Kathmandu. An astonishing incident has come to light in Vietnam. A woman was declared legally dead 5 years ago. But now she has been found alive. The case has also exposed a major insurance fraud scam. That’s a fraud of about 1.2 billion Vietnamese (local currency).
Authorities in Vietnam’s Thanh Hoa province said the incident came to light on December 17 when a woman named Nguyen Thi Thu approached the Quang Truong Ward People’s Committee to cancel her death registration. In June 2020, authorities were surprised to learn that the woman, who had the same name and address, was legally pronounced dead.
Police investigation found that the applicant was the same woman whose death was registered 5 years ago. The case was later transferred to the provincial police. The investigation revealed that Thu had purchased 4 life insurance policies while living with her mother after divorcing her husband. In 2020, amid illness and family tensions, she planned to fake her death to get insurance money.
On June 7, 2020, Thu took sleeping pills and fell in the bathroom, injuring her. His family and local authorities were later informed of his death in the same accident and a hasty cremation was performed. Only Thu, his mother and a tantric knew the truth of the plot. That night, Thu quietly left home and went to another province. Where she was still working when she was legally ‘dead’.
The next day, his mother officially registered Thu’s death and filed a claim with the insurance companies. The investigation revealed that the combined total from the two insurance companies was more than Vietnamese dong. This money was used to buy and invest property.
Five years later, when Thu tried to erase the record of his death, the whole thing came to light. During interrogation, she confessed that she had deliberately faked her death to obtain insurance money. Police have now taken both Thu and his mother into custody and are investigating charges of insurance fraud.
