Police warn of cop impostors soliciting bribes from Pretoria community

Boschkop police have warned residents against imposters who posed as officers and solicited bribes from members of the public, Pretoria Rekord reports.

Police spokesperson Segeant Yeroboam Mbatsane told of a trend whereby criminals impersonating a member of the station were offering to help residents to have their cases “disappear” if they paid a bribe.

In the message doing the rounds, the person introduced themselves as an “officer Johan Smith from the Boschkop police station who was handling a sexual harassment case against the complainant”.

The person offered to make the charges disappear if they were paid an amount of R5 000.

“This is a serious case, once we arrest you it will ruin your reputation because you will have a criminal record,” the message said.

The message further reads: “Now I can help you get out of this mess and protect you…but only if you give R5 000 or we can negotiate about it or I ruin your life.”

Mbatsane said the station was not associated with the message or any related actions.

“The station remains committed to combat corruption in the system and cannot be associated with such,” he said.

“The station commander Lieutenant-Colonel Abakona Sithole has warned communities out there about this happening and they should report such cases.”

Mbatsane said an enquiry file was opened to investigate the matter “as this emerges every year”.

He said police would not rest until they caught the criminals who committed such crimes.

In a recent success for the station, a 27-year-old man was sentenced to six years in prison by the Pretoria regional court for robbing a car dealership manager in Silverlakes.

The robbery took place in May, when Vuyisile Jabu Mavuso broke into the McCarthy Volkswagen dealership and two cellphones to the value of R7 500 and two digital cameras worth R4 000.

“The suspect entered the premises around 17:30 during the knocking off time,” Mbatsane said.

“He cut the fence and gained entry into the manager’s office where he robbed him off these items.”

Mavuso was arrested by the security company working with the local police after one of the cell phone tracking device was activated.

“The suspect was arrested in Mamelodi East near the former Vista University and he was handed over to the Boschkop SAPS.”

The stolen items were recovered.

“The Boschkop detective team worked around the clock to ensure that the suspect was denied bail,” Mbatsane said.

The station commander Sithole applauded the team for securing the sentence.

“We will not let criminals rest,” Mbatsane said.

Anyone with information regarding people impersonating police can contact police on 0800-10111 or 012-802-8211 or give an anonymous tip on the MySAPS App.