Durban — Twelve suspects are expected to appear in court soon for fraud and corruption after their arrest in Verulam on Friday.
The suspects were arrested by a joint infrastructure task team consisting of the Durban Metro Police Service, the SAPS, the Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa, Transnet, Telkom and the eThekwini Infrastructure Theft investigators.
KwaZulu-Natal police spokesperson Colonel Robert Netshiunda said that a covert operation by the Economic Infrastructure Task Team resulted in the arrest of 12 people who are suspected of being involved in fraudulent activities at the testing station.
“An employee of the eThekwini Municipality, a cleaner and a security guard at the same testing station, as well as nine other people aged between 27 and 41 years old, were busted by undercover officers for suspected fraudulent activities involving the sale of fraudulent documents,” Netshiunda said.
He said that three vehicles, a printer, a camera and an undisclosed amount of money were seized during the operation.
“The suspects will appear in court soon,” Netshiunda said.
Durban Metro Police Service spokesperson Senior Superintendent Boysie Zungu said that several members were deployed undercover. This resulted in the arrest of 12 suspects for fraud and corruption.
Zungu added that the suspects were processed at Verulam SAPS station.
Meanwhile, the Road Traffic Management Corporation (RTMC) and police broke a driving licence corruption ring in the North West recently.
RTMC spokesperson Simon Zwane said that four alleged kingpins linked to a crime syndicate that has been involved in the fraudulent sale of driving licences in the North West have been arrested.
He said that the suspects, who include driving licence examiners and driving school operators, were arrested on Tuesday, January 24, in Klerksdorp and Stilfontein. An additional two suspects are expected to be added soon.
“The arrests followed a two-year investigation, dubbed Operation KPS, conducted by the Road Traffic Management’s national traffic anti-corruption unit, and the South African police’s anti-corruption and crime intelligence units,” Zwane said.
“The investigation revealed that examiners of driving licences were colluding with driving school operators to have learner’s and driving licences fraudulently issued to aspiring drivers without requiring them to undergo the required tests.”
Zwane said that it was established that the syndicate had hijacked driving licence centres in Klerksdorp, Potchefstroom and Stilfontein to conduct its corrupt activities.
Daily News