A Cheshire fraudster ripped off a logistics company by using a duplicate of one of its fuel cards.
Vladut-Andrei Bungianu, 29, of Longford Street, Orford, Warrington, admitted fraud by false representation when he appeared at Warrington Magistrates' Court on Thursday, 12th June 2025.
Fraud by false representation is an offence under section 1 of the Fraud Act 2006. It has a maximum sentence of 12 months' custody and/or an unlimited fine on summary conviction; 10 years' custody and/or an unlimited fine on conviction on indictment. I have previously written a guide to fraud by false representation, which some reader may find of interest.
Magistrates heard that Bungianu, who is a Romanian national, used the fake fuel card to purchase £1,938 worth of diesel from a Runcorn petrol station. The fuel was taken on four separate occasions during the weekend of 14th and 15th September 2024.
The original fuel card was the property of logistics company The Green Group. The vehicle it was assigned to was off the road for servicing that weekend and the original card was in a manager's office. No details were given about how Bungianu acquired the dodgy card.
The 29-year-old was identified by CCTV and arrested by police on 11th October 2024. A search of his property uncovered a fuel pump, barrel and further fake fuel cards.
Bungianu was unrepresented in court and offered no mitigation.
Andrew Waites JP, sentencing, said: "It was a blatant and obvious theft of fuel and it was a substantial value."
Magistrates were of the opinion that Bungianu's offence was so serious that only a custodial sentence was appropriate. However, they elected to suspend the custodial term.
He was sentenced to 24 weeks' custody suspended for 12 months, with the requirement that he completes 120 hours' unpaid work.
He was ordered to pay £154 surcharge, £85 towards prosecution costs and £1,938 in compensation.
Magistrates made a deprivation order in respect of the fake fuel card, pump and barrel.
No comments:
Post a Comment