Month: April 2021

KANSAS CITY, MO—The FBI announced a reward of up to $10,000 for information leading to the recovery of national treasures stolen 43 years ago from the Truman Presidential Library located at 500 West U.S. Highway 24, Independence, Missouri.

On March 24, 1978, around 6:30 a.m. a car pulled up near the south gate of the library. Two suspects, believed to be aware of the library’s security procedures, broke into the library and smashed a display case in the lobby. The display case contained three ceremonial swords and two daggers that had been given to President Truman by the Saudi Arabian Crown Prince Saud and the Shah of Iran. The theft took just minutes and the suspects fled the building through a window. The items stolen were valued between $700,000 and $1,000,000 in 1978 value.

The FBI is renewing this investigative effort and is seeking the public’s assistance for any information pertaining to the theft or whereabouts of these stolen national treasures. Anyone with information should contact the FBI Kansas City office directly at (816) 512-8200 or submit a tip online at tips.fbi.gov.

Images and descriptions of the items taken can be found on the National Stolen Art File website: https://www.fbi.gov/investigate/violent-crime/art-theft/national-stolen-art-file by searching reference number 00274.

The FBI has a specialized Art Crime Team of special agents supported by special trial attorneys to recover stolen items and prosecute art and cultural property crime. The team investigates theft, fraud, looting, and trafficking across state and international lines. The FBI also runs the National Stolen Art File, a computerized index of stolen art and cultural properties that is used as a reference by law enforcement agencies worldwide. More information regarding the FBI’s Art Crime Team is available online at https://www.fbi.gov/investigate/violent-crime/art-theft#Art-Crime%20Team.

Images and descriptions taken from the FBI’s National Stolen Art File:

Dagger, scabbard, and belt: Weapon grip decorated with 9 diamonds in linear pattern, scabbard decorated with four diamonds in rhomboid shape

Sword and scabbard: Weapon ivory grips, gold decoration chain leading from hand guard to pommel, diamonds and rubies on grips and scabbard

Dagger and scabbard: Weapon dagger hilt inlaid with 4 diamonds surrounding 1 emerald. Lower grip of dagger has 15 small diamonds surrounding oval ruby. Scabbard has 4 rubies at the throat and is also inlaid with an emerald over a ruby surrounded by 12 small diamonds. At tip of scabbard is ruby surrounded by 12 small diamonds.

Presentation Sword: Sword gemstone (diamond) decoration on grips and scabbard, gold chain from hand guard to pommel of sword.

KANSAS CITY, MO—FBI Kansas City Special Agent in Charge Timothy Langan announced today that the FBI is offering up to $50,000 for information leading to the arrest, prosecution, and conviction of the individual(s) responsible for the 1998 murder of Rhonda Tribue.

Rhonda, who may of also been known by her maiden name Easley, was a mother of six children, living in Kansas City, Kansas. She was found dead from apparent blunt force trauma at approximately 4:40 a.m. on October 8, 1998. Her body was discovered in the roadway at the 500 block of South 94th Street, near Edwardsville, Kansas. In the early morning hours of that same day, Rhonda had been seen at the Firelight lounge. Rhonda was known to frequent the Firelight lounge and the area of 7th Street and Quindaro Boulevard in Kansas City, Kansas.

Rhonda was 34-years-old at the time of her murder. At the time of her death, she was wearing a High-Sierra brand, dark-purple corduroy jacket over a gold lace top, pumpkin colored jeans, and brown sandals.

Rhonda was described as follows:

• Sex: Female
• Height: 5’5”
• Age: 34 at time of death
• Weight: 145 lbs.
• Race: Light-skinned black female
• Build: Medium build
• Eyes: Brown
• Married last name: Tribue
• Hair: dark brown with deep orange/yellow highlights
• Maiden last name: Easley

Anyone with information regarding this homicide should call the FBI’s toll-free tip line at 1-800-CALL-FBI (1-800-225-5324) or submit a tip online at tips.fbi.gov.

Photo taken September 1998. Computer enhanced photograph.

Alaska Report Shows Increase in Reported Scams; FBI Urges Online Safety Habits

ANCHORAGE, AK—The FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) has released its annual report, which includes information from 791,790 complaints of suspected Internet crime—an increase of more than 300,000 complaints from 2019—and reported losses exceeding $4.2 billion. Notably, 2020 saw the emergence of scams exploiting the COVID-19 pandemic. The IC3 received over 28,500 complaints related to COVID-19, with fraudsters targeting both businesses and individuals.

The accompanying state report for Alaska showed nearly 2,300 victims in Alaska filed complaints of suspected Internet crime to IC3, and reported losses exceeding $6 million, which disproportionately affected Alaska’s senior population. In Alaska, the top three crimes reported by victims were IPR/copyright and counterfeit, extortion, and non-payment/non-delivery scams; however, victims lost the most money to business email compromise scams, romance scams, and tech support scams. These scams are described as:

• IPR / Copyright and Counterfeit: Fraud involving the theft of trade secrets and counterfeit goods that threaten public health and safety.
• Extortion: Unlawful extraction of money or property through intimidation or undue exercise of authority. It may include threats of physical harm, criminal prosecution, or public exposure.
• Non-Payment / Non-Delivery: In non-payment situations, goods and services are shipped, but payment is never rendered. In non-delivery situations, payment is sent, but goods and services are never received.
• Business Email Compromise / e-mail Account Compromise: BEC is a scam targeting businesses (not individuals) working with foreign suppliers and/or businesses regularly performing wire transfer payments. EAC is a similar scam that targets individuals. These sophisticated scams are carried out by fraudsters compromising email accounts through social engineering or computer intrusion techniques to conduct unauthorized transfer of funds.
• Romance Scams: Most often through social media or dating sites, a victim believes they are in a relationship (family, friendly, or romantic) and are tricked into sending money, personal, and financial information, or items of value to the perpetrator or to launder money or items to assist the perpetrator.
• Tech Support Scams: Criminals pose as technology support representatives and offer to fix non-existent computer issues. The scammers gain remote access to victims’ devices and sensitive information.

To protect yourself from falling victim to common fraud schemes, be wary of answering phone calls from numbers you do not recognize. Do not send money or gift cards to anybody that you do not personally know and trust. Never give out your personally identifiable information over the phone or to individuals you do not know.

In some schemes, like government impersonation scams, criminals pose as government employees calling from a spoofed number and will threaten to arrest or prosecute victims unless they agree to provide funds, gift cards, or obtain personal identifiable information. These calls are fraudulent; no legitimate law enforcement officer will make unsolicited calls demanding payment, gift cards, or personally identifiable information from a member of the public.

The FBI wants to remind the public to immediately report suspected criminal Internet activity to the IC3 at ic3.gov. By reporting Internet crime, victims are not only alerting law enforcement to the activity, but also aiding in the overall fight against cyber crime.

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