A 41-year-old suspect will appear in the Protea Glen Magistrate’s Court this week after he was arrested by the Hawks’ East Serious Organised Crime Investigation in Tubatse, Limpopo, on charges including fraud, corruption, violation of the Immigration Act and racketeering.
He is the final outstanding suspect linked to Project Humulani, a major undercover operation targeting a multimillion-rand passport fraud, corruption and human smuggling syndicate.
Project Humulani was registered in April 2022 following intelligence gathered in December 2021 regarding a syndicate operating at the borders.
“A foreign national kingpin colluded with corrupt Home Affairs officials and vulnerable South African citizens to facilitate a process known as photo-swapping.
“The syndicate used valid identity details of South African citizens but substituted the photographs with those of foreign nationals to issue fraudulent South African passports,” the Hawks said.
The multi-disciplinary investigation, led by the Hawks’ East Rand Serious Organised Crime Investigation, in conjunction with the Department of Home Affairs, the Asset Forfeiture Unit (AFU) and the Director of Public Prosecutions, has yielded significant successes over its duration.
The syndicate kingpin was previously convicted and sentenced to 14 years of direct imprisonment.
Several hundreds of fraudulently issued passports have been successfully blocked and cancelled by authorities.
The Acting Provincial Head for the Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation, Brigadier Paulina Sekgobela, has commended and congratulated the investigation team on their excellent work and dedication to the case. – SAnews.gov.za
