A funeral home data capturer charged with defrauding her own family has been released on R1000 bail. She allegedly submitted funeral claims when relatives died and cited various reasons to unsuspecting family members why their policies could not be paid out.
The 33-year-old Bathurst woman appeared in the Port Alfred Magistrate’s Court recently and will reappear on 27 August 2020 in the same court.
In one incident, a family member died. A relative who had taken out a funeral policy for the deceased went to submit a claim at the funeral home – the one where she’d signed for the policy and where the accused person works.
The accused person, who is also her relative, had told her that the funeral policy was not mature and that she would not receive payment. She asked her to submit a death certificate so they could cancel the policy She handed over the requested documents.
The accused, who is a data capturer at the Funeral Home, submitted a claim – supposedly on behalf of her relative. The amount of R10 000 was paid into the relative’s bank account. The suspect allegedly used her relative’s card to make withdrawals.
The bereaved relative, by now suspicious, reported the incident at Bathurst Police Station, where a case of fraud was opened.
She revealed that several other claims had also been paid into her account.
The Commercial Crime Unit of Port Alfred has urged the community to contact their local SAPS or the crime stop number in 0860010111 if they have similar incidents to report.
