Virginia Con Man's Elaborate Plan to Avoid Bankruptcy Will Blow Your Mind

It's WTF Wednesday on today's episode of Hard Factor News and the Hive supplied an excellent array of crazy stories from around the world! 

One story, out of the commonwealth of Virginia, could very well be Jim Carrey's comeback to the box office, as one man committed numerous fraudulent acts in order to hide his assets before a bankruptcy proceeding.  

This one is a doozy, folks.  Strap in. 

Russell Geyer, 50, was scheduled to appear in court after voluntarily declaring bankruptcy in 2018 and so he drew up an ingenious plan to avoid losing all of his shit.  Geyer and his wife declared debts totaling over HALF A MILLION DOLLARS.  If you're wondering how that's even possible, here's a list of some of their delinquencies. 

-Behind on payments for three of their four vehicles 

-Behind on payments for both their home and rental property...and for most of the furniture inside. 

-They haven't made payments on their electricity bills, their bank overdrafts, credit cards, and countless medical bills

-AND (to no surprise) they owe more than 50 creditors for various items as including a Kawasaki bike.

The plan to avoid the proceeding started early in the case when Geyer told his attorney that he was being treated for Prostate Cancer down in Florida and that it had spread to his bones.  Then, just a few months later, he informed his attorney that he and his wife were still in Florida, but this time in very bad condition.  He claimed his treatment had failed and that his wife had a heart procedure done, leaving them both in hospice care.  

His attempts to skip trial were unsuccessful, so Geyer decided to kick it up a notch.  Hacking into his wife's email, Geyer sent another message to his own attorney, this time signing it as his wife and claiming that her husband had suffered a brain aneurysm and died while being transported back to Virginia.  This message came just days before Geyer was supposed to appear in court for the Bankruptcy proceeding and was NOT suspicious at all.  Geyer, in an attempt to then hide the assets, created a fake email address for a real attorney in Florida and wrote a threatening message to his own attorney again, saying that he had sold off everything. 

 “[Geyer's wife] doesn’t know anything about this, and neither does Russell." … "I have complete control of Russell and told him to kill himself. You will not find him in time.” … “I am on a plane out of the country.”

Geyer, then turning on his wife and using the attorney's identity again, downloaded an app on his phone to disguise his voice and trick his wife into wiring him $70,000 dollars in order to release a $1M settlement from an unrelated case.  

A regular ole Frank Abagnale.  

Law enforcement quickly discovered that the attorney whose name Geyer used to con his own attorney had nothing to do with this and didn't know Geyer at all.  Geyer's attorney then phoned his wife to send his condolences for his passing, only to find out he was not dead and she had NO CLUE any of this was going on.  

Here's where it all comes undone…

The day before the trial, a process server came to give the Geyers notice of the hearing the next day but unfortunately, he was met by an empty house.  Just before the process server got into his car to leave, a car pulled into the driveway with both Mr. and Mrs. Geyer inside.  

The next day, Mr. Geyer left his home before his wife did, and when she arrived at the courthouse, he was nowhere to be found. She told the court she had no idea about any of the elaborate lies her husband had made up to avoid the hearing and that she had no idea where he was.  

Later that day, Mr. Geyer texted his wife to tell her he was in a West Virginia hospital after a failed suicide attempt, but Geyer was later tracked down by police and underwent a psychiatric evaluation that surprisingly found him to be competent to stand trial.  I personally think it might be worth running that back one more time because this dude DEFINITELY belongs in the Looney bin.  I'm no psychiatrist though.  

Russell Geyer pleaded guilty earlier this month to contempt of court, bankruptcy fraud, wire fraud, and aggravated identity fraud and faces life in prison. His sentencing is set for August 6th, so hopefully they keep an eye on him/lock him down until then.

Get the full story covered on today's episode below and catch all-new episodes Monday-Friday.  Your daily dose of News Cocaine.  

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