A Uitenhage car dealer is suspected of being the kingpin of a nation-wide vehicle theft syndicate that made millions of rands.
|||Cape Town - A Uitenhage car dealer, suspected of being the kingpin of a nationwide vehicle theft syndicate that made millions of rand, may become the centre of a case in the Western Cape.
Simon van Vuuren, 65, owner of Monte Carlo Motors, which had branches in the Eastern and Western Cape, faces a number of charges relating to car theft.
In an article in the police’s online journal this year, it said Van Vuuren, who previously appeared in a Uitenhage court, was expected to appear in a Cape Town court, and “a key member” of the province’s Directorate of Public Prosecutions (DPP) office was assisting the investigating team.
On Tuesday police spokesman Frederick van Wyk said, “The investigation is currently at a very sensitive stage.”
The police online article said a team of 11 officers based in Cape Town arrested Van Vuuren, who it described as the suspected “kingpin linked to vehicle thefts across the country”.
It said the detectives investigation had led them to Uitenhage and Port Elizabeth.
The article said during three operations in the Eastern Cape, the detectives confiscated 57 vehicles worth more than R3 million.
Of the 57 vehicles, 38 were stolen in the Western Cape and 17 in the Eastern Cape.
The origin of the remaining two vehicles could not be established as the identification had been severely tampered with.
“According to the detectives’ investigation, the vehicles’ identification numbers were tampered with and replaced by identification numbers of vehicles which had been written off…
“All these vehicles were sold to bona fide buyers,” the police article said.
Van Vuuren previously appeared in a Uitenhage court and was released on R20 000 bail.
Meanwhile, a number of Cape Town residents are concerned about a spate of car thefts.
On the Facebook forum, “Traffic fines, cameras & updates in Western Cape”, a number of users commented on the crimes, with one saying: “the amount of cars stolen on a daily basis is really getting out of hand now!!!?# hectic”.
Another user said: “seems like car theft is in fashion now; almost every second post on the page today is about cars stolen.”
Based on the number of people using the forum to alert others that their cars were stolen between Friday evening and Saturday morning, eight vehicles were stolen around the city.
On Tuesday Van Wyk said during that time one vehicle theft case had been opened in the city centre.
To try and avoid falling victim to a car thief, Van Wyk advised motorists to avoid parking their vehicles in places with no security guards
caryn.dolley@inl.co.za
Cape Times