Conman who fleeced elderly jailed
"He makes his way into people's lives. He gains their confidence. It's not a genuine friendship because, if it was, he wouldn't disappear like the night." Judge Philip Crayton
Victims of an ageing conman who used friendship to con women out of $10,000 and then did a runner from his fiancee and police are convinced they are only the tip of the iceberg.
William Edward Harding’s eyes flickered across the Whanganui District Court on Monday while he was sentenced to three years’ jail for fraud, but he never once looked at the public gallery.
A line of women filled the front seats, all harmed in some way by Harding’s manipulation and deceit. The youngest, a granddaughter of one of Harding’s victims, said the 78-year-old conman had to have more victims.
‘‘It makes me sick to my stomach to think of how many others have suffered at his hands.
‘‘He should never be released as he is a danger to the community.’’
She implored Judge Philip Crayton while reading her victim impact statement to give Harding the maximum sentence possible, saying there was a need to ‘‘protect the vulnerable’’.
Harding’s frauds involved three elderly female victims.
Two were friends who in 2015 loaned him a total of $9800 when he said he needed money to get property from a recently-deceased brother from Dunedin to Whanganui.
One of the victims said she gave Harding money she was saving to buy herself hearing aids.
But there was no property or dead brother, and he used the money to buy jewellery for the third victim – his fiancee.
The couple were house-hunting in 2016, with Harding saying he would finance any property purchase with an inheritance from a deceased sibling.
Despite his bride-to-be providing nothing toward the purchase, he demanded she sign the sale and purchase agreement.
A deposit had to be paid by February 2, 2016, and the remainder paid a week later.
On the day the deposit was due, Harding said he was going to the dairy, but never returned.
That left his fiancee responsible for the purchase.
She had to pay $6000 to break the agreement, and spent another $1800 on lawyers’ fees.
Harding then went on the run and police found him a year later.
Family members of other victims used their impact statements to raise concerns about Harding offending against others.
The judge said he could not speculate about other possible victims, but said the community needed to be protected. ‘‘In my assessment of your history and this offending, your risk of reoffending in the future should be considered as very high.’’
The judge also took issue with defence lawyer Stephen Ross saying Harding’s behaviour was not ‘‘typical conman-type offending’’.
‘‘He makes his way into people’s lives. He gains their confidence. It’s not a genuine friendship because, if it was, he wouldn’t disappear like the night.
‘‘At the end of the day, he is a practised fraudster.’’
Harding was ordered to pay reparation, despite the judge saying Harding had no means to pay it upon release.