widget Posted October 4, 2007 Posted October 4, 2007 Hmm, C/Crusaders are definately a link in the distribution of stolen product. My company had goods stolen about two years back and we found some of it at a C/Crusaders still in its original sealed packaging. We took the police around and got the relevant info of the person who sold it to them, which they had on file, but when the police confronted him, he said he was selling it for his friend who emigrated and he knows nothing about where it came from? So he got away with it.! Go figure that one. I think they firstly need to ensure the staff are briefed to look for suspicious behaviour, as someone said, a vagrant with a 50k bike is suspicious indeed, and if they buy it in the knowledge that it is in all liklehood stolen,just because they see a huge profit and little chance of been caught, they become part of the problem and should be held accountable. I would say in general the vast majority of their customers are law abiding citizens, and Cash Crusaders offers a means to an end for them, its sad that so many issues are raised and situations created because of the small percentage of thugs.
steve Posted October 4, 2007 Posted October 4, 2007 Steve ............. but it really, really does sound like Urban Legend stuff. Wasn't there was also a bank robber who raided safety deposit boxes in the vault at a major bank and later discovered his mother's priceless jewellry had been in one of the boxes
Wannabe Posted October 5, 2007 Posted October 5, 2007 Steve, this is definately not urban legend stuff. It did happen, major syndicate collapsed because of it.
10Two Posted October 5, 2007 Posted October 5, 2007 Hmm - typical - still no response to my email from yesterday - I'm not holding my breath.... This kind of "legitimising" by selling to Cash Crusaders and the like and "washing" clean ill gotten gains is no different to money laundering. Banks went through a massive clean up exercise in the past 2 years with the implementation of FICA / FAIS controls. No tangible name / face / ID to a bank account - no account - end of story... Perhaps - these dodge type of pawn brokers need to undergo the same cleanup. I still say it's too bloody convenient for them to "play dumb" and "act" all innocent when someone cries foul - slime !!!
SwissVan Posted October 5, 2007 Posted October 5, 2007 Hmm - typical - still no response to my email from yesterday - I'm not holding my breath.... This kind of "legitimising" by selling to Cash Crusaders and the like and "washing" clean ill gotten gains is no different to money laundering. Banks went through a massive clean up exercise in the past 2 years with the implementation of FICA / FAIS controls. No tangible name / face / ID to a bank account - no account - end of story... Perhaps - these dodge type of pawn brokers need to undergo the same cleanup. I still say it's too bloody convenient for them to "play dumb" and "act" all innocent when someone cries foul - slime !!! Yeah and add scrap metal dealers to the list, amazing over the last 10 years how many have sprung up in close proximity to informal settlements, townships ect...
10Two Posted October 8, 2007 Posted October 8, 2007 RESPONSE FROM CASH CRUSADERS <?:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" /> CASH CRUSADERS franchising (PTY) LTD ? REG. NO. 03/017313/07EXECUTIVE CHAIRMAN - B. TOPAT, CEO - <?:namespace prefix = st1 ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" />S. STEGMANN, COO - J. CAMACHO, DIRECTOR - G. TOPATPO Box 39568 Capricorn Square 7948 ? No 1, Lakeside Place Capricorn Park Prince George Drive Muizenberg 7945Telephone (021) 787 9800 Facsimile (021) 709 0494 5th of October 2007 VIA EMAIL: xxxx Total Number of Pages: 2 To: xxxxxx From: Sean Stegmann RE: Stolen Mountain Bike I refer to your email dated Thursday the 4th of October 2007 and wish to offer the following response and how we intend dealing with the matter. Firstly allow me to offer heartfelt apologies to you. As a South African who is acutely aware of the effects of crime on our country, I understand your anger and frustration. I wish to assure you that Cash Crusaders vigorously implements policies and procedures that are aimed at bringing integrity to an industry suspectable to crime and the effects of crime on people. Our brand is vitally important to us and we live by a set of values that speak to honouring the brand through honesty and fairness at all time. We also have strict vetting criteria for the purchase of second hand goods as we are aware that it is an avenue that criminals may use to off-load stolen merchandise. I have located the store where the transaction was done and it is embarrassing to admit that it was one of our Franchise stores. We are investigating the matter and will take the strongest action possible should it be found that the franchisee was negligent or dishonest in his dealings. We will be meeting with our senior council once all the facts are available to determine if there has been a breach of the Franchise Agreement. Trading in second hand goods is part science and part art. The science is based on evaluating the merchandise and assessing whether the seller is asking fair value for the goods. Having retrieved the make and model of the goods we have put it to the GIANT Wholesaler (they were agents of Cadex prior to the model being discontinued) to assess its fair value. The bicycle in question is an 8 years old mountain bike, and no longer a current model. The GIANT representative informs us that the fair value for such a mode (Cadex CAM 3) would be about R1000. The store would more than likely have performed a similar exercise to what I have done and therefore buying it for R350.00 would not have been out of kilter considering that we are not a specialty bike shop and goods must be priced to sell. Could it be reasonably expected that a 20 year old would own a bicycle like this? This is where the art come in. The art is to match the goods to the seller as this would be an obvious indicator of whether the owner is the seller. By asking questions, the buyer hones in as to whether the goods could likely be matched to the seller. This was also the first time that Mr. Lackay had sold to the store so there was no history of criminal conduct. We have already observed that the franchise store in question deviated from our policy by selling goods to a 20 year old. Although the legal age to transact is 18 years, we have a policy that we don?t buy goods from any individual under the age of 21. Our experience shows that these age groups (without prejudice to the majority of people in this age group) are most likely to be behaving delinquently, such as Mr. Lackay did, and therefore we steer clear of servicing them. I can assure you that this matter is receiving our highest attention and will inform you of possible sanction once we have finalized our investigation. Yours sincerely, Sean StegmannCEO ? Cash Crusaders Franchising
Spinnekop Posted October 8, 2007 Posted October 8, 2007 I think a fair reply from Mr. Stegmann. I don't want to be in his shoes, wanting to do business and KNOWING that people are dishonest......can be VERY tricky!!!
Bateleur1 Posted October 8, 2007 Posted October 8, 2007 It is pretty clear that they are giving this matter attention. Agree with you there Spidy. A fair response.
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