A team of Hawks officials in KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) have arrested an undertaker and three other accomplices for their involvement in a brazen insurance scam.
KZN undertaker arrested for disturbing insurance scam
The suspects, aged between 39 and 61, are accused of using extreme measures to siphon life cover money from an insurer that’s chosen to remain anonymous.
It’s not clear what the total of the life cover was but according to Hawks spokesperson Captain Simphiwe Mhlongo, “a potential loss of R110 000 was halted.”
Alarm bells rang off in September 2017 when the undertaker and another accomplice lodged an insurance claim on behalf of a deceased relative.
Following due diligence, the insurer sent an investigator to confirm the details of the supposedly deceased client. However, it didn’t take long for the ombudsman to smell a rat.
A wrong dead body and fake IDs
With limited resources at his disposal, the investigator recruited the help of the Hawks. For three years, investigators dug into the gory details of the disturbing scam.
“Preliminary investigation revealed that the person whose identity document was used is still alive, a wrong body was allegedly sent to the doctor through the arrested funeral parlour owner and the two suspects who were supposed beneficiaries of the insurance were not related to the insured person. It was further revealed that the fourth suspect allegedly provided the identity document to her accomplices,” Capt. Mhlongo revealed.
Every roleplayer in the fraud scam has received an equal share of the criminal charges. Finally, we will be introduced to the faces behind the bold scam on Thursday when the suspects appear before the Durban Magistrates’ Court on Thursday.