Mcdonalds Mcfraud

Introduction In August 2001, it was discovered that the McDonald’s Monopoly game was a fraud. Simon Marketing, which ran the game on behalf of McDonald’s was responsible for the fraud. An investigation was initiated pursuant to a confidential tip. The investigation was led by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and dubbed Operation “Final Answer”. During the investigation to uncover the fraud, the FBI used several different forms of surveillance. In this paper I will describe how the actual fraud was committed and subsequent aftermath of the investigation.
Case Study The McDonald’s Monopoly game fraud was discovered in August of 2001, when it was revealed that certain employees of Simon Marketing and associates had colluded to defraud the McDonald’s Corporation in excess of $13 million worth of game prizes over the promotion period (Albrecht et al, 2012, p.210). The Simon Marketing firm was contracted by McDonalds to run their promotional sweepstakes games. The game prizes consisted of cash, vehicles, vacations and/or food prizes. According to Richard Dent (FBI Special Agent in Charge), the main players involved in the scheme were as follows;
 Linda L. Baker, 49, of Westminster, South Carolina;
 Noah D. "Dwight" Baker, 49, of Westminster, South Carolina;
 John F. Davis, 44, of Granbury, Texas;
 Andrew M. Glomb, 58, of Fort Lauderdale, Florida;
 Michael L. Hoover, 56, of Westerly, Rhode Island;
 Ronald E. Hughey, 56, of Anderson, South Carolina;
 Jerome P. Jacobson, 58, of Lawrenceville, Georgia; and
 Brenda S. Phenis, 50, of Fair Play, South Carolina (currently in Indianapolis, Indiana); (Anonymous, 2001, para. 2).
The fraud began sometime in 1995 when Jerome Jacobson, a long time game security manager for Simon Marketing masterminded one of the biggest promotional contests ever held. His job was to travel around the country and randomly place peel off game stickers on soft drink cups and food containers within McDonald’s

References: Albrecht et al. (2012). Fraud Examination (4 ed.). Mason, OH: South-Western Anonymous (2001, August 21). Eight Arrested for Defrauding McDonald’s Corp. and its Customers in Promotional Prize Contests. (FBI National Press). Retrieved from http://www.fbi.gov/news/pressrel/press-releases/eight-arrested-for-defrauding-mcdonalds-corp.-and-its-customers-in Anonymous (2002, September 17). McDonald’s suit against Simon Marketing dismissed. Retrieved from http://www.bizjournals.com/boston/stories/2002/09/16/daily16.html Bendavid, N. & Harris, M. (2001, August 22). Eight charged with defrauding McDonald’s for prizes. Retrieved from http://www.chicagotribune.com/sns-mcdonalds,0,6473748.story Dent, R. (2001). Affadavit of Richard Dent. Retrieved from https://www2.fbi.gov/pressrel/pressrel01/finaffar.pdf Siemaszko, C. (2001, August 22). McD’s Game Fraud Gang Hamburgled 13M in Top Prizes. Retrieved from http://articles.nydailynews.com/2001-08-22/news/18355684_1_jerome-jacobson-simon-marketing-feds