The Plot Thickens: Mysterious Lincoln City Bookkeeper Unmasked as Wanted Fugitive from Louisiana
Police learned the true identity of Gerard Marcel Beaudoin III early Tuesday morning. He had been using the name Quentin G. Stanhope since around 2005. Police arrested the Lincoln City business owner last week on fraud and theft charges. (Photo: Lincoln County Jail)
By Larry Coonrod
LINCOLN CITY—The owner of a bookkeeping business in Lincoln City arrested last week for fraud and theft has been identified as Gerard Marcel Beaudoin III who fled a felony forgery charge in Louisiana in 2004.
Beaudoin who ran Q-Tax and Bookkeeping services had been using the name Quentin G. Stanhope since 2005. Lincoln County Sheriff's detectives took him into custody on Sept. 11.
Lincoln County Sheriff’s Detective David Boys began investigating Beaudoin three months ago after a business owner reported a forgery. Boys suspected from the get-go that Beaudoin wasn’t who he claimed to be.
Quentin Stanhope is a spy in the Sherlock Holmes novel ‘Spider Dance’ by author Carole Nelson Douglas. And the Lincoln City Stanhope’s given birthday? April 1.
“It’s just too coincidental to have a hokey name like that from a Sherlock Holmes character and then have a date of birth of April Fool’s Day,” Boys said. “I was like I’m calling bull*** right here. In law enforcement, you don’t believe in coincidence.”
Officers found a large collection of Sherlock Holmes literature when they raided Beaudoin’s Lincoln City home and office.
The Plot Thickens
Boys soon discovered that the Social Security number Beaudoin had been using was registered to a person born in 1888, who would have been 57-years-old when the U.S. founded the Social Security Administration in 1935.
Special Agent Dale Boring with the Social Security Administration’s Office of Inspector General in Salem joined the case and deserves a lot of credit for the arrest of Beaudoin, Boys said.
Who is Gerard Marcel Beaudoin?
Boys only learned of Beaudoin’s true identity Tuesday morning, six days after his arrest. A triple check of his fingerprints finally unmasked him. Boys said he had never seen it take so long to identify a suspect. In assuming the Stanhope alias, Beaudoin also shaved 10-years off his age, listing his birth year as 1965, making him closer to 60, than 50 as he claimed.
Time to Act
Q-Tax & Bookkeeping Service has offices in Newport, Lincoln City and Tillamook.Stanhope/ Beaudoin was listed as the owner on the company’s website, but the Lincoln City office is actually owned by AmaLee Chambers. Boys said he believes Beaudoin had other people acting as fronts for his businesses.
"The more we learned the more we knew we had a problem,” Boys said. “We didn't know in the beginning that we had a problem of this magnitude or that he was affecting this many people. It was at the latter stages we knew had to act now."
A person contacted at the Lincoln City Q-Tax office said the company was not making a statement regarding the arrest of its founder.
Beaudoin, acting as Stanhope, has had numerous run-ins with the Oregon Board of Tax Practitioners in the past. Most notably for preparing tax returns without a license.
Despite being on the lamb, Beaudoin did not keep a low profile in Lincoln County. He recently joined the Lincoln City Chamber of Commerce was the chair of the local nonprofit Let There be Art.
At Least Four Victims
To date, investigators have identified four local victims of Beaudoin’s fraudulent activity, but Boys said after news of his arrest broke last week, the Sheriff’s Office has received calls from other business owners who suspect they may be victims as well.
Beaudoin has a full extradition warrant from Louisiana. Although the decision ultimately rests with Lincoln County District Attorney Michelle Branham, Boys said Beaudoin would most likely be prosecuted in Oregon first.
“With the charges we’ve got on him, we’re not going to send him off Louisiana,” he said “The Louisiana case has already waited 10 years.
Beaudoin is in the Lincoln County Jail with bail set at $1.5 million.
Anyone with information about Beaudoin is asked to contact Detective Boys at 541-265-4277 ext. 0668.
Contact Reporter Larry Coonrod by emailing editor@lincolncountydispatch.com.
