The SandGram

Andrew Diabo, Red Flags on being a poser.

 Freda asked me what were the Red Flags that I read about.  Here is the first of the two articles.  Below are the facts that I gleaned right off the bat when he gave his interviews.

 Marine Corps LtCol (very possible) aged 38 born in 1971, but when we found out he was Canadian, it shot down the Officer part. You have to be a US citizen to be an Officer because of the clearances needed.

CH-53 Pilot (very possible) they do alot of flying. You can research online and find the data base with all the Naval Aviators in it. There is a record of every person since 1911 who has earned a set of Gold Wings.

Been in the war since 2001 (Not likely)

Wounded Vet (very possible) but then you would be tracked in the MWIITS (Marine Corps Wounded Ill or Injured tracking system)

West Point Grad from his Linked in profile (possible as a grad but very unlikely as someone who has taken a Marine Corps Commission, although we see some Air Force Academy who do a one for one swap with the Naval Academy and a few Merchant Marine grads get assessed in the Corps)

Wife, Evelyn living in Germany to be closer to husband while over in the war (Negative, Marines Deploy and only go through Germany if wounded but then are moved to the US pretty fast) Spouses do not deploy to Germany unless the Marine is stationed there and for a Marine that would be a joint duty assignment.

The first article is below, I have put my thoughts in bold print that came to mind as I read the piece.

Phillyburbs.com/ Intelligencer

By Amanda Cregan staff writer Intelligencer

Dream House becomes Nightmare

Complaints have been lodged about the unfinished home.  It’s owner, a Marine, injured in Iraq, is asking for patience.

When Andrew Diabo broke ground on his Tinicum Township dream home just before 9/11, he was excited to finish construction and settle in with his young family.

The Marine could have never imagined he’d spend the next eight years fighting insurgents in Iraq. (Nobody has been in the war for all eight years. I know of one guy with five tours under his belt, but he’s single and nuts, plus you have dwell time at your home base etc.)

But with little word from their newest neighbor in nearly a decade, (if he wasn’t in the war, where was he? Second family somewhere?)homeowners who live near the unfinished house on East Dark Hollow Road in the Pipersville section say they are fed up with living next to what seems to be an abandoned building site. (Good on these folks)

The approximately 3,000-square-foot home sits on just less than 3 acres across from Tinicum Elementary School. ($530K is a bit pricey for a LtCol, maybe a rich wife? Canadian Mob? ACORN?)

Fearing the property poses a danger to children, neighbors petitioned township officials this month to step in.

But Tinicum supervisors say they have little authority over the private property.

“It’s eight going on nine years that the home has been in a state of being unfinished, unoccupied and not maintained,” said resident Sarah Blaikie, who keeps a close watch on her three young sons, who want to explore the neighboring construction site.

Wild vines crawl up the front doorway, a bathtub lays in a pile of weeds in the back, wooden planks cover walkways, and plywood shutters the four-bay garage and back doors. Doors and windows are often propped open, she said.

And the grass, which grows unkempt for months at a time, is said to be a breeding ground for rodents, snakes and deer ticks.

Blaikie and other nearby residents want the home sold.

“Our number one wish for the home is that it would sell at one of these sheriff’s auctions. (I hope a real Vet does get the house for a song in May 2010)

“We didn’t say anything for the first five years because we knew he was serving in Iraq,” said Blaikie. “I wish they could just let it go and let someone else come and make it complete, and we could have some new, nice neighbors.” (Base pay for a LtCol is about $9,500 dollars a month, hell, I think he could afford to fix it up)

Diabo says he still holds on to hope for his dream home. (Nice to be able to dream of stuff like this from his future jail cell)

Breaking ground at the site just before the 9/11 attacks, the Marine helicopter pilot said everything was put on hold when he was immediately deployed to Afghanistan. (He claims he flew CH-53’s and Osprey’s and was shot down.  Class A-C mishaps are all documented and public information and you can’t hide the hull lose of an aircraft even if it was lost on a special ops mission) ~FY07 Class A’s

“We didn’t imagine that 9/11 would happen, and it’s been nine years of war, but here we are,” he said. (Did I mention that he was an amateur actor???)

After nearly four years of continued tours of duty in Iraq, and a recent bomb blast injury, the Marine is settling back home and recovering from his injuries (All wounded Marines are tracked in the Wounded Warrior Regiment and he’s not listed there)at the Bridgeton Township apartment he shares with his wife, Evelynn, and their 4-year-old son.

The Diabos say their home construction was further complicated by their mortgage lender GMAC.

“For 13 months they didn’t accept payments and were returning our checks,” said Diabo.

The Diabos were sending money orders from Germany (where Evelynn moved for several years to be closer to her husband). (This one really cracks me up. All servicemen are paid in US dollars and all the bases overseas have US Banks on them. She could have mailed a check from her US account to GMAC, oh by the way, if he was in the war, he would never see her in Germany, so why would she move? It’s not like he could pop over for a long weekend to visit her. If that was true my wife would have been there while I was deployed in Iraq and Afghanistan both times)

GMAC’s policy does not allow payments in foreign currency. (If he was in the Marines, he’s paid in US dollars so why would he be paying GMAC in Euro’s? He would also have W-2 statement from his Epays account from DFAS and monthly pay statements. Oh yeah, did I forgot to mention that he is a special ops guy and all of his missions are classified???)

