By Thys Khiba – The Free State Hawks Serious Corruption Investigation and Provincial Anti-Corruption teams have arrested three suspects between the ages of 38 and 49 on Friday and Saturday for allegedly selling fraudulent taxi permits for R156 000 in Welkom.
This comes after the matter was reported to the Hawks for further investigation which led to the arrest of the three suspects.
“Their arrests originate from an incident which took place in 2019, where Provincial traffic officials were conducting a stop and search in Welkom,” said Hawks provincial spokesperson Captain Christopher Singo.
It was then discovered by law enforcement agencies during the stop and search operation that some of the taxi permits were fraudulent.
They then conducted their preliminary investigation where they discovered that the fraudulent taxi permits were bought from the suspects by the victims with an estimated amount of R156 000.
“It was also discovered that the face value documents were stolen from the Traffic department in Welkom,” said Singo.
The arrested suspects will appear before the Welkom Magistrates’ Court on Monday, 10 October to face charges of fraud, theft, uttering and forgery.
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