Man accused of faking own death in 1999 arrested in Knysna

A man accused of faking his death in 1999, and his wife who allegedly helped him, appeared on Wednesday in the Knysna magistrate’s court in the Western Cape, where their case was transferred to Gauteng.

Robbie Smith, 67, and his wife Alice, 59, were living in Benoni when they allegedly scammed Old Mutual Insurance out of more than R1.7m by pretending Smith had died in a car crash.

They were arrested on a charge of insurance fraud, among other charges.

For years they have allegedly been hiding out in Knysna, where Smith — using the name Chris Boshoff — owned Knysna Auto Repairs, where his wife was employed to do their admin.

Hawks spokesperson Capt Lloyd Ramovha said it had been claimed the fatal accident took place in Vosloorus. “Consequently an insurance claim was registered, leading to a payout of just more than R1.7m,” he said.

He said the couple had quietly left Gauteng for KwaZulu-Natal after receiving the windfall. “They eventually settled in Knysna.”

In 2020, Old Mutual was tipped off about the possibility they had been scammed as Smith was apparently still alive.

After an internal probe, a fraud docket was registered in October 2020 and assigned to the Hawks’ serious commercial crimes unit for investigation. The team traced the couple to Knysna, leading to their arrest on Tuesday in terms of a court order, Ramovha said.

On searching their house, two unlicensed firearms were allegedly recovered, he said. “A case of unlawful possession of firearms has now been included.

“The couple will be transferred to a Gauteng court to face the initial charge of fraud next week.”

HeraldLIVE

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