Man uses a forged receipt to shop

A Chitungwiza man has learnt the hard way that crime does not pay after he was slapped with a 15 month jail term for attempting to steal goods from a Gweru wholesaler using a forged receipt.

To add salt to injury, Amos Timothy Maphosa, 42, was arrested on Saturday before he could leave Simrac Enterprises and all the goods he wanted to steal were recovered.

He pleaded guilty to a fraud charge when he appeared before magistrate, Judith Taruvinga on Wednesday morning.

He will however, serve nine months after six months were suspended for five years on condition of good behaviour.

The value of the goods he tried to steal is $675.

Maphosa in his defence denied forging the receipt as he said he had picked it up in the wholesale.

He said he decided to try his luck by collecting the goods listed on it as the receipt did not have a stamp to show that it had been checked by security at the door.

The prosecutor Daniel Tafuma said Maphosa used the forged receipt at the security checkpoint in the supermarket but an alert security guard noticed the receipt had a different colour and font size to their original receipts.

The matter was reported to the police leading to Maphosa's arrest.