Car rental employee charged with fraud after allegedly keeping customer deposits
He was denied bail
A man who worked at a car rental company was charged with defrauding the company out of hundreds of euros by allegedly charging clients deposits and keeping the money for himself.
Magistrate Ingrid Bianco heard that Oluwaseun Olalekan Otunaiya, 45, who resides in Żabbar, pleaded not guilty to theft and defrauding the company on several occasions over the past month.
Police Inspector Antonello Magri, prosecuting with the assistance of AG lawyer Luigi Gulia, told the court that police were informed the accused worked at a car rental company in Gudja.
He had drawn up a rental contract and asked a client to pay the usual deposit of €1,300.
However, since her credit card limit was €500, he told her she could pay €500 by card and an additional €800 in cash, which he would return to her on Monday. She paid, but when the day arrived, the money was not returned to her.
As police investigated the matter, the company informed them that they had begun to notice other discrepancies involving the accused keeping money for himself.
The accused was denied bail.