telecom@eecs.nwu.edu (TELECOM Moderator) (09/24/89)
Readers of TELECOM and/or RISKS may recall a news report from about a year ago involving a plot to steal $69 million from the First National Bank of Chicago through a fraudulent wire-transfer scheme masterminded by Armand Moore. Using the telephone and computer -- the tools of his trade, Mr. Moore planned to transfer money from the accounts of corporate customers at First National to his account in Switzerland. He needed some inside help to bring it off, and he found two young guys in the wire transfer room at the bank who were willing to help. Both of the clerks were fellows in their early twenties, who had worked for the bank a couple years each. Both had come from families living in a ghetto neighborhood on the south side of Chicago; but their families had raised them to be honest. Both had been average high school students; neither had any previous criminal record of any sort; both had been given a break by an employer who treated them fairly and allowed them to rise to positions of trust: handling **huge** sums of money -- about a hundred million dollars a day -- in the wire-transfer unit at the bank. Both showed great promise; then Armand Moore came along. Moore wined and dined these two kids; showed them the best of times and what it was like to have a fancy apartment in a wealthy neighborhood instead of living with your parents in an inner-city ghetto. Its not that they weren't guilty -- after all, they did provide the secret passwords and phrases which bank employees say to one another on the telephone, and they did press the buttons which sent $69 million dollars on its way to Europe -- but they would not have done it if Armand Moore had not been there. So instead of a career at the bank, the guys exchanged it for an indictment for bank fraud; loss of their jobs; humiliation for themselves and their families; and the right to say 'convicted of bank fraud' on future job applications. Naturally, they are blacklisted in the banking and computer industries for the rest of their lives. One of the guys said Armand had promised to give him money to buy his mother a new coat. The job at First National was bungled as we all know, two young guys had their lives ruined, and the court took all this into consideration when Armand Moore was sentenced to ten years in prison last June. But as Paul Harvey would say, "...then there is the rest of the story...." It seems Armand Moore was no stranger to bank fraud. He had previously pulled a couple of smaller jobs, using a telephone and a computer to net about a million dollars from two banks in the Detroit area. The feds had not previously connected him with those jobs. He had this money stashed away, waiting for him when he got released from prison, which in this latest scheme, would be a lot sooner than the government expected. Mr. Moore is the sort of fellow who could sell the proverbial ice-box to an Eskimo.....or a newspaper subscription to a blind man....he can get *anybody* to do *anything* it seems....by flirting with them, showering them with attention, and if necessary, just bribing them. Now two more lives have been ruined by Armand Moore, and his only regret is he got caught. Since his trial in June, Armand Moore has been a guest of the government at the federal penitentiary in downtown Chicago. As a long term resident, he's gotten to know a lot of the folks, including the employees of the prison. In particular, he got to be very good friends with Randy W. Glass, age 28, an employee of the prison in the computer facility there. Glass' duties include entering data into the prison computer about the inmates, their sentences and other data. Oh...is the story becoming clearer now? Glass and his wife live in Harvey, IL, a middle class suburb on the south side of Chicago. It seems like so many other people who meet Armand Moore, Glass enjoyed the company of this older, very sophisticated and friendly chap. After several meetings in the past three months, Glass was finally seduced by Moore's money, like everyone else who meets him. That, plus his pleasant manners, his smooth conversation and his assurance that nothing could go wrong led to Glass finally agreeing to accept a $70,000 bribe in exchange for punching a few buttons on the computer to show Armand Moore's sentence was complete; him and a couple other inmates who were sharing the same room at the prison. Just change a few details, punch a few buttons -- and to be on the safe side, do it from home with your modem and terminal, using the Warden's password which I just happen to have and will give to you in exchange for your cooperation. $70,000 was hard to resist. But Glass was a prudent man, and he asked what guarentee would he have of payment once Armand Moore was released. After all, hadn't he promised those fellows at the bank all sorts of things and then tried to skip town immediatly when he thought the transfer had gone through? He would even cheat his fellow crooks, wouldn't he? Moore offered a $20,000 'down payment' to show his intentions. A confederate outside the prison would meet Glass' wife and give her the money. Then the job would be done, and following Moore's (ahem!) untimely release from the joint, the rest would be paid. The deal was made, alleges the government, and Armand Moore used a pay phone at the prison that day to call his stepsister and have her arrange to meet Mrs. Glass. The money would be exchanged; Glass was off two days later and would make the necessary 'adjustments' from his home computer; the prison roll would reflect this on the next morning's roster of prisoners with the notation 'Time Served/Release Today'. They would meet that evening and exchange the rest of the money. All telephones at the prison, including the public pay phones, are subject to monitoring. A sign on each pay phone advises that 'your call may be monitored by an employee authorized to do so'. The FBI alleges that recordings were made of Moore on the phone telling his stepsister that she should '...work with Randy, a person affilated with the law...' and that she would meet Mrs. Glass the next day. With a court ordered tap obtained a few minutes later, the FBI heard Stephanie Glass agree to meet Moore's stepsister at 5:45 AM the next morning in a parking lot in Richton Park, IL. At the appointed time the next morning, the two cars met in the parking lot, and the FBI alleges the one woman handed the other a package containing $20,000 in cash. The FBI videotaped the meeting and waited until Mrs. Glass had driven away. They followed her home, and arrested her at that time. Randy Glass was arrested at the prison when he arrived for work about an hour later. Armand Moore was arrested in his cell at the prison once Glass had been taken into custody. To do it the other way around might have caused Glass to get tipped off and run away. On Thursday, September 21, Mr. & Mrs. Glass and Armand Moore appeared before United States Magistrate Joan Lefkow for arraignment and finding of probable cause. Finding probable cause, she ordered all three held without bail at the prison until their trial. Randy Glass is now, so to speak, on the wrong side of the bars at the place where he *used* to work. He was suspended without pay at the time of his arrest. At the hearing, Magistrate Lefkow directed some particularly acid comments to Mr. Moore, noting that he was forbidden to ever use the telephone again for any reason for the duration of his confinement, and was forbidden to ever be in the vicinity of the computer room for any reason, also for the duration. She noted, "....it seems to me you continue to seek the conspiracy's objectives by using the telephone, and convincing others to manipulate the computer....you stand here today and show no remorse whatsoever except that you were caught once again. Your prison record notes that on two occasions, prison staff have observed you using the telephone and '...pressing the touchtone buttons in a peculiar way during the call...' and that you were counseled to stop doing it. I will tell you now sir that you are not to use the telephone for any reason for the remainder of your current sentence. I find probable cause to hold you over for trial on the charge of bribery of a government employee. Stay away from the phones and computers at the prison Mr. Moore!" Like Gabriel Taylor at the First National Bank, neither Randy Glass or his wife had any prior arrest record or conviction. In a foolish moment of greed, spurred on by a friendly fellow who Randy really enjoyed talking to '..because he was so smart and well-educated...' they now get to face prison and the loss of everything in their lives. When all three were leaving the courtroom Thursday, Armand Moore snickered and smiled at the audience. He'll find other suckers soon enough. Patrick Townson