Durban - A Congolese national, has been arrested after he allegedly posed as an importer of a valuable mineral from the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and sold approximately 20kg of it to a client in Pietermaritzburg.
According to security company, Magma Security and Investigations, the man had claimed that he traded in the mineral Colombo-Tantalite, which is known as coltan, and is mined in the DRC.
Police spokesperson Robert Netshiunda confirmed that the Mountain Rise have arrested a 43-year-old man in connection with a case of fraud.
He said it was alleged that the suspect defrauded the victim by getting them to pay an undisclosed amount of money for fake coltan.
“The suspect will appear in court on Tuesday,” he said.
An article on the Institute of Security Studies website, by Oluwole Ojewale, explains that the mineral coltan is vital in the manufacture of cellphones, laptops and other technology.
Magma Security said the criminal case was opened by the client when it was discovered that the substance purchased was not coltan, but crushed stone treated with charcoal.
A sting operation was then set up by Magma Security & Investigations, Umgungundlovu Trio Task Team and the Pietermaritzburg Crime Intelligence.
“The suspect was arrested following a surveillance and sting operation when he attempted to sell the complainant a bottle of alleged oil for the price of R15 000 to treat/process the fraudulent coltan ore.”