A WOMAN dubbed the "funeral robber" is in hot water.
This after the 39-year-old, who pretended to be a social worker helping families with funeral costs, was arrested on 26 February 2023 and appeared in the Tembisa Magistrates Court on Friday, 19 May.
It's reported that this was her third time appearing in court and she still hasn't applied for bail.
Her arrest came after she allegedly robbed of several grieving families around Ekurhuleni. Now Tembisa cops are asking families who have been robbed by the woman to come forward.
It's alleged that her modus operandi was that she'd ask to go with the families to the shops, and that's when she would strike.
In 2021, a grieving Etwatwa family also fell victim after being robbed of R15 000 that was meant to cover the costs of the burial.
This after she allegedly went with the family to the supermarket in Mayfield, Daveyton, and made them fill up the two trolleys.
But just as they were waiting in the queue to pay, she tricked them into handing over their cellphones. Without noticing, the woman disappeared with the cellphones and transferred R15 000 from the cellphone banking app.
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The family said the woman was very strategic.
"She requested an Uber to take me, my sister's daughter Palesa (20) and cousin to Shoprite Mayfield in Daveyton to buy groceries," said relative Mathilda Tshabalala.
She said they were excited, not knowing they were dealing with a tsotsi.
Mathilda said they filled two trolleys with groceries, and the woman creatively managed to convince Palesa to hand over her two cellphones while she collected a third trolley.
She then disappeared with two Samsung cellphones worth R6 000 and transferred R15 000 from a banking app on one of the phones.
"We looked for her in the whole shop, but she was nowhere to be found. The phones were gone. We were left with two trolleys full of groceries, and we were so embarrassed and hurt," she said.
She said when they tried to withdraw money to pay for the groceries, R15 000 was gone. Police spokeswoman Sergeant Patricia Mgijima said the funeral scammer took R8 000 from the grieving family in Tembisa in the guise that she would get a cheaper cow from the farms, but she disappeared with the money.
Sergeant Rider Ubisi from the Putfontein Police Station confirmed that a case of fraud was opened with them, but she was never caught at the time.
The woman has been remanded in custody and will appear in court again on 2 June 2023.
