The woman was found to have purchased five different policies ahead of the incident.
A woman who cut off her hand with a circular saw in January is now being accused of insurance policy fraud. Though it initially appeared to be a terrible accident, the Slovenian woman may actually have attempted to defraud several insurers.defau
Police and prosecutors are attempting to determine if the event was a bad accident or flawed crime.
The 21-year old woman was accused of insurance policy fraud in Slovenia when it was found that she had recently purchased five policies for herself. That said, both she and her family insist that the incident was an accident. She had been using the saw to cut branches off a tree when she slipped and cut off her own hand.
Investigators in the Slovenian capital of Ljubljana have officially accused the woman of defrauding her insurance companies while police and prosecutors examine the case. Those accusing the woman have pointed out that the woman had arranged the purchase of her policies for substantial payouts when compared to very limited monthly premiums payments.
Until officials determine whether it was a case of insurance policy fraud, no payments are being made.
The woman’s five policies were taken out only months before the injury occurred. She had made only two to three monthly premiums payments on each by the time of the incident. Overall, the payments for her injury would have included an initial payout of $430,000 as well as monthly payments of $3,388 for the following decade. After that point, smaller monthly payments would continue.
That said, until it is determined whether or not this is a case of fraud, her insurance companies are withholding payments.
The woman is currently unemployed without an income source. She is facing between 1 and 8 years in prison, as is a 29 year-old relative, if they are convicted of defrauding insurance companies. Both the woman and the relative are currently being detained. The woman and her hand are recovering well from the incident, said an ABC news report.
“With one of her accomplices, she intentionally amputated her left hand, hoping to stage it as an accident,” said Valter Zrinski, spokesperson for the Ljubljana police. The alleged insurance policy fraud was first detected through routine system checks, explained Zrinski, who said these verifications lead investigators to make about 100 insurance fraud arrests every year.