Crime & Safety
Personal Gas Bought with Company Credit Card, Police Say
Bethlehem man charged with fraud and theft for allegedly buying more than $3,500 in gas for his car with a company credit card.
A Bethlehem man working for a cleaning service has admitted to police he used company credit cards to pay for more than $3,500 in gasoline for his own vehicle—something he was not authorized to do, court records say.
Even before police got involved, the company fired Jose Delgado-Perez, 54, because it suspected he was using the credit cards for his own use, the records say.
Delgado-Perez told police he worked for the company—ARC Maintenance, 5940 Keystone Drive, East Allen Township, near Route 329 and Airport Road—for about three months in 2012.
He said he was part of a company team that cleaned service stations. But the records do not make clear if he visited the same stations to fill up his own vehicle.
The court records say that Delgado-Perez, of 1139 E. Third St., Apt 1, bought $3,530.99 in gasoline for his own vehicle between Aug. 5 and Oct. 28.
He bought the fuel at five Wawas and a Hess gas station, the records say. The Wawas are at 2455 Schoenersville Road, Bethlehem; 741 E. Broad St., Bethlehem; 2525 Easton Ave., Bethlehem; 2202 Lehigh St., Allentown, and 911-941 Union Blvd., Allentown.
The Hess station is at 824 Union Blvd., Allentown.
Trooper Robert Hooper of state police at Bethlehem writes in a criminal complaint that he was dispatched to ARC Maintenance on Nov. 26 and met with a company official.
The official told Hooper that Delgado-Perez was fired the previous week “due to the stated fraudulent transactions,” the complaint says.
The official also said a clue to the apparent wrongdoing was that one of the credit cards involved was assigned to a company vehicle that is rarely used.
Hooper also writes that Delgado-Perez came to the Bethlehem barracks around 10 p.m. Jan. 23. Accompanying him was his son, who was there to ensure that his father understood all the information “due to a language barrier.”
After explaining how he used company credit cards to fill up company vehicles before ending a shift, Delgado-Perez admitted to using the credit cards to fill up his own vehicle “on multiple occasions at multiple gas stations”—something he was not authorized to do.
Delgado-Perez was charged with access device fraud and theft by deception—both level-three felonies. He was arraigned early Wednesday by on-duty District Judge Jackie Taschner of Palmer Township and committed to Northampton County Prison in lieu of $10,000 bail.
