Did you know that fugitive Durban lawyer Ian Stokes tops the list of KwaZulu-Natal's most wanted white-collar criminals?
And are you interested in the latest scams doing the rounds and who has been caught, and convicted, recently for white-collar crime.
Then all you have to do is log on to
The comprehensive site - lauded by business and the police as a powerful new tool to prevent commercial crime and catch those committing it - contains information on the province's most wanted criminals, who has been convicted, tips on avoiding fraud and case histories of commercial crime.
The interactive site allows browsers to share their experiences of white-collar crime and to send anonymous tip-offs to the police about crime or the whereabouts of those wanted.
At the website's launch on Monday, Captain Louis Helberg of the South African Police Service said interaction with the public was essential.
Referring to the "most wanted" site - complete with photographs and details of the alleged crimes - Helberg said those people needed to have their day in court. "We need the public to assist us and let us know where they are. We are also convinced that these people will probably look at the website and it is a message to them that we haven't forgotten about them."
The five "most wanted" people on the site are:
- Former attorney Ian Stokes, wanted in connection with stealing R26-million from trust accounts. It is believed he is hiding in the United States.
- Peter Romba Dube, wanted for R2,8-million fraud, forgery and uttering in connection with the issue of false duty credit certificates.
- Gerd Karl Otto Hilbert, wanted for bribing government officials and committing fraud by submitted false claims to the value of R1,2- million to the department of local government and housing.
- Vijay Bahadur, wanted for submitting altered policies to insurance companies. [ Bahadur was found not guilty of the charges against him. The State dropped the charges and Bahadur was issued with a police clearance certificate on May 11 2005.]
- The fifth man, Hermanus Joachin Oosthuizen, was arrested last week in connection with credit card fraud.
- The website was also praised by Durban's senior public prosecutor, Barend Groen, who said members of the public and businesses would be able to pick up on latest crime trends and the modus operandi of criminals, and take preventative steps.
Groen said that Durban would soon join other major centres in South Africa and have its own specialised commercial crime court.