"They said a heater fell over..." An insurance fraud scenario scripted in a hospital room [Filing False Claims]

[The Financial News] It happened in an instant.
The man suddenly flew into a rage and sprang to his feet. He strode about ten paces away, grabbed a container of gasoline, then ran back to where he had been sitting and doused another man he had been with for several hours.
A, who was suddenly soaked in gasoline, was bewildered. He could not grasp what was happening. In a matter of moments, his body was engulfed in flames.This was because B, who had poured the gasoline, took a lighter out of his pocket and lit it.

C, who was there with them,witnessed all of this unfold. There was no time to stop it.
The three of them had been holed up for hours that day in a shipping container in Goheung County, South Jeolla Province, gambling on a traditional yut game. B had been losing heavily that day, and the cash he had on hand was almost gone.
Thinking it was his last chance, he bet a large sum on the final round, but that money also ended up in A’s hands. B lost control. He could not restrain himself and ultimately committed attempted murder. Fortunately,C helped, and the flames did not grow too intense, so the fire could be put out relatively quickly.
Even so,A suffered second-degree burns to his torso, and nearly 30% of the surface of his body was scorched. He ultimately had to be hospitalized for treatment.
B then devised a plan to disguise the incident as an insurance accident and collect insurance money. He told C he would pay him 200,000 won per day if he would look after A in the hospital. After C had stayed in the hospital room for several days, B visited and made an additional proposal.
He asked C to testify that he had accidentally knocked over a heater toward A, causing A’s body to catch fire. B promised that if they collected the insurance money, he would pay the caregiving fees he had promised. C should have refused at that point, but he agreed.
In the end, B filed a false accident report, and the insurance company requested an investigation by a loss adjuster.At that time, C stated that the heater had fallen over by accident and that, by bad luck, fuel flowed toward A and ignited. He wrote the accident report in that way and submitted it.
The insurer paid 8 million won in personal liability benefits under a driver’s insurance policy.

Although he knew the whole truth, C deceived the insurer and was eventually brought to trial for violating the Special Act on Prevention of Insurance Fraud.
The court stated, "Acting in concert with B, you reported an insurance accident with facts that did not match reality and thereby defrauded the insurer of insurance money," and pointed out, "Insurance fraud not only worsens the management of insurance companies, but also leads to higher premiums, harming the many honest policyholders and undermining the social function of insurance."
However, the court added, "It is taken into account as a favorable circumstance that C did not play a leading role, and that he followed B’s request to obtain caregiving fees he had been promised but had not received, on the understanding that he would be paid if the insurance money was collected."
He wassentenced to one year in prison, suspended for two years.

taeil0808@fnnews.com Kim Tae-il Reporter