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[Carrie McLaren <carrie AT stayfreemagazine.org>]

Man posing as Janet Jackson's manager arrested in B.C. monkey theft

Thursday, July 26, 2001

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

http://seattlep-i.nwsource.com/local/32812_monkey26ww.shtml

VANCOUVER, B.C. -- A man who reportedly posed as singer Janet 
Jackson's production manager is under investigation in the theft of a 
monkey, city police said.

"This is a weird story that you think can't get any weirder, and then 
it does," said Dan Cowan, senior production manager for House of 
Blues Concerts Canada.

The man under investigation, Darrin Hway, is charged with theft over 
$5,000 Canadian, about $3,250 U.S., and possession of stolen property 
over $5,000, both related to a vehicle from a dealership in Kelowna. 
He also is charged with possession of cocaine. No charges have been 
filed in the monkey case.

Cowan said Thursday said a man pretending to be him told Kristi 
Stoker, a pet store owner in Whitehorse, Yukon Territory, that 
Jackson wanted to buy her cotton-eared marmoset Littlefoot for a 
video shoot.

Stoker said the man told her he was sending a check and would fly to 
Whitehorse in Jackson's private jet for a video shoot.

When the check arrived, Stoker discovered she'd been conned.

"He is very, very good," she said. "He wanted to change her name from 
Littlefoot to Velvet, for Janet's Velvet Rope tour."

The marmoset, a squirrel-sized monkey native to Central and South 
America, was sold to a pet-store owner in Vancouver, police said. 
Littlefoot has since been returned, Stoker said.

Hway was arrested on the other theft, stolen property and cocaine 
charges in Vancouver last week. He faces a court appearance Tuesday.

He also is wanted on numerous arrest warrants in Edmonton, Alberta, 
including charges of fraud and breach of probation, police in that 
city said.

The monkey case is being investigated by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police.