U.S. Soldier Accused of Gunning Down 16 Afghans Is a Con Man Who Feds Say Bilked Elderly Couple Out of a Million
The U.S. soldier who now claims to have no memory of slaughtering 16 Afghan civilians is a “smooth talker” who defrauded an elderly Ohio couple out of their savings, records revealed Tuesday.
Staff Sgt. Robert Bales enlisted in the Army shortly after federal financial regulators found he “engaged in fraud, breach of fiduciary duty, churning, unauthorized trading and unsuitable investments,” according to a report on Bales filed in 2003.
Bales, who was then a stockbroker in Columbus, Ohio, and his partners, were ordered to pay Gary Liebschner and his wife $1,274,000 in compensatory and punitive damages.
So far, he hasn’t paid a dime, according to Liebschner.
“He robbed me of my life savings,” Liebschner told ABC News. “We didn’t know where he was. We heard the Bahamas, and all kinds of places.”
RELATEDBALES REMEMBERS ‘LITTLE’ OF AFGHANISTAN MASSACRE, LAWYER SAYSAsked if Bales is a con man, Liebschner answered, “You’ve hit the nail on the head.”
The newest revelation came a day after Bales’ wife Karilyn issued a statement saying, “what has been reported is completely out of character of the man I know and admire.”
It wasn’t immediately clear if she had any idea that her husband, who has had other brushes with the law, was a disgraced stockbroker with a $1.5 million securities fraud judgment hanging over his head.
Bales, who had worked for the MPI brokerage firm, was a no-show at an arbitration hearing to resolve the complaint the Liebschners filed with the feds in 2000.
The Liebschners claimed they asked Bales to sell their AT&T stock to pay for medical bills. They said they never got the money and soon after Bales fell off the radar.
The Ohio couple said they recognized Bales after he was arrested for the March 11 mass murder.