Gearbox CEO and president Randy Pitchford is among the many victims of a con artist who’s presently at massive after allegedly embezzling hundreds of thousands from Pitchford and his spouse, Kristy Pitchford.
John Wright Martin (pictured above) labored as a private assistant to the Pitchfords beginning in 2014. Kristy Pitchford is the proprietor of the Nerdvana Frisco, a restaurant and occasional store, and Martin allegedly had entry to the couple’s enterprise bank card. Over the course of two years, the Pitchfords say Martin spent as much as $three million on their accounts, making lavish donations to charity and buying a $591,000 house in one among Frisco’s costly neighborhoods, according to Dallas News.
The Dallas News report, which Polygon highlighted Sunday, particulars Martin’s historical past of arrests for writing dangerous cheques and drunk driving, in addition to his champagne style: He appreciated designer garments, threw big events, and took his pals on extravagant journeys to Europe, all utilizing cash he didn’t have. The Pitchfords had employed him for an annual wage of $45,000, however he left the job in 2016 to launch his personal inside design firm.
Martin was by no means an worker of Gearbox Software, and the corporate’s funds haven’t been affected by his theft from the Pitchfords.
Last yr, the Pitchfords filed expenses within the Collins County court docket, and Martin was charged with theft and forgery – in line with Frisco police, he cast Kristy Pitchford’s title on at the least seven cheques. The Pitchfords had gotten a discover from their financial institution that their accounts wouldn’t cowl their payroll, and that led them to contact Martin.
Martin signed an settlement with the Pitchfords to repay them, however that compensation by no means occurred. At one level he wrote the couple a examine for $598,000, but it surely bounced.
Randy Pitchford estimates that he and Kristy misplaced $three million to Martin, who’s presently at massive and sought by police on a number of arrest warrants, together with for failure to seem at an August 28 court docket date, and for bouncing a $76,971 cheque for a Cadillac Escalade.
“He didn’t destroy us,” Randy Pitchford instructed Dallas News. But he worries for whoever is subsequent in Martin’s path.
Top picture credit score: John Wright Martin Building + Interiors
Source
