Thursday, January 07, 2010

PSA for law enforcement and the victims of Jeremy Clark-Erskine

For knitting related readers, sorry I haven't updated here in a long time. I'm sure you want to see progress on the Chick and knitting. Somehow being in my third trimester has just sucked away my desire to do anything but sleep and sort through layette items. Rest assured, I've been knitting and will post 2009 FO's soon enough.

For law enforcement, government agencies, victims, and friends concerned with the fate of the Scoundrel, Jeremy Clark-Erskine, I have just received a message originating with the city of Culver City, CA. It appears Erskine was arrested and is in custody there. If you know of any outstanding complaints against this guy or warrants for his arrest anywhere in the US, please call the police in Culver City at 310 837-1221. As for the Culver City officials taking care of him, I don't think anyone ever looked into how he obtained a drivers license in Kenosha, WI back in 2006. He was arrested with it in Jasper,AB. I expect that it was obtained with false documents. Perhaps this is considered a serious crime. I can provide more particulars if needed.

If someone knows anything about the arrest and can share details, I'm curious. Please contact me through the blog or email an interested citizen cuchulain1973@yahoo.com. That person forwards information to me.

28 comments:

Anonymous said...

Some retrospective information on Clark-Erskine. No longer relevant now that he is behind bars but may be of use to those he was in touch with/conned in the months prior to his arrest.

In November 2009 he was in Los Angeles. His latest alias was Angus Jocko-Ferguson Abramovitch, often shortened to Jocko Abramovitch. He was claiming to be, simultaneously, a house music DJ called DJ Miko (there is a real DJ Miko from Italy: Clark-Erskine sabotaged the Wikipedia page to add his own photo as part of the scam) and a producer for BBC America. In late November he attended the Rock’N’Roll Fantasy Camp event in Hollywood. That’s where I met him. His back story was a complex tale of mixed Scottish/Icelandic and Russian ancestry. He was very convincing, outwardly charming and great company. He fooled everybody. But with hindsight, there was something that didn’t quite add up.

His back story was just a little too fantastic. He’d been in the military (twice) and had a daughter who’d died of leukaemia. Yet he’d also found the time to cultivate a career as a DJ. I now feel a bit stupid for believing everything he said but, since it was a strange week at the rock camp anyway, nothing seemed normal so people took his fanciful tales for granted. But two weird things stick out.

The first thing was the morning he turned up in full military desert combat uniform (complete with convincing Abramovitch name badge sewed on) and said he’d been called to debrief a new platoon being sent to Afghanistan (where he’d had previous experience) and had to go to Seattle. Everybody was concerned about him and there were many pats on the back from people saying what a great job he was doing for the country. Obviously this was all a lie. Even at the time I thought “this feels weird” but who was going to accuse a “war hero” in combat gear of being a fake?

The other thing is slightly more sinister. He made an announcement to the whole camp that he’d convinced BBC America (his “employers”) to give all their annual charity money to a cancer charity, inspired by an attendee of the camp who had survived breast cancer. This too was, presumably, a hoax and a thoroughly despicable one.

After the camp I never heard from him again. Having read all the previous reports about Clark-Erskine, I’m inclined to believe that his main objective was probably to con money out of people under the pretence of charity and that everything he did that week was to convince people of his integrity: a war hero who’d lost a daughter to cancer and was now forcing big corporations like the BBC to donate money to cancer. But this is just a guess. For the record, he never did me any harm. I, like others, fell for his charm offensive hook, line and sinker. I only regret not having had the clarity of instinct to realise something was amiss and alert somebody so that he would have been caught sooner and perhaps harm less people. He had a new girlfriend and it’s her I now feel sorry for the most.

Sorry for the anonymity but I hope this information is useful.

Unknown said...

First of all, thank you for posting this. I hope you've gone to the press with this for two reasons. One, it's a great story that I'm sure someone wants to publish. Two, the more exposure Erskine gets for his crimes, the more likely it is that he won't get away with stuff like this anymore.

Secondly, I do feel sorry for all of the people he scammed. Encounters with this man are universally disorienting.

I have to say, this is the most fanciful story I've heard on his part, but it does contain details he's accumulated from a number of his previous scams and victims.

