Midrand Licensing Department robbery: 4 000 documents stolen from safe
Armed intruders staged a robbery after they broke into the Midrand Licensing Department in Gauteng on Wednesday 2 September and made off with over 4 000 “face value” documents shortly before midnight.
Police are now urgently searching for eight to ten suspects, who are alleged to have stormed the building and tied up the security guards who were on duty as they raided the safe of its contents, with documents containing sensitive information possibly having been included in their bounty.
‘Face value’ documents taken during robbery
Police spokesperson Captain Mavelo Masonda confirmed the incident to The South African, and said that a case of business robbery had been opened.
“It happened on Wednesday at 22:00,” he said. “Two security guards were on duty and were tied up as the suspects entered the premises and stole documents from the safe.”
“No arrests have been made so far, and police are searching for eight to ten suspects,” he said.
City of Johannesburg’s anti-Fraud and Corruption Department tweeted further details about the incident, which Masondo was able to corroborate.
“Most of them carried firearms and they tied up two security guards who were on duty, using their shoe laces,” they said.
“They then proceeded to the building and entered the building through the toilet window which was not closed. Once inside they took more than 4 000 Face Value documents and left the building.”
They said that a grinder was used to open the safe where the Face Value documents were stored.
They also said that cameras that were available to the security teams in the building were not able to be used for evidence as the files could not be opened.
No injuries during raid
They said that the thieves were only interested in the documents held in the safe, and Masondo confirmed that the security guards were not injured during the incident.
“Nothing else was taken during the robbery. Police arrived and took fingerprints,” they said.
Face Value documents refer to documents that are deemed to have a potential value attached to them, including stamps, receipts, licenses and cheques.
The motive behind the robbery is not yet known, and police have appealed to the public to come forward with any information that may lead to the apprehension of the suspects.
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