Five suspects, including a Free State police officer, are expected to appear in the Reitz Magistrate’s Court on Thursday on charges of fraud, theft, and defeating the ends of justice.
The five suspects including a Warrant Officer and petrol attendants between the ages of 47 and 67, were arrested in Lindley on Tuesday, April 2, by members of the Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation’s (known as Hawks) Serious Corruption Investigated team based in Bethlehem.
The provincial Hawks spokesperson, Captain Christopher Singo said the station commander at the Lindley police station was suspicious because of overspending on fuel in 2022.
“The matter was then reported to the Hawks in Bethlehem for further investigation. The investigation uncovered that a 53-year-old Warrant Officer allegedly used different state petrol cards by misrepresenting as if he poured petrol into the state vehicles whereas the vehicles were not at the fuel station but parked at Lindley SAPS,” Singo said.
“It was further discovered that the Warrant Officer was conducting these fraudulent activities assisted by petrol attendants. The incident took place during the period between January 2022 and August 2022,” he said.
“As a result of the fraudulent activities, the South African Police Service (SAPS) suffered a total loss of R46,911.”
The suspects, who are currently in custody have been charged with fraud, theft, and defeating the ends of justice.
In a separate incident, in KwaZulu-Natal, a 39-year-old police Sergeant was arrested on Tuesday morning following the alleged assault on his girlfriend on Sunday.
The policeman, who is stationed at the Mpumalanga police station in Hammarsdale, faces charges of assault with intent to cause grievous bodily harm.
IOL