine got wet. When he woke up, he
got another one, and voilà, the winning ticket was in there. What Hoover
didn't know was that the FBI had been wiretapping the phones of Jacobson and
Glomb, and heard them discussing Hoover's part in the plan. They knew all when
Hoover approached the company to collect the $1 million, and only let him think
he won because they wanted to gather more evidence.
The wiretaps also
led to the arrest of Noah and Linda Baker of Westminster, S.C., who had
allegedly recruited $500,000 winner Brenda S. Phenis, of Fair Play S.C., and $1
million winner Ronald E. Hughey of Anderson, S.C. Hughey in turn recruited John
F. Davis and bragged that Davis was "his man in Texas," who was able to claim
another $1 million prize. All told the operation won 13 $1 million McDonald's
jackpots over the past six years - which accounted for all of the top prizes
and left McDonald's customers to take home only lesser prizes, like free food
and drinks.
In addition to the eight charged, 16 others participated in
the scam but have not yet been charged. The FBI first got wind of the scam
through an informant - whose identity has not been released. He told agents
about "Dominic" and the existence of the shadowy "Uncle Jerry." Agents first
set their sights on Jacobson when they found out he was one of only two men
allowed to transport the game pieces - and his name was Jerry.
"He did
control the pieces, so everyone had to jump to his movements," said agent
Kneir. "What caused him to do this? That's the rest of the story."
|
