Prosecutors: W.Va. man has history of faking - Army News | News from Afghanistan & Iraq - Army Times

Prosecutors: W.Va. man has history of faking

CLEVELAND — A man charged with trying to land a six-figure job in Ohio by faking it as an Army general has misrepresented his background in the past, according to court records.

Randall Thomas Keyser of Barboursville, W.Va., has used seven or more aliases and was hired under false pretenses in Alaska, Florida, Kentucky and Washington state, according to the documents obtained by The Associated Press. The FBI said he has used three Social Security numbers.

The FBI confirmed Wednesday that the individual mentioned in the court records is the same man charged in Akron with wire fraud for allegedly posing as a major general.

Keyser agreed Tuesday to waive a hearing and was held without bond. Messages seeking comment were left Wednesday for his attorney and at phone numbers that the FBI said Keyser had provided in his job search in Ohio.

In a 1993 ruling involving a probation violation, the Court of Appeals of Alaska portrayed Keyser as a serial faker who misrepresented his background to land jobs in the private and public sectors.

“Mr. Keyser has a track record of being ‘found out’ in communities where he has talked himself into employment that he is not qualified for, and then leaving town, sometimes traveling clear across the country,” the court said. “Without measures being taken to correct that behavior, Mr. Keyser is likely to reoffend.”

That court case stemmed from a probation violation on Keyser’s no-contest plea to a theft charge for a fraudulent application to be city manager of Kake, Alaska.

About the same time, he was arrested by Alaska state troopers on a theft by deception warrant stemming from his application to be city manager in Pikeville, Ky.

Keyser agreed to make restitution to both cities and write an apology.

His probation was transferred to Washington state when he moved to the Seattle area, according to the appeals court, which said he then was involved in getting a number of apartment-management jobs by using forged military records and Social Security cards issued under aliases.

“Keyser’s false claims appeared to become increasingly grandiose, almost gratuitously so,” the court said.

At various times, according to the appeals court, Keyser claimed to have graduated from West Point and to have retired with the rank of major or lieutenant colonel.

In reality, Keyser served one or two years in the Army and was discharged as a private, the court said.

Keyser may have obtained 13 jobs as a police officer or police chief in small communities across the nation in the 1980s, the court said, including a chief’s job in Oak Hill., Fla., where he was convicted of perjury and got one year of probation.

Prosecutors in Ohio say Keyser applied for a job pretending to be a major general with references including the Army chief of staff, vice chief of staff and Army undersecretary. An FBI affidavit said Keyser sought the $175,000 job and payment for travel expenses for an interview.

The company became suspicious and contacted the FBI. Keyser was arrested last week and charged with wire fraud.

Associated Press news researcher Monika Mathur contributed to this report.