Man to appear for car rental theft

File photo

File photo

Published Jun 29, 2015

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Johannesburg - A 36-year-old man was expected to appear in the Kempton Park Magistrate’s Court on Monday for allegedly stealing a vehicle from a car rental company at OR Tambo International Airport, Gauteng police said.

The man was arrested on Thursday after he falsely reported to police that the car he rented was hijacked on Thursday, said police spokesman Colonel Vishnu Naidoo.

“The suspect opened a false hijacking case at the Tembisa police station. The vehicle company became suspicious of the hijacking claims when they failed to find him at Tembisa, where he was supposed to have met a representative of the company. Furthermore, his phone ‘stopped working’ and they could no longer locate him,” Naidoo said.

A police task team investigating syndicates operating at the airport, and a vehicle tracking company, tracked down the vehicle to a mall parking lot in Gezina, Pretoria. It was found without number plates and license disc.

“Unaware that the police were lying low within the vehicle’s vicinity, a man approached the vehicle and just as he opened it, he was surrounded by police officers. He was then identified as the same man who rented the car,” said Naidoo.

“Over and above the charges of theft and perjury, the man will also face several counts of fraud after police found three identity documents and four drivers’ licenses with different names but bearing his photo at his place of residence, not far from where the vehicle was found. Four credit cards with different names were also found.”

His arrest came after that of Prince Maluleke, 30, who was nabbed for renting a Toyota Corolla and failing to return it to the company.

Naidoo said Maluleke was arrested in March and later granted R5 000 bail. Maluleke, of New Eersterus in Hammanskraal outside of Pretoria, allegedly provided car rental staff with a false residential address to rent a vehicle for eight days in March.

“When the company realised that the return date had lapsed, they alerted the police. Maluleke was arrested at his home after police recovered the Toyota Corolla at a parking lot with false number plates in Pretoria on May 26,” Naidoo said.

“Michael Thage, who allegedly bought the stolen vehicle form Maluleke, was also arrested and granted R5 000 bail. Both will appear together in court on Tuesday.”

ANA

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