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Rental car led police to card clone suspect

Cape Town - A car hire contract, with the name and address of the lessee on it, led police to the home of a man suspected of possessing cloned bank cards, a court heard on Wednesday.

Police Warrant Officer Wynand Olivier said he was on observation duty at an ATM in Stellenbosch in October 2013, when an alleged bank card cloner, Sylvester Mgijima, caught his attention.

Questioned by prosecutor Ezmerelda Johnson, he said Mgijima was friendly and willing to co-operate when Olivier approached him at the ATM, and agreed to Olivier searching him as well as his car.

Mgijima appeared in the Specialised Commercial Crime Court in Bellville before Magistrate Sabrina Sonnenberg and pleaded not guilty to one charge of conspiracy to commit fraud, eight of bank card fraud, six of forgery, and one violation of the Electronic Communications and Transactions Act.

Olivier said he found two bank cards in the car – one between the front seats and one on the floor next to the gear leaver.

Olivier also checked Mgijima’s cellphone, and found 10 SMS messages containing bank card numbers.

Confronted about this, Mgijima said the bank cards were not his, and that the cellphone belonged to a friend.

Olivier said: “I went to an address that he gave me, only to be told by the occupant that Mgijima did not live there, and that she did not know him.”

Olivier said he also had possession of Mgijima’s house keys.

He then went with Mgijima to the address on the car-hire contract, and one of the house keys fitted a side door of the house.

In a room, Olivier allegedly found more bank cards, as well as mail with Mgijima’s name on it – an indication that this in fact was where Mgijima lived, he said.

The case continues on August 7.

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