Fake cops out on bail linked to more crimes

01 August 2015 - 17:29 By RDM News Wire

A gang who allegedly impersonated police to rob victims and are out on bail at present have been linked to a spate of other crimes in addition to those for which they were originally arrested‚ police said on Saturday. Police spokesman Brigadier Vishnu Naidoo said detectives from the Cleveland SAPS were “working hard to get to the bottom of the criminal activities” of the eight-member gang‚ which included two police officers.He said the gang’s modus operandi was to impersonate the police before stealing from their victims. The suspects were arrested in March this year in the Johannesburg suburb of Langlaagte “as they were about to commit the same crime in another house”.At the time they were arrested the gang was found in possession of an undisclosed amount of cash and drugs‚ Brig Naidoo added.“It is said the gang preferred to plant the drugs in their victims’ properties‚ often causing fear and confusion. By then they busy themselves by stealing money and other valuables belonging to the victim‚ who is later released. Shortly after the arrest of the suspects‚ a quick investigation by the police revealed that two of the suspects were police officers who used to work for the police’s crime intelligence division.”He said the suspects were out on bail for theft and robbery but had since been linked with a spate of other crimes in which the same modus operandi was used‚ all of which were committed in Gauteng areas such as Wonderpoortboom and Sinoville in Pretoria and Norwood‚ Cleveland and Yeoville in Johannesburg.“During two separate robberies in Sinoville last year cash amounting to R125‚000 was taken. In another robbery in Norwood R186‚000 was taken‚ whereas R60‚000 and R140‚000 was taken in Cleveland and Yeoville respectively.“One of the suspects‚ a former lieutenant-colonel‚ resigned from the South African Police Service (SAPS) in May this year after he was served with a notice for a departmental investigation. The other suspect‚ a warrant officer‚ went AWOL since January 2015. Her salary has since been stopped. These two police officers were first arrested in November 2014 for the theft of money in Cleveland‚” Brig Naidoo said.Apart from the Cleveland case which had been temporarily been set aside for further investigation‚ the suspects would appear in the Johannesburg Magistrate’s Court on 26 August 2015 for other cases‚ he said.He added that the actions of the two police officers involved had prompted the SAPS to establish a National Trial Unit whose core focus would be to deal with cases of police corruption and criminality.“The presence of this unit will overcome the delay in dealing with departmental cases to ensure the speedy handling of these matters.”..

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