A body-snatching syndicate has been buying unidentified or unclaimed bodies at state mortuaries in KwaZulu-Natal for insurance scams, the Department of Health has revealed.
On Friday, a KwaDukuza policeman and two women were arrested after they allegedly “bought” an unidentified body from the Magwaza Maphalala (Gale) Street mortuary and submitted false insurance claims to Standard Bank and Momentum, for R38 000 and R30 000 respectively.
Working with mortuary employees, the fraudsters submit fake death certificates and other documents to insurance companies.
Department of Health spokes-man, Chris Maxon, said the sale of unidentified bodies and issuing of fake death certificates for fraudulent insurance claims was a “huge problem” in the province. He said they were working closely with police and hoped to bust the syndicate soon.
“We have identified several suspects and reported this to police – arrest is imminent. We will put a stop to this scam.”
In the latest bust, the trio were nabbed by Captain Shane Smith and Warrant Officer Peter George of the Durban Organised Crime Unit – Cato Manor, after a tip-off.
The three suspects were expected to appear in the Durban Magistrate’s Court on Wednesday.
Police spokesman, Lieutenant-Colonel Vincent Mdunge confirmed the arrest and said investigations were continuing.
According to head of the Organised Crime Unit, Colonel Willie Olivier, one of the woman approached the policeman, who was apparently experiencing financial difficulties, in February and offered to include him in a “get-rich-quick scheme”.
He said the woman told the policeman he needed to pay R130 a month, for three months, into a bank account and in return he would be made the beneficiary on an unknown person’s life insurance policy.
“She claimed after three months, the money would be paid out to him. He allegedly agreed to the scam,” said Olivier.
He said at the end of June, the policeman was approached by another woman who instructed him to sign claim forms for a life insurance policy to be paid out from Standard Bank and Momentum. He was apparently told the policyholder had died, said Olivier.
He said the three suspects then went to Momentum offices in KwaDukuza and submitted a claim for R30 000. They were then informed they needed to obtain a post mortem report for the claim to be processed.
According to a police source, the suspects allegedly went to the mortuary where an unidentified body was released to them for a fee of R20 000, by a mortuaryemployee.
It has been alleged the employee, whose arrest is imminent, provided the fraudsters with details about the body to make the identification of it appear authentic.
The description included any tattoos, injuries or birthmarks on the body.
The source said the suspects managed to obtain a fake death certificate for the body which was issued in the name of the “policy-holder”.
However, a quick-thinking policeman at the mortuary picked up that the paperwork for the body was not in order.
The source said the death certificate did not correlate with the identity document of the deceased “policy-holder”.
Further investigation revealed that the identity document holder was alive and well. The source said mortuary authorities tracked the “deceased” to his workplace in Durban.
He claimed his identity document had been stolen a few months back and that he did not have any life insurance or funeral policies.
A sting operation was then set up and the suspects were nabbed on Friday at the mortuary when they went to pick up paperwork.
The source said it was unclear what had happened with the body which had been taken by the suspects.
It is suspected they could have either buried or dumped it.
Standard Bank spokesman, Ross Lindstrom, said they were working closely with police in their investigation.
Momentum head of forensic examinations and anti-money laundering compliance, Douw Lotter, said this was not a unique incident and measures had been put in place to combat commercial crime.
He said fraudulent claims impacted on their business and clients’ premiums. - Daily News