Three Welkom men were arrested by the Hawks Serious Corruption Investigation team on charges of fraud, theft, uttering and forgery.
The men, aged between 38 and 49, were arrested on Friday and Saturday by the Hawks team that is based in Welkom, and the provincial Anti-Corruption team.
Their arrests originate from an incident which took place in 2019, where provincial traffic officials were conducting a stop and search in Welkom. During the operation they discovered that some of the taxi permits were fraudulent. A preliminary investigation was done and it was discovered that the fraudulent taxi permits were bought from the suspects for an estimated amount of R156 000. It was also discovered that the face value documents were stolen from the traffic department in Welkom.
The matter was reported to the Hawks for further investigation which culminated in the arrest of the three suspects, says Capt. Stephen Christopher Singo, spokesperson for the Hawks.
