Cape Town – The Hawks made two more arrests in Butterworth last week linked to countrywide car licensing scam kingpin Elton Abrahams from Belhar.
Two vehicle examiners were arrested by the Hawks’ Serious Corruption Investigation Unit for alleged corruption.
The suspects, aged 25 and 40, are the latest suspects linked to group operating in Cape Town, Butterworth and Queenstown, who are responsible for the fraudulent certification of roadworthy permits.
Ex-traffic department employee Abrahams was believed to have been the mastermind behind a national syndicate that allegedly issued clearance certificates for cars that were not roadworthy.
He was sentenced to five years' direct imprisonment and entered into a plea and sentencing agreement with the State.along with his partner, Bronwyn Davids, another former government employee, Laurelle Richards and Faizel Dollie, who was given a suspended sentence.
Another senior traffic official was arrested in De Aar in the Northern Cape just two weeks after the Hawks arrested Abrahams for his involvement in the scam.
The Hawks had seized more than R3 million in cash, two cars and several identity documents at his house when he was arrested in November 2016.
The alleged syndicate charged recruited clients for amounts varying between R850 and R2 500 for learner's and driving licences.
These alleged corrupt activities occurred over a period between January 2015 and March 2018 and were uncovered by the Hawks investigations in collaboration with the Western Cape Department of Transport.
The investigations revealed that some of the suspects were also linked to learner's and driving licence issuing processes, which sparked a separate and parallel investigation.
This led to the arrest of Clive Vernon Scheepers, 42, an examiner for driving licences at one of the City’s driving licence testing centres in Lingelethu West last month.
Scheepers appeared at the Bellville Magistrate's Court on charges of fraud and corruption. His case was postponed to the December 3 for further investigation and he was released on R2 000 bail.
The Butterworth duo were also expected to appear at the Bellville Magistrate's Court yesterday on charges of fraud and corruption. More arrests are expected.