Disney Declassified: Tales of Real Life Disney Scandals, Sex, Accidents and Deaths (4 page)

Bonnie was a thirty-three-year-old executive assistant for Disney’s head of communications. She was living her own fairy tale working for Disney in California. She had a good job and was head over heels for her own Prince Charming. Unlike most stories involving Prince Charming, this real life tale didn’t have a storybook ending. Bonnie and her boyfriend, Yonni, were arrested in 2010 on charges that they offered to sell secrets about the company's financial picture to investment companies. The minor snafu in their plan was their insider information was going straight to an undercover FBI agent posing as a hedge fund operator.

Here’s how their intrepid scheme worked. Bonnie obtained information, such as Disney’s quarterly earnings before they were released to the public. She would tell her boyfriend, Yonni, who in turn tried to sell this insider information to over thirty investment companies via anonymous letters he sent to investment firms. Most of the firms went ahead and contacted the FBI, who then stepped in and posed as a financial big shot and offered to take the two entrepreneurs up on their offer for the insider information.

Bonnie and Yonni provided the FBI with Disney’s May earnings report before it went public. In return for the information, Yonni met with their financial friend to receive a payment of $15,000 as compensation. He also promised more information in the future for a 30% cut of any profits made from the confidential info. Then the hammer dropped, or shall we say the gavel. Both Bonnie and Yonni were arrested and charged with intent to commit securities fraud and wire fraud. In 2011, Bonnie received three years probation with the first four months under home confinement, plus 100 hours of community service for each year of her probation. Yonni received two years and three months in prison.

In one of the more head-scratching entrepreneurial stories you’ll hear in a long time, would you believe a drug dealer in Orlando actually stopped selling drugs and started selling fraudulent Walt Disney World tickets because it was more lucrative and carried less legal ramifications if he were caught? According to the Orange County Sheriff’s Office, this is a true story.

Complete a quick internet search and you’ll find countless advertisements for cheap or discounted Disneyland and Walt Disney World tickets. If you look within these same search queries, right alongside many of these ads and postings, you’ll read about the countless people arrested for selling fake or already-used tickets. The problem of counterfeit tickets plaguing Disney goes back to day one, literally. In 1955, on opening day of Disneyland, someone counterfeited a slew of tickets and inundated the park with guests. Today, it’s not much different, except technology has gotten better both for the counterfeiter and Disney.

As of March of 2014, Disney was trying to toughen the laws in Florida for ticket scammers. Executives from Walt Disney World were aligning themselves with state politicians to bolster the laws. The Disney backed bill would impose much longer prison terms for tickets scammers. Their new law would also work to include their new MagicBands that function as a park ticket, hotel room key, and credit card.

A Disney spokesperson said changes are needed because “fraudulent ticket sales can ruin family vacations.” True, Disney can spin it in the media however they want. It is annoying for families that make the fake ticket purchase but more importantly for Disney, they are losing money. This is the second time Disney proposed this law. But not the first time they had the state come in and write some laws to cover their ticket sales. In June of 1988, they had Florida write a law banning the sale of unused multi-day tickets. If you buy a five-day ticket and only go two days, they don’t want you to be able to sell the remaining days. At the time, Disney claimed it was losing $3 million in ticket revenue, and the state was being cheated out of $200,000 annually in sales taxes.

The first time this most recent ticket law came up, in 2013, it was killed off. Part of the reason it didn’t make it was because of a provision Disney had in the legislation. The provision was the person selling the ticket would be arrested, as would the person (or family) buying it. So if a family or a group visiting from abroad doesn’t know any better and makes the purchase, they are now a criminal. Certainly doesn’t sound like Disney is too concerned with ruining the family vacation or giving the unsuspecting person or family a parting gift of a criminal record.

The change to the laws are still pending and have not been determined by the state government. The new proposed law still has the provision in it for those buying the fake tickets. The changes to jail time for selling would increase from sixty days to up to one year for the first offense. The second violation would become a felony instead of a misdemeanor and carries a maximum sentence of five years. 

