Man wore wig while buying goods with stolen card
A wig was worn by a man when he was using a stolen credit card to buy more than €400 worth of clothing from a sports store in Cork.
Maksims Kizenko, aged 30, formerly of a flat at Charlemont Terrace, Cork, was jailed yesterday for four months after pleaded guilty to counts of theft arising out of the case at Cork District Court.
Inspector Ronan Kennelly outlined the background to the crime, which saw two bank cards stolen and the part played by the accused man in using them.
“On September 8, 2017, at Meitheal Design Partners on Fr Matthew Quay, the premises was entered and a money box was stolen,” said Insp Kennelly.
“There were a number of items in the money box including two company bank cards and their associated PIN numbers.
“Over the following two days, these bank cards were used multiple times to purchase items and withdraw cash from ATM machines.
“The total loss was €2,676. Two of the locations where the cards were used were canvassed for CCTV. This was harvested and the suspect was identified from the footage.
“Maksims Kizenko is seen entering the store with a black wig and placing the card in the machine and entering the PIN code.
“The property he took at JD Sports on Patrick St were valued at €164 and €297.
“He admitted two of the thefts were carried out by him.”
The inspector told the court that another person allegedly involved in using these stolen cards has since died.
Kizenko had 55 previous convictions, 36 of which were contrary to the Theft Act.
Michael Quinlan, solicitor for Kizenko, told the court: “The 29-year-old Lativian has been in Ireland for six years. He was working for two years. Unfortunuately, when this position finished he was unable to get work.
“He fell into using drugs and he became addicted.
“In his favour, he was not the full beneficiary. He did what he was told in relation to the cards. He is serving a prison sentence [until January 2019]. He is attending counselling and is doing well.”
Judge Tim Lucey said: “He has a serious history of previous convictions.”
The judge sentenced him to four months in prison from yesterday.
