CBS Atlanta 46Bogus war veteran scams church out of money

Bogus war veteran scams church out of money

Police are looking for con man, pretending to be a wounded veteran, who is preying on the goodwill of good Samaritans.

Police say Michael Bradshaw recently conned a church out of money and a scammed a veteran's group last summer.

Richard Dain, a deacon at the Korean Church of Atlanta said Bradshaw walked into the church, claiming he was an Iraq War veteran down on his luck. Dain said Bradshaw sounded convincing and came close to crying as he told his an emotional story of how a roadside bomb in Baghdad blew up, wounding him.

"He had a lot of military jargon, kept saying ‘yes sir,'" Dain said.

Dain, who served 23 years in the Air Force, had no reason to doubt the word of a fellow military man. Dain felt sorry, reached in his own pocket and gave what he could.

"I gave him $100 out of my wallet and had a Kroger (gift) card for $100 I was keeping for gas money," Dain said.

As it turns out, police say, Bradshaw was an impostor who did serve in the Army, but never saw any action and never went to Iraq.

"I was upset that somebody would do that," Dain said.

Police say Bradshaw carried out a similar scheme last year at a VFW in Roswell, ripping off the veteran's group for $350. Bradshaw spent more than two weeks in the Fulton County Jail on theft charges.    

Church pastor Chung Ho James Kim said he doesn't want Dain or other parishioners to get discouraged and stop giving to people who are really in need.

"I just hope that because of this kind of person, we don't lose sight. We need to help other people," the pastor said.

Dain said he would have been happy to help the man if he had been honest.

"If he had just come in and said ‘I need some money to buy groceries,' we probably would've given some money," Dain said.

Bradshaw faces a theft charge.

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