With the legal stuff out of the way, here are a few of the more notable escapades in the world of Disney ticket fraud. Apparently, Grandpa Walt forgot to set up a trust fund for one of his “other” grandchildren, Stephen Disney. Stephen was so hard up for Disneyland tickets that he had to steal a few. Stephen Disney, not his birth name, was a fifty-one-year-old man who claimed to be a Disney heir—he even had the fake driver's license with his alter ego on it and a false tax return showing the Walt Disney Company as his employer.

In January of 2013, Stephen struck up a conversation with a classmate and told her of his family legacy. During their conversation she mentioned she volunteered with a non-profit organization. Stephen took an interest and replied that he could give her a pair of Disneyland tickets to use in a charity raffle to raise money for the non-profit.

All seemed well, the raffle happened, the tickets and their new owners went over to Disneyland and they were denied entry. The tickets hadn’t been activated, as they were stolen. Stephen allegedly stole them from a retail store and then pawned them off to the unsuspecting non-profit. Stephen was arrested and charged with felony burglary and felony forgery of a state seal.

Another crafty ticket scam took place in September of 1996, when thirty-three-year-old Jacques worked as a desk clerk at Disney’s Wilderness Lodge. Jacques would use the resort's computer system to process phony orders for tickets to guest's rooms. The tickets would arrive; he would cancel the room charges and pocket the tickets for resale. His scheme swindled $30,000 worth of park tickets until he was caught by Disney security.

With Disney ticket scams covered, let’s up the ante a bit and go for flat out credit card theft. Credit card fraud is more rampant than ever. At one time or another, you are likely to be a victim. In Mexico and the United States, 44% and 42 % of people with a credit or debit card are hit each year—Germany has the lowest with 6%. It appears as though one of the favorite hot spots to go on someone else’s credit card is down to Walt Disney World.

The land of Lincoln is the birthplace of Walt Disney. Today, it’s home to a guy with a wicked Disney obsession. Twenty-six-year-old Alexander was a former manager of a steak house in Lincolnshire, Illinois. Alexander loved Disney so much he visited Walt Disney World fifteen times and went on two Disney cruises, all within a five-month period. As everyone who visits knows, these trips don’t come cheap. Alexander spent nearly $50,000 on his vacations with money he secured by stealing the identities of fifty customers and former employees from his restaurant.

Alexander used the stolen numbers from guest credit cards to buy gift cards and pre-paid credit cards to fund his escapades. Alexander kept his theft and deception going by using phony names, addresses, phone numbers and email addresses to conceal his real identity. In July of 2013, authorities in Illinois caught up with him and charged him with identity theft and money laundering. In March of 2014, Alexander pleaded guilty to felony aggravated identity theft and was sentenced to six months in jail, along with paying restitution to American Express, Citibank, and Walt Disney World.

The next credit card scam racked up tens of thousands of dollars in free Disney merchandise by working the system, the Disney reservation system. Three men from Florida, Robert, Steven, and Joseph, ran up $15,000 in charges at several Walt Disney World Resorts and shops, and then left without paying. Their scam exploited a loophole in Disney’s reservation system. Here’s how it worked. Each man would check into his hotel with a legitimate credit card. They would then change the card Disney kept on file for charging purposes. The change was made to a pre-paid debit card with only a few dollars on it—just enough to clear the small dollar authorization Disney makes when you list the card on your account. The trio then went out to the parks and made purchases, billing everything to their hotel room. They would then flee the scene before Disney ever realized what transpired.

 Walt Disney World allowed each guest that links their credit card to their room account charging privileges of up to $1,500 per room before Disney would reconcile and charge the credit card on file. These crafty guys would make their purchases, stay below the $1500 threshold and then leave with their goods. From February to April 2012 alone, they visited the resort seven times and ran the scam through thirteen hotel room accounts.

The crew got pinched when Robert bought several hundred dollars worth of pricey cigars, repeatedly. Robert reportedly bought large quantities and didn’t care what the brands were. He would take anything and everything, which the shop worker thought was odd, as smokers usually favor certain brands. The shop contacted Disney Security who worked with law enforcement to apprehend the trio.

