[Asia Economy Reporter Oh Hyung-gil] Criminals who committed insurance fraud by exaggerating damages from traffic accidents and receiving excessive medical treatment are being consecutively sentenced to prison.
On the 19th, Ulsan District Court Criminal Division 6 Judge Hwang Bo-seung-hyeok sentenced A (46), who was tried on charges of fraud, to one year in prison.
On February 21, 2008, around 7 p.m., A was involved in an accident at the entrance of a market in Ulsan where a passenger car reversing to pass an oncoming vehicle collided with the front bumper of his own car.
A received outpatient treatment at an orthopedic clinic for 139 days due to this accident, causing the opposing driver's insurance company to pay 1.47 million KRW in medical expenses, and he received 1.72 million KRW as settlement money and car repair costs.
Using this method, A received approximately 25.5 million KRW over about 10 years from 9 traffic accidents under the names of medical expenses, settlement money, and repair costs since 2007.
In particular, he received treatment 689 times over 10 years at more than 10 hospitals and clinics. There were 114 days when he received overlapping treatment at two medical institutions in one day, and 13 and 6 days when he received treatment at three and four places respectively.
The court pointed out, "The defendant and his family claimed to have experienced eight rear-end collisions with the vehicle in front, but considering the abnormally frequent occurrence of the same type of accident and that most happened in congested traffic situations, there is suspicion that the defendant intentionally stopped close to the vehicle ahead to cause accidents."
The court continued, "Even in minor accidents where traces are hard to find on the car, the defendant received inpatient and outpatient treatment for 2 years, 3 years, and 6 months respectively, and after 5 months of treatment, when no agreement was reached with the insurance company, he stopped treatment and resumed it 2 years and 6 months later. These circumstances make it difficult to dismiss the possibility of long-term and excessive treatment," explaining the sentencing rationale.
Also, at the end of last year, an obstetrician who committed medical insurance fraud amounting to 700 million KRW was sentenced to prison.
Jeju District Court Criminal Division 2 Judge Lee Jang-wook sentenced B (49), an obstetrician in the province who was tried for violating the Special Act on Prevention of Insurance Fraud and the Medical Service Act, to 2 years in prison with 3 years probation.
From March 2017 to March 2018, B provided certain procedures free of charge to patients introduced by five intermediaries including B, then issued false receipts exceeding 10 million KRW per person, and later the patients fraudulently claimed insurance money from insurance companies.
It was revealed that he intercepted over 700 million KRW in insurance money through about 70 instances. A exploited the fact that the hospital could autonomously set prices for non-reimbursable treatments when the hospital was struggling financially to commit the crime.
The court stated, "The defendants’ crimes were audacious in method, and considering the profits gained and the scale of damage, the nature of the crime is very serious."
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