This archive report was first published on 15 September 2019.
On September 11, 2019, a Kisumu court arraigned a widow, a Seventh Day Adventist pastor, and two others for allegedly orchestrating a scheme to defraud Old Mutual of Ksh 8 million.
The accused, including Pastor Andrew Okeyo Osewe, Monica Bolo Odoyo, the widow of Samuel Odoyo Agira, Lower Kakwajok sub-location assistant chief Wilson Were, and two clinical officers from Kendu Adventist Hospital, Mr Harun Diero Ajwang' and Alfred Nyang'au Odhiambo, were arrested for their alleged involvement in the insurance fraud.
According to investigations, Pastor Osewe had the idea to defraud Old Mutual after learning of Mr Agira's sickness condition. He convinced the widow to participate in the scheme and applied for a life policy with Old Mutual Life Assurance Company Limited for the sick Mr Agira.
However, the application showed that it was Mr Agira who had applied for it, yet the signatures of the applicant did not match his. It was later revealed that the application was forged, as stated in the court documents.
The pastor and his accomplices would then pay Ksh22,500 to the insurance company for the next eight months via mobile money. Mr Agira passed on at Kendu Adventist Hospital on July 22, and the second phase of the plan commenced.
However, the insurance company would not have paid the benefits if they learned that the 'applicant' succumbed to terminal illness. The SDA pastor needed the burial permit edited and fast. This is where the assistant chief Mr Wilson Were was called to assist.
The five, including two clinical officers, were arrested last Tuesday by officers from the Directorate of Criminal Investigations, Insurance Fraud Investigations Unit in Nairobi, and driven to Kisumu where they were charged before senior resident magistrate Martha Ogutu.
They all denied the charges and were released on a bond of Sh150,000 each with a surety and a cash bail of Sh100,000. The case will be heard on September 24 and November 21.
