Stolen credit card used 21x
2006-07-13 22:42
Nelspruit - A man pleaded guilty on Thursday to using a stolen credit card to buy petrol worth more than R4 000 for him and his friends.
Simon Monday Mpangane, 36, of Mataffin, outside Nelspruit, pleaded guilty to 21 counts of fraud.
Charges were withdrawn against his co-accused, petrol attendant Comfort Shabangu of Gateway Motors at Mataffin, because his signature was on only one receipt, providing insufficient evidence against him.
Mpangane claimed an acquaintance gave him the card and asked to share the money he made off it. His friends would give him cash for the petrol, but he would pay for it on the card and pocket the money.
He said he never saw the acquaintance again, but used the card 21 different times, spending R4 506. He sometimes went to a garage twice in one day to get petrol and never bought more then R250 worth of fuel at a time.
He admitted that what done was wrong and that he was sorry.
The manager of Gateway Motors, Hubert de Haas, noticed that Mpangane would buy petrol often and in different cars and alerted the police.
The magistrate asked for a social worker's report to be submitted before Mpangane's next appearance on August 11. The magistrate will then pass sentence.
Mpangane is out on R500 bail.