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.
