Earlier this year, Golf Digest Senior Writer Joel Beall approached his editors with an intriguing tip: A golf pro named Scott Power was accused of defrauding the owner and customers of a new golf academy in Georgia. Even more remarkable, Beall learned that the most recent case only scratched the surface of Power’s deceptions.
On August 10, Powers was arrested, and the next day, Beall’s fascinating story, The true story of a golf pro's lies, fraud, threats and tales of murder, was published.
We spoke to Beall about his process in reporting on Power, the challenge of sifting through countless stories layered with fabrications, and his report’s surprising, even encouraging, aftermath.
This interview was edited for clarity.
How did this story first get on your radar?
I received a message on Twitter from a man named Chason Perry who said he was recently the victim of a "con job" and asked if we would be interested in hearing more. Within a few minutes of our conversation, it appeared this wasn't just a one-off scam but potentially part of a series of fraud-related instances. By the end of the month, we had started our reporting.
Feels like a lot of people didn’t look enough into Power's background before partnering with him. How do you explain it?
I'm sure an outside observer thinks of it as laziness or negligence, but the reason Power and others like him are able to get away with these things is how convincing they can be. Not only with their personalities or charm, but the story they are selling. In Power's case, his résumé was so detailed and specific; most people don't assume they are dealing with a pathological liar. There's a reason millions of fraud cases happen in this country every year. People want to trust other people, especially if there's no reason to doubt them.
Now that Power has been caught and the story has been published, what has the reaction been?
There have been a number of people who have reached out with their stories of Power. There were plenty of other readers that sent in different fraud experiences with those in the golf industry.
An upshot that I wasn’t expecting was an outpouring of support for Perry. Since the story has gone out Perry has been receiving calls, emails and messages, with some even offering ways to help him out. I think that’s important to note because while this story dealt with some unsavory characters, this outcome was a reminder that people are ultimately good.
Read Joel’s full story here. |
