Cape Town – A man who allegedly falsely claimed he had been robbed of R10 000 by three armed men is due to appear at the Athlone Magistrate’s Court tomorrow.
The 37-year-old man had reported the alleged robbery at the Manenberg police station on Monday, police spokesperson Colonel Andrè Traut said. He alleged that he was robbed by three armed suspects in a VW Polo while riding his motorcycle in Comet Road in Surrey Estate.
After being confronted with evidence to the contrary, the suspect admitted to police that he had fabricated the case.
'’Eager to solve the case, the detectives followed up on all leads, which ultimately fingered the complainant as the offender. Confronted with the evidence, the suspect admitted that he was never robbed and that he fabricated the case,’’ Traut said.
He was arrested yesterday and is expected to appear in the Athlone Magistrate’s Court on a charge of perjury.
’’The acting provincial commissioner of the Western Cape police, Major General Thembisile Patekile, expressed his satisfaction with the outcome of the investigation and said that people should learn from this, and think twice before lying under oath to report fallacious cases to police,’’ Traut said.
In 2019, a 39-year-old Capetonian appeared in court after lying about being robbed of over R500 000 and three cellphones by police officers at the CBD shop where he worked.
However, CCTV camera footage showed that no crime had occurred. He admitted to making up the whole story because he had lost the money that was meant for his employer.
Cape Times