Staff Reporter
Ten suspects between the ages of 34 and 54 are expected to appear in court on Monday following their arrest in Bethlehem and Senekal for selling illegal prepaid electricity.
The suspects were arrested on Saturday during the second phase of an operation conducted by the Free State Hawks Serious Commercial Crime Investigation team in concert with Eskom investigators.
In June, seven suspects aged between 28 and 67 were arrested following a year-long investigation into a sophisticated pre-paid electricity vending racket in the Free State and Gauteng.
The suspects were arrested at different premises in Gauteng.
At that time, the Hawks said the criminal network was responsible for large-scale pre-paid electricity fraud and theft.
The Hawks spokesperson Captain Christopher Singo said the suspects are said to be selling electricity using illegal vending machines in a practice called ‘ghost vending’.
“They are highly organised, well-equipped, closely networked and are difficult to track due to the fact that these machines do not transact on a network or at a single place, but are constantly roving,” said Singo in a statement.
He said the syndicates reportedly operate in groups nationally and generate income of approximately R150 000 to R250 000 per day from the illicit sales of electricity.
“The illegal practice of selling prepaid electricity results in multi-million-rand losses to Eskom per annum,” said the Hawks spokesperson.
“This loss of revenue and the increase in non-technical losses contributes significantly to the electricity woes of the country.
“These arrests come at a time when the country has been plunged into load shedding due to the bleak power situation.
“Several cell phones, electricity prepaid vouchers and bookkeeping records of customers were seized for further investigation.”
The suspects are expected to appear in the Fochville Magistrates Court on Monday morning.