‘Mantoetse Maama
FIVE suspects believed to be part of a syndicate that was illegally printing and selling various documents are expected to appear in court once police investigations are complete, the Lesotho Times heard this week.
The suspects were arrested on 19 October in different parts of Maseru, and released on condition they would report to the police on a daily basis until their appearance in court.
According to Lesotho Mounted Police Service (LMPS) Sub-Inspector, Moeketsi Sehau, the gang would print documents such as police clearance, court orders, motor-vehicle licence discs, and bank confirmations for sale or to commit a crime themselves.
“The suspects had a memory stick in which they stored these documents in soft copy. In addition, they also had bank confirmation and South African Revenue Services (SARS) documents they could print any time,” Sub-Inspector Sehau said.
“The suspects were also found in possession of C and D permit books (which show that a taxi is allowed to operate and are issued by the Department of Traffic in the Ministry of Public Works and Transport).
“Investigations have shown that the books were stolen from a company that was awarded a tender to supply the documents to the Department of Traffic. However, the company was not even aware that such a theft had taken place.”
Sub-Inspector Sehau said traffic police had since been warned to be on the lookout for public transporters with C and D permits bearing certain serial numbers, and arrest the drivers of such vehicles.
Sub-Inspector Sehau added: “The suspects were also authorising documents that needed to be approved by the LMPS as they had such police stamps.
“They were also printing government orders, which appeared to be from different ministries, that they would use to purchase goods from different businesses.
“As for court orders, they would use these documents to force the police to release vehicles which would have been impounded as exhibits in court.
“Most of their documents appeared very authentic, making it very difficult for anyone to suspect that they were fake.”
The date of the suspects’ appearance in court, Sub-Inspector Sehau further noted, would “likely” be set before the end of this week.
