The 2013 INSIDE EDITION Hall Of Shame

Inside Edition takes a look back at our hall of shame from 2013…courtesy of Lisa Guerrero and the I-Squad.

When the I-Squad shows up, some people tend to scatter.

One of those camera shy people is attorney Dennis Van Dusen. Van Dusen had a secret pastime; when renting out rooms to young women in his upscale home outside Washington D.C., he would surreptitiously  tape their intimate moments.       
 
When Guerrero spotted Van Dusen walking in his neighborhood, she introduced herself, “Hi, I’m Lisa Guerrero from INSIDE EDITION. Why did you spy on those women? What would you say if someone did this to your daughter or your wife?”

As soon as Van Dusen heard Guerrero’s questions, he ran away.      

The I-Squad kept busy in 2013 tracking down con-men and  thieves like store clerks accused of   stealing their customer's lottery winnings.

The I-Squad went with state investigators and saw it happen at a convenience store in Columbus, Ohio. An undercover investigator entered the store and handed the clerk a winning $10,000 lottery ticket. The clerk said it was a loser.

The investigator asked, “Any of them winners?”

“No,” said the clerk.

But investigators say the clerk kept the ticket and later sent a female friend to the lottery office to collect the winnings.     

When  Lisa Guerrero went to speak to the clerk she asked, “Did you steal a $10,000 ticket?”

The clerk responded, “I'm not going to comment on that at this time.”

He's pled not guilty to grand theft.

When the I-Squad left a shiny new iPad in a rental car, would it be returned or end up in someone's home?  To find out, tiny transmitters were placed in the iPads to  monitor its location.

At a New York City Enterprise rent-a-car, we observed a worker clean out our car. The iPad was in the back seat. Two days later, we tracked it to a house and who lives there?  That’s right, The same employee.  

Guerrero told the employee, “We left our iPad in one of the cars and we have reason to believe that you took it. Did you find a lost iPad?”

The employee responded, “Yes, why?”

Guerrero asked, “Where is it?”

“It's at home,” said the employee.

She said, “Why didn't you give it to your manager?”

The employee said, “You're right I did not give it to my manager, I was wrong for that yes, you're right, I didn't .”

And getting a ticket  to a taping of the hottest show in town like Saturday Night Live can be nearly impossible. You can only get a ticket if you are lucky enough to win NBC’s online lottery.

We found crafty people ripping off unsuspecting SNL fans and selling fake tickets online for $200.

After an I-Squad producer bought two of those tickets, he asked the seller,” These are definitely real tickets?”

The guy said, “Definitely.”

But  the I-Squad already knew the tickets were fakes and when INSIDE EDITION's Les Trent tried to talk to him, the scammer took off.

Trent asked, “Hey, let me ask you something. Hey, hey hold on a second!”

And when  it comes to embezzling public funds, Rita Crundwell was a master thief. She l lived like a queen with two beautiful homes, a stable of 400 award winning quarter horses. She drove fancy cars like a '67 Corvette and a Ford Thunderbird. She even got around in a million-dollar motor home.

This trusted employee from the town of Dixon, Illinois, stole $53 million from the town  to pay for her expensive luxuries.

Guerrero caught up with Crundwell outside court and asked,  “You ripped people off that you grew up with, how do you explain that to them?  You stole $53 million from the hard working people of Dixon.”

Now she's traded her life of luxury for a prison cell.

So bad guys beware, you may end up in next year's INSIDE EDITION hall of shame!