Fifty-year-old Jeffrey, who was homeless and jobless since the 1990s, devised another unique hotel scam. Jeffrey spent much of the previous two decades traveling across the country, moving from hotel room to hotel room on other folks' credit cards. Despite his grim situation, he possessed one attribute that made his life a bit easier: he has an incredible memory.

Law enforcement officials were investigating a trespassing call at Walt Disney World’s Coronado Springs in October of 2012. Jeffrey was at the resort at the time and didn’t know the police weren’t there to speak with him about his life on the lam utilizing other people's credit cards. Tired of living the crooked life, he spilled his guts about his decades of fraud. He explained to the police that he had a great memory and could remember credit card numbers he would either briefly see or hear.

Walt Disney World was clearly one of his favorite places to squat, as he stayed there more than twenty-six times over the years. Jeffrey said it was very easy to bunk with the mouse. He would call over to the hotel of his choice; give them the credit card number to reserve his room, receive a confirmation number, and head to the front desk to pick up his keys. After his pow wow with police, Jeffrey was charged with trafficking in stolen credit card numbers, credit card fraud, false statement as to financial condition or identity, and defrauding an innkeeper.

This next story of theft and fraud may be the most brazen yet. Most people around the world love Facebook. They love communicating with distant friends and family. People can stay abreast of all the latest gossip in their friend’s lives. Oftentimes, folks even share their special moments and milestones in their lives with the entire world to see. How many times have you posted about your vacation or that significant moment in your life on social media? Most people partake in this guilty pleasure.

Social media is usually harmless, unless you’re up to no good, then you’re actually just helping authorities build their case against you. This is exactly what happened to a couple from New York. They shared their travels, indulgences, and exploits around the world, with the world. The big problem here was their luxuries were afforded to them by credit card and bank fraud.

As we all know, sooner or later, people’s shenanigans tend to catch up with them. To quote the Staten Island District Attorney working this fraud case, “Make no mistake, Amanda is no Cinderella and Clyde is far from Prince Charming.” It appears Bonnie and Clyde, er, scratch that, Amanda and Clyde had a taste for the high life. Courtside seats to NBA finals games, field level seats to NFL games, an excursion to the Dominican Republic, and of course a lavish trip to Walt Disney World for the defrauding duo. The two left their trail of treachery on Facebook.

Like so many folks that get engaged, this couple posted their pictures online. The engagement happened at Walt Disney World. The photos from their trip featured the happy couple in an embrace in front of Cinderella’s Castle. Another showed a Cinderella cake sitting next to a glass slipper with the words “Will You Marry Me?” As we all know, when the clock struck midnight for Cinderella, her magical ride ended. Well, the clock struck midnight for Amanda and Clyde in July of 2013 and struck in a big way.

Amanda, twenty-six years old, and Clyde, twenty-nine years old, were charged with enterprise corruption, identity theft, falsifying business records, criminal possession of stolen property, grand larceny, and grand larceny as a hate crime, among some others. Here’s how it all went down. Amanda worked as a nurse at a physician’s office in Staten Island from 2004 to 2012. During this time she had access to elderly patients' medical records that usually contained sensitive information such as social security numbers and home addresses. Using this information, the two pilfered nearly $700,000 from fifty elderly patients. Amanda would relay the personal and financial information to Clyde, who would contact the financial institutions and do a change of address. He would then also order new debit and credit cards, having them sent to various addresses around New York City. 

The couple's exploits on Facebook, along with authorities tracing the stolen bank accounts to the addresses Clyde established, built the case against them. Over sixty charges were filed against the couple, but the case was still pending in July of 2014.

The disastrous Disney drama that was sketched out here is just a sliver of the mania and madness involving the masses, money, and the mouse. Disney has seen it all, from the above-mentioned to numerous others. Unfortunately, these tales aren’t the worst of the worst. Things actually take a more appalling leap, a leap down the slope of faking cancer to raise money. Money people donated thinking it was going to help a dire situation, but instead gets spent at Disney.