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 (Stolen Koi)
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Can You Help?
Help Make Dealing In Stolen Koi Too Risky To Continue.
Some of the earlier pictures on this page are of Koi that were stolen some time ago but they will remain on here because their patterns will still be recognisable today and the new “owners” will always be at risk that, one day, the theft will be discovered.
You can’t “respray” a stolen Koi to hide its identity.
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Is there something you would like included on this page?
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General advice on how to prevent this sort of crime
A success story
Sometimes they are stolen to eat
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Stolen from Hungarton Leicester on or around 20/08/2010
Kiran’s story
I bought 12 fish on 2nd August from Cambridge, and already had 1 large fish in the pond. Apart from that, I had approximately 50 small fish. In total, there were 13 large fish (12" -18")
On the 20th August, I found it very strange that I had not seen 4 large fish for over a week. We thought this might have been because of a heron, or they were swimming very deep and not coming for food. Nonetheless, it was very strange. At this point, I had no inclination that they were being stolen.
I was away on holiday for the bank holiday weekend, and on Monday realised that my favourite yellow fish was missing. He was very distinctive, and a very hungry fish who always came up for food. Another golden yellow fish was missing - he has a very distinguishable damaged tail. It soon became clear that only 4 large fish were visible, suggesting that 5 more fish had died. After thinking about it, and talking to my friend who helped me set my pond up, we thought it was strange how they had died in large batches. We became suspicious that maybe they had been stolen, but thought it would have been someone very gutsy to come to this remote area to steal fish. However, when we went outside, we saw clear car track marks which confirmed these fish have been stolen to order.
These fish are worth over £150 each.
I have attached pictures of the fish, the pond, and car track marks.
Please send any information to krschaggar@hotmail.com
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Click a thumbnail below to enlarge
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Stealing Koi by deception
The post below has been copied from a popular forum. It tells of a Koi dealer who might have been the victim of a scam if he had not been extra vigilant. This is a derivation of a scam that has been around for some time and it works like this:
Arrangements are made over the phone for goods, (in this case Koi), to be delivered for an agreed price. It is agreed that the price will be paid into the victim’s bank account and that the goods will be delivered once the payment has cleared. The agreed payment is paid into the victim’s bank account partly by cash, (£1), and the rest by cheque, (considerably more). The fact that part of the payment has been made in cash effectively disguises the fact that the rest of the payment has been made by cheque. The victim naturally checks with the bank who confirm that a payment was made and the transaction has been cleared.
Timing is now important. The thief phones to confirm that the victim is happy with the payment but changes the delivery arrangements. The goods are now to be collected as someone “will be in the area”. The cheque obviously bounces but, before the victim realises this, the goods will have been collected.
There is no reason to assume that private hobbyists could not also be targeted. Anyone who sells expensive unwanted filtration equipment etc. via Ebay or “buy and sell” sections of public forums may also become a potential victim. Be very careful if a payment is made into your bank account, that the bank thoroughly check that it does not consist of part cash and part cheque. If it does, the cash part makes the whole transaction appear to have been cleared, until the cheque bounces, of course.
If this scam is tried on you, you could pretend to go along with it but have the Police waiting when he comes to collect. Neither I, nor this site, endorse any action that involves baseball bats!!!!
