Deliberate Amputation of 8 Toes for Insurance Money... Indebted Taiwanese Veterinarian 'Caught'

Taiwanese Veterinarian Buried in 3.3 Billion Won Debt Due to Investment Failure
Attending Doctor "Requested Further Amputation"

A veterinarian in Taiwan was caught by the police after deliberately damaging eight of his toes to claim insurance money worth approximately 1.5 billion KRW.

On the 18th, Taiwanese media including United Daily News reported that the criminal investigation unit of the Taipei City Police in the northern region arrested and sent to prosecution a man in his 40s, veterinarian Yang Mo, on suspicion of fraud for cutting off eight of his toes, disguising it as a motorcycle accident.

[Image source=Pixabay]

According to the report, on August 16, 2021, Yang had an accident where he fell off a motorcycle on the street. Immediately after the accident, Yang rented a nearby warehouse about 20 meters from the accident site and used fentanyl anesthetic pain patches to induce comminuted fractures on both feet by himself.

Yang was then transported to a hospital, where he underwent three surgeries over 47 days due to toe necrosis and lost eight toes. The doctor in charge testified, "He was a unique patient compared to others," adding, "Instead of reacting with pain during surgery, he requested more amputations."

Mr. Yang receiving treatment from a 119 ambulance after falling off a motorcycle [Image source=Taiwan United Daily News·Yonhap News]

Yang received insurance money amounting to 8.5 million New Taiwan Dollars (approximately 300 million KRW) from this incident. Later, when he tried to claim additional insurance money, other insurance companies suspected fraud and reported him, leading to his arrest. The total insurance contracts he had amounted to 37.23 million New Taiwan Dollars (approximately 1.54 billion KRW) across four companies.

Police investigations revealed that Yang was a veterinarian with a master's degree from a well-known veterinary science program in Taiwan. He had established a company but incurred debts of about 80 million New Taiwan Dollars (approximately 3.3 billion KRW) due to failed investments. Although he repaid some of it, he continued to suffer from debts of around 50 million New Taiwan Dollars (approximately 2 billion KRW), which led him to commit this crime.

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