November 16, 2009
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News: Woman Steals CC to Get Rid of Boyfriend
If you want to get rid of a love interest, what do you do? A Canadian woman promotes stealing his credit card. Maria Ignacio admitted to stealing her boyfriend's card and pleaded guilty to credit card theft after racking up over $21,000 on the stolen card. Court documents say she stole the card to demonstrate to her "too clingy" boyfriend that she was not marriage material. When the police arrested the suspect, she admitted to stealing the card and said she didn't know what else to do to convince her boyfriend that she didn't want to be in the relationship any longer. According to Ignacio's attorney, the accused attempted to break off the relationship with the victim several times over the past five years and he just wouldn't accept it. Ignacio had difficulty dealing with his persistence and decided to take a different approach. All of the illegal credit card transactions were cash withdrawals which her attorney said she kept in a shoebox and has since returned to the victim.
The defendant stole the credit card and then within a four month period withdrew the cash advances. The victim, who was left with a disability after suffering from injuries in a train accident, noticed the illegal transactions on his credit card statement. He notified the authorities who began an investigation. The Winnipeg police department observed bank surveillance videos and observed Ignacio making some of the illegal cash withdrawals at the drive thru ATM machine.
Attorney for the Crown and Ignacio both agreed on that she be fined $750 and serve a 12 month supervised probation for her credit card theft. Apparently, the Crown's attorney said that victim has not been very cooperative and feared it would be difficult to get a conviction. Ignacio had just completed a two year conditional sentence for theft just prior to her arrest. Judge Sid Lerner said he did not believe the defendant's story and believed her to be a simple "con artist" and reluctantly agreed to the deal.