'Husband' Charged With Scamming Co-Workers With Dying 'Wife' Story
GREENVILLE, N.H. (CBS) -- If you had to say one nice thing about Scott Wellington, he knows how to tell a story – as long as it's fiction.
The 31-year-old Greenville, N.H. man was in court Monday on two counts of theft by deception for allegedly conning his co-workers out of thousands of dollars. Police say he told those he worked with that his wife was dying from breast cancer.
Bob Prowker was Wellington's supervisor at C&M Machine in Hudson, N.H. He said Wellington was an excellent con.
WBZ-TV's Ken MacLeod reports.
"He was very good at what he did," said Prowker. "He knew how to turn the tears on.
"He basically just deceived us, told lies day after day. He used his wife and children as his means of getting money out of the company and his fellow employees."
Hudson police say this all started back in October, when Wellington held a fundraiser for his sick wife and four kids. That fundraiser netted about $2,000, but authorities say Wellington never delivered on the merchandise.
Over the next few months, co-workers say Wellington took more and more money, including $5,000 from the owner of C&M, because Wellington apparently told him that he couldn't afford Christmas.
"He basically kept lying until the lie got so extreme, he couldn't even stay here anymore," explained Bob Prowker, who added that some co-workers also offered cash when Wellington expressed need.
Then, last month, Wellington told his employers that his wife died, and he quit.
After they heard the terrible news, Wellington's co-workers sent him a sympathy card. But Wellington never opened it; his girlfriend did.
It turns out, he had also lied about being married.
His girlfriend spoke to WBZ-TV Monday afternoon.
She says the whole episode has been "very shocking, honestly very shocking."
She says Wellington never clued her in to what he was doing, even going so far as telling her that the $5,000 he got at Christmas was a bonus for doing such a good job at work.
"It sickens me, it's absolutely disgusting," the girlfriend said, asking that we not release her name.
She is the mother of Wellington's four children, all 10 years old or younger. She says she threw him out of the house several weeks ago for other reasons, and then that sympathy card arrived.
In it, she saw what his co-workers had written: "A bunch of condolences, sorry for the loss of your wife, our thoughts are with you and your kids, stuff like that," she explained. "It was absolutely just crazy."
She called C&M, who then called police.
Hudson Chief Jason Lavoie says the story has victims all around.
"When you have someone like this take advantage of a situation that's not real, it's really unfortunate for those who could really benefit from having aid like this," Lavoie said.
Wellington's mother posted bail for him Monday afternoon.
