In a story straight out of the film “Catch Me If You Can,” a crafty con artist has been convicted of creating a network of charities, pocketing contributions to them and then using donor checks to make forgeries in order to steal more money.
James Trankle, 55, was accused of making off with nearly $200,000 through the scam, which he ran from 2013 through 2018 while living in Churchton, Md.
Federal prosecutors said Trankle started by registering a number of purported charities, such as one called the Children’s Leukemia of America Fund and another called the Disabled and Paralyzed Veterans Fund and then sent tens of thousands of solicitations by mail to unsuspecting people all around the country.
The letters asked for donations of as little as $35 and directed them to be sent to a post-office box in Washington, D.C. But none of the charities were real, and Trankle simply pocketed the money that was sent in, prosecutors said. In all, he collected about $40,000 from approximately 1,600 donors this way, according to court documents.
Trankle didn’t stop there, however. Prosecutors say he procured specialized printers and paper to create over 600 forged copies of the checks he had received, which he used to siphon more than an additional $140,000 from his victims’ accounts.
Investigators caught up with Trankle in 2018, when they raided his Maryland home and found boxes of documents related to the phony charities, the check-printing equipment and the keys to the post-office box
While speaking with investigators, Trankle claimed he was an “investigative reporter” who was “working on a report involving the Secretary of the Treasury, Steven Mnuchin,” according to court records. He also said he believed he was under surveillance by the private intelligence firm Black Cube.
Trankle then disappeared, leaving Maryland behind with little trace. Prosecutors said Trankle owned no property and didn’t have a vehicle registered in his name. According to court documents, Trankle ultimately resurfaced in California, where he legally changed his name to John Davis, even getting a driver’s license that listed a post-office box as his address.
It wasn’t until June 2022, that investigators were able to track Trankle down again, when police found him sleeping on the grounds of the University of Nevada–Las Vegas and discovered a warrant for his arrest.
Trankle faces up to 20 years in prison when he is sentenced in August.
His attorney declined to comment.
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