Fake Navy SEAL Gets What's Coming to Him After Defrauding Christian Group

William Burley, a 36-year-old man from California, has spent years ripping people off.

On Monday, Burley was sentenced to three years in jail for defrauding a Christian charity group who sought his Navy SEAL “skills” to help them rescue kidnapped aid workers in Somalia.

The judge also ordered him to pay full restitution of $32,454 to the Christian nonprofit aid group.

Douglas Mann, president of the U.S. arm of International Aid Services (IAS), said:

“The biggest travesty was it wasn’t just somebody tricking you, but there are people’s lives in the balance. He did a pretty awful thing, and it’s good he'll have to pay accounts for that.”

Four IAS workers were ambushed and assaulted in Somalia while doing humanitarian work. According to the Justice Department, one worker was shot and the three others were kidnapped.

Burley claimed he was a Navy SEAL and offered to help negotiate with the Somali captors and rescue the hostages if need be.

He toted numerous Naval accommodations, educational credentials, and falsely claimed to have been a consultant for the Navy and Departments of Defense and State.

IAS America agreed to pay Burley $30,000 for himself and another person to travel to Kenya. After he reported that his negotiations had failed, he returned to America with a “rescue plan” and presented more claims about his “past achievements.”

The nonprofit contacted Don Shipley — a man well-known for exposing SEAL impersonators — after Burley's empty-handed return aroused suspicion. Don Shipley confronted the conman in the YouTube video above.

Read the full story on IJR.com

Photo: Youtube