THE arrest of a British citizen, operating a transport company from Walvis Bay, for displaying suspected counterfeit vehicle licence discs, has led to the Erongo Police probing a possible national licence-forgery network.
According to Erongo’s Crime Co-ordinator, Chief Inspector Charles Sibolile, three trucks of a transport company operating from Walvis Bay were stopped just before Christmas day at the Walvis Bay and Swakopmund roadblocks.
The trucks were transporting imported vehicles from Walvis Bay harbour to northern Namibia. Sibolile said the company is believed to operate all over the country.
The trucks’ licence discs and cards were suspected to be counterfeit. The drivers were arrested for being in possession of suspected counterfeit licences, and appeared in the Walvis Bay and Swakopmund Magistrate’s Courts respectively, each granted bail of N$2 000.
Sibolile said the discovery prompted the Police to investigate the matter further, which led to the Walvis Bay home of Michael Brown (58) on January 2.
He was arrested on five counts of fraud, forgery and uttering, and contravening the Road Traffic and Transport Act, which includes the falsifying of vehicle licences.
Brown appeared in the Walvis Bay Magistrate’s Court on Monday on three of the charges and was granted bail of N$50 000.
He appeared in the Swakopmund Magistrate’s Court on Tuesday on the two remaining charges, and was granted bail of N$40 000 there.
In terms of his bail conditions, Brown had to hand in his passport and has to report at the Walvis Bay Police station three times a week.
He also may not leave the harbour town without special permission from the Police.
‘We are currently investigating the probability of a syndicate falsifying licences on a national scope,’ said Sibolile.
‘Brown seems to have been operating since 2006, and we suspect that more of his vehicles are using falsified licences.
The question is, who supplied him with these suspected counterfeits, and how many of these have been produced so far?’
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