Five suspects nabbed in Durban for passport fraud operation, one with 226 stolen passports
Five suspects involved in an alleged passport fraud syndicate in Durban were arrested in a Home Affairs-led law enforcement operation at the weekend.
The operation, supported by the Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation, took place at the uMngeni and Commercial Road offices in Durban. One suspect was found with 226 passports that had been stolen from the uMngeni Road Home Affairs office.
Among the five people arrested are a former Home Affairs official from the Prospecton office, a municipal project volunteer at the Commercial Road office, and three members of the public – one of whom was found with 226 passports that were recently stolen from the uMngeni Home Affairs office.
The successful operation was initiated by Home Affairs’ Counter-Corruption Unit following information received from the public. One of the suspects was found with keys to the Home Affairs offices on Commercial Road and at Prospecton.
The same suspect was also found with copies of enabling documents that did not belong to him. All five suspects are expected to appear in the Durban Commercial Crimes Court on Tuesday.
The department said two further suspects have been identified as members of this syndicate but the Hawks remain on the hunt for them.
In a statement, Home Affairs Minister Leon Schreiber said: “This latest operation lands another blow in our ongoing cleanup campaign at Home Affairs, which is specifically focused on breaking open criminal syndicates.
“The details of the case also reaffirms the urgent work we are doing to digitalise all of our processes, so that it becomes impossible for syndicates to penetrate and manipulate our systems. This combination of ensuring criminals are arrested and prosecuted, and using digital transformation to close the loopholes they exploit, is how we will ultimately win the war against corruption.”
Last month The Mercury reported on lifestyle audits for Home Affairs officials. At the time, the department said it had completed 476 lifestyle audits on its officials.
It said employees flagged during the process have been referred for vetting, and disciplinary action is expected to follow where wrongdoing is confirmed.
This week it said 33 corrupt officials have been dismissed since July last year, as well as the criminal conviction of eight offenders, with sentences ranging from four to 18 years in prison.