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Nurse in funeral fraud scam

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A Kwekwe General Hospital nurse, Renica Chakabvapasi, and her boyfriend, Godwin Mugwangi, have been arrested on allegations of defrauding Old Mutual Assurance Company of several thousands of dollars through a funeral policy scam.

A Kwekwe General Hospital nurse, Renica Chakabvapasi, and her boyfriend, Godwin Mugwangi, have been arrested on allegations of defrauding Old Mutual Assurance Company of several thousands of dollars through a funeral policy scam.

BY BLESSED MHLANGA

kwekwe-renica-nurse

Appearing in court yesterday, the two were accused of operating a sophisticated ring in which they preyed on terminally-ill patients admitted at Kwekwe General Hospital.

Chakabvapasi (30) would allegedly take personal information of patients under her care and give it to Mugwangi to secretly open a Funeral Benefit Plan with Old Mutual.

Once the patient died the pair would then claim $5 000 from Old Mutual masquerading as relatives of the deceased.

The matter came to light when the two opened a cash Funeral Benefit Plan for Lee Mazarire in May after claiming that he was Chakabvapasi’s cousin.

On September 2, Mazarire passed on and Chakabvapasi fraudulently prepared a burial order which her boyfriend used to claim $5 000 from Old Mutual.

Old Mutual opened investigations into the claim after their forensic investigator, Tawanda Marenga, noticed that the two had made several similar claims.

Mugwangi was arrested last Saturday at CABS with a $5 000 withdrawal slip while trying to withdraw the funeral benefits from Old Mutual.

Papers before the courts show that police have opened investigations against the two over the deaths of Attalia Sibanda, Grey Zite and Hardlife Mwenda, for whom they allegedly also opened cash Funeral Plans and collected $5 000 each in claims.

Magistrate Ngoni Nduna remanded the two out of custody to September 29 on $100 bail each with instructions not to interfere with State witnesses.

Simeleni Nkala appeared for the State.