RAF authorities declined claim because they 'smelled a rat'

File picture: Independent Media

File picture: Independent Media

Published May 15, 2017

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Cape Town – Two men appeared in a Cape Town court on Monday, one accused of submitting a false claim against the Road Accident Fund, and the other of obtaining vehicle financing by fraudulent means.

Both appeared in the Specialised Commercial Crime Court in Bellville, before magistrate Sabrina Sonnenberg, but neither was asked to plead to the charges.

In the RAF case, Cheslyn Shaundre Trouncelle, 23, falsely claimed that he was a passenger in a car that was involved in a one-car smash that killed the driver in Delft, on the Cape Flats.

In his claim, he said he could not remember any details of the smash, but that the deceased, Jacques Hawes, had been the driver. Prosecutor Simone Liedeman alleges that Trouncelle himself was in fact the driver – not the passenger – and, as such, was not entitled to the RAF claim.

As it happened, the RAF authorities “smelled a rat” in time, and declined the claim. Trouncelle is expected back in court on June 28.

The second case involved Michael Albert Philander, 58, of Ottery in Cape Town, accused of fraudulently purchasing four different vehicles with the use of false documentation such as his proof of address and statements of employment and salary slips.

Prosecutor Denzyl Combrink alleges that he bought a Land Rover Discovery for R290 089 at a dealership in Van der Bijl Park, as well as an Audi A5 Sportback at WP Motors in Cape Town, for R374 239, both in November 2014.

The very next month, he is alleged to have bought a Volkswagen GTi for R441 858, at Big Apple Motors in Parow, in Cape Town’s northern suburbs. That same December, he is alleged to have bought another Land Rover Discovery at Funnel Cars in Pinetown, Durban, for R728 837.

He now faces four counts of fraud and four of forgery. He is expected back in court on June 6.

African News Agency

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