Agnes Setshwantsho, who is allegedly charged with murder and insurance fraud, has been denied bail by the Molopo Magistrate’s Court in North West.
Police have revealed that the 39-year-old’s case has been postponed to March 28 for further investigation.
The court found that she had failed to demonstrate any unique circumstances that justified her release on bail.
The accused is charged with murder, fraud, and undermining the ends of justice.
SAPS claimed that on November 16, an intelligence operation resulted in the arrest of the accused on suspicion of murdering her relatives to benefit from insurance claims.
During a capture operation carried out by the SAPS in collaboration with an insurance business, the suspect was found and taken into custody in Centurion.
The police also stated that after receiving a tip from the suspect’s family, Sergeant Keshi Mabunda and a group of investigators had been working on the case for the previous two months. The team was able to connect its most recent suspect to the team’s primary focus of the case through analysis and evidence gathering, which included the exhumation of two bodies.
A police report reveals that the murder that was initially ruled a “natural death” happened in Mmabatho, in the North West, where a female relative died under mysterious circumstances in March 2023.
According to investigations, the suspect obtained insurance on her relative’s behalf through deception before she was killed. Additional investigations are being carried out by the police, and more charges may be brought against the defendant.
The National Police Commissioner, General Fannie Masemola, and the Director of Public Prosecutions in the North West, applauded the court’s decision to refuse the accused’s request for release.
“We are confident that the prosecution and investigating team led by Adv Dalton Tshinyani and Sergeant Mabunda is hard at work to ensure that we build a watertight case that will secure the conviction of the accused. We cannot rule out the possibility of adding more charges as investigations are continuing.
“We owe it to the victims to secure a lengthy conviction. This case should form a deterrent and a lesson to those who are involved in policy fraud, in that they will be caught and made to account for crimes that they may have committed.”
It is further reported that the accused will be in police custody until the case is over.
The Star
anita.nkonki@inl.co.za