MILLERSVILLE, Md.- The man who taught at the Monterey Institute of International Studies, or MIIS, and claimed to be the inspiration for the movie "Taken" was arrested by the FBI. William "Bill" Hillar was accused of defrauding several clients, including the FBI.
Hillar claimed to serve across the globe, as a Green Beret. He taught at major institutions, including the Monterey Institute of International Studies. However it all came crashing down when a local student started calling him a fraud saying Hillar has tricked people for years.
Hillar was charged with mail fraud in connection with an alleged scheme to lie about his military experience and academic credentials in order to gain employment for teaching and training. In a copy of the criminal complaint that was filled in court Hillar is accused of committing mail fraud because the MIIS sent him a several check through the mail totaling $32,300 dollars for his lecture series.
The complaint alleges that Hillar was living a lie and basing his entire career on experience he did not have and credentials that he did not earn," said U.S. Attorney Rod J. Rosenstein. "He was never a colonel, never served in the U.S. Army, never was deployed to exotic locales and never received training in counter-terrorism and psychological warfare while in the armed forces."
Brian Hubbs, a students at MIIS, took a sex trafficking course that was taught by Hillar. According to MIIS, Hillar taught two workshops per year from 2005 to 2010. "I heard nothing but good things about him, everybody raved about his courses, he was in special forces, teaches a course on tactical counter terrorism and he tells the most amazing stories," said Hubbs.
However, students at the school started piecing Hillar's stories together and realized that they did not add up.
Hubbs says Hillar claimed to be inspiration for the film TAKEN where a former government operative's daughter is kidnapped and forced into sex trafficking. When the students researched the movie's writer they say they learned TAKEN was based on a Paris police officer. Bill Hillar wasn't mentioned.
The movie inconsistency wasn't the only thing that caused Hubbs and a handful of students to start researching Hillar's claims.
Hubbs, a former Marine vet, said what bothered him the most were the stories about Hillar being high atop the army's chain of command. "He specifically said I'm retired Army Colonel, Special Forces. Delta Force took part in all these operations," said Hubbs.
Hubbs tracked down documentation that shows Hillar was in the Coast Guard reserves, but there is no record of him in the army or any type of special forces.
Central Coast New talked to a special forces group that said they have been tracking Hillar for years. "We don't go after the people that tell somebody at a bar 'I'm a Green Beret,' we go after people like Hillar that make themselves public figures," said Jeff Hinton a retired Green Beret.
Hillar has been posted as a fraud for over a year on the website Jeff Hinton started, professional soldiers.com. A place for special forces to network with each other.
Go to www.kionrightnow.com or www.kcba.com for more details on this story as the unfold.
