[throwaway729]

Fascinating.

To this day, it's nearly impossible to find any account of these events. It's really hard to imagine that someone could commit such outright blatant theft and get away without so much as a hit on Google.

Was the con artist ever tracked down?

[nkurz]

It's really hard to imagine that someone could commit such outright blatant theft and get away without so much as a hit on Google.

The events happened in the early 1990's, just prior to the advent of the internet. The false resume and the firing are the parts of the story that I have personal knowledge of. The financial allegations are third hand, but I believe them to be true. It's possible that recent events have better coverage, but I'd guess that even now there is a lot of crime and fraud that is never reported.

Was the con artist ever tracked down?

Not to my knowledge, although I'm no longer close to the community. I've occasionally wondered whether this might be because someone took matters into their own hands, and he's dead and buried in the woods somewhere. Googling now, I was surprised to learn that a janitor at the college was recently convicted of a 30-year-old murder of the mother of one of my classmates: http://chippewa.com/news/guilty-verdict-in-old-ladysmith-kil.... But I suspect that instead he's likely on to a new scheme somewhere else.

[throwaway729]

> The events happened in the early 1990's, just prior to the advent of the internet

Ah, makes a lot more sense. I was assuming some time in the early naughts given the school's timeline, and was disappointed I couldn't find a detailed account.

> The false resume and the firing are the parts of the story that I have personal knowledge of. The financial allegations are third hand, but I believe them to be true.

To clarify, I don't doubt this happened :)

> I've occasionally wondered whether this might be because someone took matters into their own hands, and he's dead and buried in the woods somewhere.

What a wild world we live in. Who needs television when you can read about the intrigues of failed liberal arts colleges.

[leephillips]

Fascinating indeed: the notion that a college president would hold title to the school's buildings. Etc.

[nkurz]

I'm guessing that by "fascinating" you are implying that it's implausible to abscond with the money from a remortgage of a building one does not own? And by "Etc" that all the rest is wrong too?

I don't think anyone believed that he had any sort of legal title, rather that through some combination of forgery and fraud he managed to convince someone that he had the right to make the transaction. If you haven't experienced one personally, you may be underestimating the persuasive power of a talented psychopath.