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By Botho Molosankwe 
8h ago
Johannesburg – Two men hired by the Ekurhuleni municipality are behind bars for alleged extortion.
The couple have allegedly been extorting money from residents who owe the municipality, threatening to cut their services if they don’t disband.
The accusations are that they would demand R1 000 for a house and R2 000 for a business.
According to Ekurhuleni Metro Police spokesman Kobeli Mokheseng, the two men aged 24 and 32 were arrested on Monday at a factory that owes the municipality thousands of rand.
The Ekurhuleni Metropolitan Police Compliance Loss Investigation and Control Unit made the arrest. The men were caught counting the money they allegedly extorted from the factory, Mokheseng said.
He said that “as private consultants, (men) are supposed to deliver warning letters (instructed by the city), to terminate services to people behind with payments, not to blackmail or solicit bribes.”
Preliminary investigations by the EMPD, in collaboration with the city’s Department of Energy, revealed that the men have been soliciting bribes from unsuspecting city residents for some time.
“Residents who are forced to bribe any official or anyone working on behalf of the city should report it to the Anti-Fraud Hotline, 0800 102 201.”
In another matter, the Hawks arrested a 52-year-old Maquassi Hills municipality technician Thursday for allegedly attempting to defraud a resident by promising to wipe out his R1 million debt.
According to Captain Tlangelani Rikhotso, it is alleged that the man approached a client whose municipal account was R1 million in arrears and offered to cancel the debt in exchange for R112,000.
However, the man went directly to the Hawks to report the matter.
“The suspect was arrested during an operation after he was found in possession of the R112,000 that the client paid him,” Rikhotso said.
He was charged with fraud and was expected to appear before the Wolmaranstad Magistrates Court.
MESS
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