The Mbombela Company Fraud Case Will See 8 People Appearing in Court in November

• Warren Brett Smith, aged 48, has been arrested in relation to a R11.5 million fraud case involving the apparent theft from an Mbombela company between 2010 and 2016
• Smith appeared in front of the Mbombela Special Commercial Crimes Court on Monday, 30 August after being arrested earlier that same day
• Carol Ann Avent, 46, suspected to have relations with Smith, will join seven other accused suspects in the fraud case in court on the 15 November

Warren Brett Smith a 48-year-old man residing in Mpumalanga, has been apprehended in relation to a R11.5 million fraud case. The case covers the alleged stealing from an Mbombela company between 2010 and 2016.

Authorities arrested Warren Brett Smith on Monday before standing before the Mbombela Special Commercial Crimes Court later that day. The court appearance concluded with the granting of R10 000 bail.

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Carol Ann Avent, aged 46, the apparent partner to Smith and the lead suspect in the fraud case, will accompany seven other accused suspects in court.

Avent, the assigned bookkeeper at the Mbombela company, allegedly formulated false beneficiaries and transferred company finances into family members' accounts, according to reports by News24.

According to the SAPS, the collective accused will join Smith in the Specialised Commercial Crime Court on 15 November following its postponement.

Gqeberha woman receives 15-year sentence for defrauding training centre of R13.4 million

In other news about fraud, Briefly News previously reported that the Specialised Commercial Crimes Court in Port Elizabeth has sentenced 65-year-old Estelle Burgess to 15 years' imprisonment for stealing R13.4 million from an Eastern Cape training centre.

According to EWN, Burgess confessed to defrauding the training centre over a period of 10 years and was faced with over 900 charges of fraud.

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NPA spokesperson Anelisa Ngcakani says Burgess had opened up nine bank accounts to which she fraudulently sent money from the training centre. She falsely listed the bank accounts on spreadsheets with the names of creditors and suppliers, according to The South African.

Fraudsters scam more than R500m from insurers by buying bodies and faking accidents

Briefly News previously reported that insurers paid approximately R522.7 billion to policyholders and beneficiaries last year after over 430 000 legitimate death claims. In 2020, 3 186 dishonest and fraudulent claims were made, amounting to R587 million.

Workers in mortuaries have allegedly been selling bodies, among other things, in order to obtain ID numbers. This is just one of the ways South African criminals are attempting to gain cash from funeral policies.

The Association for Savings and Investment SA (Asisa) stated on Monday, 23 August that South Africa's life insurance companies reported an increase of 12% in dishonest and fraudulent claims across all areas of risk business last year if compared with the year before.

Source: Briefly News