S.Africa: Two false business robbery cases investigated, complainants arrested
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Gauteng Commissioner of Police, Lieutenant General Elias Mawela has commended the work of the investigators in two unrelated business robberies, where the detectives were able to poke holes in the reported business robbery cases, realising within a short space of time that both incidents may have been staged.
In the first case, police on Saturday afternoon 26 December 2020, responded to a complaint of a business robbery at a sunglass store at Mall of Africa in Midrand where an armed suspect allegedly made off with an undisclosed amount of money. The complainant, an employee of the store reported under oath that the store had been robbed at gunpoint by an unknown suspect.
In less than 24 hours of the case being reported, police were able to swiftly deduce from the preliminary evidence that the report was false. Subsequently on 27 December 2020, police arrested the complainant and two accomplices and the three are expected to make their first appearance in the Wynberg Magistrates’ Court on Tuesday, 29 December 2020. They will appear on a charge of business robbery while the complainant will face an additional charge of perjury.
A sum of money believed to be part of the cash “stolen” during the alleged business robbery has been recovered by the police.
Meanwhile in an unrelated incident in the West Rand, police on Sunday evening, 27 December 2020, arrested two security guards on the spot while conducting an on-scene investigation into an alleged business robbery. Police responded to a complaint of a business robbery at the premises of a mining company in Kagiso where the guards reported under oath that they were on guard-duty when they were allegedly accosted by armed suspects who made off with several items including the security company two-way radio and copper cable. Police immediately picked up that the robbery was staged and arrested both security guards on the spot on charges of perjury and theft. The detail of their court appearance is yet to be confirmed.
An investigation is underway to establish whether the two guards may have colluded with more suspects.
“In our concerted efforts to bring down the volumes of trio crimes (hijackings, business and house robberies), we naturally mobilise and deploy lots of energy and resources in our response to reported cases. The resources in both these instances, could have been deployed to legitimate crime scenes but instead, had to be diverted as we cannot discard a reported case until it has been thoroughly investigated, thus disadvantaging genuine victims of crime,” cited Lieutenant General Mawela, emphasising the seriousness of reporting false cases and lying under oath.
“Perjury is a serious and prosecutable offence,” warned the Provincial Commissioner.
SAPS Newsroom
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