Three months after a massive insurance scam involving hundreds of crores came to light in Uttar Pradesh’s Sambhal district, the police have filed an 800-page chargesheet against 11 accused from UP, Bihar and Jharkhand, ToI reported. The group, dubbed the “insurance mafia”, is alleged to have created fraudulent life insurance policies in the name of dying persons and even those who had already passed away. These policies were used to siphon off money from leading insurance companies, including ICICI Prudential, PNB MetLife, Bajaj Allianz and SBI Life Insurance.
The case was first reported by The Times of India, which exposed the reach, methods, and network of players involved in the multi-state racket. The investigation was led by Sambhal superintendent of police Krishna Kumar Vishnoi, assistant superintendent of police Anukriti Sharma, and circle officer Deepak Kumar. It was triggered by a tip-off which revealed the workings of a 26-member syndicate spanning several states. These individuals were arrested following the registration of multiple FIRs.
ASP Anukriti Sharma said on Friday, “The 800-page chargesheet, filed on Thursday, has every detail of the evidence collected from Jan 17 when an SUV was intercepted in Sambhal and unexplained cash in large quantity along with PAN cards, debit cards, etc, were found in it. That led to unearthing of the scam, spread across 12 states. As of now, we've named 11 accused, including Omkareshwar Mishra (Varanasi); Surajpal, Shahrukh Khan from Sambhal; and Shivendra Kumar from Bihar, in the chargesheet. Since it is an ongoing investigation, there are many others who are on the run or under the radar. Their names will be included in supplementary chargesheets.”
The gang operated using a calculated and unethical model. Their primary targets were poor, terminally-ill individuals who were falsely portrayed as healthy to insurance firms. Policies were secured in their names, and since these individuals were close to death, the gang paid the premium amounts themselves. Soon after the death of the insured, full claim amounts were received by the criminals, who then vanished.
In several cases, the criminals also managed to forge backdated policies for people who had already died. Once these were processed, they filed claims and distributed the money among themselves.
“In certain cases, they offered the deceased's family a small share of the claim money. In others, the family concerned was left completely unaware and uncompensated,” revealed ASP Sharma.
So far, 14 FIRs have been filed in different police stations in Sambhal and nearby districts such as Badaun, Moradabad and Amroha.
Police officials said the scam had operations in at least 12 states and the syndicate had adopted multiple fake identities and financial tools. The chargesheet also includes recovery details, call data records, forged policy documents and bank transactions.
Investigations are ongoing, and more names are likely to be added in upcoming supplementary chargesheets as police continue to track the remaining members of the syndicate.
(with ToI inputs)
The case was first reported by The Times of India, which exposed the reach, methods, and network of players involved in the multi-state racket. The investigation was led by Sambhal superintendent of police Krishna Kumar Vishnoi, assistant superintendent of police Anukriti Sharma, and circle officer Deepak Kumar. It was triggered by a tip-off which revealed the workings of a 26-member syndicate spanning several states. These individuals were arrested following the registration of multiple FIRs.
ASP Anukriti Sharma said on Friday, “The 800-page chargesheet, filed on Thursday, has every detail of the evidence collected from Jan 17 when an SUV was intercepted in Sambhal and unexplained cash in large quantity along with PAN cards, debit cards, etc, were found in it. That led to unearthing of the scam, spread across 12 states. As of now, we've named 11 accused, including Omkareshwar Mishra (Varanasi); Surajpal, Shahrukh Khan from Sambhal; and Shivendra Kumar from Bihar, in the chargesheet. Since it is an ongoing investigation, there are many others who are on the run or under the radar. Their names will be included in supplementary chargesheets.”
The gang operated using a calculated and unethical model. Their primary targets were poor, terminally-ill individuals who were falsely portrayed as healthy to insurance firms. Policies were secured in their names, and since these individuals were close to death, the gang paid the premium amounts themselves. Soon after the death of the insured, full claim amounts were received by the criminals, who then vanished.
In several cases, the criminals also managed to forge backdated policies for people who had already died. Once these were processed, they filed claims and distributed the money among themselves.
“In certain cases, they offered the deceased's family a small share of the claim money. In others, the family concerned was left completely unaware and uncompensated,” revealed ASP Sharma.
So far, 14 FIRs have been filed in different police stations in Sambhal and nearby districts such as Badaun, Moradabad and Amroha.
Police officials said the scam had operations in at least 12 states and the syndicate had adopted multiple fake identities and financial tools. The chargesheet also includes recovery details, call data records, forged policy documents and bank transactions.
Investigations are ongoing, and more names are likely to be added in upcoming supplementary chargesheets as police continue to track the remaining members of the syndicate.
(with ToI inputs)
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