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Home / Police imposters rake in thousands of dollars
Police imposters rake in thousands of dollars
2016-01-25Staff Report 2 Walvis Bay The Namibian Police at Mariental and Swakopmund have arrested three police imposters who have scammed thousands of dollars from their victims. One suspect scammed N$70 000 from a resident and was arrested last week. Two other scammers were arrested in Mariental. The duo, Paul Vryman and Frans Isaaks, made their first court appearance on Thursday last week in the Walvis Bay Magistrate’s Court on charges ranging from impersonating a police officer to fraud and extortion. They were denied bail by magistrate Vicky Nicoladis and their case was remanded to February 17 for further investigation. According to information availed to New Era, Fryman, a prisoner, was allegedly operating unnoticed for a while from his cell at Mariental and was arrested during a sting operation. A telephone directory which he allegedly used to locate his victims at the coast was found in his cell. The crime coordinator for the Erongo Region, Deputy Commissioner Ottilie Kashuupulwa, said on Wednesday that the two suspects targeted men. “They would inform their victims that they are police officers who are investigating their wives or children. Later on one will pretend he is a lawyer and request payment to facilitate bail for the person they allegedly arrested. They have scammed a lot of people like that,” Kashuupulwa said. It was not yet established how many people were scammed by the suspects and how much money they received from their victims. “We want to urge the community not to fall victim to such pranks and lose their hard-earned cash,” she said. “If the police want to arrest someone they will not call you on your phone and warn you. They will come straight to where you, even if it’s in your bedroom. We will look for you and arrest you. No arrests are carried out over the phone. There will also be an authentic warrant of arrest. If you are not sure contact the police station and verify. Don’t fall prey to such scams.” 2016-01-25Staff Report 2
