News / National
Woman fakes identity, claims late ex-hubby's pension
21 Jul 2017 at 08:33hrs | Views
CRIMINAL mind!
When Gertrude Ncube (62) and her now late husband of 11 years Luther Ncube cut ties in 1996, no one could have guessed Gertrude would want to enjoy his benefits 21 years later.
Gertrude married Ncube in August 1985 and they divorced in May 1996 but recently she faked being the surviving spouse of her late ex-husband making a pension claim from the Public Service Commission.
Had she succeeded, she would have pocketed
US$7 961, 80 but an out of wedlock child of the late put a stop to it when he presented a divorce decree between Gertrude and Luther at the pension offices. This led to Gertrude's eventual arrest.
Appearing before Bulawayo magistrate Tinashe Tashaya the accused said she didn't know she had committed a crime and she acted out of need and not greed with the help of a relative.
"I have two children who dropped out of university, one was at Solusi University and the other one was at the National University of Science and Technology (Nust). They dropped out because I couldn't afford the fees and by that time I was not employed. I then went to see my late ex-husband's cousin who advised me to file the claim. We agreed to share the pension equally between us," she said.
The magistrate noted an element of dishonesty in Gertrude.
"If you were claiming this money for the benefit of the children why then did you not let them know about your plans to claim pension of your husband you divorced two decades ago," said Tashaya.
Ncube was slapped with a US$300 fine (or 12 months in prison) for the offence.
When Gertrude Ncube (62) and her now late husband of 11 years Luther Ncube cut ties in 1996, no one could have guessed Gertrude would want to enjoy his benefits 21 years later.
Gertrude married Ncube in August 1985 and they divorced in May 1996 but recently she faked being the surviving spouse of her late ex-husband making a pension claim from the Public Service Commission.
Had she succeeded, she would have pocketed
US$7 961, 80 but an out of wedlock child of the late put a stop to it when he presented a divorce decree between Gertrude and Luther at the pension offices. This led to Gertrude's eventual arrest.
"I have two children who dropped out of university, one was at Solusi University and the other one was at the National University of Science and Technology (Nust). They dropped out because I couldn't afford the fees and by that time I was not employed. I then went to see my late ex-husband's cousin who advised me to file the claim. We agreed to share the pension equally between us," she said.
The magistrate noted an element of dishonesty in Gertrude.
"If you were claiming this money for the benefit of the children why then did you not let them know about your plans to claim pension of your husband you divorced two decades ago," said Tashaya.
Ncube was slapped with a US$300 fine (or 12 months in prison) for the offence.
Source - bmetro
