Pie in the sky

By Casey Neill
AN UPWEY woman has taken the law into her own hands to bring a money-scamming pie bandit to justice.
Julie Gartlan has warned the public to watch out for such fraudsters.
Ringwood Magistrates’ Court sentenced Mark Andrew Robertson to two months’ jail and a one month suspended sentence on 29 March after finding him guilty of two counts of obtaining property by deception.
Ms Gartlan and other Belwey Motors staff last October handed over more than $90 to Mr Robertson, who claimed he was raising cash to send a Victorian Tenpin Bowling Association team overseas.
Ms Gartlan said he was wearing a tenpin bowling polo shirt and seemed genuine.
Mr Robertson used a fund-raising sheet from Bayswater’s Okka Pies and told Belwey staff their orders would arrive two days later.
Ms Gartlan asked for a contact number in case the pies didn’t show.
“I didn’t think I’d actually need it,” she said.
The order did not arrive and she discovered the mobile number was disconnected, and so called the pie store’s owners.
They had received similar complaints in 2003 and told her the order was a fraud.
Ms Gartlan reported the swindle to police but took matters into her own hands when she was unhappy with their response. “I thought ‘well you’re not doing anything’,” she said.
She tracked down an address and phone number for Mr Robertson’s mother, who put Ms Gartlan in touch with her son.
Ms Gartlan said Mr Robertson at first denied any involvement in the scam but broke down, agreed to meet her at Boronia Police Station and handed himself in.
“I feel like putting in an invoice to police for all the phone calls,” she said.
Ms Gartlan has vowed to contact Mr Robertson when he is released from prison.
“I’ll keep watch on him,” she said.
“I won’t let it happen to anybody else.”
The court also ordered Mr Robertson to repay the money he unlawfully obtained.
Okka Pies owner Lynda Hultgren said the scam had hurt her 20-year-old family business.
“A lot of people have been affected. We’re a small family business and we’ve taken it personally,” she said.
“We’ve built our business up on good reputation and being honest.”
“It’s upsetting that he’s used our product and our reputation to gain financially.”
Ms Hultgren urged people not to hand over money before receiving their product unless they knew the fund-raiser.