Two Taiwanese men are facing criminal charges, after one of the men convinced the other to freeze his legs to the point of needing amputation surgery, in a botched attempt to collect a $1.3 million insurance payout.
According to the Taiwan Criminal Investigation Bureau on March 14th, the suspects, identified only as Zhang and Liao, both in their 20s, have been charged with fraud.
Prosecutors said, “Zhang immersed his feet in a bucket of dry ice for about 10 hours, which led him to having frostbite. He then went to the hospital and required both his legs to be amputated.”
“Liao told Zhang that gang members were after him and persuaded him to file a false insurance claim,” prosecutors added to their statement.
According to the release, which is translated from Mandarin, Zhang said he suffered frostbite while riding a motorcycle with his friend Liao around Taipei on Jan. 26, 2023.
Zhang then applied for life insurance, travel insurance and accident insurance in the days before the incident. The insurance policies totaled $1.3 million.
The two men then went back to Liao’s home where the foot soaking took place. After the foot soaking, Zhang was taken to a local hospital, where medical staff believed that his injuries were manufactured.
The medical staff said that while his feet had frostbite, there were no socks or shoe marks and that the injuries were neat and symmetrical.
Prosecutors added in the release that the temperature that day was between 42 to 60 degrees Fahrenheit, which is nowhere near the temperature (32 degrees Fahrenheit) that would cause frostbite.
“Taiwan is a subtropical region, and cases of severe frostbite requiring amputation due to natural climate factors in the flatlands are unheard of,” the release states.
While Zhang’s legs were amputated below the calf, the case was reported to local authorities.
During the investigation, authorities seized a dry ice white styrofoam box, a plastic bucket believed to have been used by Zhang, insurance documents, and electronic devices.
The pair were subsequently arrested on January 14th.
Investigators later learned, Liao suffered losses from trading cryptocurrency and tricked Zhang into signing a promissory note ordering him to pay nearly $800,000.
Zhang received one $7,200 insurance payout, but the money will be seized. The other claims filed following the incident were apparently canceled by the insurance providers due to the short time between getting the policies and filing them.