Don't feel too bad about believing him. He does ad details to his story, like the dead daughter and army service, that dissuade most people from questioning him. FWIW, he story he told me was unbelievable and I even thought he was lying at times and questioned him about certain details, but the inconsistencies didn't break my fascination with his charm.

Seriously, go to MTV or something and see if they'll publish this.

Anonymous said...

Some more of Clark-Erskine's "Jocko Abramovitch" images/details

http://brit.meetup.com/92/members/10456120/

http://www.amazon.com/DJ-Miko/e/B000AQ3IOE

Somebody should probably contact Amazon and alert them to the fact that the artist page for DJ Miko is a fraud.

Unknown said...

I'm curious. To the people who knew Erskine as Abramovitch: Did he seem to have any musical talent or perform ever? Or did he always have a reason not to take part?

Anonymous said...

He also claimed he'd been in a ska band called Mephiskateles (and altered their Wikipedia page as well).

He did a good job of bullshitting his way through Rock N Roll Fantasy Camp. He even appeared on stage at the end of camp gig at the Whisky A Go Go where he sang passable lead vocals on a Counting Crows song. There is DVD footage of this: everybody who attended the camp will have been sent a copy of the whole gig.

The rest of the time he banged a tambourine. His band mentor was Bruce Kulick from Kiss. Kulick even made a speech to the crowd about what a tough week "Angus" had with being called away for military service one day (the debrief/Seattle story) which goes to show how convincing he was.

He claimed that he could play bass. I don't know what he told anyone else or whether he ever attempted to act a DJ in public.

More dubious than his musical skills was his accent. He appeared to have learnt Scottish by imitating Groundskeeper Willie from The Simpsons. His pronunciation was quite weird the more I think about it.

Unknown said...

LOL. I'm just picturing him singing "Mr. Jones" with a Willie the Groundskeeper accent.

Unknown said...

All kidding aside. For anyone who went to that camp with Erskine, or if you're in touch with the people who went to camp with him. Or for that matter, if you knew the guy and hung out with him and he visited your home or rode in your car.

Erskine (Abramovitch)'s victims frequently report that he was able to get credit cards or credit card numbers from them without their knowledge and use them to make small purchases that initially go unnoticed. Please warn anyone who spent time with this guy to check all their statements for November and December to see if they recognize all the charges. He may have gotten just the number or even managed to get a card away from them and replace it after use.

Anonymous said...

He DJ'ed (or pretended to) for a party I did. Showed up with a bunch of gear, requested a ton of special gear which I couldn't provide, pretended to play bass and to run music through his laptop. The laptop wasn't wired to anything, and I figured out that he was just playing a CD the whole time. Musically, he was all talk, but his performance was one big scam, I realized afterward.
He dated a friend of mine for a couple weeks, who was his first call when he got arrested (for a stolen car). We talked, and she had the presence of mind to not bail him out. His story was really fishy, and there was no way I was getting involved.

Anonymous said...

Fellow victim of Erskine/Abramovitch reporting in.

I met him in Los Angeles in December of 2009 and he ended up "sort-of" dating me and another one of my friends (it was an open thing so it wasn't a big deal to us).

I can also attest to the fact that his story seemed RIDICULOUSLY far-fetched. However, he was funny, witty, attractive, caring and compassionate (at the time!), and I foolishly overlooked all of the inconsistencies because I was honestly quite enamored with him- or rather, the person he claimed to be.

I happened to be WITH Erskine when the police caught up with him. His car had gotten towed and he wanted a ride to the towing place, so I agreed. Once there, I waited outside while he went to go sort everything out. Police showed up and I was put into handcuffs and interrogated for a good half hour. It was my first encounter EVER with the police and I was terrified out of my wits, but the police understood that I was completely innocent and let me go. He attempted to contact me through various means but I chose not to respond to anything that he tried to send me.

I was shocked, afraid, mindblown, and honestly a little heartbroken. I had truly felt I had been able to make a connection with this man even after the short time we had been together, and learning that EVERY LAST BIT had been a complete lie was very hard to deal with.

After the whole ordeal I kept hearing new information about him and the crimes he had committed over the years and I felt stupider and stupider for falling into his trap- looking back on it it should have been obvious! But now it is evident to me that I am NOT the only person to have been suckered into his fantastical yet compelling story.

