There is always somebody ready to take avantage of tragedy or the generosity of those moved by one, which is the case of a man arrested in Tenerife.

The Guardia Civil arrested the man for alleged fraud concerning the clothes and other items donated to those affected by the ongoing, volcanic eruption on the island of La Palma in the Canary Islands.

He stands accused of fraudulently obtaining them and then selling some of them to second-hand shops.

The value of the donated items that have been recovered by the police is calculated at 15,000 euros.

The suspect had offered his help to a Tenerife-based charity, by providing transport for the food & clothes donations to La Palma. He managed to gain their trust be posing as the manager of a fictitious charity. The man provided three containers to transport the donated items.

The charity became uneasy with the situation when the transportation failed to take place so they tried to contact him to find out why. In response, they received video footage of several people unloading and distributing the goods. However, the images were dated and did not correspond to any operation on La Palma.

Police enquiries turned up that the shipping containers were on the same spot where they had been filled; in the island municipality of San Isidro.

Editorial comment: off with his pods!

(News: Tenerife, Canary Islands)