Mozambican man jailed for six years after using another man’s ID to get work

A Mozambican man has been sentenced to six years in prison after using another person’s South African identity document to secure long-term employment at a quarry near Brits in the North West.

How the fraud was uncovered

The 44-year-old, identified in court as Arlindo Fernando Timane, worked at a quarry in the Kareepoort area of Brits for about six years under another person’s identity. During that time he earned close to R1,000,000 in salary, the North West police said.

The scheme emerged when the legitimate identity document holder contacted the South African Revenue Service to submit personal tax returns and was told there was an undeclared source of income linked to an employer for whom he had never worked. The matter was reported to the South African Police Service in Brits and investigated.

Investigations and charges

“During the investigation, fingerprint verification conducted with the Department of Home Affairs revealed that the suspect was not the legitimate holder of the identity document,”

North West police spokesperson Colonel Anne Magakoe said the probe established the suspect’s nationality and resulted in an additional charge under Section 49 of the Immigration Act, Act 13 of 2002.

The Bojanala Sub-District 1 Commercial Crime Investigation Unit gathered evidence from the employer’s human resources and finance departments, SARS and the legitimate identity holder, who was traced to Mpumalanga. The investigation was then presented to the National Prosecuting Authority.

Sentence and reaction

Timane was sentenced to six years’ imprisonment for fraud. Magakoe said the outcome showed the importance of thorough investigation and collaboration between law enforcement and relevant stakeholders in exposing identity-related fraud.

North-West provincial commissioner Lieutenant-General Arthur Adams warned that using fraudulent means or another person’s identity to obtain employment or financial benefits

“will not be tolerated”

and said those who abuse official identity documents to defraud individuals, businesses or the state would face the full might of the law.