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NATIONAL ALERT OVER NEWSPAPER CONMAN

By Neal Snowdon

A NATIONAL alert has been issued after a conman dreamed up bogus newspapers in Manchester to dupe firms out of thousands of pounds worth of computer gear.

David Hart convinced companies he was writing reviews for the make-believe publications and got them to loan him hi-tech equipment. But the Manchester Evening News can reveal the papers and magazines for which he claims to write do not exist.

Now public relations businesses around the country have been alerted to Hart and furious company bosses are demanding their property back.

Amazingly, Hart used exactly the same trick five years ago. He told public relations firms he was setting up a giveaway paper called Manchester Tonight in order to gain free foreign trips and gifts. Manchester Tonight never appeared. But that has not stopped Hart using its name again to get goods he says will be reviewed in its consumer pages.

Hart operated from addresses in Alfred Street, Bury, and then in London, claiming to be reviewing computer equipment for five other titles, including the non-existent Manchester Observer.

He brags that he has a full page of his own in each publication to review equipment PR companies sent to him. But the PR companies are being left to trace Hart to regain their costly equipment and ask why they have never seen any reviews.

When they gave him goods for his paper, they did not realise that he was actually living in a house owned by a housing trust that was taking legal moves to evict him. He denies he owes them money.

The Source, the on-line PR information service, has appealed to all its subscribers for information about Hart and the way he operates. When the M.E.N. traced Hart and posed as a PR company that could offer him equipment to review, he initially claimed he worked for five publications, including the Manchester Observer, which he said was a free daily paper.

Hart said he had review pages in each of them and would send reviews. When our reporter identified himself as from the M.E.N. and said PR firms were angry at being misled, he said: I dont think thats true.

When asked about allegations that he is spreading inaccurate and misleading information about himself, he said: To be honest, I want to get the Manchester Observer going. But its not in print and there are no reviews.

Hart eventually admitted he was not a reviewer and had a job in telesales. But he denied failing to return on-loan computer gear. Anything I had was returned, he said. People who say they have not received things back have never come on to me to ask for it back. But anything people believe is still outstanding, I will look into.

Firms chasing Hart have often found dead or unanswered phone lines. The latest address given was Leigham Court Road, Streatham, London.

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-- Dee (T1Colt556@aol.com), February 25, 2000

Answers

And the punchline is...?

Perhaps all this printing gear has a bright future printing out bogus five or ten Pound notes?

WW

-- Wildweasel (vtmldm@epix.net), February 25, 2000.