How a man impersonated an eThekwini employee in a R78,000-a-day fuel theft scheme
A man impersonating an eThekwini Municipality employee was caught fraudulently filling diesel.
Image: Supplied
A man posing as an eThekwini Municipality employee has been arrested in connection with a large-scale diesel theft operation that is believed to have cost Durban hundreds of thousands of rands.
The arrest followed a tip-off about suspicious fuel activity involving Municipal vehicles, which prompted an internal investigation.
According to the eThekwini Municipality, forensic investigators from the City Integrity and Investigations Directorate uncovered the scam after receiving reports from the City Fleet Directorate about Municipal vehicles filling diesel more than 10 times a day at petrol stations used by the City's official fleet.
The suspect was found using a fuel master card assigned to a Water and Sanitation vehicle that had long been out of service and marked for disposal.
Investigators discovered that privately owned vehicles were fraudulently using the card to siphon diesel.
In a bid to avoid detection, the suspect duplicated number plates and branded the doors of his vehicles to resemble authentic Municipal fleet cars. These vehicles were used to stockpile diesel, which was later resold.
'The culprit had four vehicles fitted with a 750-litre fuel tank at the base of each single cab van. The diesel was stored in these tanks and resold. Each vehicle generated about R78 000 a day,' said Jimmy Ngcobo, Director of the City Integrity and Investigations Directorate.
Ngcobo stated that it was an organised crime and must be treated as such. He further stated that the municipality has suffered serious financial losses.
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The suspect, who admitted he does not work for the Municipality, was dressed in an eThekwini uniform at the time of his arrest.
He claimed to be employed by a private individual and received R2,000 per day for his role.
His daily routine included visiting over 15 petrol stations across Durban to fill up the tanks. He was caught red-handed with assistance from Metro Police and Reaction Unit South Africa.
The man has since appeared in court on charges of fraud and corruption. The matter has been remanded until August.
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How a man impersonated an eThekwini employee in a R78,000-a-day fuel theft scheme
A man impersonating an eThekwini Municipality employee was caught fraudulently filling diesel. Image: Supplied A man posing as an eThekwini Municipality employee has been arrested in connection with a large-scale diesel theft operation that is believed to have cost Durban hundreds of thousands of rands. The arrest followed a tip-off about suspicious fuel activity involving Municipal vehicles, which prompted an internal investigation. According to the eThekwini Municipality, forensic investigators from the City Integrity and Investigations Directorate uncovered the scam after receiving reports from the City Fleet Directorate about Municipal vehicles filling diesel more than 10 times a day at petrol stations used by the City's official fleet. The suspect was found using a fuel master card assigned to a Water and Sanitation vehicle that had long been out of service and marked for disposal. Investigators discovered that privately owned vehicles were fraudulently using the card to siphon diesel. In a bid to avoid detection, the suspect duplicated number plates and branded the doors of his vehicles to resemble authentic Municipal fleet cars. These vehicles were used to stockpile diesel, which was later resold. 'The culprit had four vehicles fitted with a 750-litre fuel tank at the base of each single cab van. The diesel was stored in these tanks and resold. Each vehicle generated about R78 000 a day,' said Jimmy Ngcobo, Director of the City Integrity and Investigations Directorate. Ngcobo stated that it was an organised crime and must be treated as such. He further stated that the municipality has suffered serious financial losses. Video Player is loading. Play Video Play Unmute Current Time 0:00 / Duration -:- Loaded : 0% Stream Type LIVE Seek to live, currently behind live LIVE Remaining Time - 0:00 This is a modal window. Beginning of dialog window. Escape will cancel and close the window. Text Color White Black Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Background Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Transparent Window Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Transparent Semi-Transparent Opaque Font Size 50% 75% 100% 125% 150% 175% 200% 300% 400% Text Edge Style None Raised Depressed Uniform Dropshadow Font Family Proportional Sans-Serif Monospace Sans-Serif Proportional Serif Monospace Serif Casual Script Small Caps Reset restore all settings to the default values Done Close Modal Dialog End of dialog window. Advertisement Next Stay Close ✕ The suspect, who admitted he does not work for the Municipality, was dressed in an eThekwini uniform at the time of his arrest. He claimed to be employed by a private individual and received R2,000 per day for his role. His daily routine included visiting over 15 petrol stations across Durban to fill up the tanks. He was caught red-handed with assistance from Metro Police and Reaction Unit South Africa. The man has since appeared in court on charges of fraud and corruption. The matter has been remanded until August. IOL NEWS
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