There was no tomb. The death certificate was forged.
And with that, Singaporean Abraham Rock's alleged attempt to scam insurers out of more than $3.7 million by declaring his mother dead was exposed.
Rock declared that his mother, Talat Farman, died in a traffic accident in Pakistan on July 5 last year and, two weeks later on July 18, tried to claim from the insurance policies taken out with Great Eastern Life Assurance, MSIG Insurance and AXA Insurance.
He submitted a police report, a medical report and a death certificate. But the insurance firms smelled a rat and conducted investigations in Pakistan, sources told The Straits Times. There, they could not find Farman's tomb at the cemetery. And Rock's supporting documents were found to be fake.
Yesterday, Farman - very much alive and wearing a mask - and her son appeared in court.
Rock, 35, whose Facebook account states that he is an automotive consultant at Pitstop Expat Services, faces 11 charges, including engaging in a conspiracy to commit cheating, giving false information, making a false statutory declaration and providing false evidence.
Farman, 53, who came from Pakistan but has since obtained Singapore citizenship, faces five charges, including engaging in a conspiracy to cheat.
Rock did get two payouts - $49,000 from insurer NTUC Income Insurance Co-operative under its Dependants' Protection Scheme and $80,331.23 disbursed from Farman's Central Provident Fund account.
His mother was residing in Pakistan when he received the monies.
But other insurers got suspicious after they detected irregularities in the documents, and probed further.
Rock had submitted claims for two travel policies, including a $1 million claim from MSIG, and two personal accident claims and two claims under different life insurance policies with Great Eastern.
On Nov 13 last year, AXA made a police report after he tried to claim $508,000 under a travel policy with the insurer.
One week after the police report was made, officers from the Commercial Affairs Department arrested Rock.
The Straits Times understands that Farman, who was in Pakistan, was subsequently arrested when she returned to Singapore this year.
The pair are represented by lawyer Ravinderpal Singh, and their case will be mentioned again on May 10.
The maximum penalty for conspiracy to commit cheating is a jail term of 10 years, and offenders are also liable to a fine. If convicted of making a false statutory declaration, both mother and son can be jailed up to seven years and will also be liable to a fine.
Anyone convicted of giving false information faces a jail term of up to one year, a fine of up to $5,000, or both.
