A Zaka couple was arrested after faking their daughter’s death in an attempt to obtain US$1 000 funeral policy benefits from life assurance company, Ecosure Life Trading.
The two appeared before Masvingo Magistrate Elizabeth Hanzie facing fraud charges on May 20, 2024 and were granted bail. The court heard that Godknows Mugondo on the period extending from November to December 2023 Rungamirai Machinjike (27) and Talent Rutindingwe (33) made a misrepresentation to Ecosure Life Trading by making a false claim that their daughter had passed away in order to obtain US$1 000.
Machinjike had registered to Ecosure Funeral Cover and added Rutindingwe, their daughter and her cousin as dependents. Machinjike and Rutindingwe planned to defraud Brighton Machisi employed at Ecosure cash amounting US$1,000 by misrepresenting that their daughter had passed away in November 2023.
Machinjike went on to convince witnesses from the village to support their claim and obtained copies of their national identity cards for proof.
Machisi instituted preliminary investigations to verify the authenticity of the claim and established that the duo connived together and made a misrepresentation in order to benefit from Ecosure Life.
The incident was reported to the police and the couple was arrested. TellZimNews
