A GLENWOOD business owner was left speechless after a man, pretending to be the new Hospice charity tin collector, disappeared with the store’s tin of money.
Barbara Fagan of Village Hardware at Glenwood Village Shopping Centre said the incident occurred on a busy Friday morning. “He came in with a little note book and said he was from Hospice to collect the tin. I asked what happened to Johnny who had collected the tins for decades and he simply said he had replaced Johnny,” she said.
Fagan said the neatly dressed Indian man was possibly in his early thirties and looked very respectful so she assumed the regular tin collector had retired. It was only after he had left without handing them a receipt and replacing the full tin with an empty one that she realised something was amiss. “To steal from Hospice which supports people who are dying is unacceptable, but thieves will take any opportunity. I just want to warm other people at centres, shops and garages. If you have a charity tin be wary of a man posing as the collector,” she advised. Later that day Fagan went to warn other stores and a pharmacy cashier realised the same man had come through and pretended to be the collector of an animal welfare tin. “It was also a young Indian man who said he was from the organisation and didn’t replace the tin he took. He came when we were very busy and I was working on the tills alone. I can’t believe someone is going around stealing donation money,” the cashier said.
Vanessa Rhynes, centre manager of Glenwood Village said, “We regret hearing about these opportunistic incidents of crime and want to warn all malls and businesses that carry these charity tins to scrutinise who collects the tins. It is a very sad situation,”
Heather Walker, fundraiser at Highway Hospice said, the unfortunate incident has happened before. “The public and shopkeepers need to be aware of this man as it does have an impact on funding for Highway Hospice and other NGO’s.”
