Cop arrested in tip-off scam

2008-08-29 16:18

Johannesburg - A Witbank policeman was arrested on Friday over a tow-truck tip-off scam, said Mpumalanga police.

The police control room operator allegedly failed to call ambulances to accident scenes until he had notified a tow-truck driver, who was paying him for tip-offs, said Superintendent Izak van Zyl.

"People were complaining that they waited half-an-hour, two hours for ambulances, saying that tow-trucks were already on the scene," he said.

Police spent nine months building a case against the policeman and another five officers, who were expected to be arrested soon.

An estimated R12 000 is believed to have changed hands in the scam, which Van Zyl described as "shocking".

He said some tow-truck drivers monitored police radios in their vehicles and on hearing the police calling ambulance services to accident scenes, they all sped there at once.

"So these people thought of paying the police something," said Van Zyl.

He said the policeman would be charged with corruption and would appear in the Witbank Magistrate's Court.

The tow-truck drivers would also be rounded up.

- SAPA