Two in court for allegedly using unclaimed corpses for insurance fraud

Two people – aged 22 and 37 – appeared in the Phuthaditjhaba Magistrate’s Court on Thursday for insurance fraud relating to unclaimed corpses at government morgues.

“It is alleged that the suspects were producing fraudulent documents using identities of people who are still alive to claim dead bodies from government mortuaries. They would then transfer the corpses to private mortuaries. Subsequently they would submit fictitious claims with different insurance companies,” Warrant Officer Lynda Steyn said in a statement on Thursday.

The two were arrested on fraud-related charges on November 18 following a tip-off.

This was achieved through a joint operation by the Hawks’ Serious Commercial Crime Investigation Unit and Phuthaditjhaba police officers after the accused had come to collect an unclaimed body at a local mortuary.

The two suspects will appear in court again on November 28.

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