Twenty-seven suspects arrested in a swoop on an alleged passport syndicate on Monday appeared briefly in the Krugersdorp Magistrates’ Court.
All the accused were charged with corruption in terms of the Prevention and Combating of Corrupt Activities Act.
They were arrested in the early hours Friday after a multi-disciplinary operation, involving the Hawks Serious Organised Crime Investigation, Cash In-Transit Task Team, Department of Home Affairs Anti-Corruption, and Johannesburg Central Tactical Response Team.
The sting operation was conducted at the offices of the Krugersdorp Department of Home Affairs.
Law enforcement authorities received a tip-off about the alleged passport making syndicate that works with Home Affairs officials, to identify South Africans (SA) that are willing to sell their identities for R500.
The citizens details would then be used to produce a passport with a foreign national’s photograph.
Allegations are that foreign nationals were paying as much as R40 000 for a fraudulently produced South African passport.
The case was postponed to 5 April 2022 and all the accused were remanded in custody.
