Ntsebeng Motsoeli
MASERU — Metropolitan Lesotho says it is worried by the increase in insurance fraud cases.
‘Matikoe Mochebelele, the marketing and communications manager, said the company had lost thousands of maloti because of bogus insurance claims.
He said most of fraud cases were related to funeral policies.
“It is a serious problem that we are having,” Mochebelele said.
Mochebelele cited a recent case of a Mokhotlong teacher who tried to submit a fraudulent claim after alleging that a policy beneficiary had died.
In another case a woman was arrested after she tried to cash her mother’s funeral policy by lying that she had died.
Mochebelele said the matter came to light when the mother heard that her daughter was claiming that she had died so she could make a claim.
“She came to our offices to report and the daughter was arrested the following day when she came to make a claim,” Mochebelele said.
She added that some fraudulent claims had gone unnoticed because the fraudsters would have brought all the required documentation that insurance companies need.
“They usually provide all the needed documents like death certificates, passports, policy number, medical reports or death reports from their chiefs. These are some of the documents that are needed when one comes to make a claim.”
Mochebelele said it had been discovered that some employers of the claimants unknowingly signed the required documents.
Some chiefs worked with the defrauders knowing full well that the documents were not authentic, Mochebelele explained.
“We have had some chiefs arrested and charged for such crime,” Mochebelele said.
Last week Metropolitan Lesotho launched an awareness campaign in an effort to curb fraud through false claims.
The campaign seeks to raise awareness among staff, community and other stakeholders regarding the company’s “Zero Tolerance Against Fraud” policy.
The company has also sought help from KPMG, a global network of professional firms providing audit, tax and advisory services.
KPMG has introduced a toll free number to be used to report fraud and other related crimes.
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