A funeral parlour owner and three others have been arrested for allegedly trying to fraudulently claim life insurance on a living person.
The suspects, aged between 39 and 61, were arrested on Tuesday by members of the Durban Serious Commercial Crime Unit.
KwaZulu-Natal Hawks spokesperson Captain Simphiwe Mhlongo said two of the four had allegedly taken out life cover using the victim's ID and tried to cash in after claiming the person was dead in September 2017.
"An insurance company forensic investigator smelt a rat and probed the claim. A case of fraud was reported at Durban North police station and the case docket was allocated to Hawks members for intensive investigation.
"Preliminary investigation revealed that the person whose identity document was used is still alive, a wrong body was allegedly sent to the doctor through the arrested funeral parlour owner and the two suspects who were supposed beneficiaries of the insurance who were not related to the insured person."
Mhlongo added the victim's ID was provided by one of the suspects.
All four suspects are expected to appear in the Durban Magistrate's Court on Thursday.
