Ex-cop pleads guilty to security jobs scam

A FORMER Port Elizabeth police captain who conned desperate job seekers out of thousands by promising them work in Dubai or Iraq has pleaded guilty to fraud.

Charl de Ridder, 43, accepted about R50000 from eight job seekers in return for work in the security industry.

He told them he had booked flights and arranged passports and visas for them. Police spokeswoman Captain Sandra Janse van Rensburg was among those conned after De Ridder promised her husband a job.

De Ridder was arrested in February and released on R1000 bail. The Port Elizabeth Magistrate's Court yesterday ordered him to spend eight weeks in St Albans Prison during which time he had to repay the eight people if he managed to sell his flat.

Failure to repay his victims would be considered for sentencing, which has been set down for August 6. – Gareth Wilson