Fresh guide scam afflicts ‘Time Out'
By Angela Jameson
A man accused of conning restaurateurs out of £20,000 is again approaching restaurants offering advertising space in a bogus guide, after walking free from a magistrates' court.
John Russell, managing director of a Cheltenham-based company called Ambassador Publications, appeared before magistrates last month to face charges relating to 77 cases of deception between December 1994 and July 1995.
However, the offences were discharged by Cheltenham magistrates after delays in committing the case to trial.
According to restaurateurs, the man carries a copy of London's Time Out Eating & Drinking Guide and claims he is compiling regional versions of the guide. He then offers a "knock-down" rate - usually about £300 - and express-cashes any cheques he receives.
In cases reported by Caterer last year, suspicious restaurateurs in Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire were told by Time Out there was no such guide, nor any plans for one. Most were too late to stop their cheques.
Since the man was discharged, Time Out has received numerous calls from restaurateurs in Wiltshire and Berkshire who have been visited by a John Russell using the same ploy.
Barry Windsor, proprietor of the Rowbarge, in Woolhampton, near Newbury, Berkshire, told Caterer he gave the man a cheque for £130, but cancelled it after becoming suspicious and phoning Time Out.
At the Bell public house in Ramsbury, Wiltshire, Julie Dawes was also approached by a Mr Russell using the Time Out name, but became suspicious when he demanded £200 in cash.
"How many witnesses do they want? They've got 77 restaurants just in Cheltenham on their files," said Mike Hardwick, managing director of Time Out, who has been taking calls from angry restaurateurs.
A spokesman for the Crown Prosecution Service said: "John Russell is going to be recharged. We are waiting for another key witness statement and then he will go before magistrates to be committed to the crown court for a trial."