A 35-year-old former government official has been sentenced to three years direct imprisonment for insurance fraud.
Siyabonga Ndwandwe was convicted this week in the Durban Regional Court.
The Directorate for Priority Crimes Investigations (known as the Hawks) said Ndwandwe was employed as an administration clerk at the Department of Justice and Constitutional Development.
Hawks spokesperson, Captain Simphiwe Mhlongo said that in October 2017 Ndwandwe took out funeral policy insurance with five different insurance companies.
“He covered three non-existing children as his dependants. The following year, Ndwandwe submitted claims, citing that his children were deceased,” Mhlongo said.
“An amount of R96,500 was paid to him and one of the insurance company smelt a rat.”
Mhlongo said this prompted the insurance companies to start an internal investigation.
“Following the investigation, a case of fraud was opened at Durban Central police station. The case docket was allocated to the Hawks members from Durban Serious Commercial Crime Investigation for further investigation.”
Ndwandwe was arrested and charged for fraud in December 2020.
“He was released on bail and appeared in court several times until the guilty verdict was handed down by the court.”
Head of the KwaZulu-Natal Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation, Major General Lesetja Senona welcomed the sentence of the accused and applauded the members for the good work.
In another incident, a former insurance company adviser in the Eastern Cape was found guilty of 30 counts of fraud in the East London Regional Court this week.
Shaun Kenneth Dorning, 49, is alleged to have defrauded a company out of over R4.7 million. His sentence is expected to be delivered in April.
IOL News