The Star’s investigation unit has finally found the documents proving how controversial leader of the International Pentecostal Holiness Church (IPHC) Jerusalem faction Michael Sandlana forged the death certificate of his wife, Benedicta Sandlana.
This expose reveals how a death certificate and application for letter of executorship was sourced following the fake death of Benedicta, choreographed by her husband Sandlana.
The Star is in possession of the documents where Sandlana secretly applied to be beneficiary of his wife’s estate, while his wife was alive and living with him.
The Star has also seen other forged documents in which Sandlana used to obtain Benedicta’s fraudulent death certificate of his wife.
The documents clearly show Sandlana to be the signatory of an application made to The Department of Home Affairs as the husband of his “deceased” wife on April, 9 2021.
Sandlana subsequently obtained a death certificate confirming that his wife died of natural causes in Pretoria on March 16, 2021.
Benedicta was alerted to her “death” when she tried to use the services of a bank in Sandton.
“This man killed his own wife while she was alive by fraudulently obtaining a bogus death certificate. This is not the first time he has done this. The late Glayton Modise was also a victim of his fraudulent ways. A year after he died, Sandlana obtained a smart card ID, including the affidavit which was signed by Modise in 2021 when the Comforter died in February 2016. We are talking here about a man who is used to committing fraud,” a source close to Sandlana said.
Sandlana, who has previously been charged with fraud, has now been linked to identity theft and defrauding the Master of the High Court but evidence has been lagging until now.
Early this year, The Star reported that police reports, Sandlana has two different ID numbers, the paper discovered that the identity documents of the the church’s former leader, Bishop Glayton Modise, who passed away in 2016, were fraudulently used to divert the church’s buses and other properties from his family.
Another source who also did not want to be identified said Sandlana stole his wife’s ID in order to acquire the fraudulent death certificate.
“This means he stole his wife’s ID. This is his modus operandi. You will remember that this guy changed the ownership of the buses belonging to the Silo Church” the source revealed.
The Star also reported that Sandlana had claimed to be Modise’s son in a bid to inherit the church.
In 2021, Benedicta opened a case of fraud against him after she discovered that a death certificate had been issued in her name last year and the ownership of her car had been changed from her name to that of Sandlana. Sandlana and his lawyer were criminally charged.
Benedicta also opened another fraud case with the SAPS Alberton, when she allegedly found out that her Mercedes-Benz C-Class W205, which was previously registered in her name, had its ownership changed into her husband’s name.
Sandlana has two matters pending against him, one in the Pretoria Magistrate’s Court and the second at the Palm Ridge Court and is due to return to the Pretoria Magistrate’s Court next Tuesday for the resumption.
Attempts to get comment from Sandlana were not successful at the time of publication.