Entered the hearse, took out the deceased's hand, and pressed his fingerprint
Stated, "I was worried I wouldn't get my money back"
Taiwanese court hands down suspended sentence
A woman in her 50s in Taiwan was arrested in the act after attempting to take fingerprints from a deceased man’s body to forge loan documents. It was revealed that she visited a funeral home and pressed the deceased’s fingerprints onto a fake promissory note.
On October 16 (local time), the South China Morning Post (SCMP) reported that a 59-year-old woman surnamed Lee was caught at a funeral home in Hsinchu, northwestern Taiwan, trying to forge a fake promissory note and collateral documents using the fingerprints of a deceased man.
According to the report, Lee had previously been involved in a financial dispute with an acquaintance surnamed Feng. Upon hearing that Feng had died on February 21, she headed to the funeral home just a few hours later. She arrived with forged promissory notes and collateral documents worth 8.5 million New Taiwan dollars (approximately 393.8 million won), claiming she wanted to pay her respects to the deceased as she approached the staff.
Once inside the hearse where the body was kept, Lee opened the bag containing Feng’s body, took out his hand, inked his finger, and pressed his fingerprint onto the documents.
However, a suspicious funeral home employee notified the bereaved family, who immediately reported the incident to the police.
The police, upon arrival, arrested Lee at the scene and confiscated the forged collateral documents, bank checks, and ink pad. During questioning, Lee stated that she created the fake documents because she was worried she would not be able to recover money she had lent to Feng.
Investigations revealed that she had forged a land collateral contract dated May 23, 2010, and a promissory note for 8.5 million New Taiwan dollars under Feng’s name.
The court sentenced Lee to two years in prison, suspended for five years, on charges of forging negotiable instruments. She was also fined 50,000 New Taiwan dollars (about 2.32 million won) and ordered to complete 90 hours of community service at a public institution or welfare facility. The court took into consideration the fact that Lee admitted to the crime and that the forged checks had not actually been processed.
A funeral home employee expressed shock, saying, “In 20 years of working here, I have never seen anything like this.”
This incident has attracted significant attention in Taiwan. Some online users criticized it as “an act blinded by money,” while others commented, “The sentence is too light. It is an act of desecrating a corpse.”
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