Marine Held in Alleged Scam Attempt

SAN DIEGO —  A Marine Corps 1st lieutenant was arrested Tuesday in an alleged plot to scam a bank in Los Angeles out of $2.7 million by claiming the money was needed to pay Marines during an upcoming six-month deployment.

Agents from the FBI and Naval Criminal Investigative Service arrested Matthew Tenney, 24, on the San Diego Freeway in Santa Ana as he was going to John Wayne Airport for a flight to Brazil, said FBI Agent Jeff Thurman.

Tenney had realized Monday night that he was being watched by agents and that his scheme had been thwarted, Thurman said.

Thurman said that Tenney had used official-looking Marine Corps stationery to persuade a Los Angeles bank and the Brink’s armored car service to deliver $2.7 million to Camp Pendleton to pay the 11th Marine Expeditionary Unit. The unit is set to leave soon on a deployment to the Western Pacific and Persian Gulf.

But officials at Brink’s became suspicious when the letters asked that the money be sent to a location on the sprawling base that is not usually used for receiving such large amounts of cash, Thurman said.

Tenney allegedly had signed the name of a base disbursing officer. He also appeared at the bank, wearing a uniform with the officer’s name on the pocket, Thurman said.

“Agents talked to the real disbursing officer and he said, ‘No, that’s not me. If you’ve got my signature, it’s a forgery,’ ” Thurman said.

Agents had been watching Tenney for several days when a driver in another car Monday night alerted him that people were following him and taking his picture. He was arrested without incident at 9 a.m. Tuesday near the Jamboree Road exit in Santa Ana.

Thurman said there is no indication that Tenney had an accomplice, but the investigation is continuing.

Tenney, born in Big Spring, Texas, enlisted in 1996. He was assigned as a personnel officer at Camp Pendleton and lived in Laguna Hills.

He was jailed at the Metropolitan Correctional Center in downtown San Diego and is set to be arraigned in U.S. District Court today on possible charges of bank fraud and embezzlement.

No decision has yet been made on whether the case will be handled by military prosecutors or the U.S. attorney’s office.