Pension fund under fire after fake girlfriend claims portion in R2 million death benefit

A pension fund has faced scrutiny for mishandling a claim by a woman who falsely presented herself as the deceased's live-in girlfriend, resulting in a portion of the R2 million death benefit being allocated to her. The woman later confessed to the Pension Funds Adjudicator that she had never met the deceased or been in a relationship with him, and had merely been persuaded by a friend to submit a fraudulent claim for personal gain.

The Becsa Provident Fund had initially made incorrect payments from the deceased's benefit, only rectifying the error after beneficiaries questioned the payments. The dispute arose after the fund distributed 30% of the benefit to each of the deceased's parents, 10% to the girlfriend, and the balance to the other beneficiaries. However, when the payments were made, each family member received over R512,300, while the girlfriend was allocated R181,300.

The family disputed the payments, arguing that after SARS deductions, over R1.9 million remained available for distribution, which would equate to over R649,300 for each of the three family beneficiaries. The fund's failure to properly investigate the girlfriend's claim, which was based solely on affidavits without verification, led to the Pension Funds Adjudicator overturning the fund's decision and ordering a fresh investigation into the distribution of the death benefit.