Woman charged with N$1m insurance fraud

A FORMER employee of insurance company Santam Namibia had to pay N$10 000 to bail herself out of Police custody this week after she was arrested on a fraud charge allegedly involving an amount of more than N$1,1 million.

Fraud suspect Esmereel Cerelda Homses (30) was employed as the manager of the legal department of Santam Namibia when she allegedly committed fraud to the tune of N$1,149 million between May 2005 and January this year, according to a Namibian Police spokesperson, Sergeant Stephan Nuuyi. It is claimed that she processed false claims, supposedly for people who had been involved in vehicle collisions with Santam Namibia customers, and that she then paid the proceeds from these claims into various bank accounts that she had access to, Nuuyi said yesterday.Homses was arrested on Tuesday.She appeared in the Windhoek Magistrate’s Court on a charge of fraud on the same day.Homses was granted bail of N$10 000.As part of her bail conditions she had to surrender her travel documents to the Police officer investigating her case, she may not leave the Windhoek district without permission from the investigating officer, she has to report at the Windhoek Police Station every Monday afternoon, she has to inform the investigating officer of any change in her home address, and she may not make any contact with four named State witnesses.Homses has to appear in court again on January 6.It is claimed that she processed false claims, supposedly for people who had been involved in vehicle collisions with Santam Namibia customers, and that she then paid the proceeds from these claims into various bank accounts that she had access to, Nuuyi said yesterday.Homses was arrested on Tuesday.She appeared in the Windhoek Magistrate’s Court on a charge of fraud on the same day.Homses was granted bail of N$10 000.As part of her bail conditions she had to surrender her travel documents to the Police officer investigating her case, she may not leave the Windhoek district without permission from the investigating officer, she has to report at the Windhoek Police Station every Monday afternoon, she has to inform the investigating officer of any change in her home address, and she may not make any contact with four named State witnesses.Homses has to appear in court again on January 6.