Lavern De Vries
5 November 2009
Two city traffic officers have been suspended after they were accused of extorting money from a man who they allegedly found in a compromising position with a woman passenger.
The pair apparently stumbled upon the couple's car in September, parked in a field. It is not known in which part of the city the incident occurred.
The Cape Argus has learned that the officers told the woman to leave and then hauled the man into their car, demanding that he pay them R2 000 to make the "case" go away.
When he agreed, they allegedly took him to a nearby ATM but he tried to flee. They then caught him and reportedly manhandled him.
It is alleged that they again demanded money, this time R4 000, in exchange for their silence. Sources close to the case say the man's mother paid the amount because she feared for her son's life.
The man later phoned the City of Cape Town to tell officials what had happened.
Last week both officers were suspended on full pay and are both expected to face a disciplinary hearing within the next two weeks, where they could face dismissal.
Although the city's executive director for safety and security, Richard Bosman, would not confirm some of the finer details of the case because these will be addressed in the hearing, he confirmed that the suspension followed a brief internal investigation into the allegations.
It is not known whether the man has lodged criminal charges against the two traffic officers.
Meanwhile, a man posing as a traffic officer who solicited money from unsuspecting motorists for outstanding fines has been arrested during a sting operation.
The man, who cannot be named until he has appeared in court, was also arrested last year for impersonating a traffic officer, and for fraud.
He was sentenced to 18 months in prison, which was suspended for five years, and it is alleged that the conman started using his old scam again in January.
According to Bosman, the man's modus operandi included posing as a traffic officer based at the Hillstar Traffic Department in Ottery.
Using the names of employees there, he allegedly approached people to offer them driver's licences at a fee. At other times, it is alleged that he visited motorists' homes and demanded that they settle their outstanding fines with him immediately.
If questioned by the motorists, the man reportedly offered them their vehicle registration numbers, the times of their traffic offences and their identification numbers.
The city's special investigative team, which forms part of the city's specialised services department, was alerted to the scam when motorists who thought they had settled their fines complained that they were being issued with warrants of arrest for outstanding fines.
The team embarked on a sting operation yesterday with one official posing as a potential client.
The Cape Argus has learned that the man was involved in at least 30 fraudulent cases and that he operated across the Peninsula.
He was arrested and faces charges relating to fraud and the impersonation of a traffic official.
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