Cape Town – An alleged fraud victim was “up in the clouds” when a freelance second-hand car salesman undertook to pay her two bank loans for her, a court in Cape Town heard on Wednesday.
This would have enabled the alleged victim, Zailia Adams, a police clerk, to obtain a single R143 000 loan to buy two used cars – one for herself, and one for her parents.
Adams was testifying in the trial of freelance car salesman Wayne Stuart Fester in the Specialised Commercial Crimes Court in Bellville.
She told the court she was introduced to Fester at the Belhar police station.
Adams lived with her parents, who owned a Chev Aveo, which she referred to as the “household car”.
She told the court: “I told Fester that I needed a reliable car to get my child around, and that our family car had mechanical problems. He said he can sort me and my parents out, and that he could get me a 2005 model Toyota Tazz. That night, he came to my parental home, and we trusted him. He said he would sell the Chev to pay the deposit for my Tazz as well as a Clio for my parents,”.
She said her two bank loans made it difficult for her to obtain a third, and Fester said he would pay the two loans for her.
He would also assist her to obtain the single loan for R143 000 at Absa Bank, which would enable her to purchase two cars – one for her and one for her parents.
She would thus have only one loan to repay, instead of two.
She added: “I was in the clouds about this.”
Eventually, instead of the Tazz, Fester offered her a Golf, which she accepted.
When she had to renew the Golf’s licence, she managed to locate the previous owner who alleged that Fester had disappeared with his car.
However, the previous owner was willing to sell the Golf to her, she said.
Around the same time, she discovered that Fester had transferred ownership of the Chev to his own name.
Cross-examined by defence advocate Gilbert Jose, she described Fester as a “very good businessman and very persuasive”.
Prosecutor Jacques Smith alleges that Fester duped another victim, Sonwabile Fisa, in April 2010, into parting with his Opel Corsa, on the basis that Fester would sell the car for Fisa and settle his R82 000 Wesbank loan.
The State alleges that Fester had no intention to settle the loan, or to return the car to Fisa.
It is alleged that on the same day Fester duped police clerk Amanda Cornelius into paying him R100 000 that she had borrowed at Capitec for a car, but used the money for his own benefit.
The case continues on September 16.
ANA