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Journalism of Courage
In a bizarre and shocking incident, a Taiwanese man had undergone double amputation by deliberately freezing his legs with dry ice for ten hours to defraud five insurance companies, according to a report by the South China Morning Post. The man, identified as Zhang, has now been sentenced to two years in prison by the Taiwan High Court.
According to SCMP, Zhang, an undergraduate in Taipei, had purchased multiple policies between 2003 and 2023, from five insurance providers, covering health, life, accident, long-term care, and travel.
Zhang conspired to get insurance payouts with his former secondary school classmate, Liao, in 2023.
According to SCMP, the two friends bought dry ice in New Taipei City and returned to Liao’s house in Taipei’s Zhongshan District on January 26, 2023.
In Liao’s residence, Zhang placed his bare feet in a bucket filled with dry ice. Liao tied him to a chair with plastic straps to prevent Zhang from pulling his legs from the bucket if the process became unbearable.
Zhang kept his feet in the bucket from 2 AM until noon. Liao documented the whole process with photos and videos.
Two days later, Zhang sought medical treatment at the emergency room of Mackay Memorial Hospital. There, he was diagnosed with severe frostbite below both calves, as well as bone necrosis, sepsis, and rhabdomyolysis.
The fourth-degree frostbite led to the amputation of both of his legs.
For the insurance payout, the pair falsely claimed Zhang suffered severe frostbite because he was driving his motorcycle late at night.
They submitted the insurance claim asking for NT$41.26 million (Rs 12.08 crore, approximately). One company did pay a small amount of NT$236,427 (Rs 6,10,000, approximately). The remaining companies detected inconsistencies and denied the claims.
Later, all five insurance companies reported the case to the police.
Authorities investigated and eventually charged both men with fraud and intentional self-harm, leading to serious injury. On June 20, the Taiwan High Court sentenced Zhang to two years in prison, while Liao, considered the mastermind, was sentenced to a six-year prison term.
