The OR Tambo Task Team, which investigates serious criminal offences in and around the airport’s periphery, arrested a man wanted for possession of a stolen vehicle on Monday.
The stolen vehicle was reported to the police by a car rental company based at OR Tambo International Airport.
Michael Thage, 36, of Midrand, handed himself over to the police on the morning of June 8 and was charged for theft of a motor vehicle and receiving stolen property. He appeared in Kempton Park Magistrate’s Court the following day where he was granted R 5 000.
He had been on the run since March 16, when his alleged accomplice, Prince Maluleke, 30, of New Eesterus near Hammanskraal, Pretoria, was nabbed by members of the task team during a crime intelligence driven operation.
Maluleke, who is facing a vehicle theft charge, has since appeared in Kempton Park Magistrate’s Court twice and was released on R5 000 bail. His case was postponed to June 30 for police to conduct further investigations.
He allegedly duped an airport based car rental company into renting him a car but the company opened a case of theft when he failed to return the vehicle on the stipulated day.
During their preliminary investigations, the police discovered that Maluleke had allegedly sold the vehicle to Thage for a purported R20 000. The police have since recovered the Toyota Corolla at a parking lot with false number plates and disc late last month in Gezina, Pretoria. Police investigations further revealed that the vehicle’s registration plates and the licence disc belonged to a silver BMW.
Investigations by members of the task team revealed that Thage was using the vehicle, together with a fleet of about 10 other vehicles, for his shuttle service which he runs from the airport to Pretoria and surrounding areas.
The task team will also investigate whether the 10 vehicles, mostly made-up of German sedans, have been attained legally or not. Thage and Maluleke will appear together in court on June 30.
