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Raw Video: Volunteer Steals $12,000 From Red Cross

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MILWAUKEE - Talk about low: a volunteer for the Red Cross stole thousands of dollars from flood victims. The man served as a volunteer for the Red Cross. In fact, a spokesperson said he's volunteered for the past four years and they trusted him. That's until surveillance pictures showed him stealing from ATMs using cash cards meant for flood victims. Surveillance video shows the man getting cash from ATM's using Red Cross disaster relief cards meant for flood victims. He's even wearing his Red Cross volunteer ID card around his neck. “It's devastating because we depend on volunteers to do most of our work. We put a lot of trust in our volunteers so when something like this happens, it's really devastating,” Tracy Sparrow from the American Red Cross said. Click on the link under related content to see an interview with Tracy Sparrow. During the week of the heavy rains and flooding, the man was supposed to volunteer to help in the clean up process. Instead, police say he submitted 22 names claiming they were flood victims from Oconomowoc and in need of financial assistance. Twenty-two Red Cross cards were then activated. “There seem to always be people that want to capitalize on the tragedy, but unfortunately, we have some in this case that did exactly that,” Anne Schwartz from the Milwaukee Police Department said. According to the Red Cross, volunteers have to show some type of legal identification. They also go through a background check and that happened here, but the Red Cross doesn't know if the man used his real name. He claimed to live at a house in Milwaukee. Police want to know who he is. They say he stole a grand total of $12,000 in cash…money meant for disaster relief. “We take it very seriously when people give us money. We want to take all the safeguards so it’s used for disasters. That's very important to us,” Sparrow said. As far as those names from Oconomowoc: they do not appear to be the names of actual flood victims. If you recognize the man, you’re asked to call police.

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