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Home affairs official in dock on fraud charges

Source: The Citizen, 08/11/2016

Investigators discovered the fingerprints differed from those of the
applicant for an identity book.
A Park Rynie home affairs official and a foreign national were
arrested for identity fraud on Monday morning, November 7, in
KwaZulu-Natal, South Coast Sun reports.
Detective Warrant Officer Strini Maistry of Scottburgh police arrested
the home affairs official for corruption.
"The official has been detained and is due to appear in the Scottburgh
Magistrates` Court on Wednesday, 9 November, on a charge of fraud,"
said police spokesperson Captain Nqobile Gwala.
It is alleged the 30-year-old official attended to a foreign national
at the Park Rynie home affairs offices in January 2014 and provided
him with a fraudulent birth certificate in exchange for a payment of
R1 500.
The birth certificate was still on the home affairs system awaiting
collection by a South African citizen who had previously applied for a
late registration of birth.
"When the foreign national inquired about obtaining a South African
identity book, the official informed him he could get one for between
R3 500 and R4 000, but he did not follow up on this inquiry.
"Subsequently, the foreign national visited the home affairs offices
in Isipingo and applied for a South African identity book. His
application was processed, and he was asked to call again to collect
his identity book," said Gwala.
Home affairs investigators, however, discovered the fingerprints of
the applicant for the birth certificate differed from those of the
applicant for the identity book.
The foreign national was arrested earlier on Monday morning, and he
identified the home affairs official from the Park Rynie office as the
one who had sold him the fraudulent birth certificate. They knew each
other previously, as they had attended the same church and will also
appear in court on the same day.

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