Immigration official BUSTED for airport PASSPORT fraud

An immigration official and a policeman are behind bars for alleged passport fraud at the OR Tambo International Airport.

AIRPORT IMMIGRATION OFFICIAL BUSTED FOR FRAUD

Home Affairs Minister Aaron Motsoaledi welcomes the arrest of an immigration official and the policeman at the OR Tambo International Airport on Wednesday, 08 March 2023.

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The immigration officer was caught fraudulently stamping nine passports, and the policeman used his powers to take the documents through airport security.

POLICEMAN AND IMMIGRATION OFFICIAL INVOLVED IN PASSPORT FRAUD

According to the department, the immigration official had been under observation for some time due to his suspicious behaviour and suspicious lifestyle.

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On Wednesday evening, 8 March 2023, he was caught red-handed stamping nine passports. these passports belong to nationals from different countries. The immigration official backdated the stamp to February and added a return stamp as if they returned on Wednesday, 8 February 2020.

“The initial investigations have established that a runner brought the passports to the airport and handed them over to the policeman. Using the fact that he was in uniform, he went through security into the immigration area. He then linked up with the immigration official, who stamped the passports.”

Aaron Motsoaledi

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CRIMINALS BELIEVE SA IS UP FOR THE TAKE

An undercover cop arrested the policeman and the immigration officer at the airport. The immigration official allegedly charged R2 000 per passport.

The arrested immigration and police officers are due in the Kempton Park Magistrate Court today, 13 March 2023. The police are on the trail of the runner and the owners of the passports.

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IMMIGRATION OFFICIAL AND A POLICEMAN FACE 9 CASES OF PASSPORT FRAUD

“The act of stamping passports for departure and re-entry of people who remain in our country is extremely worrying. The owners of these passports can commit crimes in the country and claim that it could not have been them because they were not in the country at the time of the commission of the crimes. They can use our departure and re-entry stamps on their passports to argue their cases in court. This is simply inexcusable. It makes foreign nationals with bad intentions believe that South Africa is up for the take.

Aaron Motsoaledi

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Motsoaledi said what the immigration official and the policeman did with the passports is “simply inexcusable’.

He warns criminals operating at OR Tambo International Airport and other Ports of Entry that they are watching them.

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