Irish Travelers
ELLAYO
If anyone has any information on a group of conartists called the "irish
Travelers" in Murphy's Village, S.C. I would really appreciate if you would
e-mail me with it.
Whit 4You
There is a thread on this down the list in this newsgrup - it is totally
shocking isnt it? Did you see the Dateline on it? Why this isnt headline news
is beyond me!
Whit
ImNot911
Whit
***You'll probably see a follow-up on Dateline soon. All the networks will
have people in the Augusta, GA area for coverage of the Masters' Golf
Tournament, which is about a 15 minute drive away from Murphy Village.
In spite of the allegations and rumors surrounding the personal lives of the
Travelers, police raids ("justified" by rumors) have uncovered nothing sleazy
or shocking about the Gypsies. There are certainly more newsworthy crimes in
that area than whatever scams some residents of Murphy Village have devised.
Aiken Co. is the same county in which a man gunned down several former
co-workers at Phelon Co. last year, and in another case another man (upset by
some child custody problems) murdered several employees of the North Augusta
Department of Social Services. So you see, even on the local scale, the
Gypsies are not felonious stand-outs, just convenient non-conforming
scapegoats.
JoAnn
Jack1Olsen
Hi JoAnn --
You post, > So you see, even on the local scale, the
>Gypsies are not felonious stand-outs, just convenient non-conforming
scapegoats.>>
Exactly what Gypsy criminals would like you to believe -- and light-years away
from the truth. Gypsy scams, usually focused on the elderly, result in huge
losses -- just recently, $650,000 to a San Diego man and $250,000 to a San Jose
senior, among many others. Across the U.S. Gypsy scams bring in millions
annually and are only now beginning to be prosecuted by lawmen who in the past
have just thrown up their hands and settled for restitution.
A San Francisco grand jury has indicted six members of the local branch of a
notorious Gypsy family, the Tene Bimbos (of Peter Maas' KING OF THE GYPSIES)
for elder scams totaling $2 million and resulting in the poison deaths of four
old men.
In New York, a Gypsy husband and wife got away with the murder of an elderly
man whom they poisoned with digitalis and other toxins. As usual, the NYPD and
Manhattan D.A.'s office couldn't cope with the sophistication and experience of
the criminals and allowed them to walk.
For years the rationalization about Gypsy crime was that they never hurt anyone
-- just scammed us out of money and possessions. But time marches on. A Gypsy
man from Staten Island has been charged with knocking on the doors of elderly
and strong-arming them. An old woman was knocked down the stairs and died. An
old man was believed to suffer the same fate. Similar escalations are happening
elsewhere and Gypsy friends are advising me that some are due to narcotics.
On and on. The crackdown is just beginning. It will take years.
Just for the record.
Cordially,
Jack
ImNot911
>From: jack1...@aol.com
Hi JoAnn --
Just for the record.
Cordially,
Jack
***Hello Jack,
I was specifically referring to the gypsy group in SC, who don't have surnames
like Bimbo and Maas; common names there are Scurlock and Carroll. Is it fair
to assume that everyone who is considered "gypsy" is involved in every gypsy
crime? I think the Irish Travelers are not ethnically Gypsy, as are Maas and
Bimbo.
If you know otherwise, please correct me.
JoAnn
Jack1Olsen
Hi JoAnn --
Point by point, since this is such a complex and elusive subject:
<< I was specifically referring to the gypsy group in SC, who don't have
surnames like Bimbo and Maas; common names there are Scurlock and Carroll.>>
As for the names, I think they're irrelevant. Everything I've learned about the
Travelers suggests that they operate in a manner indistinguishable from Gypsy
criminals. And it was interesting to hear the light-skinned green-eyed heroine
of the Dateline show give the secret password by which one Traveler can
recognize another: ":Romanochoy," or something similar. As you know, one of the
Gypsies' words for themselves is "Rom" or "Roma."
<< Is it fair to assume that everyone who is considered "gypsy" is involved in
every gypsy crime?
It would be inaccurate, stupid and grossly unfair. There are many honest
Gypsies, although the culture in general, partly because of its tendencies
toward illiteracy and clannishness, seems to produce more than its share of
criminal activities. In my own backyard, for example, 22 Gypsies were arrested
two weeks ago for a welfare scam involving millions of dollars. Members of the
familia drove Rolls Royces, Jags and Mercedes.
< I think the Irish Travelers are not ethnically Gypsy, as are Maas and
Bimbo.>>
Peter Maas is the name of the author who publicized the Tene Bimbo clan in KING
OF THE GYPSIES. The Bimbos are ethnically Gypsy. I don't know what the hell the
Irish Travelers are -- they sure don't look like Gypsies, but they seem to live
exactly the same kind of lives as criminal Gypsies. And that use of the "Rom"
prefix the other night has me more confused than ever.
In any case, the Irish Travelers seem to represent as big a threat, especially
to the elderly, as any of the bands of criminal Gypsies, and I hope the law
gets on their case as soon as possible.
Tnx for your post.
