Italian police on Wednesday
arrested six people in Palermo on charges of filing bogus life
insurance claims after falsifying documents to show that
claimants were dead, when they were not.
"The gang faked the false and premature deaths of the claimants
to stage this massive fraud," police said.
The six allegedly recruited people willing to be declared dead,
and split the proceed s of the insurance policies among
themselves, police said.
Police said the person chosen as a "fake dead person" contracted
one or more life assurance policies, paying a few monthly
installments to the insurance company.
The beneficiary of the policy then produced counterfeit
documents attesting to the death of the claimant, and pocketed
the payout, police said.
Police said they had uncovered at least 20 episodes of fraud
amounting to a total of five million euros.
Those arrested have been charged with fraud and falsely claiming
the death of persons.
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED © Copyright ANSA
