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'Academy' existed to steal, police say

An Oregon man is accused of receiving merchandise from computer companies and reselling it for a profit.

By ALEXANDRA ZAYAS
Published December 16, 2005

TAMPA - On a Web site for the Federal BioResearch Academy, registered to a Baron Thor Vandenburgh IV, its chancellor said the institute is "entirely devoted to the prevention, cure and elimination of Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy."

And fighting mad cow disease is a high-tech task, apparently. For at least a year, Dell, Hewlett-Packard and Toshiba shipped $600,000 worth of equipment to the academy's headquarters in Tampa Palms at a discounted price.

But when the bills weren't paid, a Tampa police investigation led to a costly conclusion for the computer companies: There was no school, no chancellor and no baron. The scientific lingo on the Web site had been plagiarized from a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention periodical.

All that existed was a recently vacated apartment where the academy should have been and a discarded box in the hallway.

A shipping label on the box pointed police to William Hillman III at an address in Ashland, Ore. Tampa police Detective Robert Baxter said Hillman had purchased the hardware and software in volume from the companies, repackaged them in a garage he rented and sold them for profit to an independent out-of-state computer shop. He then left the state.

Hillman, 60, is being held without bail in the Orient Road Jail, charged with three counts of organized fraud over $50,000, two counts of first-degree grand theft and one count of second-degree grand theft.

He was originally arrested in Oregon on Sept. 29, and was extradited to Tampa Tuesday, where Hillsborough sheriff's deputies arrested him, Baxter said.

Hewlett-Packard contacted Tampa police when a private investigation it did into the Federal BioResearch Academy led the company to believe the academy did not exist. Baxter contacted several companies to see if they'd done business with the firm, and Dell and Toshiba came forward.

Dell had a case open since August 2004 and told Baxter that only $4,000 was paid on the $300,000 worth of electronics purchased - an attempt to keep Hillman off Dell's radar, Baxter thinks. The other two received no payments, Baxter said.

Toshiba did not return a phone call Thursday. Dell declined to comment on the case, saying only that the company was cooperating with authorities. In an e-mail, Hewlett-Packard offered a similar statement.

Baxter doesn't think there were any conspirators in the scam, but because it was so well organized and planned out, he believes either Hillman was coached or he's experienced in fraud.

"I can only prove what I've investigated back to August of '04, but I don't see any signs that he had legitimate income prior to that," Baxter said.

A search of Hillman's prior addresses yielded post office boxes in Florida, Colorado, California and New Jersey. He was arrested three years ago in Manatee County for check fraud.

Baxter said Hillman has operated under fake names and companies, and the utilities for his Oregon home are listed in his alias, Billy Tree, affiliated with the Free Christ Church - which doesn't exist. He's also been involved in several bankruptcies.

His wife Simone, whose also appears on bankruptcy records, has not been charged, but Baxter said detectives are looking at any involvement she might have had.

Simone Hillman did not return a message Thursday.

The Temple Terrace Police Department is investigating how Hillman funded his lifestyle a year prior to the alleged scam, and Tampa police are working with detectives in New Jersey to research past businesses he may have had there.

"It's my feeling that this has been his lifestyle," Baxter said.

Times researcher Carolyn Edds contributed to this report. Alexandra Zayas can be reached at 813 226-3354 or at azayas@sptimes.com

[Last modified December 16, 2005, 01:15:26]