The Many Lives Of Richard Condia

[DarkDante]

Surprised that there isn't a thread already for this (probably because the segment was short in nature). Fascinating case nonetheless and one of the more intriguing Fraud cases UM ever profiled as far as the intricacy and detail paid to detail on the part of the con artists in duping their victims.

For those who don't remember the segment, on 4/28/92, UM featured a brief segment on Fidelity National Medical Supply Incorporated, a medical supply outfit that was stationed in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. The upstart company headed by a man known as Richard Condia were looking for investors and put an advertisement in national papers looking for a minimum $15,000 per investor.

UM profiled one investor who went so far as to travel to Oklahoma City in order to check out Fidelity National Medical Supply himself before investing. FNMS sent a limousine to pick him up (as was customary with all their investors) at his hotel prior to giving him a guided tour of the operation including the warehouse which housed numerous cardboard boxes that FNMS claimed contained medical supplies. It is worth noting that at no time did FNMS take any of their investors inside of their warehouse to look at the stock citing FDA regulations.

In reality the reason why none of the investors were brought into the warehouse was because the myriad of cardboard boxes that were stored there were in fact empty. In fact simultaneous investigations by both the FBI and IRS found that at no time did FNMS either receive, store or ship medical supplies. In all FNMS was charged with extorting over three hundred investors to the tune of two million dollars.

What makes this case so interesting however are the developments that occurred after the UM broadcast. UM made note that the authorities were searching for three parties: Richard Condia (the assumed mastermind behind FNMS) and two accomplices Thomas Flanagan and Harold Frederick Kruger.

While the FBI had access to photographs of both Flanagan and Kruger, when it came to Condia all they had was a composite sketch and a description of a man of average height and build who spoke with a heavy Spanish accent. Flanagan and Kruger were both eventually captured (Flannagan as a direct result of the UM broadcast) but Condia has never been located and authorities now believe he never will be and with good reason:

Richard Condia never existed in the first place.

It's believed that Flannagan and Kruger invented Richard Condia as an alias for both of them so that they would be able to have FNMS written publicly under a different name without having their names attached to the company as anything other than employees under the fictitious Condia. They believed that by doing so it would clear them of any direct involvement in FNMS business matters. Indeed a check with the Better Businessman's Bureau in Oklahoma City not only reveals the former location and defunct phone number for FNMS but also lists the fictitious Condia as the sole proprietor.

For his part, Flannagan would later claim that shortly after he began working for FNMS he was fired by Condia for drunkenness. He therefore claimed that he couldn't have possibly had any knowledge of any illegal activity that Condia was involved in due to his early termination. The problem with Flannagan's story is that the FBI believed that Flannagan continued to work for FNMS right until the very end under an alias. While working under this alias, Flannagan would never interact in person with employees or investors and instead would do all his business dealings by phone. On one occasion when the situation necessitated that "the voice on the telephone" reveal himself and conduct business with employees in person, the FBI alleged that Flannagan merely hired an actor to go to FNMS in order to portray "the man behind the voice" on the telephone in order to prove to FNMS employees that he truly did exist.

Another interesting point surrounds the identity of Richard Condia himself. As mentioned UM produced a composite sketch and a description of a man of average height and build, bearing a heavy Spanish accent. Is it possible that this description was based upon both another voice on the phone (this one bearing a Spanish accent) and the composite itself based on the appearance of another actor portraying the role of a Richard Condia who in reality did not exist?

Perhaps the most intriguing thing about this case is the name "Richard Condia" itself. As a contemporary press article made note of, if you say the name "Condia" very slowly to yourself, it becomes a play on words: "Richard...conned...ya".

[Kirk007Anthony]

I agree. First thing that came to mind. Condia never existed. Kudos. Nice post.