The net is closing in on a syndicate which stole a Port Shepstone woman’s identity document and declared her dead to cash in on insurance policies.

Police are questioning two women who have claimed at least R500 000 from various insurance companies. They were allegedly working with a third suspect who has two addresses, one in Kwamashu and another in Flagstaff.

Police have been unable to trace him.

Also involved in the crime were two mortuary owners and a doctor from Phoenix.

The Sunday Tribune reports that Port Shepstone resident Phindile Lukhozi was supposedly buried in an unmarked grave at an unregistered cemetery in Inanda. However, it has been established that Lukhozi is still alive.

In July 2019, Lukhozi forgot her ID book at a retail store and it disappeared. She reported it to police and applied for a new ID document which she received in April 2020. Last September, when her Sassa grant for her two children was not paid, she went to enquire about the payment and was told that she had been declared dead by the Home Affairs office in Umgeni Road.

The third suspect had gone to the Home Affairs office with her ID and a notification of death signed by the doctor.

The two suspects have denied being part of a syndicate and claimed to have no knowledge of Lukhozi. However, their bank accounts tell a different story, with evidence of insurance funds being paid, according to a well-placed source.

The Sunday Tribune has established that the money was paid out by Abacus Life Insurance company, Sanlam, Hollard, Avbob and Capitec Bank.

The Phoenix doctor apparently signed the notification of death document without seeing the body.

He has not denied helping the suspects, saying he assisted them because they were desperate for a death certificate, said the source.

Full Sunday Tribune report