On duty SAPS member. File photo.
The Hawks have arrested seven suspects‚ including a convicted criminal who is serving a sentence at the Kgoshi Mampuru Correctional Services facility in Pretoria‚ for impersonating members of the Hawks to con people out of money.
Police said on Tuesday that the arrests came after an inmate called the Phalaborwa police station in Limpopo pretending to be a lieutenant colonel from the Hawks.
The fake colonel then informed the police of a suspect who was to appear at the local magistrate’s court‚ and instructed them to make contact with the suspect’s family members and give them his contact details.
“Upon calling the fake cop‚ the family members were told to deposit an undisclosed amount of money into a well-known bank account so that the suspect could be released on bail and for the destruction of the case docket.”
The suspects‚ two men and four women aged between 28 and 45 years‚ who were arrested in Brits and Witbank‚ will appear before the Phalaborwa Magistrate’s Court on Wednesday‚ facing charges of corruption and impersonating police officers.
“This is the second breakthrough after another six people were arrested after having used the same modus operandi to con unsuspecting family members.”
The six‚ Margaret Polo (43)‚ Simon Motlhasedi (33)‚ Rachel Holmes (32) as well as inmates David Mellow‚ Donald Mahlabathi and Jimmy Moeti were arrested following a similar incident. Polo‚ Motlhasedi and Holmes are currently out on R1‚000 bail each‚ but will be back in the dock on Wednesday with their co accused
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