Ex-Bush Advisor Arrested For Scamming

Charlotte.com Claude Allen's old friends from Raleigh say the man they know is deeply religious, devoted to his family and dedicated to his career. They say they simply cannot imagine Allen, until last month a top adviser to President Bush, scamming department stores for paltry sums of cash. Maryland authorities charged Allen, 45, last week with swindling Target and Hecht's stores out of more than $5,000. They say that on at least 25 occasions in the past five months, he tried to fraudulently return items to the stores. His returns included a home theater system, clothes, a printer and items worth as little as $2.50, police said. "Everybody that's ever known him has never known him to do anything wrong, period," said Bill Cobey, a former North Carolina congressman who gave Allen his start in politics. "If this happened, it's got to be something a lot deeper." [snip] Police say now that on Jan. 2, Allen was issued a citation for theft after Target employees found him returning items that he hadn't purchased. Since then, Montgomery County police say they found that Allen routinely purchased items, took them to his car, then returned to the store with the receipt. He would take the same item off the shelf and return it for a refund, police say. Dude has some problems.