On the day he was to return the Hilux, he used a stolen credit card to extend the rental period.
On August 2 last year, he went to the Z Energy petrol station in Fairy Springs Rd in Rotorua and filled the Hilux with $75.32 of diesel.
The summary says he entered the petrol station and told staff his Z Energy Sharetank app was not working and had to be reset on his phone. This would take 24 hours to work again and Stewart had no other way to pay for the diesel.
The summary says Stewart provided a driver’s licence under the name Tom Grant and stated he would be back to sort out payment.
On August 3, Stewart emailed the car hire business in Hamilton and asked for an extension on his rental agreement for another four days because he claimed he had a funeral to attend, the summary says. But on August 7, he emailed again and said he would return the vehicle on August 9.
He didn’t return the vehicle and the rental agency did not hear from him again, despite several attempts to contact him.
Stewart later told police he needed to be in Rotorua and Tauranga for family reasons and the vehicle was stolen while in his possession.
The summary says he accessed the Rebel Sport website via an electronic device and selected sporting items valued at $135.99. He used a stolen credit card to buy the items, but the order was cancelled by Rebel Sport and was not collected by Stewart.
The summary says Stewart accessed the New World Westend website via an electronic device on March 22 this year and ordered $396.33 of food through click and collect.
He used a stolen credit card belonging to a Rotorua business and picked up the order in person.
On March 22, he accessed the Tony Tyres website via an electronic device and booked a vehicle registration and other mechanical work including a strip, fit and balance valued at $91.85.
He used the same stolen credit card he used at Westend New World to pay for the mechanical work.
Also on March 22, he used the same credit card to order $87.97 of alcohol from Liquorland’s website and spent a further $685.94 on the credit card buying fuel from the Z Energy Sharetank website.
In April he used stolen credit details to buy firewood valued at $396.33 from Firestack’s website. The order was delivered to his address at the time, in Western Heights.
He also accessed Blazing Firewood’s website and ordered two cubes of firewood valued at $250, again using stolen credit card details and having it delivered to his home in Western Heights.
He was remanded in custody to reappear in the Waitakare District Court on November 22.
