SHAUN HIGLEY

**desA** · 28-Jan-10, 11:56 AM

It looks like a professional con man has been at work.

**tec0** · 28-Jan-10, 02:05 PM

So it is true then, well I hope he knows that his actions will have consequences. I myself was also fooled and I donâ€™t think I am the only one. Still he plaid the game well... He never disclosed a lot of information only that he was always willing to help.

I am just happy that I am paranoid but now I still have to question his advice... He did more damage that he could ever have imagined. But trust me on this the tables will turn on him. At his age it will be sooner rather than later.

**Dave A** · 28-Jan-10, 07:55 PM

Hook-lines and warning signs - interesting questions. He certainly covered his tracks pretty well.

For credibility he presented himself as an ex-associate of law firms in Queenstown and Capetown, with a labour relations speciality.
However, he was in Jo'burg because of his need for chemotherapy and was a newb on the internet.
This little combination threw a lot of people off-track, including me.

I took the post rate and eagerness as a dying man on a mission.
I took the lack of mental coherence and legal acuity that displayed from time to time as the effect of the drugs (I've had people close to me on chemo - it isn't funny).
I took the copy-and-paste stuff as been away from home and not having his own work handy.
I took a lot of heart that he was not just an internet profile when he visited Ian.

When I tackled him on the use of other's material, they were supposed to be professional acquaintances who were only too happy that their work was out there doing good. However, he did agree that he really should be referencing the original writer in future as people might think the work as his own and he did so from that point on.

My decision to buy his HR toolkit was made when Anthony mentioned to me in private that he had a chat to Shaun about his legal credentials and he wasn't comfortable with the answers. It was the only way I could think of to test if the guy was for real.

While that ball was rolling, there was one discussion in particular that really got me twitchy - the whole "you must lay criminal charges in terms of the law" angle in the dismissal for theft thread was way off base with ridiculous references. It's also a good example of how folk can still fudge their way through, relying on the human tendency of the reasonably sympathetic to give the benefit of the doubt.

Ultimately he seemed to have a fair grasp of labour law issues, but was seriously weak in other legal aspects - which in hindsight probably was the earliest sign on show that he might not be who he purported to be. Even the most narrow legal specialist has a broader base of knowledge to draw on. By the time the religion came out (my view on business and religion, just for the record) the ball was rolling on my order test and I'd resolved to wait until it became clear he'd failed it.

Next time (hopefully there won't be one) I won't be so slow to report to the members that something appears amiss. Unfortunately the time of year didn't help - too many good reasons available as excuses for the delay.

**tec0** · 28-Jan-10, 08:51 PM

Well I feel like a bloody idiot because I thought I was learning from the dude!

I even made some decisions based on his advice! Well I am in a world of uncertainty but it is not anybodyâ€™s fault. The frustrating hard to deal with truth is I have been a total jackass! All the e-mails and stuff... ISH...

Well life goes on but I never ever will forget this lesson.

**Dave A** · 28-Jan-10, 08:59 PM

Originally Posted by tec0

I even made some decisions based on his advice! Well I am in a world of uncertainty

I think the genuinely harmful stuff got challenged along the way.

**tec0** · 28-Jan-10, 09:06 PM

Yes it did! And I am just thankful the truth is out because I was in line hook and sinker. He got me good but there will not be a next time!! That I promise you

**murdock** · 28-Jan-10, 09:36 PM

this sounds like the same person who caught out a whole lot of people around the country many years ago...he was posing as a bulider...moving from province to province...the catch was he would come in as a real trustworthy person...as honest as you could get...always wanting to help everyone... also used religion as a front...praise the lord and all that type stuff...

how he caught all of us was by gettting myself the plumber...tiler...and the "builder" to quote for a granny flat...what none of us knew was that he wasnt the builder... the builder quoted for the job just like we did...he then had a whole pile of old wooden rafters etc dumped on site...had me chasing the walls etc...he then went to the old lady who was using her entire pension to build the granny flat...he requested a R70 000.00 progress payment...now we talking 15 years ago this was a lot of money...that was the last any of us ever saw of him...lucky for him because in those days...i would have made him disappear if i had found him for what he did...not the fact that he didnt pay me...for stealing that old ladys money...she had to take a bond and lucky for us she still paid all of us...so we didnt loose that poor old lady lost half her lifes investment.

**lizzyest** · 27-Jun-11, 03:49 PM

this shaun higley is not physically sick, but mentally sick. he has been suffering from cancer for soooooo many years, I am surprised he is still around. Around he is, but not sure where, but somewhere in the Cape Town area. He is a con-artist and has no conscience of who he does in, family included. His mother is in a home and gets in a state when you mention his name. try looking for him on a "dating" site as he likes to find "victims" there as well.