DURBAN – Interpol's National Crime Bureau in Pretoria arrested a wanted Portuguese fugitive in uMhlanga Rocks, north of Durban, on Saturday morning.
Brigadier Vishnu Naidoo said the man, Joao Manuel de Oliveira Rendeiro, is a convicted fraudster who was wanted by the Portuguese government.
Naidoo said De Oliveira Rendeiro was a Portuguese national who absconded from Portugal after being convicted on a multimillion-dollar fraud case and sentenced to 12 years’ imprisonment before he escaped.
He said during a bilateral meeting at the 89th Interpol General Assembly in Istanbul, Turkey, the head of Portugal’s Judicial Police, Luis Neves, brought the matter to the attention of National Commissioner of the SAPS, General Khehla John Sitole, on November 24, 2021.
Naidoo said Sitole committed to tracking and tracing the fugitive after it emerged that he may be hiding in South Africa.
“Members from the Interpol NCB in Pretoria, acting on an Interpol Red Notice, traced the fugitive to a location in uMhlanga Rocks where he was arrested at 7am this morning (Saturday),” Naidoo said.
He said De Oliveira Rendeiro would make his first appearance in the Durban Magistrate’s Court on Monday, December 13, 2021, as part of his extradition process.
Naicker added that the Portuguese authority welcomed the news of the arrest and sent words of gratitude and praise to the police commissioner and the SAPS team for speedily arresting him.
To comment on this story, send a WhatsApp message to our BackChat column on 071 485 7995
Daily News