A church pastor who used a magician-like hand trick to con an Elgin Tesco cashier out of £200 has been spared jail after admitting his crime.
Vasile Rostas was finally caught out when supermarket staff investigating the missing money watched back security camera video to uncover his dodgy deed.
Rostas – a 50-year-old man with a history of criminal dishonesty “in this country” and also “across Europe” – claimed in court that he had paid back the cash the following day.
The swindler distracted a checkout assistant at the Blackfriars Road superstore on September 22 2020 so he could conceal £200 of his £400 bill using a sleight of hand manoeuvre.
Rostas, of Hopeman Avenue in Glasgow, pled guilty to the fraud last month and has since been placed under a period of house arrest with an electronic tag to monitor his movements.
Before he received his sentence, the court heard that Rostas had gone to the shop around 8.40pm with his four-year-old daughter.
He planned to purchase two Shark vacuum cleaners costing a combined total of £400.
The seemingly normal transaction took place without incident at the time, but staff discovered the next morning that the tills’ takings for the previous day were £200 short.
Each till had a weighted counting mechanism and CCTV footage from the night before was then scrutinised.
It clearly showed Rostas scamming the till using his sly moves to take back £200 cash.
CCTV camera exposed Vasile Rostas’ magician-like hand trick
Fiscal depute Karen Poke explained: “[Rostas] can be seen handing the cashier the money.
“She counted it before going to put it into the till, but he then distracted her and asked her to pass it back to him. The cash is returned to him.
“He then counted it again.
“As he did, he was observed removing money from the bottom of the bundle, folding it with his little finger and covering up with his wallet as he handed the cash back to the cashier, who then puts it in the till uncounted.”
Rostas had also been charged with a similar offence amounting to £160 allegedly defrauded from Tesco’s Danestone store in Aberdeen after the purchase of a Blue Ray player.
It was claimed that he returned it to the shop the next day for a refund of £427.
However, Rostas’ plea of not guilty was accepted by the Crown.
A further two charges for driving without a licence or insurance – all on the same date in 2022 – were also dropped.
Elgin Tesco hand trickster committed crime ‘across Europe’
Rostas’ defence agent Lesley Graham said her client was “very sorry” for the incident.
She claimed he had returned the following day to repay the £200.
“He works as a church pastor in Glasgow three nights a week,” the lawyer added.
Elgin Sheriff Court was previously told that Rostas suffers from “a variety” of health issues, “not least” congenital cardiac failure and epilepsy and is receiving disability benefits.
Sheriff Robert Frazer took into account the offender’s previous criminal record for dishonest acts “not only in this country, but across Europe”.
He sentenced Rostas to a one-year supervision order and imposed a restriction of liberty order for five months, adding: “This is a direct alternative to custody”.
It means Rostas is not allowed to leave his home address between the hours of 10.30pm and 7.30am and will be fitted with an electronic tag to monitor his compliance.
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