Family Trio Imprisoned For Submitting 573 Fraudulent Claims
A family of Three was sentenced to prison for attempting to defraud the Road Accident Fund (RAF) of R31 million.
A mother, daughter and son-in-law appeared in the Johannesburg Magistrate’s Court after collectively submitting 573 fraudulent claims from 40 road accidents.
“The Modus Operandi of the fraudsters included recruiting individuals to lie about getting injured during accidents, using number plates of old cars that are no longer roadworthy, claiming for injury benefits for road accidents that had no victims, and using stolen number plates of stationery cars more than once,” RAF said in a statement.
Fraudulent claims have dire financial and resource implications on the RAF in that employees who handle claims must also sift through fraudulent claims. This exercise extends the amount of time it takes to settle valid claims.
The repercussions of fraudulent claims extend beyond immediate financial losses, affecting the stability and integrity of insurance markets and the broader economy. “We estimate that fraud cases are increasing as people try to gain monetary benefit from financial products. However, such an increase is difficult to quantify because we only know what we can see,” according to Garth de Klerk, CEO of the Insurance Crime Bureau.