DURBAN police closed in on suspected fraudsters in Empangeni and Mandeni last week.
A ‘dead’ woman, a funeral parlour owner and a doctor were arrested by officers from the Commercial Crime Unit.
According to police spokesman, Colonel Jay Naicker, police were investigating a case of a woman who had discovered that she was suddenly declared dead with a death certificate been issued in her name.
‘Police investigated the matter and ended up in Mandeni where they arrested a 44-year-old woman who had used the death certificate to claim on policies from various insurance companies to the value of R138 000,’ said Naicker.
However, police realised the fraudulent documents used to register a false death, came from a funeral parlour in Empangeni. The owner had confirmed he had buried the ‘deceased’.
‘A 33-year-old funeral parlour owner has been arrested as he had claimed he had indeed kept the body of the ‘deceased’ and buried her,’ said Naicker.
Police became increasingly suspicious when the undertaker could not point out the woman’s grave.
The last arrest in the case was a 63-year-old-doctor. Naicker explained, the doctor had claimed, in documents that he had seen the body of the ‘dead’ woman and certified the death, but investigations revealed that the doctor did not see any body. ‘He just filed and signed the documents,’ he said.
The trio will appear in the Durban Commercial Crime Court this week.
