The elderly father of a KwaZulu-Natal judge was himself in the high court on Friday, to prove that he was alive and well — in spite of home affairs having declared him dead.
Michael Mossop, 86, father of judge Rob Mossop, believes he was the victim of fraudsters who, on the back of a death certificate issued in June had secured a letter of executorship from the Masters Office in Pretoria and were attempting to plunder his estate.
To prove that he was, indeed, alive and well, Mossop snr posed with a proof of life photograph, with the front page of a local newspaper, and attended court proceedings in his urgent application which came before Durban high court acting judge Jabu Thobela-Mkhulisi.
“I am very much alive and healthy,” Mossop snr said in his affidavit.
He said he lived with his wife in Glen Anil, and they were both pensioners.
The first sign of trouble came when judge Mossop received a call from an investment company on August 21 this year.
There can be no doubt that the purpose of the fraud is for fraudsters to ultimately contact those institutions and use the fraudulent letter of authority to claim that I am deceased and lay claim to the funds
— Michael Mossop, 86
“The caller wanted confirmation that I was dead. My son, deeply shocked, advised that I was not dead. He asked why the company believed this to be the case and was told that the department of home affairs had notified that I had died,” he said.
“I later spoke to a representative of the company and assured them I was alive. I believed that was the end of the matter.”
However, three days later he received an email from his medical aid company, advising that he and his wife’s medical aid had been terminated.
Again, he was advised that this was because he was dead.
“This came as an absolute shock to me but initially I assumed that it was an administrative error.”
He said fortunately he had relatives who were in the legal profession, including his son, his daughter-in-law and two of his stepsons. One did a search on the Master’s Office computer portal. The records showed that Mossop snr was dead and his estate had been reported to the Master’s Office in Pretoria.
His daughter-in-law then confirmed that office that an estate file had been opened. An official advised that Mossop snr must urgently approach his bank to ensure his funds remained intact because “fraud was suspected”.
In the meantime, Mossop snr realised that his pension had not been deposited into his account. He checked with the pension fund and was again advised this was because he was deceased.
According to documents attached to the application, a letter of executorship had been issued in July 2023 appointing a “Brian Gordon Pearson, assisted by AJ Masingi Attorneys” to handle the estate.
The Masters Office, he said, had been very proactive in assisting him, and had sent an email to Pearson and the attorneys calling on them to return the letter of executorship “which had clearly been issued on the basis of fraud”.
But, he said, there was a high probability that it would not be returned.
Mossop snr, said he did not know Pearson, who had described himself as his grandson who had known him since birth, on the documents.
The octogenarian said he had no grandchildren and, if regard was had to Pearson’s identity number, there was only a 17-year age difference between them “which makes it impossible”.
Pearson claimed to have been present when he died.
“Again this is not true because I am not dead. The documents also reflect that I was married in Pretoria when I was not. It also says I was married by customary union. This is also untrue.”
A copy of his wife’s ID book was also fake, bearing her wrong surname and stating she is a South African citizen when she is not.
Mossop snr said he had reported the matter to the police.
He said he was not getting his pension, had no medical aid and financial and other institutions that held his investments and funds all believed he was dead.
“There can be no doubt that the purpose of the fraud is for fraudsters to ultimately contact those institutions and use the fraudulent letter of authority to claim that I am deceased and lay claim to the funds and also enable them to transact on, or close my accounts, and obtain the funds therein,” he said.
Judge Thobela-Mkhulisi granted an order declaring Mossop snr to be alive, and directedthe home affairs minister and director-general of the department to immediately amend their records to reflect as such.
Should they wish to oppose, they have until October 6 to do so.
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