Jack
(crisisgal)
In <199803280024...@ladder03.news.aol.com> jack1...@aol.com
(Jack1Olsen) writes:
>
>Hi JoAnn --
>
>You post, > So you see, even on the local scale, the
>>Gypsies are not felonious stand-outs, just convenient non-conforming
>scapegoats.>>
>
>Exactly what Gypsy criminals would like you to believe -- and
light-years away
>from the truth. Gypsy scams, usually focused on the elderly, result in
huge
>losses -- just recently, $650,000 to a San Diego man and $250,000 to a
San Jose
>senior, among many others. Across the U.S. Gypsy scams bring in
millions
>annually and are only now beginning to be prosecuted by lawmen who in
the past
>have just thrown up their hands and settled for restitution.
Jack you are soooo right on time here. When I lived up north and was
working in criminal defense our firm was approached by a group of them
who were scamming the elderly - they came into the office laughing
about the gullibility of their marks. The sense of right and wrong and
any feeling for any other living beings seems to be missing.
Maybe it is a cultural thing. Maybe that is how that group of society
looks at live as a whole. That does not mean that it should be
overlooked and accepted.
We heard a few minutes of their stories and their laughter at bilking
seniors out of their life savings and we showed them the door. We just
felt badly that we were not permitted to go to the police with what
they had told us.
Every species has their predators.
Crisis
Martha Sprowles
I've been resisting telling this because I'm certain these "gypsies"
weren't Irish, but here goes:
When we lived in Philadelphia about 25 years ago, a large extended
family--call it a clan--moved into a big old house across the street.
They spoke a strange language; they were dark, like Latins, but they
weren't speaking Spanish. They would not return greetings.
The first thing they did was cut down an enormous tree in the front
yard. It was a real party, and we watched from our porch. There was a
lot of drinking and laughter, and the men took turns with an ax, hacking
away. It took a long time, but the tree finally fell--into Broad
Street. They chopped it up and it disappeared.
Then a U-Haul truck appeared in their driveway. In the morning, it was
painted a different color, with no sign of U-Haul to be seen.
After they cleared away the tree debris, they had another party and
mixed and poured concrete, paving the entire front yard. Then they
parked many, many vehicles there.
The next project we watched was the residing of the house. They started
at the top and installed the siding upside-down, with the "shingles"
overlapping upwards.
Then the police were called because they had a pig staked out in the
back yard (I don't know who called the cops). They assured the cops
they'd get rid of it (our neighbor was a cop, and he told us). The next
day, we heard blood-curdling screams as the pig was slaughtered. We
were not invited to the barbecue.
The cop next door and his brother, early 20's both, had recently
acquired Corvettes, and the "gypsies" came over one day and offered to
do a little bodywork for the brothers. They slapped on compound and
sanded and sanded, and it looked like hell. They couldn't get it
smooth, no matter what they did. The brothers sat on the porch and
watched. The gypsies announced that they were finished and asked for
their money, wherupon the cop pulled his service revolver and told them
they were going to have to pay to have the body work done right. The
gypsies pulled out a wad of bills and handed over several hundred
dollars.
Martha
cel...@prairienet.org
According to some of the doctoral theses here at the U
of Illinois library,the U.S. Irish travellers haven't had
contact with those in Ireland since emmigrating here before
the Civil War(U.S.)They were mule traders until the local
businesses legislated their competion to death.Apparently
they have trouble with school authorities because their
kids prefer to enter their fathers' homerepair,especially,
housepainting businesses and don't "waste" time studying
for college. They aren't Rom but the ones in Ireland were
the only non-Gypsy group to be invited to the World
Gypsy congress.Would be interested in more info on the
the green-eyed lady mentioned in posting. Do the Scottish
"tinkers", apparently a slur-word,still exist as the counterpart
to the Irish travellers and are/were they conected to
Clan McFee/McVay?
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Kimbersh
I'm surprised you've left out one of the more colorful examples of a Traveler
scam -- the negligence suit against Disney for an alleged rape at a Disney
World hotel, later proven to be a complete fake. This is the case that brought
the Irish Travelers to much wider attention.
Mess with the Mouse at your peril. (Geez,why didn't they just try a roofing
scam on Bill Gates?)
Jack1Olsen
Hi Marthy --
Fascinating story about the Gypsies. I've been gone and missed it when you
first posted. Interesting that you lived in Philly -- it's my old home town (in
more ways than one).
Friends to the end
Jack
Don Sobwick
Jack1Olsen
Hi Deb --
West Philly (Cedar avenue). Drexel Hill. Highland Park. I went to Upper Darby
High. Don't mention my name there or you will run the risk of being hit in the
head by an old Philly cheese steak sandwich or a hoagie.
Jack
P. Howard
> There is a thread on this down the list in this newsgrup - it is totally
> shocking isnt it? Did you see the Dateline on it? Why this isnt headline news
> is beyond me!
> Whit
> ***You'll probably see a follow-up on Dateline soon. All the networks will
> have people in the Augusta, GA area for coverage of the Masters' Golf
> Tournament, which is about a 15 minute drive away from Murphy Village.
> In spite of the allegations and rumors surrounding the personal lives of the
> Travelers, police raids ("justified" by rumors) have uncovered nothing sleazy
> or shocking about the Gypsies. There are certainly more newsworthy crimes in
> that area than whatever scams some residents of Murphy Village have devised.
> Aiken Co. is the same county in which a man gunned down several former
> co-workers at Phelon Co. last year, and in another case another man (upset by
> some child custody problems) murdered several employees of the North Augusta
> scapegoats.