“A 35-year-old teacher from Esikhawini near Richards Bay and a 37-year-old funeral parlour owner from KwaDukuza will appear in the Durban Commercial Crimes Court on Monday,” Lt-Col Vincent Mdunge said.

The two allegedly worked together in a scam which involved claiming monies from insurance companies using bodies from the funeral parlour.

A reservist from KwaMsane found out that she was certified dead when she went to home affairs to sort out her personal issues.

When police investigated the matter they found that many people had fallen victim to the scam.

“The teacher stole people’s identity documents (ID) and took funeral policies in their names; she would wait for eight months and then claim back from the insurance company, saying the person had died of natural causes,” Mdunge said.

The woman worked with the funeral parlour owner, whose role was to release a body of the same age as the one insured by the teacher from his mortuary.

“The body would be taken to an unsuspecting doctor, who would certify the person as having died of natural causes,” he said.

Police found death notification forms, ID copies and policy documents belonging to different people when they raided the funeral parlour.

Investigations also revealed that the claims had been lodged to different insurance companies including Old Mutual and Sanlam, Mdunge said.

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Thu May 23 17:38:20 SAST 2013 ::

Apr 20, 2012

R18SN

amazing how people are able to use very clecer ideas to think of crime. how is it that the same brain is not able to think about a legitimate business idea???
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Apr 20, 2012

Nys1

If those brains are indeed clever they would be clever enough to know that crime does not pay...
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Apr 20, 2012

Nys1

Clever brains create smart things e.g. : Smart Phones , Windows , Linux etc...
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Apr 20, 2012

ProudlyNigerian

I used to think Nigerian Scammers were the smartest on the planet but DAMMMN you saffers are on another level.Some of the scam reported this year by SA media have left in a state of amazement like how the hell do saffers come up with these "crooked" ideas!!!! Soon you guys are going to surpass Nigerian criminals in scams.
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Apr 20, 2012

BiPolar

ProudlyNigerian
I used to think Nigerian Scammers were the smartest on the planet but DAMMMN you saffers are on another level.Some of the scam reported this year by SA media have left in a state of amazement like how the hell do saffers come up with these "crooked" ideas!!!! Soon you guys are going to surpass Nigerian criminals in scams.
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I am very confident that this is a syndicate and that a Nigerian was involved. Where does a common teacher from Kwa-Dukuza gets capacity to scam companies like Old Mutual, Sanlam in that fashion. Where did she get the money to pay for the policies as many people have fallen victim? It is really shocking, i cannot believe that people have reached this level of wild imaginative thinking. It is usually Nigerians who manipulate our women to do all sorts of crime - the Rate at which Nigerians are chasing money is very alarming and Naija will do anything for money including certifying people dead!! -- [I am literally shocked!!]
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Apr 20, 2012

BiPolar

@Nys1
Clever brains create smart things e.g. : Smart Phones , Windows , Linux etc.
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I agree, instead of going around scamming people -- why don't people invest in educating themselves to be innovators and inventors - all we are doing is to complain about fong kongs from china - but cannot even invent anything of value. Those that have money spend it on women, material things instead of using it to do research that will benefit Africa and the world. Science, Maths is the way to go --- if Africans cannot invent anything - it means literally though we are living in 2012 with so much progress - psychologically we are still in that dark age era.
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Apr 20, 2012

BiPolar

@R18SN
amazing how people are able to use very clecer ideas to think of crime. how is it that the same brain is not able to think about a legitimate business idea???
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Ask the question again -- this is the height of crime, the brain that has conceptualise this has capacity to come up with a bright idea that could benefit the masses and financial rewards - but people choose the easy wrong ways to make money. We need light to see that as Africans we are not progressing. Even the educated are either corrupt or scrupulous in their dealings and are concerned about benefiting themselves and it is also trending with up and coming tenderpreneurs!
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Apr 20, 2012

ProudlyNigerian

@BiPolar...oh come on,be man enough to admit when saffer criminals are caught red handed.No Nigerian was involved in the scam,i just watched the full story on SABC 3 and this was a 100% Saffer planned and executed scam.Do you remember the woman who was arrested for advertising fake departmental jobs in limpopo? or the number of fake sangomas distributing pamphlets and promising gulible people all kinds of muti cures in joburg? Are Nigerians also responsible for all that?

Nigerians who do this kinds of scams do not get caught because they cover their tracks well.That is the difference.The facts is a lot movies being shown on Tv are giving desperate saffers criminal ideas.This woman was greedy ,she should have taken the R1.5 mill she got and split out of the country but she wanted to continue the scam.Anyways knowing SA's carppy justice system she will probably bribe our her way out of jail sentence.
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Apr 24, 2012

Xovizwe

South Africans cane be good on scams, but Nigerians are perfect, all over the world. That is why they are called aliens.
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