An car rental manager pleaded guilty on April 6 to a fraud charge, in which he allegedly stole more than $15,000 at a Cairnes, Australia car rental business by altering car rental contracts, stealing cash and using other people’s credit cards to balance the books.

Charges against Jeffrey Colin Jones, 58, were related to All 2 Ezy Car Rentals, where he managed car rentals from October 2007 to September last year.

All 2 Ezy owners Phillip and Perri Conti had no idea the smooth-talking salesman they hired to help run their car rental yard was a veteran conman. They said he always got to work on time, dressed neatly and had “the gift of the gab” with customers.

Jones on April 6 also pleaded guilty to separate charges including passing valueless checks and posing as a distributor to order clothes, jewelry and other items, which he would sell and keep the cash.

Outside the court, Perri Conti urged employers to insist on police checks before hiring staff.

“If I had have done it, we could have nabbed him on the day he started,” she said.