Latest news with #SeriousCorruptionInvestigation
The Citizen
13 hours ago
- The Citizen
7 Home Affairs officials arrested for contravention of Immigration and Identification Acts
7 Home Affairs officials arrested for contravention of Immigration and Identification Acts Seven Department of Home Affairs (DHA) employees have been arrested in connection with issuing fraudulent passports to undocumented foreigners. This forms part of an ongoing operation run by the Serious Corruption Investigation component of the Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation (Hawks) in Pretoria. ALSO READ: WATCH: Protesters block Home Affairs office with coffins The operation emanates from a complaint by the DHA relating to the issuance of fraudulent passports. Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation spokesperson Colonel Katlego Mogale explained that allegations included corruption, fraud and contravention of the Identification Act and Immigration Act. The crimes reportedly took place between February 2020 and July 2023, with the facilitation of fraudulent passports from DHA offices in Durban, specifically the Commercial Street branch. 'These unlawful activities took place outside regular business hours, including evenings, weekends and on public holidays when the DHA offices were officially closed,' said Mogale. 'Preliminary investigations by the DHA confirmed that local citizens [were] offered R300 to R1 000 in exchange for their co-operation, especially at DHA offices in Isipingo, Durban Central and eShowe, resulting in a case being opened for investigation.' To date, 38 people have been arrested between September 2022 and now, seven of whom are DHA officials and 31 private citizens, explained Mogale. He said 24 individuals – four of them DHA officials – were convicted and sentenced to a combined 310 years' imprisonment. 'The remaining five suspects were arrested by the Serious Corruption Investigation on Saturday in various parts of Durban and will face charges of corruption, fraud, contravention of the Immigration Act and contravention of the Identification Act,' he said. Don't have the ZO app? Download it to your Android or Apple device here: HAVE YOUR SAY Like our Facebook page and follow us on Twitter. For news straight to your phone invite us: WhatsApp – 060 784 2695 Instagram – zululand_observer At Caxton, we employ humans to generate daily fresh news, not AI intervention. Happy reading!
The Citizen
14 hours ago
- The Citizen
Passport fraud syndicate: 7 suspects to appear in Durban court
The Department of Home Affairs (DHA) and law enforcement have arrested seven people allegedly involved in a passport fraud syndicate. Berea Mail reports that the suspects, foreign nationals operating in Durban, will appear in the Durban Specialised Commercial Crimes Court today. Initially, five people were arrested, but two more have been arrested since the weekend. 'The Serious Corruption Investigation component of the Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation, based in Pretoria, has arrested an additional two suspects in the ongoing operation that began on Saturday in KZN, bringing the number to seven,' says Hawks' Colonel Katlego Mogale. 'The execution operation emanates from a complaint from the DHA relating to the issuance of fraudulent passports to undocumented foreign nationals. The allegations reported serious offences including corruption, fraud and contraventions of the Identification Act [68 of 1997] and Immigration Act [13 of 2002] that took place between February 2020 and July 2023, wherein a group of South African citizens allegedly facilitated the fraudulent acquisition of South African passports by foreign nationals at DHA offices in Durban, specifically the Commercial Street branch. 'These unlawful activities took place outside of regular business hours, including evenings, weekends and public holidays, when the DHA offices were officially closed. 'Preliminary investigations by the DHA confirmed that the criminal activities were indeed conducted [during] off-hours when local citizens [were] offered R300 to R1 000 in exchange for their co-operation, especially at DHA offices in Isipingo, Durban Central and Eshowe, resulting in a case being opened for investigation by Serious Corruption Investigation.' The Minister of Home Affairs Leon Schreiber reiterated: 'Our strategy of clamping down on criminals, while using technology to close loopholes they exploit, is how we will ultimately win the war against corruption.' The Hawks are not ruling out the possibility of more suspects being arrested. Breaking news at your fingertips… Follow Caxton Network News on Facebook and join our WhatsApp channel. Nuus wat saakmaak. Volg Caxton Netwerk-nuus op Facebook en sluit aan by ons WhatsApp-kanaal. Read original story on At Caxton, we employ humans to generate daily fresh news, not AI intervention. Happy reading!
The South African
15 hours ago
- The South African
Two more suspects arrested for corruption at Home Affairs in KZN
An additional two suspects have been arrested for corruption in the Department of Home Affairs in the ongoing operation that began last week in KwaZulu-Natal. On Saturday, 14 June, five suspects, including an ex-Home Affairs official, were arrested by the Serious Corruption Investigation component of the Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation (also known as The Hawks), which is based in Pretoria. Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation (Hawks) spokesperson Colonel Katlego Mogale said the execution operation emanates from a complaint from the Department of Home Affairs relating to the issuance of fraudulent passports to undocumented foreign nationals. Mogale said the allegations reported serious offences include corruption, fraud, and contraventions of the Identification Act and Immigration Act that took place between February 2020 and July 2023, wherein a group of South African citizens allegedly facilitated the fraudulent acquisition of South African passports by foreign nationals at DHA offices in Durban, specifically the Commercial Street branch. 'These unlawful activities took place outside of regular business hours, including evenings, weekends and public holidays, when the Home Affairs offices were officially closed. 'Preliminary investigations by the DHA confirmed that the criminal activities were indeed conducted on off hours where the local citizens offered R300 to R1 000 in exchange for their cooperation especially at Home Affairs offices in Isipingo, Durban Central and Eshowe resulting in a case being opened for investigation by Serious Corruption Investigation,' Mogale explained. According to the Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation, so far, a total of 38 individuals have been previously arrested on the matter, between September 2022 to date of which seven are Home Affairs officials whilst 31 are private citizens. A total of 24 individuals of whom four are Home Affairs officials have been convicted and sentenced to a combined sentence of 310 years imprisonment. The other five suspects who were arrested by the Serious Corruption Investigation on 14 June in various parts of Durban will face charges of corruption, fraud, contravention of the Immigration Act; and contravention of the Identification Act. The suspects are expected to appear at the Durban Specialised Commercial Crimes Court on Tuesday, 17 June. The DPCI has not ruled out the possibility of more suspects being arrested. Let us know by leaving a comment below, or send a WhatsApp to 060 011 021 1 Subscribe to The South African website's newsletters and follow us on WhatsApp, Facebook, X and Bluesky for the latest news.
