This archive report was first published on 4 July 2019.
On July 4, 2019, Insurance Regulatory Authority (IRA) detectives thwarted a Sh204 million insurance claim scam by a Nairobi businessman.
Anthony Maina Kiama, 29, had lodged a claim with Sanlam General Insurance, stating that Afroplast Industries in Thika had lost its manufacturing machines in a fire incident the previous year.
However, investigations revealed that the machines belonged to a different entity, Josmak Company Limited, making the claim fraudulent.
IFIU detective Peter Ewoi confirmed that the necessary files had been forwarded to the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (ODPP) for direction.
Sanlam Kenya Group CEO, Patrick Tumbo, welcomed the breakthrough and stated that the firm had enhanced its internal fraud management systems to prevent such cases.
“Fraud is an industry-wide problem that continues to reduce operational profit and erode shareholder returns. We appreciate the support from IFIU and are now vetting claims lodged with us more stringently to weed out unscrupulous ones,” Tumbo said.
According to the IRA Insurance Industry Report for January – March 2019, 30 fraud cases were reported to the Insurance Fraud Investigation Unit (IFIU) in the first quarter of the year.
