The headlines for this story were so cliche "Fugitive lured to U.S. for lunch" and naturally followed by a pun about no free lunch etc... but the story is serious, federal prosecutors say Frederick Gilliland, 53, defrauded investors of more than $8 million. He had been living in the Vancouver, B.C., area when he was arrested Saturday on his way to Kiniski's Reef Tavern in nearby Point Roberts, Whatcom County.
If you know Point Roberts it makes the story all the more funny because it's really inside Canada, completely surrounded by Canadian territory but due to some old treaty between Canada and the U.S. it remains U.S. jurisdiction. Point Roberts was the perfect setting to convince the unsuspecting Gilliland to come for lunch, as it's an easy drive from Vancouver and not the most stringent border to cross. Apparently the trap was set by a victim of the original scam but someone that happened to be a private detective. It all sounds like a movie plot - a comedy but the loss to the victims is truly a tragedy.
When I read about financial scams, this one was over $20M I ask myself; how do people live with themselves, after crimes like this? don't they think about the many people that were harmed? can you wake up in the morning and feel good knowing you're a wanted man?
Eleven people have been convicted in connection with the Hammersmith case (as it's known), and three others have been arrested, so obviously this was a very sophisticated organization, couldn't they have made money legally? Normally I'd reserve judgement for someone like Gilliland, as he is "alleged" to have committed fraud but in this case there's too much evidence against him and I understand he'd been living pretty well in Vancouver and may have been making plans to disappear.
There will be many people having a chuckle about this story in the coming days but certainly one of them won't be Fredrick.
To see the Google of this story click here.
