Bank card thieves told to pay shop or go to prison

By DILU WENA
TWO men who admitted using two stolen Debit Visa cards to obtain goods from a shop have been given suspended jail terms on the condition that they repay the money.
In the District Court in Waigani, Magistrate Cosmas Bidar Steven Joma, 25, and Richard Joe, 33, that he was suspending the 18-month jail term he imposed on them on the condition that they did not commit another offence in that period and pay to the shop the cost of the goods they obtained.
The court was told that on Sept 4 last year, Joma and Joe from Chuave in Chimbu, used stolen Debit Visa cards at a shop in Gordon, Port Moresby, to obtain goods costing K830.
Afterwards, the cashier reliased that the Efpos machine had declined the transactions. The shop management were alerted and kept a lookout for the two.
Sure enough, Joma returned to obtain more goods.
He was arrested by police and he led them to his house where Joe was.
Police recovered the two bags of rice they had bought from the shop and retrieved the two bank cards. They were charged with obtaining goods by false pretences.
Magistrate Bidar took into account their admission of guilt and suspended the 18-month jail term imposed on the condition that they paid the shop within two months the K830 cost of the goods they took.
“The main motive of the sentences is to make the men and women change their habits,” he said.
“The court is exercising its power to suspend the sentence, impose one and a half year good behaviour bond and restitution to pay back K830 to the owner of the store within two months after signing the good behaviour bond agreement form.”