A 46-year-old woman is expected to appear in the Protea Glen Magistrates Court this morning, following her arrest in Gauteng during a multi-disciplinary, prosecution-led takedown on Tuesday.
According to the Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation (DPCI), also known as the Hawks, the woman faces charges of fraud, racketeering, corruption and contravention of the Immigration Act.
During December 2021, the Gauteng DPCI Serious Organised Crime Investigation, based in Germiston, working in concert with the Department of Home Affairs (DHA) Anti-Corruption unit based in Head Office, and the National Prosecuting Authority with its Asset Forfeiture Unit, received information that a foreign national was colluding with Home Affairs officials to obtain fraudulent South African passports.
Following the complaint, a modus operandi was compiled, and an investigation was launched.
“Preliminary investigations confirmed that officials from DHA and vulnerable South African citizens were recruited, then paired with foreign nationals they photo-swopped and left personal details to legitimise the document,” the Hawks said ahead of Wednesday, 30 September’s court appearance.
“The DHA officials were paid between R10 000 and R15 000 per application while South Africans were paid R500 whilst the foreign nationals were charged between R50 000 and R100 000.
The team registered a project dubbed “Project Humulani” on 12 April 2022, which included cases registered in Krugersdorp, Kliptown, Fairlands and Tubatse as well as an enquiry in Germiston.
“The investigation continued under the project and bore fruit wherein, for two cases, Krugersdorp and Fairlands, the alleged kingpin was successfully traced, arrested, convicted and sentenced to 14 years' direct imprisonment,” the Hawks said.
During the project, three Toyota Fortuner SUVs were seized, and several hundred passports were blocked and cancelled. – SAnews.gov.za
