A hooker, a R1.4m car and a sorry tale
Cops sent on wild-goose chase after tall story about robbery in S’strand
APORT Elizabeth man’s elaborate tale involving robbers, him being held hostage in his upmarket flat and a missing luxury vehicle turned out to be a load of hogwash, with police discovering that a prostitute actually took the R1.4-million Mercedes-Benz and no robbery had ever taken place.
The tall story backfired on the Summerstrand “victim”, who was arrested after he caved while being grilled by police and allegedly admitted it was all a big lie.
The “victim”, Jayson Juglal, 55, claimed he had been attacked by two men at his flat and his Mercedes- Benz had been stolen.
However, police found later that the car had been in the possession of a prostitute.
They said Juglal had admitted to fabricating the story.
After having diverted a number of police resources to what turned out to be a false crime report, police have warned that people making bogus allegations will be prosecuted.
Juglal, who was arrested and spent Tuesday night in police station holding cells, appeared in the Port Elizabeth Magistrate’s Court yesterday and was released on R500 bail.
According to police, Juglal had claimed that he was held hostage inside his 9th Avenue flat late on Monday night.
Juglal, who is originally from Port Shepstone, manages a fresh produce wholesale business in the Markman industrial area and stays in the Cascades flats.
The Mercedes-Benz SL400 AMG which he claimed was stolen is registered under the name of a KwaZulu-Natal business.
Police spokeswoman Captain Sandra Janse van Rensburg said yesterday that Juglal had called the police, claiming he had been locked in the bathroom of his flat and held hostage.
“It was originally relayed to police that there had been a house robbery and that he [Juglal] was accosted by two men when he arrived home at about 8pm on Monday,” she said.
“He claimed they had forced him into his flat and locked him in the bathroom before stealing his cellphone and wallet.
“He claimed he had managed to alert the caretaker, who unlocked the flat door to let him out.
“During this time, he noticed that his Mercedes was missing from the car park.”
Janse van Rensburg said that in all house robberies, detectives and forensic experts visited the alleged crime scenes.
“[Juglal] was interviewed and he explained in detail what supposedly transpired.
“[Details of] the stolen car were circulated for all police to be on the lookout for it.
“On Tuesday, the car was found in Gemsbok Street, Gelvandale.
“Detectives tracked down the person who allegedly drove the car and left it there.” Janse van Rensburg said a resident had said a woman friend of the man had got the car from her boyfriend and told him he could drive it.
“It was established that a prostitute had taken the car – but not in a robbery,” she said.
“On confronting Juglal, he admitted to lying. He was arrested for perjury.”
Janse van Rensburg said that by the time the truth emerged, a team of detectives had already spent hours tracking down the car and following up information.
“We are consulting our legal department to establish if civil action should be taken in an attempt to recoup the costs of following up this case,” she said.
“Cases such as these [are] a waste of state money, manpower and time.
“It also has financial implications for the police and, most importantly, it diverts resources from real incidents where people have either been hurt or killed.”
Juglal is due to appear in court again on May 29.