Published , by Brittany Vincent
Published , by Brittany Vincent
Gearbox Software CEO Randy Pitchford and his wife Kristy Pitchford are some of the latest to fall victim to a Texas man who supposedly stole millions from the couple, then disappeared.
According to The Dallas Morning News, John Wright Martin siphoned millions from Pitchford and his wife, to the tune of around $3 million. Martin was never employed at Pitchford's company Gearbox Software – this money came from Pitchford and wife's personal finances. The discovery came in 2017 after the couple found one of their bank accounts coming up short when preparing for payroll at their Nerdvana business. The bread crumb trail then lead them to Martin.
Martin, referred to as a "charming grifter," was often purchasing designer clothing, expensive cars, and lavishing massive amounts of attention on his friends and loved ones, things he could never reasonably afford on a $45k salary. He would forge Kristy Pitchford's name on checks, and eventually agreed with the Pitchfords' attorney that he would pack back $780,000 due to a "mix-up" with accounts he claimed to have had. Unsurprisingly, this money was never paid back, and the Pitchfords continued to find additional evidence of his wrongdoing.
This lead to a civil court's summary judgment, eventually, after others also reported bounced checks and missing money due to Martin's web of lies, but Martin curiously never showed up for the civil trial.
Further, Martin failed to appear for the criminal trial set for August 28 following that, with a curious development: Apparently even his attorney has no idea where he's gone. Martin is still at large, and requests for interviews have only received an answer that there's "more to the story" than Martin being charged for crimes he "did not commit." He agreed to an interview to explain "his side of the story," but he hasn't responded to any further messages.
The Pitchfords have stated they don't expect to recover their stolen funds.