Swindler who stole and sold victim’s car jailed for six years

THE PROMISE of a quick repair turned into a nightmare for a Northern Cape resident when a so-called mechanic swindled him out of both his money and his vehicle.

Fifty-year-old Hanro Pietersen will now spend the next six years behind bars after the Kimberley Regional Court found him guilty of fraud and vehicle theft. The sentencing, handed down on March 5, also declared him unfit to own a firearm.

According to provincial police spokesperson Sergeant Molefi Shemane, Pietersen visited his unsuspecting victim at Riverside Farm near Plooysburg between November and December 2020. He claimed to be a skilled mechanic and convinced the complainant that he could repair his Nissan X-Trail, valued at R70,000.

Trusting his words, the complainant paid Pietersen R15,000 for the repairs. Pietersen then towed the vehicle to Kimberley, taking the car’s documents with him under the pretense that he needed them in case he was stopped by the police.

However, instead of fixing the car and returning it, Pietersen took a detour to the Kimberley Traffic Department, where he forged the owner's signature and fraudulently transferred the vehicle into his own name. Once the repairs were completed, he wasted no time selling the car to a buyer in Roodepan.

The deception unravelled when the original owner discovered that his vehicle had been sold. Shocked and outraged, he reported the matter to the police, leading to an investigation by the SAPS Vehicle Crime Investigation Unit. The stolen car was recovered, and Pietersen was arrested.

Following his conviction, Pixley Ka Seme district commissioner Major-General Nomana Mtukushe commended Detective Sergeant Samuel Witbooi from the De Aar Vehicle Crime Investigation Unit for his diligent work in securing the conviction and bringing Pietersen to justice.