Some people steal cars, some people steal identities, and some people just shoplift, but this story out of Pennsylvania is about a next-level (albeit failed) theft. Timothy Bierly is accused of trying to steal a mansion worth $5 million in Richland, Pennsylvania.
Of course, the guy didn't try to just grab the place and declare dibs. Bierly allegedly created a fake email account, bank statements, and wire transfers, then posed as a local attorney in order to trick his own real estate agent and the homeowners so he could scam his way into a mansion. So, you know, work.
It all began, according to police, when Bierly took a tour of the home and lied to the owners and his real estate agent that he could buy the place with cash, having sold his business in Florida for a whopping $52 million. To sweeten the non-deal, he then said his title attorney could wire the owners a down payment of $50,000.
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With Bierly posing as the title attorney (a real Philadelphia attorney, Kathleen Schneider), he tried to delay the closing of the home, which made the homeowner so suspicious — and probably irritated — they went to the real Schneider's office, to learn she had no idea what was going on. Not surprisingly, the police got involved and Bierly was arrested.
“He was just picked up in Rhode Island where he was facing unrelated criminal charges in that town and notified the authorities up there that we had the warrant so now he’s in custody,” Chief John Sicilia with the Northern Regional Police Department told WPXI News.
Bierly is facing charges including forgery and criminal attempted theft by deception. But, on the plus side, he now has a great story to tell his cellmate.
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