Arrested for Fake Pay Slip

Nico Smit

29 June 2011

AN unemployed 21-year-old woman was arrested at Edgars in Windhoek last Friday after it was discovered that she had fraudulently opened an account at the shop a day earlier and bought goods to the value of N$4 000.

City Police Senior Superintendent Gerry Shikesho said the woman was arrested after it was established that she had used a fake pay slip to open the account.

Shikesho said according to the pay slip the woman, who is unemployed, was earning between N$10 000 and N$12 000 per month.

Based on the fake pay slip and information provided on an application form, the woman was able to open the account at Edgars last Thursday and was granted a credit line of N$6 000. She then used the account to purchase goods valued at N$4 000.

Shikesho said the woman returned to the shop the following day to spend the remainder of the credit line, when staff became suspicious.

According to Shikesho, Edgars management then tried to verify the information provided by the woman, and when it was discovered that the pay slip she used was fake, they called the City Police.

The City Police arrested the woman and she has been charged with fraud and theft. Shikesho also said that the woman showed the City Police the house where she was staying and all the goods were recovered.

He added that the owner of the property where the woman was staying was aware of the fraud, as she was one of the references provided on the account application form. She has also been arrested and charged with fraud as well as complicity in a crime.

Shikesho stressed that this was not the first crime of this nature and said that it was likely that it was just the “tip of the iceberg”.

He added that shops which offer credit should be very vigilant when people open accounts.

“Just because someone has a pay slip does not mean that they work at a particular place. Shops should always check and call the company to verify whether an applicant actually works where they say they do,” Shikesho said.

The woman was due to appear in court on Monday.

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