From: "Rich Gauszka" 

It looks like we have a serial-refund artist here. Maybe it was all those
year of  ( Bush )  "principled and dedicated service to our
country." that did him in.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/03/10/AR2006031002328
_pf.html

Claude A. Allen, who resigned last month as President Bush's top domestic
policy adviser, was arrested this week in Montgomery County for allegedly
swindling Target and Hecht's stores out of more than $5,000 in a refund
scheme, police said.

Allen, 45, of Gaithersburg, has been released on his own recognizance and
is awaiting trial on two charges, felony theft scheme and theft over $500,
said Lt. Eric Burnett, a police spokesman. Each charge is punishable by up
to 15 years in prison.

Allen could not be reached for comment last night.

In a statement that day, Bush said: "Claude is a good and
compassionate man, and he has my deep respect and gratitude. I thank him
for his many years of principled and dedicated service to our
country."

Burnett said Montgomery police contacted the White House to verify Allen's
identity after the Jan. 2 incident. He said that was the extent of their
communication with the administration. He said he could not immediately
determine the date of that contact, or whether police informed the White
House that Allen had been charged Jan. 2 and was still under investigation.

White House spokesman Scott McClellan said last night that if the
allegation is true, "no one would be more disappointed, shocked and
outraged" than the president. McClellan said Allen had told White
House Chief of Staff Andrew H. Card Jr. and White House counsel Harriet
Miers that the matter was a misunderstanding.

This is what police said happened Jan. 2:

Employees at the Target store at 25 Grand Corner Ave. in Gaithersburg
spotted Allen putting merchandise in a shopping bag. He then walked over to
the guest services desk, produced a receipt and received a refund for the
items.

After getting the refund, Allen left the store without paying for
additional merchandise in his shopping cart.

A store employee stopped him, and police were called to the store. Officers
issued a citation charging him with theft under $500 but did not arrest
him. Court records show prosecutors dropped the misdemeanor charge, which
is not unusual in cases in which detectives are considering filing more
serious charges.

Detectives from the county's retail crime unit soon learned that the
incident was not an isolated event, Burnett said.

He said investigators were able to document 25 fraudulent refunds for items
including a Bose home theater system, stereo equipment, clothes, a photo
printer and items worth as little as $2.50.

Allen would purchase an item, take it to his car, return to the store,
select the same item, take it to the counter and get a refund based on the
receipt for the merchandise in his car, Burnett said. "He would get
the money back or the credit" on his credit cards.

Allen's arrest was first reported yesterday afternoon by the online magazine Slate.

At the time of his resignation, Allen denied reports that he was leaving to
protest military guidelines that required chaplains to perform only
nondenominational services.

As Bush's top domestic policy aide, he frequently briefed the president and
traveled with him on Air Force One, and he sat in first lady Laura Bush's
box during the president's State of the Union address Jan. 31. Two days,
later he traveled with the president to Minnesota, briefing reporters about
Bush's education and alternative energy proposals.

At the Department of Health and Human Services, where he became a strong
advocate for abstinence-only AIDS prevention programs, Allen focused on
homeless issues and racial health disparities.

Democrats in Congress blocked his nomination to the U.S. Court of Appeals
for the 4th Circuit in 2003, citing his relative lack of legal experience.
The court, based in Richmond, covers Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina and
South Carolina.

--- BBBS/NT v4.01 Flag-5