Lady luck deserted two alleged fraudsters, who were busted by the Thohoyandou police and First Professional Care Security last week Thursday.

Norman Matamela (35) and Rofhiwa Tshifhango (24), both from Mukula village north of Thohoyandou, appeared in the Thohoyandou Magistrate’s court on Friday. The two were arrested after they were allegedly found selling fake monthly Magwaba Bus Service tickets to unsuspecting passengers.

Intensive investigations by the police and First Professional Care Security led to an office at Sibasa where the fake tickets were allegedly being printed. Police seized the tickets and a colour printer during the raid at the office. During their appearance in court, the suspects were each granted R2 500 bail, but they were still in custody at the time of going to press, as they could not raise the amount. The case was postponed to December 18 for further investigation.

Ms Portia Dabishi-Simango of Magwaba Bus Service said they discovered that there were fake tickets circulating, when one of the passengers brought back a ticket to claim a refund last week. "Although I was not in the office at the time, I received the information that the passenger wanted a refund because her new employment was no longer corresponding with the time of our buses. When I got hold of the returned ticket, I realized that it was a fake. It looks original to those who do not know, but it was easy for me to notice the difference, because I have been working with the tickets for a long time."

She said the fraudsters could not change the ticket number, because they did not have the infrastructure to do so. "They duplicated the same ticket with the same number and that is where we caught up with them." She said that after the discovery, they sent out inspectors onto the buses to inspect passengers’ tickets. "Our inspectors came back with more fake tickets and that was when we reported the matter to the police. Together with the police, we set a trap and the two men were arrested."