By Wanja Waweru
A man shocked a Mombasa court after admitting to scamming an insurance company of Sh600,000 by fabricating the deaths of his close relatives.
Mr. Philip Odero Kauma fabricated the deaths of his daughter, mother, and mother-in-law, in order to receive reimbursement from Old Mutual Insurance Company for funeral costs,
The charge sheet claims that the suspect received Sh600,000 from the insurance provider by making up the deaths of his mother and daughter.
He was also accused of lying about his mother-in-passing law’s in order to trick the insurance company into giving him another Sh500,000.
The suspect admitted guilt to the crimes that the state said he committed on July 2, September 2, and October 5, 2021, when he appeared before Resident Magistrate Viola Muthoni.
Investigations indicate that Mr. Kauma signed up for the insurance company’s last-respect expense coverage on May 3, 2021.
He accomplished this by using the firm’s representative at Kenya Commercial Bank.
Following that, Mr. Kauma paid the Sh17,000 full-year premium and designated his wife, six children, mother, mother-in-law, and father-in-law as beneficiaries in addition to his mother.
About a month after signing up for the policy, on June 17, the suspect notified the insurance firm of the death of his daughter through its KCB representative. According to him, the death happened on June 16 in Mombasa’s Bofu Dimbwini neighborhood.
The company processed the claim on July 2 and paid him Sh100,000 as a final expense through his bank account at Mwembe Tayari KCB Branch, according to the investigators.
Investigations reveal that Mr. Kauma once more informed the insurer of his mother’s passing on August 31, 2021, claiming she had passed away in the Ganahola region a day earlier.
Investigators claim that the suspect got a burial permit from the assistant chief of the Kwashee area.
The full expense was then covered by the insurance company in two payments of Sh250,000, which were made on September 2 and October 5, respectively.
On November 19 of the same year, Mr. Kauma made another insurance claim. This time, he stated that his mother-in-law had passed away and that the suspect required cash to pay for burial costs.
Police investigations indicate that the insurance firm grew suspicious of the rising number of customer deaths
The company subsequently looked into the claim. The Directorate of Criminal Investigations’ Insurance Fraud Investigations Unit received a complaint about the event (DCI).
Except for his daughter, who passed away in 2015 before he signed up for the policy, investigations showed that all of the purported deceased individuals were still alive.
The police learned that the suspect had lied to officials by asserting that the two had passed away prior to receiving burial permits.
The suspect was detained on February 8 at the village of Vijiweni Mtongwe before being brought before the court.
He admitted guilt to three counts of collecting money under false pretenses in court, where his family was also present.
In the meantime, Mr. Kauma has been remanded to the Shimo La Tewa prison.
The case will be heard on February 13.