Because of privacy laws, GMAC spokeswoman Jaeannine Bruin said she could not discuss details of Diabo’s mortgage and payment history but noted, “GAMC Mortgage has an active arrangement with Mr. Diabo regarding his mortgage. We continue to work with him to evaluate his situation.”

The company has been fielding calls from his neighbors in recent years, she said.

“We have gotten calls from neighbors about the condition of the property. However, GMAC is not the owner of the property. We’re not authorized to make repairs or maintain the property at this time.”

Diabo’s attorney, Frank Caiola, declined to further discuss details of the situation between Diabo and his mortgage company, and would only emphasize that the payment schedule was back on track. (Andrew borrowed a large amount of money (10K) from a friend to make the payments at one pointand his attorney donated his time for free for the “Vet”, over 53 billable hours no less. I say hats off to Frank for stepping up and helping a man who he thought was a Vet. I will buy him some beer if we ever meet.)

“We will certainly try to do our best to help Andrew. He did provide a valuable service to our country in harm’s way, and we think it’s important for somebody who has given so much of themselves to try and help him out in these difficult times,” said the Pottstown attorney. (Andrew’s skills as an actor popping up again)

The Tinicum home has been up for sheriff sale numerous times, and on the eighth anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks it was scheduled to go up for auction, but the sale was delayed. (I am thinking that a real vet should get this house for say $100K, how’s that?)

Diabo says he’s working to resolve the issue and has finally set up regular payments on the $530,000 still owed on the property.

He is back to work as a computer specialist. (Claiming that he is a decorated Marine etc. etc)

The Diabos are hoping for some understanding from Tinicum residents. (Please don’t dig into my past and find out that I’m lying…)

“Our intentions are not evil or bad,” said Evelynn Diabo. “The house is basically our dream house. We’ve just been in this awkward situation.” (Evil or bad??? Makes me wonder if he had her snowed all these years or she was in on it? Does she not write the bills while he’s deployed? My wife did.  So did she see where the money was coming from in their bank account? If it didn’t say DFAS Kansas City then it wasn’t from the Corps.)

With patience stretched thin, neighbors say they’ve gone almost a decade without ever hearing from the Diabos and have been left with few answers themselves.

“It’s not an unnoticed home,” said Blaikie. “Everyone who drives to and from Tinicum Elementary School always asks the neighbors what’s up with that house, and we never had any answers.”

Amanda Cregan can be reached at 215-538-6371 or acregan@phillyBurbs.com.

September 20, 2009 02:42 AM

Apparently, this charade had been perpetuated for years by Diabo and I’m talking about over fifteen years or so.  The more you dig up on the guy, the more “Befuddled” (a great word used by Larry King on Diabo) you become.  Diabo would always fall back on the line of “I’m a secret spook, special ops type guy and all of my missions are classified” when he talked to neighbors and friends.  One man named Paul who found out about Diabo’s case from the newspaper, put together a group of over 100 volunteers to help out and finish the house, but was turned down by Diabo.  Another great guy named Marty was also trying to help out Diabo with contractors and jobs but was rebuffed by Diabo numerous times.  Marty just chalked it up to PTSD on Diabo’s part.

 I came in contact with Larry King, a reporter from the Philly Inquirer back in January and we shared details on the case as we unraveled the mystery of Diabo. I have to say that I’m really impressed with Larry as a reporter and as a man with a kind soul.  He was concerned that Diabo was maybe, in fact a deep cover agent and he didn’t want to expose him if that was true (Andrew was convincing and claims to be an amateur actor).  Diabo claimed this numerous times.   I remember asking Larry if he had recieved any phone calls from a three letter agency in DC? I mean think about it, if we were about to bust this super spook’s cover, don’t you think that he would cry to his boss who in turn might call your editor or yourself?  No calls, so I’m betting my paycheck this month he’s making that all up.  But still, there was that little bit of doubt going on until the IG’s office sent out their letter.

Then later when the Inspector Generals office at Quantico sent Diabo a “Cease and desist” letter telling him to stop saying he was a Marine, Larry was concerned that Diabo may cause harm to himself and maybe his family, if in fact, he was that delusional.  When I say delusional, I mean he adds batshit to crazy.  Paul went over to his apartment once and inside the door was an award for his fake Silver Star.  Diabo invited him back to his “war room” where he showed Paul a set of Officer Dress Blues, a Grey uniform from West Point (he claimed on Linked-in that he attended West point from 84-88 but that would make him 13 when he started and 17 at graduation) and a couple of Purple Heart medals.  He also had a “Go Bag” packed so that when the Marines called; he could leave inside of an hour when the Corps called.

Tomorrow, his orders

Tags: Andrew Diabo Poser, Canadian, Fake CH-53 pilot, Fake Marine, Fake Marine Officer, Fake West point Grad, Larry King, Poser Marine