A Mowbray cop accused of stealing money related to clearance certificates is set to make his first appearance in the Wynberg Magistrate’s Court after being busted by the Anti-Corruption Unit over the weekend.
The constable is the 15th Western Cape cop to be arrested over the last month as ACU is clamping down on cops accused of breaking the law.
According to a source the unit was alerted to strange activities when it was revealed that no money had been retrieved for criminal clearance certificates despite applications being made.
“He was responsible for doing the criminal clearance certificates at the station. Any individual who is applying needs to pay a fee of R85 either by paying cash or making an EFT. This fee does not apply to neighbourhood watch patrollers as they get this service for free.
“So when he did applications for private individuals he marked them as patrollers and pocketed the money. It is not clear how many applications he has done so far like this,” explains the source.
Police spokesperson, Sergeant Wesley Twigg, confirms the arrest and says: “The Western Cape Anti-Corruption Unit arrested the 36-year-old constable after they received information that he took cash from members of the public who applied for name clearance certificates.
“A sting operation was conducted and the member was subsequently arrested. He will appear in the Wynberg Magistrates’ court on Monday on the mentioned charge.”
In recent weeks the unit busted 15 cops for an array of crimes including house robberies worth R20 million, the extortion of business owners in Milnerton and other crimes.
Rafique Foflonker of the Western Cape Provincial Community Police Forum Board welcomes all the arrests.
"Investigations leading to the arrest of police members require integrity and dedication and clearly there are many great police officers working hard to root out criminality in the ranks. As a community, we must praise them and support their efforts.“