[WolfeMacleod]

Google "Shaky Lady" for more info...


Shaky Lady' denies lucrative panhandling business
Toronto Star | 3-11-02 | Canadian Press


Posted on 03/12/2002 4:53:33 PM PST by Temple Owl


'Shaky Lady' denies lucrative panhandling business

Elderly Toronto beggar obtains lawyer, holds news conference

From Canadian Press An elderly panhandler known as the "Shaky Lady" held a news conference today to dispute a newspaper column that alleges she rakes in thousands of dollars a week and lives in a comfortable apartment with her family.

Margita Bangova, 66, was the subject of an expose by the Toronto Sun last week.

The newspaper reported that the woman, who her lawyer says trembles because of a medical condition, collects about $2,500 a week from sympathetic passersby on a busy corner near Yonge and Bloor streets.

Speaking through her lawyer, Leonard Hochberg, Bangova said she panhandles to supplement her disability pension of $900 a month.

He said there's no way Bangova is given as much as estimated by the Sun, estimating that she took in $80 a day during the holiday season and between $40 and $50 a day during the rest of the year.

Originally from Slovakia, Bangova lives with her son and his three children in a one-bedroom east-end apartment that has leather furniture, a big screen TV and computer, according to media reports.

Hochbery said people have been too hard on his client, adding she does not deserve the bitter backlash that's resulted from the Sun columns.

He said Bangova, who abandoned the corner since the story emerged Friday, hadn't decided whether to return to panhandling but did not rule it out.

Hochberg refused to say who was paying his fees.