Erskine is a classic case of a sociopath- he lied to, used, and manipulated people VERY well and was able to blend in perfectly with the rest of society. I'm posting here to offer some support to any other women that may have fallen victim to him. You are not foolish or stupid or anything- and you are certainly NOT alone!

I hope that he gets what he deserves, and I REALLY hope that I never hear from him again!

I apologize for having to remain anonymous, but I don't really feel comfortable with posting any of my information. Hopefully this helps some people. :)

Anonymous said...

I'm friends with the previous commenter, and was too taken in by this guy.

Luckily, I only knew him/was seeing him for about two weeks before he was taken into custody. Since then, I've found several more people that he lied to in the Los Angeles area, all with the same story.

I feel foolish and naive, but he was charming and smooth, and everyone else seemed to go along with it.

I hope the Feds nail the bastard, and I'd love to stay updated on any news.

Anonymous said...

http://www.co.missoula.mt.us/publicjailroster/

Anyone know why he ended up in Missoula?

Go down to see Mr. Clark - in custody with a federal hold. Anyone with a chargable crime should post here so he can be charged and served while in custody.

Anonymous said...

Found the Federal Circuit Court case he was taken into custody on.

http://www.cacd.uscourts.gov/cacd/CrimIntakeCal.NSF/b3e4628792211f8d882571ee007340ec/b587e249311f04e0882576a80074f576?OpenDocument

Looks like the charges are
42:408a(7)(B) which reads with intent to deceive, falsely represents a number to be the social security account number assigned by the Commissioner of Social Security to him or to another person, when in fact such number is not the social security account number assigned by the ommissioner of Social Security to him or to such other person; max 5 years.
AND

18:1028A which is identity fraud. max 15 years.

Anonymous said...

I dated him for about three weeks in November. I expererienced everything that has already been mentioned. He gave me a fake BBC business card, claimed to have come to L.A. from S.F. because he had landed a personal assistant/body guard job for Val Kilmer, but was "passed up for an attractive woman". He coincidentally ended up staying at the hotel I work for during Rock n' Roll fantasy camp. He kept complaining of having bank problems and his account being put on hold due to suspicious activity.

FYI: there a few changes to his physical apperance as of November 2009... I was with him the night he had major cosmetic dental work done and the night he got a new tattoo on his forearm: some military badge if i recall and chinese characters for what he says translates to "Elf King". Was aslo with him the night he supposedly had gotten back from Washington for the Afghanistan debriefing. The uniform WAS indeed very strange but convincing with that "Abramovitch" name badge.
And the whole dead daughter bit got me as well. He was very charming, witty and fun to be around. When I started to suspect something was amiss, he basically blew me off. I had googled "DJ Miko" right after I met him and found a picture of someone else and could find no info about "Jocko Abramovitch" dating before November. I panicked and deleted him from facebook and the last I heard from him was a text message on Thanksgiving.

I regret not going to the police or at least warning his roommate of my suspicions. I'm really happy to have found this blog. Also, if you google "ArthurDent2 OkCupid" you will find his Okcupid profile.

Unknown said...

Oh. My. Goodness!!! Reading all this is literally blowing my mind. I met the scoundrel through OKCupid in the SF Bay Area, and we went out twice in mid-October. Same hook, line and sinker as the rest of you. I was very charmed, as well, perhaps too much, though I'm relieved to tell you he never took anything from me, other than my time and energy. He was driving an expensive 2010 electric blue mustang, as well as living in a really posh apt on the Embarcadero, though it was totally impersonal and very Bed, Bath and Beyond.
I got a bit down when he suddenly "moved" to LA, (obviously a necessary relocation!) but am happy to discover the sham. Shocked, but happy.

Thanks for all the info.I will call CCPD, and let them know he was here in San Francisco, just in case.

Unknown said...

I also just want to comment to the ladies out there who got involved with J. Clarke-Erskine-I TOTALLY feel you about the false sense of intimacy, the disappointment, and the anger/dejection of the whole Thing. I am SO glad I stumbled back onto Wiki to find all this out! I've called CulverCity PD, and they've asked me to call back and speak with a detective on Mon about what may have happened in San Francisco.

