Imposter Posing as Student Fools Campus Groups

For the past two months, Edward Francis Meinert, Jr., an Extension School student, posed as a transfer student in the College class of '02.

But on Monday it was revealed that Meinert had conned his friends and colleagues, hiding the fact that he was not an undergraduate and that he was also facing an impending Federal prison sentence for fraud.

Meinert, who declined to answer repeated attempts to contact him yesterday, had impressed students at Harvard with his intelligence and congeniality.

He had joined several campus organizations this fall, but his normal Harvard life ended following the publication of an article in the George Washington University (GWU) student newspaper Monday describing the fraud charges.

As of yesterday morning, at least one group, the Sigma Chi fraternity, had suspended Meinert from his status as a pledge because of the deception.

Meinert's trouble began at GWU. U.S. Attorneys in the District of Columbia said Meinert's pattern of theft began there and spanned two years.

The allegations range from stealing more than $8,000 from a federal credit union to obtaining a loan under false pretenses.

Meinert pled guilty to one count of theft and one count of fraud in D.C. in October. At his sentencing Dec. 13, Meinert could face up to 10 years in Federal prison.

A two-page District of Columbia Superior Court finding of fact, issued prior to Meinert's guilty pleas and obtained by The Crimson, shows that Meinert was held responsible for writing dozens of fraudulent checks over a two-year period beginning in 1997.

"Indeed, the defendant had engaged in fraudulent financial transactions numerous times in 1997 and 1998, defrauding almost every major bank in Washington, D.C.," the document reads.

The most specific charge against Meinert leveled in the finding of fact deals with the U.S. Senate Federal Credit Union, which serves Congressional employees.

Prosecutors said that Meinert opened an account there with $5 and a fake social security number.

During a one-month period in 1998, Meinert deposited money into the credit union account from other illegally obtained accounts. He then withdrew money from the bank before the checks could be processed, prosecutors said.

In all, a judge found that Meinert stole more than $8,000 from the credit union.

Along with a raft of other similar charges, prosecutors say Meinert illegally financed a spring break trip to Europe by using a friend's social security number to obtain a loan.

The discovery of Meinert's real identity--both his criminal record and his Harvard status--startled the students at the College who considered him a friend.

"It was a complete shock when I found out about it," said Hector G. Bove '00, the president of Sigma Chi.

Posing as a sophomore transfer student living off-campus, Meinert joined Sigma Chi as a pledge.

For the past month, he has attended fraternity activities, and, members say, cultivated several friendships.

"From the first day I met him, he was very gregarious," said Bove, who is also a Crimson executive.

By late Monday, Meinert had been suspended by Sigma Chi for, in Bove's words, "misrepresenting himself and [being] dishonest with us."

Bove declined to elaborate, but said that Meinert would likely be de-pledged this Sunday.

Meinert was also an active member of the International Relations Council (IRC), participating in its Intercollegiate Model United Nations and winning awards for his performance.

Brian R. Smith '02, an IRC member, said he first met Meinert, then a GWU student, at a model U.N. conference at Yale.

"At George Washington," Smith said, "he was known as a really great model U.N. person."

When Meinert appeared at Harvard in September, he and Smith resumed their friendship.

"Ed was a good guy," Smith said.

Inevitably, the two friends' conversation broached the subject of Meinert's status as a student.

"I asked him what his concentration was," Smith recalled. "He said he was doing government and computer science.... At first, I was like, 'Wow, Harvard is letting you do this?'"

"Never did it occur to me that he was lying," Smith said.

Yesterday, the IRC's president, Mustafa M. Siddiqui '00, met with Susan T. Cooke, the coordinator of student activities for the College, to discuss campus rules about such situations.

"[College regulations say that]non-undergraduates are not allowed to be members," Siddiqui said, adding that IRC bylaws contain the same rule.

"He is obviously, by default, disbarred, by the IRC," Siddiqui said. "I think it's unfortunate that he misrepresented himself to the

organization."

Meinert's acquaintances said he lives in Somerville, but they did not know how to contact him at home.

In an e-mail message to the GWU newspaper, the Hatchet, published Monday, Meinert apologized for his conduct there.

"I can tell you that I am very sorry for these actions and understand that they demonstrated poor judgment and character," Meinert wrote. " I have spent much time contemplating these events and can tell you that I have made every effort since then not to repeat and learn from these mistakes."

At GWU, former friends of Meinert remember him as "a charismatic kid" with a talent for cementing relationships.

Meinert, who was a member of the GWU class of 2000, became active in several civic organizations there. In 1997, he ran for the school's student government.

Damian McKenna, who was then president of the student government, said he remembers Meinert as a hard worker.

"He was a really nice kid...I liked a lot of his ideas," McKenna said.

As a GWU first-year in 1996, Meinert organized a pediatric AIDS benefit run.

A year later, he joined GWU's Colonial Cabinet--the university's equivalent of Harvard's Crimson Key.

That organization is highly selective, choosing only 20 of nearly 400 students who apply annually.

In 1998, Meinert ran for a spot on a D.C. neighborhood association, narrowly losing.

Like many GWU students, Meinert served as an intern on Capitol Hill.

Dan J. Kaniewski, a GWU senior, said he was one of Meinert's closest friends.

On the urban D.C. campus, full of future engineers and political scientists, Meinert "knew everybody. He was one of the most popular people on campus," Kaniewski said.

Kaniewski said that he began to suspect Meinert's integrity when his friend "visited seven different countries and stayed in four-star hotels," during Spring Break in April of this year, all without a steady source of income.

The Extension School's Administrative Board will now decide Meinert's future at that school.

Christopher S. Queen, dean of students at the Extension School, said yesterday that he'd take seriously any complaint that a student misrepresented him or herself.

Published Extension School regulations prohibit students from "misrepresenting themselves, or their University affiliation."

"No complaint has been filed as of yet," Queen said.