10 years’ jail for car conman

A Port Elizabeth man has described how a self-styled used-car salesman he regarded as a good friend swindled him out of R150 000 by promising to sell his vehicle in an exchange deal and then eventually vanishing with it.

Hendrik Barnard has been jailed for 10 years for pulling similar scams with at least three other people and conning them out of more than R1-million.

Barnard, 34, of Algoa Park, was sentenced last week after pleading guilty in the Port Elizabeth Specialised Commercial Crimes Court to 12 counts of fraud following his March 3 arrest by the Hawks.

During 2016, Barnard had presented himself as a used-car salesman in that he would offer to sell a car on a person’s behalf and pay them out.

Jaco Burger, 49, of Greenbushes, fell victim to the conman’s racket when he agreed to allow Barnard to sell his Volkswagen Amarok for R180 000.

“We were very good friends at that stage. We would visit each other’s houses regularly,” Burger said.

Burger said the pair had agreed that Barnard would sell his vehicle and then supply him with another vehicle and pay him out the remainder of the money.

But between April and September 2016, Barnard made numerous promises and concocted various reasons as to why Burger had not received a replacement car or money owed to him.

At one stage, Barnard offered Burger two other vehicles – a Volkswagen Transporter and an Opel Kadett – as well as R30 000 cash, which Burger accepted. However, Burger received the R30 000, but not the promised vehicles.

“I last spoke to him on a Monday sometime in September [2016]. He promised I would have my replacement car the next day – on the Tuesday he had disappeared and no one knew where he was,” Burger said.

In the charge sheet, the state claimed Barnard had sold the Amarok for R140 000 unbeknown to Burger.

“The accused, without the knowledge and authority of Burger, sold the vehicle . . . on April 1 2016 for only R140 000, which was deposited into [Barnard’s] Nedbank account . . . via electronic transfer funds,” the charge sheet read.

Burger said: “I know I am not the only one he did this to . . . it is very upsetting when you think you know someone and then they do this to you.”

At least three other people fell victim to Barnard’s modus operandi. In May 2016, Barnard made a similar deal with Sarlene Saaiman in that he promised to sell her 2003 Ford Ranger.

Pulling a similar scam, Barnard told Saaiman he had sold her vehicle and that she would receive R45 380 for it, but he eventually paid only R35 000 into her account.

When Saaiman asked Barnard to arrange an Opel Corsa for her, which he said he had seen on auction, she paid him R24 500 for the vehicle but it was never delivered to her.

According to the charge sheet, Barnard also conned his former landlord, Frans Borraine, out of almost R700 000 in various deals, including vehicle scams that related to the “unrightful” selling of a Jeep Wranger and a BMW Z4 worth a combined R540 000.

Barnard had further sold furniture from the home he rented from Borraine to the value of R50 000.

In his plea statement, Barnard admitted to providing false information to his victims.

“I misappropriated the proceeds of [these] sales for myself. At all material times I knew that my actions were wrongful and unlawful and that it constituted an offence,” he said.

Handing down the 10-year sentence, magistrate Lionel Lindoor warned Barnard that he would be declared a habitual criminal because of extensive previous convictions.

Details of these were not available.