Hard work and vigilance have paid off for three Honeydew police detectives after the recovery of eight fraudulently stolen vehicles.
Constable Dikala Malema, Captain Hasani Shirinda and Sergeant Takalani Matshavha worked tirelessly to track down a suspect accused of allegedly defrauding multiple victims in an intricate vehicle-selling scam.
Honeydew police spokesperson Captain Balan Muthan said, “The suspect would rent a car then advertise the car for sale. The victims would then purchase the vehicle from the suspect, even going to the extent of arranging insurance for it and installing a vehicle tracker. The suspect would return the vehicle to the renter and disappear with the money before engaging in the same scam once again.”
The victim was trying to enter a business arrangement with the suspect to purchase multiple vehicles to set up an app-based taxi business.
“As the victim did not know that these were rental cars, the victim alerted his insurance company that he was worried the cars may have been stolen. The trackers installed by the insurance helped to track all eight vehicles down, some even at the border of Swaziland,” Muthan continued.
The suspect was arrested earlier this month and all eight vehicles were recovered from different locations, including rental outlets and in Hillbrow.
According to Muthan, the suspect faces six counts of fraud and is expected to appear in the Roodepoort Magistrate’s Court for a formal bail application soon.
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