By Everson Luhanga
Doctor Sobetha, the man who was arrested at the Bethal Magistrate’s Court last week after apparently pretending to be a lawyer, allegedly attempted to claim a funeral policy fraudulently after the mysterious death of his twin brother.
The man’s family revealed to Scrolla.Africa that Doctor tried to claim payment from an insurance policy of his twin brother, Teacher Professor Matshia, who died on 30 December. He was found at a cemetery in Winterveld Tshwane inside a burnt-out car.
The brothers had different surnames as each took the surname of a different parent.
Eleven days after his brother’s death, Doctor called the insurance company allegedly pretending to be his brother and wanting to change the policy so he would be the one to benefit.
Investigations into Teacher’s death are still underway. No one has been arrested and the family is waiting for answers about how he died.
Doctor was caught and stopped by the insurance company for trying to defraud them of the insurance policy money, which amounted to R55,000.
He was arrested on 24 March for pretending to be a lawyer in the Bethal Magistrate’s Court in Mpumalanga.
He was representing 37-year-old Mhlabuyaxega Mntungwa who was charged with the murder of the former Sam Holdings manager, Nkosinathi Emmanuel Ngcongo, who was shot and killed in 2019.
The family told Scrolla.Africa that they were stunned to learn of the arrest.
They said they were shocked to read that Doctor had shown the police a matric certificate when he was arrested. They said he attended school up to Grade 10 and then dropped out.
The family said they had refused to believe rumours that had reached them that Sobetha was appearing in different courts around Tembisa, Pretoria and Mpumalanga wearing a gown that is normally worn by lawyers.
“We thought maybe he was just helping with odd jobs at courts when we heard that he was seen there, because we knew he was not educated.”
TIMELINE:
- Teacher, an electrical engineer, left home after he received a call on 29 December last year to help a family in Mabopane to install electrical appliances.
- On 30 December Doctor called the family to inform them that Teacher had been found dead in his burnt-out car.
- Teacher was buried on 4 March 2023.
- On 10 January Doctor made a call to the insurance company pretending to be Teacher and wanting to change the beneficiary of his funeral policy. The beneficiary’s name was changed so that Doctor would benefit.
- On 23 January Doctor made another call to the insurance company, saying that his brother Teacher had died and he wanted to claim the funeral policy money to help the family bury him.
- The insurance company sent documents to Doctor to fill in.
- Without thoroughly checking the death certificate or fully considering the logic of events, Doctor sent them Teacher’s death certificate and the signed documents so that they could approve and release the money.
- The insurance company picked up immediately that the death certificate showed Teacher had died on 30 December 2022 — 11 days before Doctor, impersonating the deceased man, called to change the beneficiary. Unless Teacher came back to life to make that call?
Now, the family say they are opening a case of fraud against their own family member, who is already in police custody for a trail of other fraud cases.
Hawks’ spokesperson Captain Dineo Lucy Sekgotodi said Sobetha will be back in the Bethal Magistrate’s Court on 3 April for a bail application. Investigations into the case continue.
Pictured above: The remains of a car where Teacher Professor Matshia was found dead on 30 December 2022 in Winterveld, Tshwane.
Photo supplied by family
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