A Kamloops man who regularly sold scrap to a local dealer rewrote a cheque he was paid in July last year, cashing it at Money Mart for nearly four times its real value.

Trent Ziegeman, 39, fessed up to the owner of Central Salvage soon after, promising to pay the $300 difference.

But Ziegeman never kept that promise. He was charged with fraud and pleaded guilty Thursday in provincial court.

Crown prosecutor Will Burrows said Central Salvage wrote a $141 cheque to Ziegeman in return for a load of scrap metal. But Ziegeman rewrote the cheque for $441 and cashed it at Money Mart, where he was a regular customer.

Burrows said Ziegeman told the owner what he'd done, promising to pay him back.

"That never happened, apparently."

Judge Hermann Rohrmoser gave Ziegeman a suspended sentence, along with probation for six months. He is also under a restitution order that he pay back the $300.

"It was a bad judgment call in my case," Ziegeman told the court. "I went back the next day because I felt bad about it."

Terms of Ziegeman's probation include that he stay away from Money Mart as well as Central Salvage.