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Net tightens on Road Accident Fund fraud By JULIAN RADEMEYER and Hendrick Mphande POLICE continued to tighten the net on Road Accident Fund fraudsters yesterday, arresting 19 more people linked to 35 false claims totalling about R300 000. This brings to 68 the number of people arrested to date. More arrests are expected. The 49 men and women from the northern areas held earlier this week appeared briefly in the Port Elizabeth Magistrate’s Court yesterday. They were not asked to plead and no evidence was led. Commercial crime unit head Senior Superintendent Alfred Khana said yesterday’s arrests were carried out in Bethelsdorp Extensions 31 and 32. Police are continuing investigations into the role played in the scam by at least five Port Elizabeth attorneys, a network of touts, corrupt police and traffic officers, tow truck operators and ambulance officials. “At this stage we are focusing on the claimants. It is the first phase of the case,” Supt Khana said. They are alleged to have claimed money from the fund – a statutory body established to provide drivers and passengers with insurance against personal injuries suffered in motor vehicle accidents – by falsely stating that they or their children were injured in accidents. Investigators believe details of real accidents were supplied to them by corrupt police and traffic officers. They are also looking at the involvement of tow-truck operators and ambulance officials. The arrests are the culmination of a year-long investigation which has revealed 300 false claims totalling R4,5-million. Police arrested 29 people in Gelvandale on Tuesday and 20 in Bethelsdorp on Wednesday. Police are still investigating charges against five Port Elizabeth attorneys who administered the fraudulent claims. At the New Law Courts yesterday, Court 20 was packed. Those arrested, some of them teenage boys and girls, seemed unperturbed. All 49 were released on warning. Their case was postponed to November 20 for further investigation and police are expecting to make further arrests. Anyone with information can contact Supt Khana or Supt Hugo Gerber on 041-504 5114.
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