The Hawks in the Free State are intensifying their efforts to dismantle fraudulent funeral and so-called financial service businesses proliferating across the province.

In the latest case, the Hawks Serious Commercial Crime Investigation Unit secured a court summons for a couple operating an unregistered business accused of failing to honour insurance claims.

‘The company’s directors vanished’

Makarabo Funerals and Financial Services is accused of failing to pay an insurance claim to a woman (42). She approached the Financial Sector Conduct Authority (FSCA) after the company’s directors vanished without fulfilling their contractual obligations.

The funeral policy, taken out in March 2018, was supposed to cover R30 000 upon the death of a family member in October 2018. However, the directors of Makarabo Funerals and Financial Services disappeared.

The summons were issued on Thursday (6/6), said provincial Hawks spokesperson, Zweli Mohobeleli, with the couple required to appear in the Welkom Magistrate’s Court next Friday (14/6). They face charges including contraventions of the Insurance Act 18 of 2017 and the Financial Advisory and Intermediary Services Act 37 of 2002.

Last year, an elderly woman in Bohlokong, Bethlehem, filed a complaint with the FSCA against another illegal funeral operator who failed to pay out funeral benefits despite receiving regular premium payments from 2017 to 2022.

A man (50) was summoned to court after investigations revealed that the funeral scheme was not recognised by any underwriting authority. Residents who might have fallen prey to Makarabo Funerals and Financial Services are urged to approach the Hawks detectives in Welkom.

OFM News dg/mvh