A couple was arrested Friday January 7 at the service station of a hypermarket in Mondeville by investigators from the departmental security of Calvados, in the act of stealing fuel, we learned on Tuesday from the Caen prosecutor's office. , confirming information from Actu.fr.
Their arrest comes at the end of a careful surveillance investigation lasting several weeks.
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Both are suspected of having stolen more than 60,000 liters of fuel from several supermarkets in Normandy in the space of two months.
At the beginning of November, the managers of the Carrefour de Mondeville petrol station, located not far from Caen, noted a discrepancy between the fuel served and the payments recorded.
Some 8000 liters of gasoline would have been stolen in this way.
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An investigation was opened in the wake and entrusted to the police officers of Caen.
The use of the video surveillance tapes of several brands very quickly highlighted the couple's little merry-go-round, who used not only stolen bank cards but also "
a technical device making it possible to use diesel or gasoline at very low cost.
large amount by paying only a small amount
”, as the Caen attorney Amélie Cladière explains.
“However, there were not enough elements to proceed to an interpellation.
The people were not identifiable on the images and the license plates were false
, ”continues the magistrate.
License plates and fuel theft equipment
Investigators then set up a surveillance system which resulted in the arrest, on January 7, of a 32-year-old man and his 29-year-old partner in Mondeville.
After verification, the couple corresponded to the one spotted on CCTV images of several brands victims of identical thefts throughout Normandy but also in Yvelines, where he is from.
According to a provisional report by investigators, the damage would amount to nearly 90,000 euros.
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In custody, the man, already known to the police, quickly recognized the facts while his companion was walled in silence.
During a search of their home, investigators seized 9,600 euros in cash as well as several sets of license plates, pumps and cans for diesel.
Referred to the Caen prosecutor's office at the end of their police custody, the two suspects were presented to an investigating judge indicted on Sunday January 9, for "organized fraud".
The man was remanded in custody and his partner in a detention center after asking for a delay to present an alternative to imprisonment.
Investigations are continuing.
For the investigators, it is in particular to know if the couple acted on their own account or that of a much more organized network.