A Taiwan man, surnamed Zhang, has caused a massive stir on the internet after it came to light that he had tried to defraud 5 insurance companies by soaking his feet in dry ice for 10 hours. However, his plan completely backfired as both his legs had to be amputated and he got sentenced to prison.
An undergraduate student at Taipei, Zhang had brought various insurance policies between 2005 and January 2023 from five different companies, covering eight types of insurance, including health, life, accident, long-term care, and travel insurance.
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In 2023, he decided to claim all the payouts and thus conspired with his school friend Liao to devise a plan to cheat the companies. Going according to their plan, they bought dry ice and came back to Liao’s home at Taipei’s Zhongshan District, as reported by South China Morning Post.
Then Zhang dipped both his legs into a bucket filled with the dry ice and as Liao tied him to the chair so that he could not remove his legs even if the pain became unbearable. Zhang continued soaking his feet in the dry ice for almost 10 hours and everything was recorded on Liao’s phone.
Two days after the incident, Zhang sought medical attention at Mackay Memorial Hospital, where he was diagnosed with severe frostbite below both calves, as well as bone necrosis, sepsis, and rhabdomyolysis, South China Morning Post reported.
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Both of his legs had to be amputated because of the fourth degree frost bites. However, this did not stop the duo from going ahead with their plan as they falsely claimed to the insurance companies that Zhang had lost his legs as the result of a late night bike accident as his feet had felt suddenly cold while riding the bike, resulting in frostbites.
As reported by South China Morning Post “They submitted claims under eight policies across five insurance companies, seeking a total of NT$41.26 million (US$1.4 million). While one company paid out NT$236,427, the remaining four detected discrepancies and denied the claims.”
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Eventually, all the five insurance companies got suspicious and went to the police, which led to these two getting busted on fraud and aiding intentional self-harm resulting in serious injury. The Taiwan High Court sentenced Zhang to 2 years in prison on June 20 and Liao, identified as the mastermind, was given a sentence of 6 years. The court decided that the whole plan was orchestrated by Liao and Zhang had to ensure the physical pain and injuries, none of which affected Liao.
Social media users have expressed their shock at the incident, with one person commenting, “This is completely driven by greed.” Another one added, “A total loss. No money and no feet. He’ll spend the rest of his life in a wheelchair, all because of a ridiculous idea.”
