Japanese Couple Busted For Insurance Fraud In NZ

[Mulboyne]

Otago Daily Times: Tourists try 'stupid' fraud
Two Japanese tourists who admitted making a false complaint to the Queenstown police on September 10, in hopes they could lodge an insurance claim to pay for their trip, each have a week to complete 50 hours of community work. In the Queenstown District Court yesterday, Judge Kevin Phillips told Maskai Kitae (23) and Tomoyo Okamoto (23) they could "be carrying around a big plaque saying `I'm a thief' walking around the streets of Queenstown picking up rubbish" for the next week, or spend seven days in prison for their offending. Senior Constable Chris Blackford said Kitae and Okamoto entered the Queenstown Police Station at a similar time on October 10, each making almost identical statements. Kitae told Constable Daniel Andrew he had a bag stolen from Earnslaw Park which contained his wallet and $150 cash, a digital camera and a laptop. He was asked repeatedly if it was a legitimate complaint and eventually admitted it was not. "He thought he could make an insurance claim to pay for his trip. "She had a similar story." The pair are scheduled to leave the resort next Tuesday. Judge Phillips asked the pair, through an interpreter, if they were told in Japan before they left they could make this type of claim. "I have had similar cases of this kind in Queenstown before. "It seems very odd to me that two people could go to the police station and make identical complaints about theft of each person's bag at the same time, containing the same gear, and in reality your claim had no hope of success at all. The sheer stupidity of it, for you to come to our country and try to commit this type of fraud, brings great shame upon both of you." Judge Phillips told the pair their passports would be held until they had each completed their 50 hours of community work "and then you can leave the country and you won't be entitled to return".

A couple of British law graduates tried the same stunt in Brazil recently with similar consequences. Masaki Kitae is the name of a snowboarder with a minor internet profile but there's no way of knowing if it is the same man.

[kurohinge1]

I wonder how much crime statistics would drop in tourist destinations if travel insurance disappeared overnight.

The following article is from the UK but I think we all know that it happens all over the world, perpetrated by all nationalities. Having said that, it's possibly best to note the last point (10) first:

. . . Here are ten facts everyone should be aware of when claiming insurance.

1) The problem of travel insurance fraud is huge in the UK - 750,000 Britons make false claims on their travel insurance by either falsifying losses or exaggerating how much they have lost.

2) Travel insurance fraud is so common that records from insurers show that Britons lose more Louis Vuitton luggage abroad than is ever actually sold in the UK! However, as a result of this kind of discovery, many insurers are now tightening up their fraud detection methods.

3) Many travellers exaggerate or falsify their claims - as many as five per cent of claimants add extra items to their reported losses as a way of getting a higher insurance payout and 11 per cent confess to increasing the value of their claim.

4) Many fraudulent claims involve falsified or doctored receipts, which are normally required by insurers as proof of the value of medical costs or lost or stolen goods.

5) The problem of travel insurance fraud affects all travel insurance policyholders, because the extra costs incurred in paying out on false claims results in higher premiums on otherwise cheap policies to cover those costs.

6) For those that are caught making a false claim, the punishment can be severe. Not only will they lose the money they have claimed for, they could also face further financial penalties for their actions.

7) Eighteen to 29 year-olds are by far the worst offenders, with 33 per cent admitting to lying when claiming on their travel insurance, compared with just seven per cent of over 50s.

8 ) Eighteen per cent of those who commit travel insurance fraud justify their behaviour by saying they are owed the money because they have not claimed before.

9) Ten per cent of those who commit insurance fraud take the attitude that it's okay, because everyone does it.

10) The majority of claims are genuine. . . more

[D chama]

Dummies could have just told the airline that they lost their luggage after having one another pick up their bags and taking them elsewhere.