Man jailed for giving bogus cheque to charity
Howard Lake | 27 February 2006 | News
A Scottish conman has been jailed for two months after he donated a bogus cheque for £100,000 sterling to a Limerick charity. John Cronin (34), originally from East Lothian, was jailed after pleading guilty to having a cheque, which he knew to be false.
Cronin, who has 21 previous convictions for serious sexual offences, robbery and fraud, gave the fake cheque to Limerick Animal Welfare at a table quiz last Friday week. He had even been thanked by the Mayor of Limerick Cllr Diarmuid Scully for the donation.
He had been posing as a wealthy barrister with terminal cancer. The charity alerted gardai on Monday. He was arrested at Colbert train station in Limerick city.
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When asked by Judge Tom O’Donnell at Limerick District Court what he was trying to acheive by handing over the cheque, Cronin said: “I wanted people to think well of me, and for a brief time they did.”
He apologised for the distress he had caused and added that it was never his intention to gain financially from the fraudulent transaction.
Judge O’Donnell acknowledged the guilty plea but imposed a two-month prison sentence because of the “number of previous convictions” he had amassed.
About Howard Lake
Howard Lake is consultant editor of UK Fundraising. He founded the site in 1994 and successfully sold it in 2022. As director of Giving X Ltd he is exploring growing giving on a massive scale.
He is the founder of Fundraising Camp and co-founder of GoodJobs.