Africa-Press – South-Africa. Four people who claimed unidentified bodies at mortuaries, and then ripped off different insurance companies, have been sentenced to prison.
The four would kidnap people and use their ID books as proof of being unidentified bodies at mortuaries. They would then claim insurance on their lives.
Malefu Mokoena, 22, Maneo Mokoena, 45, Mannini Mphetheng, 45, and Tumelo Moeletsane, 35, appeared in the Harrismith Magistrate’s Court on Friday for crimes between 2017 and 2019.
The four were arrested on 19 November 2019, ending their two-year reign of kidnapping and identity theft.
Malefu and Maneo are mother and daughter.
Free State Hawks spokesperson, Captain Christopher Singo, said the three women and a man were arrested after they were caught taking a corpse from Phuthadithjaba’s forensic pathology services.
Singo said the investigation revealed the four would take out policies with different insurance companies.
He said the four would go to different government mortuaries and identify corpses as the people they had covered on their policies.
They would then claim the policies by using fake identities, Singo said.
He said: “They would kidnap people only to steal their IDs and claim that the person was dead. From there, they head over to the mortuary and claim corpses of those that have not been identified, to take out policies from insurance companies.”
According to Singo, some of those who were kidnapped managed to escape, while others were set free.
The four were sentenced for fraud, identity theft, attempted murder, kidnapping and money laundering.
The court sentenced Maneo to 16 years’ direct imprisonment, and Malefu was sentenced to five years.
Both Mphetheng and Moeletsane were sentenced to eight years’ direct imprisonment.
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