Belize City man pleads guilty to shopping spree on Orange Walk woman’s bank card

Published by BBNTEAM at September 11, 2024

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Posted: Wednesday, September 11, 2024. 10:59 am CST.

By Aaron Humes: A man who stole an Orange Walk woman’s ATM card and went on a shopping spree pleaded guilty to theft in the Magistrate’s Court.

After he went on a spree, swiping the woman’s card twice, once at Mirage Store on Albert Street and again at Twins Supermarket on St. Thomas Street, racking up a total of $1,270.42, 37-year-old Andrew Alexander Smith of Neal’s Pen Road pleaded guilty to two counts of theft.

Smith, who showed remorse but claims three other men set him up, is remanded pending sentencing on Monday, September 9.

Smith told the court at his arraignment that he did not steal the card personally; that he was set up by three men who purchased the items and made him use a card they claimed belonged to a family member, where he swiped the card and not them to pay for items: “I was simply to be used as the face to go with that card.”

Smith asked for leniency as he was trying to make some money to attend an orientation and training at a call center where he is trying to get a job.

Retiree 59-year-old Lucille Garcia reported to police that on August 23 at around 12 noon, she visited Golden Bay Store and after making a payment, she lost her couch purse that contained her Belize Bank ATM card, her Atlantic Bank ATM card, and her Social Security card.

On Monday, September 2, she visited the Belize Bank Orange Walk Town Branch to cancel her bank card and that’s when she was told that her card had been swiped multiple times in Belize City.

The matter was reported to police and they traced the card to Smith, who was detained at Dibary Department Store on Albert Street on August 30, attempting to purchase a cell phone using the stolen card.

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