Mel Spillman (born 1948) is an American
probate
Probate is the judicial process whereby a will is "proved" in a court of law and accepted as a valid public document that is the true last testament of the deceased, or whereby the estate is settled according to the laws of intestacy in the sta ...
clerk and
fraud
In law, fraud is intentional deception to secure unfair or unlawful gain, or to deprive a victim of a legal right. Fraud can violate civil law (e.g., a fraud victim may sue the fraud perpetrator to avoid the fraud or recover monetary compens ...
ster who transferred properties of dead people to his own accounts.
Spillman lived in
San Antonio, Texas. In the 1970s he was begun to work as a clerk in
Bexar County courthouse. In the 1980s he began to work as a probate consultant in the medical examiner's office, handling
funeral
A funeral is a ceremony connected with the final disposition of a corpse, such as a burial or cremation, with the attendant observances. Funerary customs comprise the complex of beliefs and practices used by a culture to remember and respect th ...
arrangements and other affairs of people who had died without heirs. His job was to sell off the property of the deceased and turn to proceeds over to the state. His coworkers knew him as a jovial man.
Spillman lived in a lavish house and seemed fond of
Ferrari
Ferrari S.p.A. (; ) is an Italian luxury sports car manufacturer based in Maranello, Italy. Founded by Enzo Ferrari (1898–1988) in 1939 from the Alfa Romeo racing division as ''Auto Avio Costruzioni'', the company built its first car in ...
s. He bought five of them and raced in racing events all over the USA. He even started his own racing team and had his own
Formula One racing car. He said that he had inherited money from dead relatives.
In fact, Spillman stole money from the estates of dead people. He forged documents and turned the estate over to himself. When he sold the remaining property of the deceased, he did not turn the proceeds over to the state but transferred to money to himself. Sometimes he took over the house of the deceased and put it up for rent. In couple of cases he defrauded the real heirs with forged wills. He might also claim antiques and other items from the deceased's home for himself.
According to later police investigation, he began his forgeries around 1986. Over 15 years, Spillman stole over $5 million from estates of 122 people. His position was officially eliminated 1988 but he continued to do the job. Spillman retired 1999 but said he would continue his work as a private consultant.
In 2001 one of the probate judges notice that Spillman's name was listed on papers that could not be tracked through official channels. Other papers listed Spillman as a court administrator.
Spillman was arrested in July 2002 in a
sting operation
In law enforcement, a sting operation is a deceptive operation designed to catch a person attempting to commit a crime. A typical sting will have an undercover law enforcement officer, detective, or co-operative member of the public play a role a ...
when he left a bank with $900 from a liquidated estate. Investigators found records of the forged wills and defrauded estates in his home. They included real wills Spillman has ignored for his own benefit and papers and mementos from the estates he had drained.
Spillman was charged with tampering with government records, impersonating a public servant and
forgery
Forgery is a white-collar crime that generally refers to the false making or material alteration of a legal instrument with the specific intent to defraud anyone (other than themself). Tampering with a certain legal instrument may be forbidd ...
. In 2002, he pleaded guilty to fraud and was sentenced to ten years in state prison. His sister also pleaded guilty in pillaging one estate. He was paroled in 2008.
References
''Count Clerk Cashes in'' (CBS)''High-flying probate clerk made himself heir to millions'' (''San Francisco Chronicle'')
{{DEFAULTSORT:Spillman, Mel
1948 births
Living people
American people convicted of fraud