Man poses as Hawks officer, tries to blackmail state capture-accused

A man who posed as a Hawks officer and tried to extort R200,000 from someone implicated at the Zondo commission of inquiry into state capture has been arrested and will appear in the Wynberg Mag­is­trate Court to­day.

According to a statement from the Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation – better known as the Hawks – the 34-year-old suspect was arrested in Sandton on Tuesday after the Hawks became aware of his attempt at blackmail.

The suspect allegedly told one of the many people mentioned in testimony at the commission that he was a Hawks member and would make investigations against him by the Hawks and the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) disappear in return for R200,000.

According to the statement, the suspect did a fairly convincing Hawks officer impersonation and was wearing “Hawks regalia”, complete with fake Hawks documents and a fake Hawks appointment certificate.

The person he tried to blackmail gave him R8,000 with the promise of settling the balance at a later meeting, at which point the Hawks swooped down and arrested him.

The National Head of the Hawks, Lieutenant General Godfrey Lebeya, welcomed the arrest.

“I welcome the work of the team that was involved. The arrest has removed the threat posed by the suspect on the community. We encourage members of the public to continue to provide information on criminals. The days of faking Hawks are over,” he said.

(Compiled by Daniel Friedman)

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