telecom@eecs.nwu.edu (TELECOM Moderator) (08/26/90)
Denise Wilder, 37, has been employed for some time now by Illinois Bell Telephone Company in the Chicago area as a customer service representative. Like a lot of us working people, Ms. Wilder usually manages to make do with the paycheck she receives, while always thinking about ways to get more money. But Ms. Wilder had an all-to-common problem: she got over her head in debt, and began having trouble meeting obligations to her creditors. Gradually she was catching up, but one of her creditors got impatient and decided to place her with a collection agency. L & P Financial Adjusters, 6326 North Cicero Avenue in Chicago was the agency given the assignment of collecting a bill from Ms. Wilder. One characteristic of most collection agencies, including L & P, is their vigorous attention to their duty. Before long, Ms. Wilder was receiving frequent calls at work from the agency, demanding payment. One time, the collector even threatened to attach her wages if she did not pay. Then on August 8, Ms. Wilder recieved a call from the owner of L & P himself, Mr. Allan M. Michell. Michell, 39, of 553 Cobblestone Lane in Buffalo Grove, IL had an interesting proposition for Ms. Wilder, and he wondered if they could get together and talk about it. Ms. Wilder agreed to meet Mr. Michell to see what he had on his mind. Mr. Michell laid it all out: He needed a regular contact inside Bell to provide his agency with non-published phone numbers of debtors in the area. In particular, he had a list of 91 names. Could Ms. Wilder get him the current phone numbers and addresses for these people? In exchange for her cooperation, Mr. Michell offered to ignore any collection claims that might come in against her at his agency, and he would give her $50 extra for her trouble. Ms. Wilder thought about it. It seemed easy enough, and the extra money would be good to have ... but after thinking about it awhile longer she decided to tell her supervisors about it instead. Soon she was talking to Illinois Bell security representatives about what had taken place. Security asked her to go along with it, to help 'set the guy up' in a trap, and Ms. Wilder agreed. She met Mr. Michell in a restaurant near the office where she worked, and received a list of the 91 names he was seeking. Security was nearby to observe the transaction, and assist Ms. Wilder if anything went wrong. On this past Tuesday night, August 21, Ms. Wilder met Mr. Michell in the parking lot at the telephone building, 318 West Adams Street in downtown Chicago. She handed him a 'print out of what he wanted' -- or so he thought! -- and he handed her fifty dollars. Of course the security guys were nearby, watching it all, along with Chicago Police Sgt. Robert Gurwig, and detective James Mack. When Ms. Wilder opened the car door to step out and leave, the police officers rushed in and arrested Mr. Michell. Freed on $10,000 bond -- meaning, under Illinois law that $1000 in actual cash must be presented -- Mr. Michell appeared on Wednesday morning before Judge Dennis Dernbach, charged with one count of computer fraud and one count of commercial bribery. Judge Dernbach found probable cause to hold Mr. Michell for trial, and the preliminary hearing is scheduled for September 25. On conviction, Mr. Michell will note that Illinois law provides that his collection agency license will be pulled. Collection agencies here are regulated closely by the state, and he will be, very simply, out of business. Of course, under the Constitution of the United States, he has to be presumed innocent of the charges against him until he has his day in court. Thank you, Denise, for doing the right thing! Patrick Townson