TimesLIVE reports that the Hawks on Friday arrested a 40-year-old man who had been masquerading as a Hawks investigator.
His arrest followed a two-month probe by the Hawks, who received numerous complaints from people claiming to have been approached by Hawks investigators with the ranks of colonels, brigadiers and major-generals. The bogus Hawks official attempted to extort large sums of money from the persons he contacted in exchange for destroying case dockets or files that implicated them. The modus operandi entailed calling and sending text messages to unsuspecting subjects of Hawks investigations. Among the victims of the scam was a Johannesburg businessman who had been contacted by a "Maj-Gen Moodley of the Hawks based in Bloemfontein, Free State". Hawks spokesperson Brig Hangwani Mulaudzi said that following receipt of that information, the Hawks had conducted an extensive investigation, which led to the arrest of a man from Honeydew, Johannesburg, on Friday. The suspect was scheduled to appear in the Krugersdorp Magistrate's Court on Monday on charges of extortion and impersonating a police official.
- Read the full original of Ernest Mabuza’s report on this story at TimesLIVE
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