Police and Insurance Company Employees Awarded for Contributions to Eradicating Insurance Fraud

800 Doctors, Brokers, and Patients Involved in Insurance Fraud Arrested by Busan Police Special Investigation Team

The Life Insurance Association and the General Insurance Association have selected insurance company employees and police officers who discovered, analyzed insurance fraud, and apprehended related suspects as 'Contributors to Insurance Crime Prevention.'

On the 21st, the Life Insurance Association and the General Insurance Association announced that they held the '2023 Insurance Crime Prevention Contributors Awards Ceremony' for police investigators and SIUs (Special Investigation Units for insurance fraud) in the insurance industry at the Bankers Hall in Myeong-dong, Jung-gu, Seoul.

This awards ceremony is an annual event sponsored by the National Police Agency, the Financial Services Commission, and the Financial Supervisory Service, with participation from heads of related institutions such as the Korea Insurance Development Institute and executives from the insurance industry. Due to COVID-19, this was the first on-site awards ceremony held since 2019.

Through this ceremony, Kim Tae-young, a detective from the Violent Crime Investigation Unit of the Busan Police Agency, who apprehended (transferred) about 800 people including the head and doctors of an unlicensed plastic surgery insurance fraud hospital, a broker, and patients from a fake inpatient insurance fraud specialized office hospital, was promoted to superintendent.

Three individuals, including Woo Hee-jin, a superintendent of the Chungnam Police Agency who apprehended 342 patients who fraudulently claimed 2.3 billion KRW in insurance money over 8,000 times by issuing false medical expense receipts, received commendations from the Financial Services Commission chairman. Four others, including Lee Hee-chul, a detective from the Pohang Police Station in Gyeongbuk, received commendations from the National Police Agency commissioner. In total, 121 police officers and insurance industry SIU members were selected as contributors to insurance crime prevention.

At this contributors awards ceremony, the '2023 Insurance Fraud Prevention Best Practices Competition' was also held to discover and reward cases of insurance fraud investigations and preventive activities conducted by employees of insurance companies and loss adjustment firms.

The grand prize, the Financial Supervisory Service Commissioner’s Award, was given to Jung Ji-hyun, a professional from Samsung Life Insurance, who analyzed the characteristics and investigation process of broker-linked plastic surgery insurance fraud disguised as treatment purposes (false claims for salivary gland tumor removal after facelift surgery). Additionally, six recipients received the Life Insurance Association President’s Award, and three received the General Insurance Association President’s Award, totaling ten awardees.

Kim Cheol-joo, president of the Life Insurance Association, and Jung Ji-won, president of the General Insurance Association, emphasized, "As Korea’s insurance industry has grown to rank seventh in the world, insurance fraud has also increased," adding, "Close cooperation among investigative agencies, the insurance industry, related institutions, and government attention is especially necessary."

From the left, Kim Yong-jae, Standing Commissioner of the Financial Services Commission; Jung Ji-won, President of the General Insurance Association; Woo Jong-su, Head of the National Investigation Headquarters of the National Police Agency; Kim Cheol-ju, President of the Life Insurance Association; Kim Mi-young, Deputy Governor of the Financial Supervisory Service; Heo Chang-eon, President of the Insurance Development Institute; Ahn Cheol-gyeong, President of the Insurance Research Institute; Choi Yoo-sam, President of the Credit Information Service. (Photo by Life Insurance Association)