Spokane7
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January 27, 2011 in City
FBI says motivational speaker built business on lies
The FBI arrested a man who once worked as a clinical educator at a Spokane hospital, accusing him of fabricating his life’s story with tales of military valor and family tragedy, and then committing mail fraud by profiting on the lies.
William G. Hillar, 66, worked at Inland Northwest Health Services from September 1994 to July 1997. Before that he worked for other Spokane businesses including Metropolitan Mortgage and Securities Co.
It’s what he’s accused of doing afterward that earned him notoriety.
The federal complaint filed in U.S. District Court in Baltimore accused Hillar, now living in Maryland, of capitalizing on his fraud to give motivational speeches and training to police and graduate students. He billed himself as a retired U.S. Special Forces colonel trained in tactical counterterrorism, explosive ordnance, emergency medicine and psychological warfare. He claimed to have served in Asia, the Middle East and Central and South America.
His business, Bill Hillar Training, offered speeches and workshops on topics such as transnational drug smuggling, human trafficking, tactical counterterrorism and transnational criminal gangs.
Hillar’s alleged ruse began to unravel last year when students at the Monterey Institute of International Studies questioned his credentials.
He claimed in workshops that the 2008 action movie “Taken,” starring Liam Neeson, was loosely based on the kidnapping and murder of his daughter. Film executives have denied any connection, according to the Los Angeles Times.
Hillar was never in the U.S. Army. A records search showed that he did serve in the U.S. Coast Guard from 1962 to 1970, achieving the rank of radarman, petty officer third class. There’s no record he ever deployed to the global regions he claimed, nor did he have any documented training in the specialized fields he listed.
The alleged fraud ensnared many government agencies, businesses and colleges.
Hillar’s website claimed that he gave presentations in Spokane to Shriner’s Hospital and Cowles Publishing Co., which publishes The Spokesman-Review. That website has since been taken down.
Hillar once lived on the South Hill and filed for bankruptcy three times in nine years while in Spokane.
The federal judge in Baltimore hearing his case agreed to release him on a $50,000 bond.
Parishes giving $1.5 million toward settling sex cases 
greenlibertarian on January 27 at 12:09 a.m.
Another con man out of Spokane, eh? What a surprise!
drywitt99 on January 27 at 12:51 a.m.
Con men provide a valuable service to society……
taking money from people either too greedy or too stupid
to keep it.
misjustice on January 27 at 5:05 a.m.
Speaking of cons ^
hintonlois
lewis8457 on January 27 at 7:39 a.m.
so the feds do something? i thought they just knew how to drag their feet and delay. Yes good job getting this old man off the street that who never killed anyone.
Will you Fed guys be looking at the 5 shootings in 4 months we have had in Spokane? Nope i didn’t think so.
Orange on January 27 at 8:02 a.m.
Stay on topic.
Organizations I’m sure spent plenty of money to have this loser lie to them. Glad he’s (well on bail) off the streets.
Bankrupt 3 times in 9 years? Should have been a hint he wasn’t who he said he was. It took students at Monterey to ferret him out. Makes you wonder how he got past all the hiring officials at Met and NW Health. Don’t you do background checks?
gsosbee on January 27 at 8:37 a.m.
The greatest & most dangerous lies issue from the fbi.
––––––––—
The Federal Burro of Investigation (fbi) is a criminal mobster group that must be controlled.
http://sosbeevfbi.ning.com/forum/topics/fbi-mafia-google-launch?xg_source=activity
http://sosbeevfbi.ning.com/forum/topics/war-on-terror-2010
http://www.sosbeevfbi.com/geralsosbeearmyf.html
http://sosbeevfbi.ning.com/forum/topics/open-memo-to-google
http://www.sosbeevfbi.com/part4-worldinabo.html
Scoutster on January 27 at 11:44 a.m.
I’m guessing Bill Hiller will have his own Fox Radio show soon.
zelda on January 27 at 11:59 a.m.
Hee-hee, good one, Scoutster.
The story arc for these military imposters is always the same. It starts with lying about the service record, then they’re on to heroic exploits and then it’s feats of derring-do and espionage.
The rationalization when caught is usually the same, too. “It started out with a slight exaggeration, your honor, and I got carried away with all the attention. I got dug in so deep I couldn’t get out. I didn’t mean for it to go this far.”
I’m surprised that this continues to happen but I guess they’re able to summon up enough bluff and bluster that people are afraid to challenge them until the tales become so elaborate and ridiculous that even credulous people aren’t fooled. Corporate training programs are rife with b.s. artists.
greenlibertarian on January 27 at 12:10 p.m.
“gsosbee on January 27 at 8:37 a.m.
The greatest & most dangerous lies issue from the fbi.”
Cuckoo, cuckoo!
bszottlinger on January 27 at 12:19 p.m.
Zelda:
The question is! Did you learn anything?
zelda on January 27 at 2:08 p.m.
@bszottlinger — What I learned was how to develop my skills at bologna detection.
A lot of these training programs are perfect places for rip-offs (not necessarily the same thing as a con, but you get my drift). The outcomes are ambiguous and hard to measure and the quality measurements are subjective at best. If a person doesn’t get anything out of the training, it’s all too easy for the instructor to turn the criticism around and say the participant didn’t “get it” or lacked motivation.
What tripped up this guy was venturing into substantive content and having students who were discerning enough to know what he said didn’t add up.
eagleproducer on January 27 at 5:09 p.m.
“There’s a sucker born every minute.”
bszottlinger on January 27 at 6:51 p.m.
Zelda:
I was kidding I’m sure you didn’t attend any of this fellows seminars, or training sessions. But then again maybe you did. I wonder if any of the local law enforcement types benefited from this guys vast storehouse of knowledge. :)
zelda on January 27 at 7:37 p.m.
@bszottlinger — Oh, dang. This must be one of those days when I’m overly literal-minded. Yeah — good question about whether local LE attended any of his classes. I bet he got most of his course material by reading David Baldacci thrillers and Aviation Week.