South African Police Arrest Dozens in Major Investment Scam Crackdown

By Staff, Agencies

South African police arrested six suspected investment scammers and 25 call center agents in Johannesburg on Tuesday as part of a large-scale operation targeting financial fraud.

The suspects, aged between 38 and 61, were charged with violating the Financial Advisory and Intermediary Services Act.

The arrests were carried out during a coordinated operation involving both local and international law enforcement agencies and formed part of INTERPOL’s global Operation JACKAL, which focuses on dismantling online scam networks and transnational financial crimes.

INTERPOL’s Integrated Police Support Group, headquartered in Lyon, deployed a senior official from its International Financial Crimes and Anti-Corruption Directorate to assist South African authorities.

Investigators said the probe is ongoing and that additional arrests or charges remain possible as inquiries into the alleged investment fraud continue.

In a separate but related development, the Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation, known as the Hawks, arrested five individuals and four companies over an alleged multimillion-rand fraud, theft, and money-laundering scheme spanning the Eastern and Western Cape.