Jan. 16, 2012
Attention:
General James F. Amos
Commandant of the Marine Corps
Major General Vaughn A. Ary
Staff Judge Advocate to the Commandant
Marine Corps Public Affairs
re: Ex-Marine uses Marine Corps oath to defraud grandmother
Following excerpted from full article:
Whiting, Shaer, and their associates already have taken possession of money and real property belonging to Mrs. I____ which represents the bulk of her retirement income earned during 26 years with General Electric. Mrs. I____, a grandmother in her 60s, states she has lost her entire savings and retirement because of the actions of Shaer and Whiting and now works two physically demanding jobs while she and her husband struggle to continue their business and open YowNow. Following a reference from Frank Whiting to the I____s suggesting they contract work with Sheri Pate, Pate received about $7000 of Mrs. I____'s retirement money. Whiting, Pate, Shaer,and their associates Alex Vaughan, Andrew Meyer and Brian Misner have received tens of thousands of dollars from Mrs. I____.
Whiting's associate, Brian Misner, an IT tech at Corle Building Systems, Inc. of Imler, Pennsylvania, took more than $8,000 directly from Mrs. I____'s bank account, using it to buy thousands of dollars of software, server space, and real property such as computer components, all now under the control and direction of Frank Whiting. Misner, an ex-Marine who uses the fantasy name MarineOne in virtual world role-play, ingratiated himself to the I____s and gained access to Mrs. I____'s bank account by swearing on his Marine Corps oath that he would always be loyal to them and never betray them. Misner was working in a part-time CTO role with the I____s, with the goal of leaving Corle Building Systems and joining Vonira full-time after the opening of the virtual world YowNow.
"When it was revealed that Brian Misner was actively involved in the plot against us, we asked him to return our property and my wife's money, which he knew came directly from her retirement savings," said I____. "He refused, claiming that since Mrs. I____ had authorized him to use her account it was not stealing and he was entitled to keep everything."
The I____s have repeatedly asked Misner to honor his oath of undying loyalty he swore to them on the honor of the Marine Corps and do the right thing. In response he stopped communicating directly with them, but continues to attack them online, once again invoking the Marine Corps and masking his identity behind the fantasy name MarineOne, even as he continues to use R___ I____'s real-name in his attacks. In documents uncovered by Von___a, Whiting is now directing Misner and others in the continued development of the I____s' virtual world project, using the property paid for by Mrs. I___. In the last few weeks the I____s made repeated pleas to Misner asking that he think of the reputation of the Marine Corps and return Mrs. I____'s property and retirement money without forcing her to go public about his actions, and his violation of the oath he swore to them on the United States Marine Corps. He never responded.
"I am a Vietnam Veteran," said Mrs. I____. "I remember walking down an American street in my hospital uniform when a man walked up and spit on me and called me a baby killer. 'My God,' I told him. 'I'm a nurse.' I served my country and took care of a lot of injured Marines. Now I am in my 60s, flat broke and washing dishes and mopping floors in a deli to keep from being homeless. I paid my dues and I deserve better than to have my life savings stolen by a United States Marine."
