A prominent toy company founder is in jail tonight awaiting arraignment on numerous identity theft charges.
James R. Duckworth, founder and CEO of DW Toy Stores, Inc was arrested along with several other company leaders following a nearly 8 month investigation headed up by his son, Junior Duckworth. Channel 23 News obtained a copy of the criminal complaint filed with the Metro City Magistrate’s Office. The senior Duckworth, and several other “parents” in DW Toys management, have been alleged to have stolen the identity of Santa Claus and then used his identity to sell the company’s products.
During an exclusive interview, Junior Duckworth said that the investigation started several days after Christmas when he and his friends noticed handwriting discrepancies on their ‘Santa’ gifts. “My friend Joey (whose father is DW Toys comptroller Theo Bundy) and I noticed that Mr. Claus’ handwriting was different on each of the gifts that were supposedly from Santa”, Junior explained. “That’s when we went to our friends and started looking at the gift tags from their presents”.
During the investigation, Junior Duckworth and his friends uncovered what he referred to as “a massive identity theft racket” being conducted by the parents of his friends and even his own father. “I hate to bring my old man down, but it’s illegal to steal somebody else’s identity and then use it!”, said Junior. Mrs. Ellen Sampson, Junior’s 3rd grade teacher, stated that Junior loves reading case law and has a keen interest in business law. “Junior is a very smart student”, said Sampson, “but I think he may be taking this one a bit too far”.
A myriad of charges were filed against 24 suspects in the alleged crime, including identity theft, fraud, racketeering charges (dubiously stemming from the sale of DW products), forgery and uttering. The Metro City Attorney Allen Smithers has recused himself from trying the case for unknown reasons, but a source connected to the investigation (most likely Smithers’ children) stated that he may be embroiled in the criminal plot as well. “This isn’t usually a case we would ever bring to trial”, said Smithers, “but it is an election year and I can’t afford to take anymore allegations of being soft on crime”, he continued.
Channel 23 attempted to reach the elder Duckworth regarding the charges against him and others. His attorney responded, stating “Mr. Duckworth is troubled by his son’s fervor and precocious nature and is sure to ground him for a while after this”.
Stay with Channel 23 for more on this story.