This is “Gatwick” Gary’s story:
“A few weeks ago I was phoned by a gentleman interested in buying some koi. He wanted to transfer the money direct to a bank account. The guy seemed very genuine, even to the point of spending two days haggling over the price, so we set up the deal. He wanted them delivered and said the money would be cleared within 24 hours so I went into the bank to check the funds had cleared and they WERE showing on my account, asking if they were cleared the guy in the bank said “yes it’s in your account”, when I said “has it definitely cleared?” he checked again and said “no, it was one pound cash and a cheque for the rest and wouldn’t be cleared for a week . So I phoned the guy and said “you have paid in a cheque and not transferred it”, he said “no, no, no I’ll phone the bank and get back to you”, so no fish were sent. So no surprises when I didn’t hear from him and the cheque bounced. Didn’t think much about it until today, just had a phone call from a very good friend in the trade who had the same phone call, unfortunately this person didn’t go to the bank and they checked their account on line, as the guy pays a little cash, it DIDN’T show up as a cheque, and before this person could deliver the fish, they received a phone call saying someone they know is in the area could they pick the fish up if the money had cleared. To the dealer, it showed as a transfer and thought all was ok so gave the guy the fish. Four days later cheque bounced. I was lucky as I went to the bank in person, if I had checked on line I would have been scammed as well. Please all be careful as this person will try again, and the value of the fish involved was considerable! I did wonder at the relevance of him paying in £1 cash , now I know as, on line, it can mask the fact that a cheque has been paid in.”
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£36,500 worth of Koi stolen in Nottingham 8/07/2008
Reward offered
In the early hours of Tuesday 8th July, thieves broke into the Japanese Water Gardens at Stapleford, Nottingham and stole Japanese Koi worth £36,500. Twenty one Koi carp, some more than 30 inches in length were taken. The intruders smashed down fences and ripped up nets before draining water from the main pond to get to the fish. Director Wendy Langford stated, “This was definitely the work of a professional gang who came equipped with nets, bags and boxes. All our fish are imported from Japan and the fish taken were all high quality Koi, none of our other ponds were targeted”.
Japanese Water Gardens are offering a generous reward for any information leading to a conviction.
All information will be treated in confidence please phone Japanese Water Gardens 0115 9397926 or Crimestoppers 0800 555111.
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Koi worth £1,600 stolen in Ludlow, Shropshire 19/04/2008
Eight Koi carp, worth about £200 each, disappeared from two ponds on the same night. Police believe they were stolen rather than eaten by herons, as in both cases garden plants had been trampled.
Officers said each of the two properties, whose locations have not been revealed, had been targeted before, with each owner having replaced fish several times in previous months.
The latest raids took place between 7.30pm on Friday and 7am the following day.
Sergeant Jonathan Smithson, who is investigating both thefts, believes the same people are responsible.
“These Koi carp are valuable, he said. “We have received reports of three men pushing a wheelie bin at about 5am on Saturday, which may be connected”.
“I would appeal to anyone who might have seen people acting suspiciously around gardens, especially those with ponds, to contact police immediately”.
“Or if you see anyone with a large container, such as a tank or wheelie bin, which could contain a large volume of water, during the night or early hours of the morning then please call us on 08457 444888
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Stolen 16/11/2007 & 18/11/2007in the Aston, Sheffield area.
If these are offered to you for sale, or if you see them in someone’s pond,
please contact Chris on: - 07903 246447
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On Friday night (16/11/2007), we had some equipment stolen, and some Koi.
The thief was seen leaving with a 70cm blue bowl with 21 of our 5 inch Koi, and has also taken a fibreglass measuring bowl and a full roll of pond liner.
The thief then returned last night (18/11/2007), and has stolen from our main pond, taking a large Doitsu Orenji Ogon and our Soragoi, and probably a few more fish, though I am finding it hard to work out what is missing.
If anyone is offered any pond fish or equipment, please contact me immediately on 07903 246447 at any time of day or night.
Thank you,
Chris
Kitsu Koi
07903 246447
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Stolen 6/11/2007 in the Newcastle area.
If these are offered to you for sale, or if you see them in someone’s pond,
please contact Mike Snaden on:- 01275 848427
Or e-mail Mike through his website:- www.yumekoi.com
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These two Koi were stolen from a client’s pond yesterday (6/11/2007) in the Newcastle area. These pics were taken when 50cm Nisai (one year old) last year, but they now measure 67 and 65cm respectively as Sansai (two year old). If you are offered these Koi (along with a few others) or hear any info that may relate to them, please contact us as soon as possible!
Many thanks,
Mike
01275 848427
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