Couple that faked death to get insurance payout is desperate for bail
The Knysna couple that hit the news headlines after falling death so that they could get an insurance payout is now desperate for bail.
But it is another weekend in jail for the couple who were living in the Garden Route town when they were arrested by the Hawks last month for allegedly faking Robbie Smith’s death and accepting a R1.7m life insurance payout from Old Mutual when they lived in Gauteng 23 years ago.
Smith, 67, took on an alias and his wife, Alice Abigail Smith, 59, became known as Alice Abigail Boshoff.
For 14 years, they got away with the alleged crime in Knysna, where they owned a video store and then Knysna Auto Repairs.
During their arrests on November 8, police also allegedly found illegal firearms — a pistol and shotgun — and ammunition.
They have been charged with contravening the
Firearms and Ammunition Act, which carries a prescribed minimum sentence of 15 years’ imprisonment.
That case will be heard in Knysna and then the fraud matter will be heard in a Gauteng court.
The couple, represented by attorney Daan Dercksen, first appeared in court on November 9, then for a bail application date on November 16.
On November 22, they appeared again, but the matter was postponed to November 28. Smith is incarcerated in the Knysna prison while his wife is in a women’s prison in Oudtshoorn.
They were brought from their respective prisons on November 28, but the case was again not heard because Dercksen was sick.
On Thursday, they finally appeared in court and their bail application was introduced via a 26-page affidavit later that afternoon.
The couple, though looking forlorn in the dock, showed little emotion when they heard they would remain in custody.
Their daughter, 38, and two adult grandchildren who lived with their grandparents for many years, have been present at every court appearance.
Source: https://www.heraldlive.co.za/news/2022-12-02-knysna-fake-death-accused-couple-seek-bail/
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