*sing credit such a credit cards, loans and overdraft to pay for your bills is not a great idea. Picture: iStock.
A former barman at a popular restaurant in Cape Town has been sentenced to five years’ imprisonment, suspended for five years, for cloning customers’ bank cards.
Songeza Gqolana, 27, appeared in the Specialised Commercial Crime Court in Bellville on Monday regarding various charges of fraud, forgery and contravening the Electronic Communication and Transaction (ECT) Act.
Gqolana stood trial after the Hawks’ Serious Commercial Crime Investigation team arrested him in March last year, Hawks spokesperson Zinzi Hani said.
The court found him guilty on five counts of fraud in violation of the ECT Act and money laundering.
Gqolana was sentenced to five years’ imprisonment, wholly suspended for five years on condition that he is not convicted of any similar offence within the period of suspension.
Additionally, the court sentenced Gqolana to a R40,000 fine or one year’s imprisonment, suspended for five years.
The court further sentenced him to three years’ correctional supervision and declared him unfit to possess a firearm.
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