Durban - Long ago, there was the War of the Roses, over the English throne.
Now, at the time of the death of Britain’s longest-serving monarch, here in KwaZulu-Natal, the fraud of the roses has seen florists ripped off after doing business based on trust.
Eight of the florists have approached private investigator Brad Nathanson.
Three who spoke to “The Independent on Saturday” told of how a charming man had called them requesting a bunch of roses with a R100 note attached to each stalk. The bunches of flowers with the notes attached were then delivered to him a various local garages after and the florist had received fraudulent proof of payments.
“In my business I go a lot on a person’s word,” said Hillcrest florist Leigh Hollis. She said the man kept complaining of a poor signal while he was “phoning from Joburg”.
Liana van Dyk, of New Germany, said she had been stabbed in the back after always wanting to see the good side in everybody.
She said she had queried the validity of the proof of payments with a bank which, she said, could not help until three to five working days had passed. In that time, her fraudster struck a second time.
“The reality is that with so many florists offering deliveries the same day, you can put yourself out of business (by being too fussy),” said Van Dyk.
Andy Stone, of Howick, whose wife is a florist, said they tried to contact her buyer after delivering the roses to him in Pietermaritzburg but the phone number they had used suddenly died.
Each florist suffered losses of R2 000 to R4 100 – and their trust in people, they said.
The Independent on Saturday