Woman fakes multiple miscarriages, forges documents to claim medical insurance

The woman faked miscarriages to defraud insurance companies. (Representational)

A woman from Shanghai has been convicted of fraud after faking multiple miscarriages and forging medical documents to claim over 66,000 yuan (Rs 7.78 lakh) in maternity insurance.

Surnamed Xie, the 42-year-old woman was an employee of a foreign company in Shanghai and earned a substantial monthly salary of over 30,000 yuan (Rs 3.5 lakh). Despite her comfortable earnings, Xie embarked on a fraudulent scheme after recalling a successful insurance claim following a miscarriage two years earlier. This recollection drove her to forge medical papers to falsely claim maternity benefits, starting in December of last year.

Using computer software, Xie created a series of fake documents, including a maternity certificate and a discharge summary, which she then submitted through China's online insurance application system. Shanghai TV reported that the system, designed for user convenience, has become a target for abuse by those with the technical know-how to manipulate digital documents.

Xie successfully submitted two fraudulent claims, receiving a total of 66,200 yuan in maternity benefits. Each time, she destroyed all physical and digital traces of her deception. Her fraud, however, began to unravel earlier this year when she attempted to file another false claim for over 40,000 yuan (US$5,600). The claim was rejected, and during a subsequent review, officials noticed inconsistencies across five insurance claims filed by Xie over the past four years.

This discovery led to an investigation, and in February, Xie voluntarily turned herself in, returning the fraudulently obtained money in full. She expressed remorse for her actions, saying, “As an older pregnant woman with poor health, I worried about medical costs. In desperation, I impulsively faked miscarriages to get the insurance money. I have already resigned from my job and I deeply regret what I have done.”

On August 16, the court found Xie guilty of fraud but handed down a relatively lenient sentence—a one-and-a-half-year suspended jail term—citing her voluntary confession as a mitigating factor.