Civil Lawsuit Filed Over Insurance Payment in '9.5 Billion Won Insurance' Wife Death Case

Wife's Death Insurance Claim Lawsuit
25 Policies with 11 Insurers
"Strong Suspicion of Insurance Fraud... Will Leave Legal Judgment to Court"

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Oh Hyung-gil] The issue of whether to pay the 9.5 billion KRW insurance payout related to the Cambodian wife’s traffic accident death case, which sparked insurance fraud controversy, is expected to be resolved through a civil lawsuit. Although the court applied a charge of involuntary manslaughter instead of murder, insurance companies that had refused to pay the insurance money are now inevitably facing fierce legal battles with the defendant.

According to the insurance industry on the 13th, the defendant husband, Mr. Lee (50), after marrying in 2008, insured his Cambodian wife, Mrs. Lee (deceased in 2014), as the insured party, and himself and his heirs as beneficiaries, subscribing to 25 insurance policies with 11 insurance companies until June 2014. Samsung Life Insurance holds the largest amount at 3.2 billion KRW, followed by Mirae Asset Life Insurance with 2.9 billion KRW, and Hanwha Life Insurance with 1.4 billion KRW, totaling 9.5 billion KRW. Including delayed interest payments, the amount is estimated to exceed 10 billion KRW.

Mr. Lee filed a lawsuit against some insurance companies in 2016 after being acquitted in the first trial, claiming the insurance money. This lawsuit had been suspended pending the criminal trial results.

A representative of one life insurance company that Mr. Lee subscribed to said, "Although we have not yet received the verdict, the legal team is thoroughly reviewing the related details before making a decision," adding, "Considering the scale and timing of the insurance subscriptions, there are many indications of insurance fraud, so we are strongly considering leaving the matter to legal judgment."

The insurance industry’s view is that even if Mr. Lee’s acquittal on the murder charge is confirmed, the issue of insurance payment is a separate matter. Looking at the 2012 ‘Ui-ja-mae Poisonous Plant Assisted Suicide Case,’ the defendant Mr. Oh was charged with insurance fraud and assisting suicide after insuring his sister-in-law Mrs. Jang with a large-value whole life insurance policy three weeks before her death, but was acquitted in 2014 by the Seoul High Court.

However, the civil court (Seoul High Court) ‘presumed’ that Mr. Oh had the intent to fraudulently obtain the insurance money and invalidated the whole life insurance contract Mrs. Jang had signed three weeks before her death.

In Mr. Lee’s case, the insurance industry judges that the civil court may invalidate the insurance contracts considering the timing of the insurance subscriptions and Mr. Lee’s financial circumstances. It is expected to take a considerable amount of time before the insurance payout is made, as the civil lawsuit is likely to proceed to the Supreme Court.

A representative of a non-life insurance company said, "Since the Supreme Court has reached a conclusion on the criminal case, we expect lawsuits regarding insurance payments to continue and are discussing response measures," adding, "Depending on whether Mr. Lee files lawsuits against all insurance companies, the litigation could expand, so we will continue to monitor the situation and conduct legal reviews."