Suspects in court over licence scam

FIVE suspects arrested in Windhoek on Monday for their alleged involvement in a vehicle and driving licence scam yesterday made their first appearance in the Windhoek Magistrate’s Court.

Magistrate Vicky Nicolaidis remanded their case to Friday for a bail application. Three staff members of the Namibian Traffic Identification System (NaTIS) and two alleged middlemen were arrested in connection with the alleged scam.They are Paulus Himarwa, Willem Ashipembe, Jonathan Khaiseb, Hiskia Kavehita and Shanika Petrus.The five were taken into custody after an undercover operation by the Anti Corruption Commission (ACC), which acted on information provided by the Roads Authority (RA).It pointed to an alleged a syndicate in which some NaTIS officials were suspected of working with members of the public to sell driving, learners’ and roadworthy licences to individuals who did not meet the requirements to acquire the documents.”Investigations are still going on and we expect possible further arrests,” said ACC chief Paulus Noa.According to sources, learners’ licences go for N$500 on the black market, while the going price for a driving licence is at least N$2 000.Three staff members of the Namibian Traffic Identification System (NaTIS) and two alleged middlemen were arrested in connection with the alleged scam.They are Paulus Himarwa, Willem Ashipembe, Jonathan Khaiseb, Hiskia Kavehita and Shanika Petrus.The five were taken into custody after an undercover operation by the Anti Corruption Commission (ACC), which acted on information provided by the Roads Authority (RA).It pointed to an alleged a syndicate in which some NaTIS officials were suspected of working with members of the public to sell driving, learners’ and roadworthy licences to individuals who did not meet the requirements to acquire the documents.”Investigations are still going on and we expect possible further arrests,” said ACC chief Paulus Noa.According to sources, learners’ licences go for N$500 on the black market, while the going price for a driving licence is at least N$2 000.