From another victim of Shaun, this time from the Canadian prespective (2010)

The beginning…….

It was a cold and blistery January day when I first met Shaun, much like the space in his chest where his heart should be.  He charmed his way into my life quickly and things moved fast. He moved in with me after about three weeks of dating. That right there was the first red flag which I chose to ignore.

Shaun claimed to have just arrived in Montreal from Ireland and did not yet have a job lined up. A valid reason it seemed at the time.The second red flag sprang up when one day upon arriving home from work Shaun informed me that he had lost his wallet; it must have fallen out of the pocket of his jeans he claimed.  Along with his wallet, he had lost any ID cards, his Bank of Ireland card and his credit card.  He assured me that he would repay me in full within weeks and that if I could just cover his expenses for the time being that would be most appreciative. Being the sucker that I am for those less fortunate I agreed to help him out.

The process of getting his cards back took a long while. When he finally did receive both his credit card and bank card back, he came up with a new story to capture me. Shaun’s assets were frozen so he was unable to access any money from any accounts. The reason which I never really understood, but it had something to do with the sale of his house in Ireland that was in the process of going through. Luckily though, according to Shaun, his ‘accountant’ in Ireland who was a good friend of the family would be able to lend him some money in the meantime, until his financials were sorted out. All I had to do was pay for his flight down there (approximately $1,000 CAD) to sort everything out.  No shock, Shaun returned back with no money but assuring me that his ‘accountant’ was handling it and that it would all be taken care of within days.

To make a very long and depressing story short I never saw a dime from Shaun and he continued to borrow money from me for a cell phone, for his cigarettes, for every day expenses as well as two more trips to Ireland to desperately sort out ‘his finances’.I stayed with Shaun for about 8 months longer than I really wanted to; I wanted him to pay me back in full, or even a portion, before I kicked him to the curb. Eventually I got fed up of waiting and didn’t care about the money anymore and just wanted Shaun out of my life forever.  The day I kicked Shaun out was one of the happiest days of my life.

Just when I thought he was gone…..

Sadly, the story doesn’t end there. Similar to Shaun’s other victims Shaun continued to harass me, telling me how much he loved me and couldn’t possibly live without me. He went so far as to write me an email talking like he was going to kill himself. I didn’t hear from him for 2 days (this is where he wanted me to think he was dead). I wrote back saying that I was going to contact the police in Ireland (which is where Shaun had fled after Canada) to tell them that he was suicidal. Shaun instantly replied begging me not to.

Just when I thought he was gone for good…..

A few months went by and I thought I had finally rid of him. Then, out of the blue, I receive an email that says that he has nowhere to live and that he is living on the street and that he can only go into a internet café once every few days to use their free internet. He asked for just a little bit of money so he could stay in a shelter for the night and eat food that wasn’t out of the garbage can.  I complied. I would be a horrible person if I left someone starve to death, despite how much I hated Shaun at that moment. After a few more installments of cash I didn’t hear from Shaun again.

Until…..

About six months later Shaun emailed me to tell me that he was living with a new girlfriend and that she was pregnant and they were going to have a baby. Sadly though, Shaun claimed that he had just been diagnosed of cancer and had only a few months left to live. He of course was looking for some money so that his girlfriend and kid could be looked after when he passed away.  At this point, I had finally come to my senses and realized that my initial instincts were right, that Shaun was indeed a conman. I wrote him back to pretty much say so sad to head the news but that there was nothing that I could do for him and that the cancer was pretty much his karma. And that, my friends, was the very last I heard from Shaun. At that point I had really hoped he had died of cancer and I was very very to hear about this blog and find out that he was still very much alive. Just my bloody luck.

The lies

Most of the lies that the other victims have mentioned have all been used on my by Shaun. So I won’t re-post these here, but what I will do is share with you one incident in particular that is the most shocking.

I was organizing a fundraising event at my office for a charity foundation that raises money for terminally ill children. I had brought the cash I collected home with me so I could roll it up and cash it in at the bank to get a cheque for the foundation.  I had around $2,000 CAD in cash.I hid this money in my sock drawer at home.

When it came time to roll up the money, I noticed that I was severely short of the $2,000 I should had had. I suspected Shaun right away and even confronted him about it. He denied taking anything and somehow convinced me that I must have lost some of the money on my way home (some must have fallen out of the envelope) or something along those lines.

I stupidly gave him the benefit of the doubt and had to contribute my own personal money to make up the difference for the amount I was short, which was around $800- $1,000.

Looking back now, obviously it was Shaun who stole the money. I am never one to lose things, ever.

Nice guy, stealing money from terminally ill children. I guess lesson learned is always trust your instincts.