Laudium is kidnapping hotspot, says local security company

Laudium is a kidnapping hotspot with about 20 people getting kidnapped each month, according to a local security company.

“These kidnappers are usually armed gangs who kidnap businessmen in the area and demand ransom money through non-registered cellphones,” said Calvin Rafadi, director of Bizz Tracers.

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Rafadi said he believes such cases are usually “inside jobs” as kidnappers mostly target businessmen.

“From my experience with investigations, criminals don’t target victims without knowing their financial statuses,” he said.

He added that ransom money for immigrants can go up to R1-million, and for South African nationals it could go up from half a million – all collected in cryptocurrency.

“Cryptocurrency is an easy way to collect large amounts of money from a bank account and move it to third-party accounts without being blocked or red-flagged.

“Cryptocurrency is not regulated in South Africa, which makes it difficult for law enforcement to quickly trace the funds,” said Rafadi.

He added that most cases are not reported to the local police station.

Rafadi works closely with the SAPS in dealing with high-tech-level investigations.

“I have done some popular cases in South Africa and a Pakistan asylum case in which I reported to detectives at the provincial SAPS office as an agent,” said Rafadi.

Sergeant Simon Chokoe, a spokesperson for Laudium SAPS, said the station has not received any kidnapping reports as of late.

“If anyone knows anything about a kidnapping, please report it to the station,” Chokoe said.

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