Nearly £400 000 fraudulent insurance claim detected

Nearly £400 000 fraudulent insurance claim detected

By Francis Farai

A United Kingdom based Zimbabwean woman is under arrest for fraudulently claiming £400 000 from an insurance company named Aviva.

In August 2016 Bhebhe Thuile (51) contacted Aviva to submit the claim on the life insurance policy she shared with her husband, stating that he had died in Zimbabwe a few weeks earlier.

She submitted a death claim certificate from a Zimbabwean hospital declaring a pulmonary embolism as the cause of death, alongside an application form for a post-mortem examination, which had supposedly been registered by her husband’s cousin in Zimbabwe shortly after his death.

An interview was conducted at her home on behalf of Aviva, Bhebhe and she stuck to her invented story, and even stated that she had attended her husband’s burial. However, records obtained from the NHS revealed that the husband had worked a long day shift at Charing Cross Hospital on the alleged date of his death in Zimbabwe.

The City of London Police’s Insurance Fraud Enforcement Department (IFED) officers executed a search warrant at the Bhebhes’ address, discovering several documents in relation to the claim, such as a copy of the fake death certificate submitted to Aviva.

Bhebhe was later interviewed at a nearby police station, where she admitted in full to the fraud offences.

She was then sentenced at Inner London Crown Court on 15 March 2021, to two years’ imprisonment suspended for two years and 100 hours of community service, with a twenty-five-day Rehabilitation Activity Requirement.

She had previously pleaded guilty at the City of London Magistrates Court in November 2018. This judgement was made also basing on that she has shown remorse, but unfortunately for her these deceitful actions have soiled years of commendable work as NHS nurses for both her and her husband.

“Bhebhe tried to exploit Aviva and steal nearly £400,000 by shamelessly claiming her husband had died.” Said Detective Constable James Rafiq, from the City of London Police’s Insurance Fraud Enforcement Department.

Jacqueline Kerwood, Claims Governance Manager for Individual Protection at Aviva, cornfimed this and said, “This was a particularly audacious act of dishonesty by Bhebhe – in attempting to claim nearly £400,000 by falsely claiming her own husband’s death. Fortunately, it was quickly detected by our expert investigators, and we’re pleased to see justice has been done.

This is also very good news for our genuine customers, who ultimately bear the cost of fraud through their premiums. In this case, however, it’s Bhebhe who will pay the cost for her crime”

In Zimbabwe insurance fraud is very common and now on the rise. Of the total number of claims being made 30-40% will be fraudulent ones. These include fictitious car accident or death claims and exaggerated claims. Very similar cases to this were recorded in the past.

At one time Old Mutual lost usd $70 000 to David Garudza who connived with a mortuary attendant at Mutare General Hospital to steal a corpse from mortuary, and  burnt it beyond recognition in a fake accident using a hired Toyota Spacio before defrauding Old Mutual Funeral Services. The arm of the law caught up with him and was slapped with a 23-year prison term.

Former Zimbabwean representative in the Big Brother Africa show, Wendall Parson was in 2013 cleared by the courts after he was arrested on allegations of having made a false claim in which he was paid compensation for his vehicle which was involved in an accident.