A Man in His 60s Who Spent 4 of 8 Years in Hospital Ward Sentenced to Prison for Fraudulently Receiving 200 Million Won in Insurance Money

[Asia Economy Reporter Changhwan Lee] A man in his 60s who spent nearly half of eight years in hospitals and received over 200 million won in insurance payouts has been sentenced to prison for insurance fraud.

Judge Jang Taeyoung of Chuncheon District Court Criminal Division 1 sentenced the man, identified as A, to 1 year and 6 months in prison on the 22nd for violating the Special Act on the Prevention of Insurance Fraud.

A was prosecuted on charges of unnecessarily and falsely or excessively being hospitalized from February 2012 to June 2020, receiving a total of approximately 236 million won in insurance payouts from seven insurance companies.

He exploited the fact that insurance companies rely solely on medical certificates, hospitalization confirmations, and surgery confirmations to pay insurance money, receiving payouts after hospitalization despite being able to receive outpatient treatment.

A denied the charges, claiming, "I was hospitalized due to poor health caused by injuries and illnesses," but the court did not accept this.

The court found that A was hospitalized 56 times over more than 8 years, totaling 1,195 days (39%) out of 3,050 days, and that the duration and pattern were highly abnormal, while the severity of his illnesses and injuries was not considered serious.

Additionally, the court cited as grounds for guilt the timing when A intensively subscribed to insurance policies, his concentrated hospitalizations at specific hospitals resulting in large insurance payouts, and his hospitalizations that avoided exemption periods.

Furthermore, records showing that A visited billiard halls during hospitalization periods, ate less than three meals a day, and was caught for traffic violations such as running red lights and speeding in 2018 while hospitalized also supported the guilty verdict.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.