Content area
Full Text
Indianapolis not-for-profit executives weren't the first to believe Joe Bilby's story of inherited wealth, or the grand plans he had for using it.
This time last year, he was planning an $8 million Arabian horse-breeding facility in Tennessee, according to the Pennsylvania firm that drew up designs. All the work revolved around a 700-acre estate, for which Bilby had not deposited a dime of earnest money.
Bilby's promises about multimillion-dollar charitable gifts and business deals remain unfulfilled, bringing to mind the cliche about offers that sound too good to be true. His story would fit neatly with any number of investment schemes but for the ending. Bilby didn't walk away with anyone's money.
"Everybody that hears about it said, 'Wait a minute, what does this guy have to gain from all this, other than some kind of ego trip?"' said Dan Nissley, a sales representative for King Construction Co. in New Holland, Pa., which sank $51,000 in travel and design work into Bilby's project. "It just makes no sense."
Equally puzzling, Bilby promised multimillion-dollar gifts to local cultural institutions, including the Eiteljorg Museum of American Indians and Western Art.
The motive for making big, dramatic promises isn't always financial, experts said.
"You know all those guys that pretend they were in the military? Why do they do it? Recognition," said Jack Schafer, a psychologist and former FBI behavior analyst who advises law enforcement and attorneys on deception. Schafer teaches at Western Illinois University in Macomb, Ill.
Bilby didn't seek public recognition for his philanthropy, but word about a deep-pocketed newcomer from Trafalgar quickly spread in fundraising circles last fall.
Bilby attended the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra's season-opening gala in September with his wife, Patricia Jefferson-Bilby, a dean at the University of Indianapolis. She has been...