*whew*

Anonymous said...

Hello all,

I was "Jocko's" roommate while he lived in Los Angeles. He stole a large check from me as well as my boyfriends cc info to make various purchases. I found this all out the hard way and immediately moved out. He's in FBI custody now for god knows what else he did in Washington, Indiana, and San Francisco. And I think you'll all be interesteed to know that crazy blue car was stolen from a Hertz dealership in Missoula, Montana.

Oh.. and the truth - he was from Idaho.. that whole Scottish accent was totally bogus - brilliant, but bogus. He was never in the military. He was never a D.J. And he never worked for the BBC.

This was my first (and hopefully, last) experience with a fraud. For what it's worth, he was always very kind and loving, and although he screwed a lot of people over, I'm trying to laugh it off as one very rare experience with a very sad, confused, disturbed man. I often think to myself, "what could have happened to cause him to make such bad decisions." I'm sure all it took was one, and from there, he had to run and change his identity.. and then again.. and then again. I've even considered writing a movie about it all. I'm still waiting for the hidden camera's to reveal themselves.

He was good, but thankfully, not good enough. I hope he learns his lesson.

Happily Moved On... -tj

Emer said...

Note on the comment above: he's from Indiana, not Idaho. Also, I wouldn't recommend making a movie about it until you know the whole story. You can send him a letter and ask for such, however.

kl said...

Go ahead and send him a letter and ask for it. And then compare the 'truth' with all the other versions he's sworn up and down is the absolute truth. He'll also tell you that now that he's in prison he's decided to reform himself, or that his mental illness is now under control with the proper medication, or that he's found religion. And someone will believe him, and bail him out, and it will start all over again. Just wait and see. I don't believe that the "whole story" will ever be compiled in one place.

FYI, he pulled the same car stunt in 2007. He was found in Alberta, Canada, driving a brand new Ford Explorer with Alberta plates on it. He was found to have plates from Manitoba, Saskatchewan, and Wisconsin, all registered to blue Ford Explorers belonging to Hertz. When the cops ran the plates and called the rental agency to tell them they had one of their vehicles that was probably stolen, the rental agency told them that no, the car in question was in their system as having been returned to a lot in British Columbia. The tags and paperwork had been so meddled that they didn't even realize that one vehicle was completely gone.

Unknown said...

If anyone knows anything about the identity of the Atlanta girlfriend, can you please send it to me or Cuchulian?

Emer said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
Anonymous said...

Does anyone know Emer's actual identity? What's your name, smartypants?
Cuchulain

Unknown said...

So Emer, tell us your story. How have we all misunderstood this poor tortured soul? I'm sure he's explained it all to you.

Jan said...

I'm glad I'm not the only one who suspected "Emer" was really "Jocko." Locked up or not, I know he had internet access after his arrest. Don't assume he's not on here, and DO assume he would pretend to be someone else if he was here. Pretending is what he is best at.

Unknown said...

I don't personally thing Emer is Jocko. Emer posts from a server at Purdue University. I'm pretty sure at this point I know who she is, and her name. I also think that she has had a lot of coaching from Erskine.

Unknown said...

We think Erskine was attempting to post comments to this blog and sent Cuchulain emails using the identity Gary Ennis back in October.

Jan said...

Has everyone seen this?

