Some French people are creating ingenious systems to fill up with gas without paying for their fuel. This is what we call the crime of fraud. What exactly are the risks of leaving without paying?
With inflation and the rise in fuel prices, the French are exasperated. So much so that some people do everything to avoid paying. And when a liter of gasoline is around two euros, everyone is doubling their inventiveness to develop ingenious systems that allow them to pay nothing at the pump. This is the case of a 46-year-old man, living in Saint-Quentin in Hauts-de-France, who was finally arrested by the police for damage estimated at more than 40,000 euros at the station. Auchan.
And it was with a lollipop stick and a wire, installed in the fuel pump, that the forty-year-old managed to fill a 1000 liter tank, neither seen nor known. “Someone explained to me how it’s done and sold me the key to open the pump. I kept a small quantity for myself and sold it for 30 euros here and there., he explained to the judges. The crook, who was placed behind bars, used fake number plates and passed tolls with a stolen badge.
A few years ago, in 2015, a young man managed to fill up with gasoline for almost a year with a particular technique, which consisted of inserting his bank card into a pump, but using the gasoline in the one next to it. “I triggered the first pump with my card and used the second without paying” he declared before being spotted. But what risk do we risk in using ourselves in this way?
This illegal practice is none other than an offense called “the offense of fraud”. Gas stations are not the only ones affected: cafes and restaurants where people leave without paying the bill are also victims of this crime, as are taxis, or even hotels, if the stay lasts less than 10 days.
However, a person who uses gasoline without paying the bill is considered a thief. “Filouture is close to fraud, but the latter concerns more serious facts. It is fraud and not fraud if the author uses fraudulent maneuvers, that is to say if he “to deceive his victims. For example, if a person pretends to be a police officer to “requisition” fuel” specifies the public service website. In addition, the penalties incurred are rather substantial: the perpetrator of a fraud offense risks 6 months in prison and a fine of 7,500 euros!