Pawn shops‚ prostitutes and perjury in Pretoria

A 35-year-old Pretoria woman is in hot water for pawning her boyfriend’s home theatre system and then reporting it stolen.

According to police‚ the woman last month took household goods worth R6‚800‚ including the home theatre system‚ from the flat the couple share in Silverton.

The woman’s partner‚ a soldier‚ was on a peacekeeping mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Police spokesperson Captain Jan Sepato said when the woman realised that it was time for her partner to return home‚ she reported a case of burglary to police and listed the items that were stolen.

“When the partner returned‚ she told him that the flat had been burgled. The partner asked around and was told his partner was seen with the home theatre system at a local pawnshop‚” he said.

Sepato said police found the appliances at the shop‚ together with a contract in which the woman agreed that she was using the home theatre system as a guarantee for a R1‚800 loan. He said the woman had promised to pay back the money in January.

Sepato said such false statements were common and that people did not realise that perjury was a very serious offence that could result in two years imprisonment or a fine.

He said police had recently charged four people with perjury after they reported that they had been robbed in one location when the crime had occurred elsewhere while they were using the services of prostitutes.

“The prostitutes work with criminals to lure potential victims. The criminals would pounce while the unsuspecting victim is busy and rob them of their belongings. When they report the incidents to police‚ they say they were robbed while walking on the street or at traffic lights‚” Sepato said.

He appealed to citizens to refrain from making false statements as this wasted valuable police time and resources.