Hawks swoop on senior home affairs official fake birth certificate 'mastermind'

08 March 2016 - 18:08 By Gareth Wilson

Police revealed that the Gauteng Anti-Corruption Unit of the Hawks had arrested the a 36-year-old man‚ who is based at that Department of Home Affairs in Nigel ‚ Gauteng‚ for allegedly masterminding the fraudulent registration births.Hawks spokesman Major Robert Netshiunda said the bust came after information about the fraudulent activities at the department prompted an investigation.“Twelve fake birth registrations were found to have been done by the suspect and a further 388 fraudulent births were found to have been registered at the Department of Home Affairs in Alberton‚ allegedly by the same suspect‚” he said.“The suspect would go into the Home Affairs system‚ select a name of a South African woman‚ register a foreign child with the details of the local woman as the biological mother. The birth certificates would then be sold to foreign mothers so that their children could qualify for the social grant and other benefits enjoyed by South African children.”Netshiunda added that more officials as well as foreign mothers were expected to be arrested as the investigation continued.The man will appear before the Nigel Magistrate’s Court tomorrow to be charged with fraud and corruption...

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