Case against accused scammer delayed

CHESAPEAKE, Va. - For two years, Financing Alternatives Inc. in Chesapeake has been the focus of a WAVY.com investigation. And for two years, the company has dodged our cameras and our questions. Thursday, it happened again.

George Christian was supposed to be in Chesapeake court Thursday to face charges that he allegedly cheated nearly 1,800 customers, but he suddenly filed for bankruptcy in Norfolk Federal Court, which caused another delay in the case.

WAVY.com obtained court documents indicating Christian claims he owes as many as 10,000 creditors and he's in debt as much as $50 million and he can't pay.

The Attorney General's Office suing Christian in Chesapeake Circuit Court, claims the founder and owner of Financing Alternatives, Inc., stole millions from customers buying computers, using the money to finance his gambling. WAVY.com cameras have captured workers clearing out the company office, loading everything up into a U-Haul parked out back.

"He took all the assets, put them in his wife's name, put them in the house," said an attorney for the Commonwealth. "They're in the garage."

Customers said the company sets up automatic withdrawals from bank accounts, then never sends out the computers.

Complaints have poured in from across the country. An Alabama customer said he sat through a 90-day delay, then a 240-day delay, and never got a computer. An Atlanta customer paid $1,788 for a computer, and it never showed. Same problem for a New Mexico customer who waited two years and never got his computer.

These are just three of about 1,500 complaints. Christian said he wanted to question every single customer in court. A judge rejected his request.

Attorneys for the state said Christian hasn't turned over paperwork, including a master list of all his customers. Christian claimed he lost it.

"I apologize to the court that my housekeeping has been a little errant," said Christian during one of his previous court dates.

The case was continued until November 10, 2009.

On the web:

George Christian Bankruptcy Application