Jeremy Clark-Erskine pleads guilty in U.S. Federal Court
United States Attorney’s Office
The United States Attorney’s Office announced that during a federal court session in Missoula on April 27, 2010, before U.S. Magistrate Judge Jeremiah C. Lynch, JEREMY CLARK-ERSKINE, a 36-year-old resident of Missoula and Indiana, pled guilty to forgery of a signature of a United States judge, false personation of a Social Security number, interstate transportation of a stolen vehicle, and aggravated identity theft. Sentencing has been set for July 21, 2010. He is currently detained.
In an Offer of Proof filed by Assistant U.S. Attorney Bryan R. Whittaker, the government stated it would have proved at trial the following:
On August 11, 2009, CLARK-ERSKINE presented himself at the Montana Motor Vehicle Division in Missoula to obtain a Montana driver’s license in the name of Angus Jocko Ferguson. On the form, CLARK-ERSKINE falsely represented a social security account number as his own which he knew belonged to another individual.
The United States Attorney’s Office announced that during a federal court session in Missoula on April 27, 2010, before U.S. Magistrate Judge Jeremiah C. Lynch, JEREMY CLARK-ERSKINE, a 36-year-old resident of Missoula and Indiana, pled guilty to forgery of a signature of a United States judge, false personation of a Social Security number, interstate transportation of a stolen vehicle, and aggravated identity theft. Sentencing has been set for July 21, 2010. He is currently detained.
In an Offer of Proof filed by Assistant U.S. Attorney Bryan R. Whittaker, the government stated it would have proved at trial the following:
On August 11, 2009, CLARK-ERSKINE presented himself at the Montana Motor Vehicle Division in Missoula to obtain a Montana driver’s license in the name of Angus Jocko Ferguson. On the form, CLARK-ERSKINE falsely represented a social security account number as his own which he knew belonged to another individual.
On September 6, 2009, presenting himself as a Captain in the United States Army, CLARK-ERSKINE, attempted to gain entry onto Malmstrom Air Force Base in Great Falls. At the time, CLARK-ERSKINE was driving a vehicle which had been reported stolen by Enterprise Rent-A-Car out of Chicago, Illinois.
Pursuant to a federal search warrant, law enforcement searched the car and recovered numerous fraudulent documents. Two of the documents included an “Entry” and “Judgment” purporting to be from the United States District Court, Southern District of Indiana. The documents bore a false case number and both documents contained the forged signature of the Chief Judge of the Southern District of Indiana. CLARK-ERSKINE had forged the signature on the documents for the purpose of authenticating them to use to obtain a new social security number for “Angus Jocko Ferguson” to replace the original (and now compromised) number issued to him under the name Michael Bruce Lafferty, later changed to Finn J. UiNeill in an attempt to protect his identity.
From September 9, 2009, to January 6, 2010, CLARK-ERSKINE unlawfully transported from one state to another a stolen 2010 Ford Mustang. He rented the vehicle on September 9, 2009, from Hertz Rental Car in Missoula with a rental agreement contract which only covered a one-day rental. He did not return the vehicle on September 10, 2009, but instead drove it from Montana to California. On January 6, 2010, the vehicle was recovered from CLARK-ERSKINE in Culver City, California. The original Montana license plates on the vehicle had been replaced with stolen Washington state licenses plates.
CLARK-ERSKINE faces possible penalties of 10 years in prison, a $250,000 fine and at least 3 years supervised release. In addition, CLARK-ERSKINE faces an additional mandatory two year imprisonment, consecutive to any other sentence, for aggravated identity theft.

From http://www.keci.com/pages/6916769.php?contentType=4&contentId=6006706

Anonymous said...

Firstly, I would like to say thank you to all of you for posting about your experiences with Erskine. I, too, fell for his act and ended up dating him for a little while during his time in Los Angeles. He just vanished one day with my credit card and several personal items.

I believed his stories about his "daughter" and his time in the military. The scar on his head was a nice touch. He told me it was from getting shot in the head and as a result he would forget things. This story must have created a great escape route for if he managed to slip on his self created lies. What was that scar actually from?

He has been trying to contact me for the past 2 months. I deleted all request from corrlinks as I had no idea who this person was until last night. I knew him as "Jocko" not Jeremy. An "inmate advocate" messaged me asking if he can contact me. With all the lies he has woven, I don't even believe this woman is real and not just another one of his fabrications. She claims that he wants to apologize and explain. I don't believe that he will ever change and I want no contact with this person again. As I am writing this I just got another request from corrlinks!

Just another bit of warning, he has a facebook page were it seems that his lies are continuing. Personally, I don't believe that someone living a life intertwining a character of his creating with the real world can leave the fantasy behind for reality.

Unknown said...

A fellow victim living in Missoula , MT shared the story of how Angus Jocko Ferguson affected his life here:

http://www.tellussomething.org/storytellingpodcast/2015/4/28/reid-reimers-aka-angus-jocko-ferguson

At the bottom of that page is an update on Mr. Ferguson, who was just arrested in NYC.