NZ - The cookware, the greed, the scam and the mother
- From: indigoace@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx (Indigo Ace)
- Date: Fri, 17 Feb 2006 21:12:10 GMT
There's a picture of Ms. Gaul at the URL below. From The Press--
The cookware, the greed, the scam and the mother
18 February 2006
By JO MCKENZIE-MCLEAN
Three Dutch conmen who targeted Cantabrians with a sophisticated
kitchenware scam found themselves no match for a crime-busting
Canterbury mother.
Jo Gaul said she was angry when she and a friend paid $3100 for cheap
Chinese pots, knives and cutlery after believing the trio's claim they
were a top German brand. So she decided to "play them at their own
game".
Gaul lured them to a Oxford Terrace restaurant by appealing to their
greed.
Gaul not only got her money back but prompted the three's arrest as
they tried to flee New Zealand after collecting more than $130,000.
Gaul's actions, along with some help from two friends, landed Jacobus
Haisch, 24, Johannes Hendrik Schaaf, 43, and Daniel Jeffry De Gast,
42, in the dock of the Christchurch District Court, where they
admitted duping more than $33,000 from dozens of Cantabrians who
believed their lies about the kitchenware. Detectives learned another
$104,000 had been sent back to Holland.
Within a few days more than 70 victims had come forward.
On Wednesday, Judge Phil Moran remanded all three in custody and told
them they had "better get used to the idea" of being in jail.
Gaul said she called on the example of the elderly Christchurch
petanque players who hogtied a burglar they caught inside their
clubhouse in December.
Gaul became involved when one of the conmen visited her Tai Tapu house
on January 27 and sold kitchenware packages to her and a friend.
Everything appeared legitimate, but after her friend got home and
opened the package she realised they had been scammed.
"She looked up on the internet and found out it was a cheap
knock-off," Gaul said. "Within 15 minutes of him leaving he had banked
the cheques. That's when I realised it was really sinister."
She rang the police to be told the rip-off "wasn't a police matter".
"I was more angry realising the amount of money I lost ... so I tried
the guy's phone. I thought `I'll play you at your own game'. The only
way to get it was to appeal to his greed and order more stock."
Gaul's first strategy was to lure the conman back to her home, where
she planned to lock him in the horse harness shed.
"My 15-year-old and I were going to jump on him and tie him up. I made
lassoes up and had them ready.
"I asked him how much it would cost to buy the rest of his products
and he said another $800. Once he said that I thought, `Yes, I've
hooked him'."
The conman suggested she join him and his partner for lunch in town,
Gaul said. "Going into town I prayed to God ? `Help me, give me a plan
that works'."
Armed with a horseman rope to serve as handcuffs if required, Gaul did
a drive-by of the restaurant and worked out a plan.
She rang the police to alert them over she was going to do.
"I told (the police communications centre) I had a lunch date with the
two conmen on my own and they said it wasn't a police matter.
"The police asked what my strategy was and I told them, `I am going to
try to get support from some Kiwi guys at the bar to cover the front
and back door and if they make a run for it, we'll tie them down'.
They (the police) rang me back saying I wasn't allowed to use ropes or
hit them."
Gaul's duped friend and her friend's husband joined the operation at
the last minute ? one acting as a hidden photographer and the other as
back-up support.
"(The conmen) were sitting outside and I knew all we had to do was
trap them in between the glass wall and table so we could block them
off. And my friend was to take photos from across the street."
Initially, Gaul approached the men on her own. Her male friend joined
the group once she was seated.
Gaul confronted the men with internet copies of the cheap products
they had sold and threatened that police were a phone call away.
"Once I confronted them, they backed down. I was very peaceful about
it. I think that's why they responded so well.
"I would have used my handcuffs. I don't find restraint intimidating.
I've roped sheep and cattle before. They were characterless, sleazy
men and that type are usually quite gutless."
The conmen relented and gave back the money and the group walked to
the men's car where the sham products were handed over, Gaul said.
The car registration number led police to the men.
"If the plan had failed I saw they had man-bags. I was going to grab
those and lock myself in the toilet and create a scene."
Fraud Squad chief Detective Sergeant Virginia Le Bas would not comment
about the case because it was before the court.
The three conmen are due to be sentenced next month.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/stuff/0,2106,3576009a10,00.html
--
Anne
indigoace at goodsol period com
http://www.goodsol.com/cats/
.
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