A Man with Minor Injuries Hospitalized for Two Days... Fined After Claiming Insurance Money

Chuncheon District Court Sentences Fine of 2.5 Million Won

A man in his 30s, who was hospitalized and received treatment for a minor accident that could have been treated on an outpatient basis, ultimately became a criminal after collecting millions of won in insurance money.

On the 21st, Yonhap News reported that Judge Shin Dong-il of the Chuncheon District Court Criminal Division 1 sentenced A (39) to a fine of 2.5 million won for violating the Special Act on the Prevention of Insurance Fraud.

On May 24, A was involved in an accident in Chuncheon while riding an electric scooter and collided with a Sorento passenger car. Although it was a minor accident, he was hospitalized for two days and was summarily indicted on charges of collecting about 3 million won in medical expenses and compensation for injury.

(This photo is not directly related to the article.) [Photo source=Pixabay]

A is also known to have had similar accidents in the past. The indictment included the fact that on April 28, he was hospitalized for five days using the same method and collected about 4.8 million won in insurance money. Regarding this, A received a summary fine order. He appealed and requested a formal trial.

The court considered "the fact that after the summary order, the victim reached a settlement and does not wish to press charges, and that there is no prior criminal record exceeding a fine," and partially reduced the fine amount set in the summary order.

Meanwhile, recently, those who exaggerated symptoms to get hospitalized and collect insurance money have received prison sentences. B, a man in his 40s who was diagnosed by a doctor with back pain in 2015 and hospitalized for 56 days, was sentenced to prison in May. It was reported that he traveled abroad before and after hospitalization and went out daily and drank alcohol even during hospitalization.

At that time, B’s side argued that since he was hospitalized based on a doctor’s diagnosis, it was not a "fake hospitalization," but the court sentenced B to six months in prison, stating that "it appears he was able to walk and perform daily activities."