Two South African Revenue Service (Sars) Customs officers and a member of the South African Police Service (SAPS) appeared in the Lehurutshe magistrates’ court in the North West Province on Monday charged with various offences in terms of the Customs and Excise Act, as well as corruption.
The case relates to the fraudulent processing of export documentation for fuel which is then sold on the local market. They were arrested at Skilpadshek border post last Friday during a sting operation.
This follows a tip-off in August that a member of SAPS had approached Customs officials at Skilpadshek border post to fraudulently process the documents for fuel that had supposedly been exported by a tanker across the border. Subsequent investigations revealed that no such fuel had been exported, and no tankers had crossed the border.
Investigations have identified 16 shipments that were fraudulently processed for export.
