Victim, family member speak out against Classy Dame owner

Two people are coming forward to refute the words of Springfield businessman Terry M. Heitman, owner of The Classy Dame clothing store, who said the credit card fraud to which he pleaded guilty was not related to customers.

Heitman told the Business Journal in its April 7 issue that the credit card fraud he committed |quot|was not involving any of my customers. It didn't jeopardize anybody's purchases here at the store.|quot|

Ozark resident Mary Oosterhuis disagrees.

Oosterhuis said Heitman stole her identity to open five credit card accounts, each with a different spelling of her name. Oosterhuis, a friend of Heitman's mother, Bettie, was a Classy Dame customer first, then worked some weekends at the store in exchange for clothing. She thinks Heitman obtained her Social Security number when she wrote a check to purchase clothing.

Heitman awaits sentencing by U.S. District Judge Dick Dorr on two counts of credit card fraud, including the crime against Oosterhuis. Heitman has pleaded guilty to the Class C felony charges, each of which carries a penalty of up to 20 years in prison, a $250,000 fine, three years of supervised release and restitution.

The guilty plea is related to credit card fraud between Feb. 26, 1999, and Feb. 17, 2000, and between Aug. 17, 2000, and June 28, 2001.

Oosterhuis did not disclose the sum charged against her name. |quot|It really doesn't matter whether it was $1 or it was $10,000; he had no right to do what he did,|quot| she said.

While out on bond for the abovementioned federal fraud charges, Heitman allegedly committed forgery against another Classy Dame customer.

Kansas City resident Bette Green said Heitman forged the signature of her elderly mother, a Classy Dame customer, on a $3,700 credit card courtesy check that passed through Great Southern Bank. Great Southern Bank is seeking restitution.

Green's mother, who asked that her name not be used in this story, was a longtime friend of Terry Heitman's mother. Green and her mother ahve been working with U.S. Secret Service investigators.

|quot|When he says no customers were involved, they were,|quot| Green said. |quot|My mother was a customer of his store. I did take offense (at his comments).|quot|

In addition to the forgery, Green said, Terry Heitman obtained her mother's credit card number and, through various transactions, tried to charge more than $9,000 in her mother's name between November and December 2002. |quot|Mother, fortunately, is not out any money,|quot| Green said.

Although official charges were not filed, crimes subsequent to the federal fraud were brought up in the Feb. 24 hearing at which the plea agreement was signed. During that hearing, the U.S. attorney sought to revoke Heitman's bond, based on the subsequent offenses.

|quot|The (U.S. Attorney's) Office did move to revoke Heitman's bond because of the new offenses, and the court put severe restrictions on him, although it did not order him jailed,|quot| said Burton Taylor, spokesperson for Todd P. Graves, U.S. attorney for the Western District of Missouri, who indicted Heitman in December.

U.S. Probation Officer George Howard said recent crimes are included in the Secret Service investigation. Howard is conducting the pre-sentence investigation, which he said should be complete this month. Once it is complete, Heitman's sentencing date will be set.

|quot|(Victims) have talked to our office and that information is part of our report,|quot| he said.

Per Heitman's plea agreement on the credit card fraud, Taylor said, the new offenses will be taken into consideration at the time of his sentencing.

After two years of silence, Oosterhuis decided to speak out to protect other Classy Dame customers.

|quot|Anybody going in there and charging something, they are putting themselves at risk,|quot| she said. |quot|If you're going to shop there, make sure it's cash.|quot|

When asked about the victims who have come forward, Heitman responded, |quot|Those people have never been our customers. They're trying to be vengeful.|quot|

Criminal history

In Greene County, current charges against Heitman are for writing bad checks, said Greene County Prosecuting Attorney Darrell Moore. Two felony cases and a misdemeanor case dating back to 1994 are filed with the Greene County Circuit Clerk for passing bad checks.

Moore said complaints filed totaled $14,000 in bad checks, but Heitman has paid that down to about $4,000. Reappearance is scheduled for May 13.

The Classy Dame has dealt with financial difficulties since 1998, when it recorded its first bankruptcy filing. Four years in bankruptcy court ended Feb. 28, 2002, when the store was approved for Chapter 11 bankruptcy reorganization. Both Terry and Bettie Heitman have filed for personal bankruptcy since. Bettie Heitman could not be reached for comment.

Sentencing day

Both Green and Oosterhuis are anxiously awaiting Heitman's sentencing and want to see an end to his activities, which have caused great stress in their lives.

|quot|The only way to really get the maximum side of the sentence is to get the word out on the streets that we've got a bad (businessman) here,|quot| Green said. |quot|As long as he has access to a credit card machine, that's scary.|quot|

Oosterhuis feels Heitman's illegal activities have been going on for too long.

|quot|It's pathetic that he's been getting by with this,|quot| she said. |quot|I don't know if we're going to stop him.|quot|