Police seeking two men accused of scam involving cleaning and repairs
Police are trying to find two men who are allegedly pressuring people to pay for cleaning and repair services, then taking the money and fleeing without finishing the job.
Warrants to arrest have been issued for Tommy Ward and William Donohue in relation to a series of incidents.
Police say the pair, who have “strong Irish accents”, are part of a group going door to door offering to clean or repair roofs. They allegedly ask for the money up front but leave without completing the job.
They are believed to be travelling in a silver Volvo SUV and have recently been seen in the Whanganui area.
Numerous people have contacted the Weekend Herald in recent weeks claiming they have been victims of roofing scams.
Greenlane resident Heidrun Leonard, 82, lost almost $9000 after three people with accents claimed they would fix her roof. Leonard said the tradesmen knocked on her door on January 4, saying they had noticed from the street there was a leak in her roof that needed repairs.
One of the men said the trio would fix the tiles on her roof and install two dehumidifiers inside her home but needed money up front to do so.
She wrote a cheque for $8800 which they cashed at the bank.
The next morning they came back to her house and cut a rectangular hole in her ceiling, before fleeing when Leonard’s neighbour arrived and began asking questions.
West Auckland resident Tania Matthews also claimed she was “duped” out of $1700 by two men who agreed to waterblast and paint her roof.
They left it a patchy mess, with splatters on the chimney, side of the house and their car.
Matthews’ neighbour had also paid the men $750 for waterblasting
It looked like they had not done anything. West Auckland resident Tania Matthews
and weeding.
“But it looked like they had not done anything,” she said.
The following day Matthews saw the men’s ute parked outside another house. Her husband confronted them and grabbed their car keys, before calling police.
The men fled on foot. Matthews said the elderly man living in the house told her he had paid them $2500 for a roofing job.