A credit-card payment unit in the Johannesburg metropolitan police department has been closed down following allegations that cashiers were using tourists’ credit cards to pay motorists’ fines fraudulently.
Metro police spokesperson Superintendent Wayne Minnaar said on Thursday that the corrupt officials used information from the credit cards to pay fines on behalf of people who bribed them to do so.
The bribe money taken was split evenly between cashiers, hotel staff and a crime syndicate.
”The investigation has not yet been concluded because there are hotel staff as well as members from the crime syndicate who are involved,” he said.
Minnaar denied allegations that the officials involved in the scam were metro police officers.
”Investigations have also revealed that the corrupt members of staff who are involved are two cashiers and they are not metro officers,” he said.
He said the cashiers had since been deployed to administrative duties where ”they don’t deal with money and are not in contact with members of the public” while investigation were under way.
In April, the Star reported that since September 15 officials had stolen at least R75 800 from four international credit cards alone.
In recent months, dozens of European, Australian and American tourists had discovered that their credit cards were debited by the metro police department for speeding offences committed in the city. — Sapa