Police issue warning about ?European Lottery Guild? scam

Police are warning the public to be aware of the latest likely lottery scam to surface in Bermuda.

Literature from the European Lottery Guild is being sent to addresses promising to enter punters in a draw for $275,000.

For $15 people are promised 420 chances to get the prize but the offer has already raised concerns abroad from an Australian Fair Trading Minister warning there was no guarantee that anyone was actually entered in the draw.

Bermuda Police are new looking into it.

Fraud Detective Sergeant David Geraghty said it looked like another spin on traditional scams where people were told they had won lotteries even though they had never entered them.

Dupes are then asked for money to recover their winnings which are never sent.

The European Lottery Guild, which claims to be promoting a British Lotto syndicate, doesn?t make any claims that the recipient has won but could be a more subtle way of drawing people in, fears Det. Sgt. Geraghty.

?Then they will perhaps say you have won money but they need funds for this and that. It?s a layered system.?

New quake may get local funds

Although no specific appeal has been launched following Monday?s earthquake in Indonesia, the Red Cross will be re-directing funds from the Tsunami Relief Efforts towards the already affected area.

Bermuda Red Cross director, Ann Spencer-Arscott said yesterday that humanitarian relief workers and supplies already in the area would be redirected to assist in helping this newly affected area.

She said this also applied to funds raised through the Tsunami Relief Efforts, which would simply be re-directed where needed.

?The Bermuda Red Cross is currently $50,000 away from its goal of $1.5 million and we are still taking donations,? she said.

Three months after the catastrophic earthquake and tsunamis killed more than 170,000 people in South Asia, Monday?s earthquake occurred along the same fault line as the December 26 quake and measured 8.7 on the Richter scale.

So far more than 1,000 people on the islands of Nias and Simeulue off Sumatra are believed to have been killed, but relief workers expect the number to increase.

Mrs. Spencer-Arscott said she simply couldn?t believe this had happened to an already stricken area.

If anyone would like to make a donation towards the continued relief efforts, or specifically towards Monday?s earthquake, they can contact the Bermuda Red Cross on 236-8253.

Adventists launch new channel

Local dignitaries attended the launch of A-TV, a new 24-hour religious television channel at the Seventh-day Adventist headquarters on King Street yesterday.

Mayor of Hamilton Lawson Mapp, Leader of the Opposition Grant Gibbons, and Government backbencher Dennis Lister spoke at the launch of the church?s channel.

Bermuda?s Seventh-day conference president Dr. Jeffrey Brown was in attendance, as was their communications director Sheila Holder.

CableVision General Manager Jeremy Elmas as well as overseas church dignitaries also spoke at the launch which included video presentations.

The mission of the new station is to use television as a vehicle to present the Seventh-day religion 24-hours a day, seven days a week through music, educational features and religious programmes.

?Our television channel is aptly named ATV (Adventist television)? March?s Bermuda conference newsletter said. ?It will appear on CableVision channel 80. We will feature programming for the various target groups: kids, seniors and parents.?

They said their programming will be family oriented and uplifting. ?In our appeal to our local Bermuda market we give God all the glory for this awesome opportunity we have been privileged to provide for our fellow Bermudians.?

Harbour boats hit by thieves

Police are investigating a spate of thefts from boats around Hamilton Harbour.

Sometime between 12 p.m. on Sunday, March 20 and 9 a.m. on Saturday, March 26, an unknown culprit gained entry into a vessel while it was moored in Hamilton Harbour, Police said.

The culprit stole a case of beer and a DVD player, then, sometime between midnight and 10 a.m. on Sunday, March 27, a thief gained entry to the same boat and stole a blue Yamaha 2600 generator, a tool box, and a white and blue cooler.

Meanwhile, Police are investigating the theft of a Kenwood CD player, an Alpine amplifier, a Casio four inch colour TV and two bags of tools from another vessel sometime between 12 p.m. on Saturday, March 19 and 9 a.m. on Saturday, March 26.

This vessel was on a dry-dock at Harbour Road, Paget. Police inquiries into these incidents are underway.