Eight arrested in fraud sting
Police swooped on a major Durban syndicate selling forged ID documents. Mervyn Naidoo
APOLICE sting broke the back of a Durban syndicate that has allegedly been issuing fraudulent documents for foreigners seeking citizenship in South Africa.
Phoenix pastor, a woman from Bayview, Chatsworth, and a Pakistani national, who is believed to be the kingpin, were among the eight people arrested.
The syndicate’s modus operandi is to marry off local women to foreigners looking to make this country their home.
Four teams comprising members of the Hawks, crime intelligence, and officials from the Department of Home Affairs, swooped simultaneously on targets in the CBD, Phoenix and Chatsworth on Friday.
The arrests are a culmination of two years of intensive police work with undercover investigators infiltrating the syndicate’s tightly-woven network.
While the syndicate’s customers are mainly Pakistanis, among those who fork out as much as R30 000 for certification are Indian, Bangladeshi and Nigerian nationals.
The women draw in clientele with the promise of marriage, which would secure foreigners South African status.
But the matrimonial ceremony usually officiated by the Phoenix pastor is a ruse as the women use fraudulently obtained ID documents to process marriages with the Department of Home Affairs.
Apart from IDs, passports and travel documents, the syndicate apparently had the capability to generate an array of other official documents as part of its service. Police believe that “well over 1 000” transactions have been processed in the past two years and this breakthrough is only the “tip of the iceberg”.
“There are similar syndicates operating throughout the country,” said provincial police spokesman Colonel Jay Naicker.
When the pastor, 59, learnt of his imminent arrest, accompanied by his attorney, he handed himself over to the arresting team, which used SAPS Durban Central as a temporary base.
The unsuspecting 51-year-old kingpin had apparently been enjoying the attractions at Sun Coast Casino when police arrested him on Friday morning. He was taken to a flat in Dennis Hurley (formerly Queen) Street, believed to be his residence, on an evidence gathering mission.
At the nerve centre of operations, the back room of a pawn shop in Anton Lembede (previously Smith) Street, police recovered stacks of “prepared” documents, cash, IDs, iPads, cellphones and laptops.
A businessman, trading near the kingpin’s base, said he was well-known in the area as someone who “organised passports” and other documents. “Often foreigners, mostly Pakistanis come looking for him. On two occasions I met him at the Home Affairs office and he offered to help me speed up the processing of documents. I refused.”
Advocate Constance Moitse of the Department of Home Affairs said her department had yet to find employees acting in concert with the syndicate. “Minister Malusi Gigaba has adopted a zero tolerance stance with regards to corruption in our department.”
Naicker said investigations were ongoing and more arrests were likely to be made in the province and nationally and that the SAPS was pleased with the success of Friday’s sting operation.
The suspects will be charged with theft, fraud, theft by false pretences and contravening the immigration act, Naicker said.
“ID theft is rampant, criminals use stolen IDs to commit financial crimes and perpetuate the illegal entry of foreigners into the country.”
KwaZulu-Natal Provincial Commissioner Lieutenant General Mmamonnye Ngobeni congratulated the team for bringing down the syndicate. “This is a boon for the province. We… are doing everything in our control to curb fraudulent activities.”