Hiannick Kamba was reportedly announced dead after a car crash in the Democratic Republic of Congo in 2016, but now he has been found alive as reported by German newspaper Bild, which revealed that Kamba has been working at a German energy company.
The former soccer player, now 33, was previously a promising candidate for Bundesliga side FC Schalke 04.
Upon the discovery, Kamba told the newspaper that he had actually been taken advantage of by his peers. According to Kamba, his "companions had left him during the night while on a trip to the interior of the Congo in January 2016 and they took his papers, money, and telephone."
He was then approached by a German embassy in the Congolese capital of Kinshasa back in 2018 to prove that he was still alive, however, losing his identification pressurized the process to have a longer duration than anticipated.
As a result, Kamba's former wife is being probed for insurance fraud as following the ex-German Schalke player's presumed death, the wife was able to fabricate documents confirming his death. She procured a low 7-figure (in euros) insurance policy with the death of Kamba.
The 39-year-old woman provided a death certificate for him and declared a funeral for the former soccer star before. It remains unclear how Kamba's ex-partner produced the documents.
On his staged death, German prosecutor Anette Milk stated, "Mr. Kamba has recently returned to Germany. There are no reasonable doubts about his identity."
Kamba has been working at his old job as a chemical technician at the energy supply company in the aftermath of the accident. His "death" is now believed to have been part of an elaborate scheme of insurance fraud.
Milk added that "an investigation into fraud is underway at the Essen public prosecutor's office against his wife. She denies the charge."
The Congolese soccer player was described as an energetic person who always puts his teammates first before himself.
The former soccer pro in 2018 had reportedly visited the German embassy in Kinshasa, Congo, and expressed his longing to return to the country.
Neither Kamba nor his former wife has been accused of a crime. It was not made clear if investigators assume that he had any involvement in the alleged scheme. People said the former couple has a child 10 years of age together.
Kamba is slated to be a witness during the probing of his former wife, claiming that he was unaware of her actions.
Milk said the proceedings remain ongoing.
The ex-defender played for the VfB Hüls at the point when news of the car accident surfaced.
The parents of Kamba actually fled from Congo to Germany in 1986, but were reportedly deported in 2005. Kamba did not accompany them due to the situation that he was offered a contract by the soccer club Schalke.
At the time of his faked death, Kamba had moved around German soccer's bottom tier.
