The Citizen reports that an investigation by the Hawks’ Serious Organised Crime Investigation unit led to the arrest of an Alberton Traffic Department employee.
Petros Vusumuzi Mahlaba was arrested on 14 June and will face charges of fraud and contravention of the National Road Traffic Act. He is alleged to have improperly altered the registration details of a vehicle used by a criminal syndicate targeting essential infrastructure. The 44-year-old Mahlaba is alleged to have assisted men who were caught draining fuel from a Transnet pipeline near Nigel in October 2023. When the men were arrested, the truck they were using was impounded. The Hawks traced the truck to an owner in Newcastle. “The investigation team further discovered that the syndicate fraudulently changed the registration number without the knowledge of the owner,” explained Hawks spokesperson Warrant Officer Thatohatsi Mavimbela. A further probe by the investigator found that Mahlaba had implemented and authorised the transaction by changing the registration number of the truck by forging signatures as well as using a copy of the owner’s Identity document. Mhlaba appeared at the Palm Ridge Magistrate’s Court on 18 June and the matter was postponed to 25 June for his bail application.
- Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Jarryd Westerdale at The Citizen
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