A 46-year-old woman is expected to appear in the Protea Glen Magistrate’s Court on Wednesday following her arrest during a multidisciplinary, prosecution-led takedown operation in Gauteng.
Hawks spokesperson Colonel Katlego Mogale said the woman was arrested on Tuesday in connection with an investigation into a syndicate allegedly involved in obtaining fraudulent South African passports for foreign nationals.
The investigation began in December 2021 after the Hawks’ Gauteng Serious Organised Crime Investigation in Germiston, working with the Department of Home Affairs’ Anti-Corruption Unit and the National Prosecuting Authority’s Asset Forfeiture Unit, received information that a foreign national was allegedly colluding with Home Affairs officials to obtain fraudulent South African passports.
Mogale said preliminary investigations established that Home Affairs officials and vulnerable South African citizens were allegedly recruited and paired with foreign nationals.
The South Africans’ photographs were allegedly swapped with those of the foreign nationals while their personal details were retained to legitimise the documents.
According to Mogale, Home Affairs officials were allegedly paid between R10,000 and R15,000 per application, while South African citizens received R500. The foreign nationals were allegedly charged between R50,000 and R100,000.
The investigation was registered as “Project Humulani” on 12 April 2022, covering cases registered in Krugersdorp, Kliptown, Fairlands and Tubatse, as well as an enquiry in Germiston.
Mogale said the investigation resulted in the alleged kingpin in the Krugersdorp and Fairlands cases being traced, arrested, convicted and sentenced to 14 years’ direct imprisonment.
During the operation, three Toyota Fortuner SUVs were seized, while several hundred passports were blocked and cancelled.
The latest suspect faces charges of fraud, racketeering, corruption and contravention of the Immigration Act.
She is expected to appear in Protea Glen Magistrate’s Court in Soweto on Wednesday 30 September.
