Fraudster’s luck runs out

Rustenburg – A man residing in Rustenburg was arrested on Wednesday 22 May and charged with fraud and possession of stolen goods after his scheme of ‘buying’ toys, watches, cellular phones, television sets and other electrical appliances from a popular online retailer – before reselling them for a profit – was foiled.

The man, who was arrested at his family home in Protea Park, is expected to appear in court on Friday 24 May.

The suspect’s modus operandi was to order merchandise from the online retailer and then go on to produce false proof of payment documents once the goods had been safely delivered to his house.

 
In an interview with Platinum Weekly, police spokesperson sergeant Ofentse Mokgadi said the online retailer became suspicious of the man’s activities after realising that one of their ‘regular customers’ was actually stealing from them. 

“They also became aware that the man would sometimes receive the goods at different locations other than his home.

They opened a case of fraud after confirming that the money was in fact not being paid,” Ofentse added.

“Employees from the retailer were assigned to follow one of their delivery vehicles and as soon as the goods were received by the man, they contacted the police, leading to the arrest.”

The police managed to recover stolen goods to be worth an estimated value of R120,000. 

Detective constables Bontle Mmudi, Ben Mogale and Omphemetse Maema from Rustenburg Police are in the process of investigating the case and tracking down people who bought stolen goods with the intention of recovering them. 

The missing merchandise are believed to be worth about R200,000.