Sleight-of-hand thefts

Press, Volume CXI, Issue 32779, 2 December 1971, Page 2

Sleight-of-hand thefts

(N.Z. Press Association) PALMERSTON NORTH, Nov. 1. Three carpet merchants front Iran who put their hands into shop cash boxes, thumbed through notes, and then walked away with stolen money, were today fined $lOO each (costs $5) bn one charge each of theft.

The men pleaded guilty through an interpreter after first answering the charges with pleas for mercy instead of the usual guilty or not guilty. When the interpreter, from Massey University, relayed the result, one of the men said the fines Were too much for them: some had families with them and it would be impossible for them to return

to Iran if they had to pay the fines. , Mr J. R- P- Hom, S.M., replied: I don’t intend to change it. “MEN OF MEANS” Detective Senior-Sergeant D. J. Dwan, who prosecuted, had earlier told the Magistrate that the men were in possession of a substantial amount of United States dollars and that they claimed to be men of some means in their own country. Aziz Ahmad Afraz, aged 44, bom in Teheran, was charged with stealing $3O from Graham Cook’s store in Wanganui on November 24. Mohamed Ali Akbari, aged 31, bom in Karachi, was charged with stealing $75 from the Savemore Grocery, Feilding, on November 26. Abdul Hamid Fayaj, aged 25, bom in Bombay, was charged with stealing $27 from McDonald’s Pharmacy, Feilding, on November 25. Mr Dwan said the men spoke very little English.

Fayaj bought a colour film for $1.50 from McDonald’s Pharmacy. He paid for it with a $ 2 note and then handed the shop assistant $lO. $5, two $2 and a $1 and asked for it to be exchanged for a $2O note with the letter B on it so he could add it to .his collection. The assistant went to the dispensary to look for a note. Fayaj followed, put his hand in the cash box and thumbed through the notes. The assistant retrieved the notes and put them back in the box, but when a check was made later $27 was missing. Afraz bought a cake of soap at Graham Cook’s store, paying for it with a $2O note! Change was given but Afraz indicated he wanted different denominations. He reached into the cash drawer and thumbed through the notes. The money was retrieved, but a later check showed that $3O was missing. Akbari bought cigarettes from Savemore Grocery, tendering a $2O note. Given

change, he held out a $lO note and asked for it to be exchanged for two $5 notes. The assistant took out two notes but Akbari reached into the cash drawer, and thumbed through the notes. The money was retrieved, but a check revealed that $75 was missing. “OTHER COMPLAINTS” Mr Dwan said the three left Iran in July, went to South Africa and Australia on business, and landed in New Zealand by air on November 13. They travelled from Auckland and stayed in motels. Several similar complaints had been received from Whangarei, New Plymouth, Inglewood, Wanganui and Feilding. The men had offered to compensate the stores and this was the reason no additional charges were laid. Thev had air tickets for a flight from Sydney to Iran on December 4. The Magistrate ordered restitution in each case.