KZN police question how Stuart Scharnick holds five firearms
Acting Deputy Provincial Commissioner for Crime Detection in KwaZulu-Natal, Major General Anthony Gopal, said investigations revealed that Sharnick’s acquisition of firearms raised serious questions.
Image: Leon Lestrade / Independent Newspapers.
KwaZulu-Natal police have raised concerns that Stuart Sharnick, who has been linked to multiple serious offences, including carjacking, theft, and, legally, possesses five firearms.
Acting Deputy Provincial Commissioner for Crime Detection in KwaZulu-Natal, Major General Anthony Gopal, said investigations revealed that Sharnick’s acquisition of firearms raised serious questions.
"You ask yourself certain questions about his profile, and when we then start to look at his profile, we pick up that Mr Sharnick owns firearms. Specifically, he owns five firearms. We ask ourselves a question: how will a person with convictions acquire a firearm license? And for what purpose?" Gopal said.
He detailed that Sharnick’s firearm applications involved multiple steps, including competency certificates and licensing processes.
"In the first instance, we can say that the first time he made an application was in 2015. The second time he made an application, again in Richards Bay, it was refused. In that refusal, the reason for the refusal was the previous conviction. Failed to disclose outstanding cases," Gopal said.
Police also noted that while Sharnick had previously made claims about his reputation and legal standing, the investigation revealed a history of criminal cases, including theft of motor vehicles.
IOL also previously reported that a SAPS employee accessed and altered the national criminal record system to remove information linked to controversial businessman Stuart Scharnick.
In our course of doing this preliminary investigation, on the 16th of January, a particular employee of the South African Police Services went into the criminal record system and made some adjustments to the benefit of Mr Stuart Shanek," Gopal said.
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