Man arrested after lying about R560K theft

A Cape Town man has been arrested after he lied about being robbed at gunpoint of over half a million rand and a number of cellphones – and then tried to bribe police officers after his fib was found out, police said on Sunday.

“On December 19, the complainant opened a case of armed robbery at Cape Town Central SAPS and reported that he was robbed by police officers of an amount of R560 000 and three cellphones,” said the police in a statement.

Police then interviewed the man, aged 39, and took him to the alleged crime scene. There they viewed CCTV footage.

“The footage was viewed, and nothing could be seen of the incident that had been reported.”

After the man was confronted about this, he confessed to making up the story. He said that he had done so because he had lost the money that was meant for his employer.

“The suspect also tried to bribe the investigating officer with R10 000 to make the case disappear. ”

The man then took the investigating officer to his house. Here police found cash to the value of R247 000 which they have now seized as evidence.

Furthermore, the man then told police that there was never R560 000 in the first place.

“He stated he had made it all up to inform his employer he was robbed.”

The man was subsequently arrested and detained on charges of perjury and bribery.

He is due to appear will appear in the Cape Town Magistrate’s Court on Monday.

“The South African Police Service wants to warn the public to refrain from reporting false cases as this constitutes a crime,” it said.

“All reported incidents will be investigated thoroughly and false claims are usually detected during this process.”

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