Alleged faker faces mail fraud charges - Army News | News from Afghanistan & Iraq - Army Times

Alleged faker faces mail fraud charges

Lecturer William G. Hillar inspired his audience with what he said was his life story: He had tried to rescue his daughter from human traffickers and inspired the hit movie “Taken.”

He was a retired Green Beret colonel and counterterrorism expert, he said.

According to prosecutors, it was not his really his life, it was lies.

Hillar, 66, was charged with mail fraud for his alleged scheme to fake his military experience and academic credentials to gain employment for teaching and training.

The complaint was unsealed upon his arrest Jan. 25. Hillar appeared in U.S. District Court in Baltimore, where a judge ordered that he be detained in lieu of $50,000 bond.

“The complaint alleges that William G. Hillar was living a lie and basing his entire career on experience he did not have and credentials that he did not earn,” U.S. Attorney Rod J. Rosenstein said in a statement. “He was never a colonel, never served in the U.S. Army, never was deployed to exotic locales and never received training in counterterrorism and psychological warfare while in the armed forces.”

FBI Special Agent in Charge Richard A. McFeely said in a statement that Hillar's deception was revealed by members of the Special Forces community. In late October, questions were raised about Hillar’s credentials in a forum thread at professionalsoldiers.org, a website dedicated to the Special Forces community.

According to court papers, Hillar had been teaching, leading workshops, giving speeches and conducting training for public and private sector clients for at least the past 10 years under false pretenses. Several of them include law enforcement agencies.

Since spring 2005, Hillar taught at the Monterey Institute of International Studies, in California, including a workshop titled, “Tactical Counter Terrorism.”

According to court papers, his now-defunct website, “Bill Hillar Training,” included the following bio:

“William G. Hillar is a retired Colonel of the U.S. Army Special Forces. He has served in Asia, the Middle East, and Central and South America, where his diverse training and experiences included tactical counter-terrorism, explosive ordnance, emergency medicine and psychological warfare.” It also stated that Hillar “holds a B.A. in Psychology, and M.A. in Education, a Ph.D. in Health Education, and an honorary Doctorate in Intercultural Relations.”

Several websites advertising Hillar’s past speaking engagements link him to the 2008 movie “Taken,” about a father who rescues his daughter from human traffickers.

In November, Hillar received the 2010 Hometown Hero award from Elon University, in North Carolina for his work to combat sex trafficking. According to the university’s student newspaper, The Pendulum, questions about Hillar’s credentials were surfacing as he was about to receive the award.

“Hillar says that in 1988, while traveling with school mates, his daughter was abducted and forced into the sex industry,” according to Elon’s newsletter. “Despite an exhaustive, multi-country search, Hillar says he was unable to save his daughter from the fate that ultimately took her life. ... Rather than allow the loss of his daughter to devastate him for the rest of his life, Hillar says he has dedicated his life to educating people on the largely overlooked problem of human trafficking.”

Court papers say Hillar’s military and civilian records indicate he was never in the Army. Rather, he served in the U.S. Coast Guard Reserve from 1962 to 1970, achieving the rate of radarman third class. He was never deployed to the locations stated on his website, nor was he given any of specialized training he claimed.

Hillar attended the University of Oregon from 1970 to 1973, but was not awarded a Ph.D.

The mail fraud charges stem from his alleged use of false work experience and academic credentials to get hired at Monterey Institute of International Studies. The institute paid Hillar by mailing checks totaling $32,300 to Hillar’s home address in Millersville, Md. He allegedly pocketed more than $100,000 in the course of the scheme from a variety of public and private institutions, including law enforcement agencies.

If convicted, Hillar faces a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison.