Two in dock for fraud and theft
SOUTH CAPE Thorough investigation by the Eden Cluster detectives led to the arrest of two suspects on Monday 10 December. They have allegedly defrauded a number of taxi owners in George and surroundings from thousands of rand’s following a falsified letter they disseminated amongst taxi-owners. The fraud and theft docket emanates from this fraudulent letter that was circulated during November 2018 regarding the issuing of new Taxi-permits operating licences. One suspect 50 years old allegedly offered the ‘new permits’ at a rate of at least R5 000 cash. The suspects allegedly received tens of thousands of rand's, implicating about six different victims of whom some has paid over substantial amounts of cash for multiple so-called permits that were never issued. The Dept. Of Transport in conjunction with the George municipality has placed a moratorium on the issuing of new licences during November 2009. This moratorium is still in place and has not been repealed. The Municipality has laid a Fraud and theft charges against the suspects on 29 November 2018. The complainant on behalf of the municipality claims that the letter with the signature of the municipal manager on it was falsified. Subsequent to the charges, the investigating team raided the homes of the suspects yesterday after obtaining a search warrant from the George magistrates’ court, searching for leads and evidence implicating the suspects. Two suspects 50 and 68 years old are scheduled to appear in the George C-court on Wednesday 12 December once they have been charged. They appeal to anyone who might have fallen prey/victim to this scam to contact the investigation officer, Sgt Jacobus Maton at 044 803 4526 or 073 046 8482 or Crime Stop at 08600 10111.