News / National
Police investigate fake driver's licence racket
20 Sep 2011 at 05:40hrs | Views
POLICE are investigating a fake driver's licence racket involving hundreds of motorists suspected to be using fake licences.
National Traffic Police spokesperson Inspector Tigere Chigome yesterday said police would work flat out to arrest the culprits.
They have already arrested one suspect - Salam Usof Salam who secured a job using a fake driver's licence and educational certificates and is believed to be part of the distribution network.
Salam was arrested after the man who had employed him as a driver on the strength of his fake licence discovered that Salam was not competent.
They have also launched a manhunt for the alleged mastermind of the racket identified as Kenneth Kasino who is believed to have been operating from premises along Chiremba Road.
The scam, which has enabled scores of unqualified drivers to obtain class one, two and four driver's licences to enable them to secure employment put the lives of thousands of road users at risk.
Police say most accidents that have occurred of late are due to human error and defective vehicles.
"We are thoroughly investigating this fake licence syndicate which we suspect involves thousands of motorists on our roads. We have intensified our checks in a bid to rid the roads of holders of fake drivers licences," Insp Chigome said.
He said an all-out war has been declared on the culprits responsible for dishing out fake licences following an increase in road carnage.
Insp Chigome said police and would-be employers should be on the look out for holders of fake certificates of competency - the blue temporary passes issued to drivers waiting for their metal licences to be printed by the Central Vehicle Registry.
The differences are easy to pick up with the fake certificate of competency being a refined version of the genuine one.
The fake certificates of competency do not have a watermark and may also have just one stamp of the Vehicle Inspection Department instead of three official stamps.
Another pointer is that signatures on the fake licences are of non-existent VID officials or of officials that have since left the department.
A genuine certificate of competency has the name and signature of the examiner and a signature of the issuing officer in charge of the depot where the licence was issued.
"It is important that police officers on road blocks and would-be employers pick out these discrepancies quickly," Insp Chigome said urging organisations or individuals who employ drivers without metal driver's licences to physically check the validity of the documents with the Central Vehicle Registry.
According to investigations, it has been established that a class one drivers licence is sold at US$400, class two - US$300 and class four goes for between US$200 and US$150.
One of the victims of the scam - who has been pardoned after his fake licence was cancelled - claimed to have met the conmen near the Eastlea VID depot along Mutare Road.
National Traffic Police spokesperson Inspector Tigere Chigome yesterday said police would work flat out to arrest the culprits.
They have already arrested one suspect - Salam Usof Salam who secured a job using a fake driver's licence and educational certificates and is believed to be part of the distribution network.
Salam was arrested after the man who had employed him as a driver on the strength of his fake licence discovered that Salam was not competent.
They have also launched a manhunt for the alleged mastermind of the racket identified as Kenneth Kasino who is believed to have been operating from premises along Chiremba Road.
The scam, which has enabled scores of unqualified drivers to obtain class one, two and four driver's licences to enable them to secure employment put the lives of thousands of road users at risk.
Police say most accidents that have occurred of late are due to human error and defective vehicles.
"We are thoroughly investigating this fake licence syndicate which we suspect involves thousands of motorists on our roads. We have intensified our checks in a bid to rid the roads of holders of fake drivers licences," Insp Chigome said.
He said an all-out war has been declared on the culprits responsible for dishing out fake licences following an increase in road carnage.
Insp Chigome said police and would-be employers should be on the look out for holders of fake certificates of competency - the blue temporary passes issued to drivers waiting for their metal licences to be printed by the Central Vehicle Registry.
The differences are easy to pick up with the fake certificate of competency being a refined version of the genuine one.
The fake certificates of competency do not have a watermark and may also have just one stamp of the Vehicle Inspection Department instead of three official stamps.
Another pointer is that signatures on the fake licences are of non-existent VID officials or of officials that have since left the department.
A genuine certificate of competency has the name and signature of the examiner and a signature of the issuing officer in charge of the depot where the licence was issued.
"It is important that police officers on road blocks and would-be employers pick out these discrepancies quickly," Insp Chigome said urging organisations or individuals who employ drivers without metal driver's licences to physically check the validity of the documents with the Central Vehicle Registry.
According to investigations, it has been established that a class one drivers licence is sold at US$400, class two - US$300 and class four goes for between US$200 and US$150.
One of the victims of the scam - who has been pardoned after his fake licence was cancelled - claimed to have met the conmen near the Eastlea VID depot along Mutare Road.
Source - TH
