Former soccer player Hiannick Kamba was spotted alive this week in the city of Gelsenkirchen, western Germany, news outlets reported.
The 33-year-old ex-defender for the highly praised FC Schalke 04 in the German Bundesliga league was believed to have died following a car accident in his native Congo in January 2016.
German newspaper the Bild reported that he isn’t dead and is currently working at his old job as a chemical technician.
Kamba’s ex-wife is believed to have been part of a fraud scheme to claim life insurance money from the former soccer star, according to Anette Milk, a German prosecutor.
Milk told Bild Kamba’s ex-wife allegedly received “a low seven-digit amount” in euros and is currently being investigated for fraud.
In an emailed statement to the outlet, Milk said that Kamba claims he lost his identification documents, money, and phone while on a trip in Congo.
“His companions left him during the night while on a trip to the interior of the Congo… and they took his papers, money and telephone,” Milk said. The report didn’t include details on the “companions.”
Kamba previously tried to reclaim his identity in 2018 after heading to the German embassy in Congo, but the process was stalled when he faced trouble trying to reclaim his old life because he was without identification documents, The New York Post reported.
“Mr. Kamba has recently returned to Germany,” Milk added. “There are no reasonable doubts about his identity.”
Kamba said he was not aware of his ex-wife’s alleged actions and he will be “considered as a witness” in the trial against her.
The woman presented a death certificate and announced the funeral for her former-husband in 2016 after his presumed death in Congo. It’s unclear how his ex-wife came up with the documents.
Kamba’s ex-wife has denied the fraud charges against her and claims she only found out about the insurance after being informed of her former husband’s presumed death.
The woman has yet to officially be charged with a crime. Investigators are currently working to look into if Kamba was involved in the alleged scheme.
According to the New York Post, Kamba and the woman have a 10-year-old child together.
Kamba fled together with his parents from Congo to Germany in 1986, but his parents were deported in 2005. The former soccer star was able to stay in Germany and was granted residency rights because he was offered a contract by FC Schalke 04.