Cape Town – Former brigadier Darius van der Ross, who was convicted of corruption in May with retired Western Cape top cop Arno Lamoer and two others, has been released on parole.
This was confirmed by Correctional Services officials on Tuesday, News24 reported.
Father-of-three Van der Ross, 49, was released from Malmesbury prison last Monday, said spokesperson Simphiwe Xako. He has to adhere to certain conditions and a parole officer was monitoring him.
The Western Cape High Court sentenced Van Der Ross to four years in jail, two of which were suspended for five years on condition he was not convicted of a similar crime in that period.
A cluster commander for Bellville at the time, he was found to have accepted R3 324.60 from businessman Salim Dawjee and his tow truck companies for favours in return.
These included sending an officer to certify documents for Dawjee and giving him preferential treatment for service delivery complaints.
Dawjee received an effective six years in jail for corruption, fraud and defeating the ends of justice. Lamoer, his longtime friend, also received an effective six years in jail. Former brigadier Kollin Govender received an effective four years' jail for corruption.
The Supreme Court of Appeal recently granted Dawjee leave to appeal his sentence.