Charity conman 'reaped millions' - National - www.theage.com.au

Charity conman 'reaped millions' - National - www.theage.com.au: "Charity conman 'reaped millions'
By Chee Chee Leung
October 7, 2004
Lawrence Shannon
Photo: Wayne TaylorThe head of a Melbourne charity for disadvantaged youth ran a series of bogus fund-raising raffles in an $8.5 million scam, a court heard yesterday.
Lawrence Shannon, 50, was the director of Kids at Sea when he rigged 28 raffles in a six-year charity con with a personal windfall of more than $2 million.
Entrants thought they were in the running for luxury cars, watches, overseas holidays and motorcycles valued at between $70,000 and $495,000.
Instead, most of the prizes never existed, with Shannon manipulating the draw so that he, his associates or fictitious names were picked as winners."