Human ingenuity and criminality have moved hand in hand through its infamous history. If we thought that thuggery has shifted to the cyber world, we were badly mistaken. The fascinating part of this case is the quality of investigation and that it comes out of Sambhal, which of late has been famous for the Hindu Muslim divide in the recent past. There have been a variety of frauds in different types of insurance and in a multitude of MOs, the playbook broadly known to professional investigators of this genre of white collar crime.
The headline proclaimed that the “Insurance mafia turned death into business.” It all started when on Jan 17 a SUV was intercepted with a large quantity of cash along with PAN cards, debit cards etc. it was Times of India which had exposed the reach, methods, and network of players involved in the multi-state racket. Taking this as a tip off, Sambhal police revealed the workings of a 26 member syndicate spanning over several states. Multiple arrests were made following the registration of multiple FIRs.
How did it all happen? The investigation very clearly reveals that the gang operated a very calculated and unethical model. The primary targets of this mafia were poor, terminally ill individuals who were falsely portrayed as healthy to insurance firms. As these individuals were close to their death, policies were taken in their names. In several cases, the fraudsters also managed to forge backdated policies for people who have already died. On completion of the processing of their application, they filed claims and distributed the money among themselves.
The policies in question as discussed above were used siphon money from leading insurance companies including ICICI Prudential, PNB MetLife, Bajaj Allianz and SBI Life Insurance. A 800 page charge sheet was filed on Thursday, and has brought out all the details meticulously from 17th Jan, when the SUV was intercepted. The scam spread across 12 states and has 11 named accused in the chargesheet. The investigation is still on, and there are many others on the run or under the radar, whose names would be included in the supplementary chargesheets. A commendable three months investigation in a massive insurance scam involving hundreds of crores.
WITH BARELY A FEW SCAMS CAUGHT BY FLUKE, THE ACTUAL QUANTUM OF THIS TRADE, IS DIFFICULT TO FATHOM OUT.
Sanjay Sahay
Have a nice evening.