News

Man Soaks His Legs in Dry Ice for 10 Hours As Bait for Insurance

Published

8 months ago

March 21, 2024

A couple of Taiwanese university students are being accused of faking frostbite injuries that eventually warranted a double amputation to defraud insurance companies.

Taiwan’s Criminal Investigation Bureau has accused a university student surnamed Chang of conspiring with a former high-school colleague named Liao to orchestrate a bizarre insurance fraud in January of last year. Evidence presented to prosecutors shows that in early January of last year, Chang took out policies covering disabilities, injuries, health, and travel safety from at least five insurers. On the night of January 26, both Chang and Liao rode their motorcycles through Taipei, to make it seem like one of them suffered frostbite because of the cold weather. In reality, the frostbite was self-inflicted and caused by a bucket of dry ice.

Chang and Liao hoped to pocket around 41 million TWD ($1.29 million) from the insurance policies they had taken out, but in order to do that, one of them had to make a very tough choice. After discussing the best course of action, Chang agreed to give up both his legs for a slightly bigger piece of the pie (25 million TWD). He had to soak his feet in a bucket of dry ice for more than 10 hours and agreed to be tied to a chair by Liao, to ensure that he put up with the grueling pain.

On January 28, after 10 hours of soaking his legs in dry ice, Chang had to be hospitalized and because doctors could no longer save his lower limbs, he suffered a double below-the-knee amputation. He filed insurance claims almost immediately after being discharged and he actually got paid 230,000 TWD ($7240) by one insurer, but the rest decided to investigate the case.

The unusual number of insurance policies taken out in such a short period of time and the circumstances of Chang’s frostbite injuries were considered suspicious by insurance companies, some of which reported the case to the local authorities. During the investigation that followed, prosecutors found that Chang had unusually symmetrical injuries that lacked an imprint from his shoes or socks.

While checking the weather on January 26, the night that the frostbite injuries allegedly occurred, temperatures ranged from 6 degrees Celsius to 17 degrees Celsius, for from cold enough to cause frostbite. While checking the two young men’s homes, authorities found insurance documents, medical records, as well as a styrofoam box in which dry ice had been stored.

Prosecutors claim that Liao was facing serious financial problems due to losing his money on the cryptocurrency market and managed to convince Chang to go along with his plan and get a huge payout. On March 14 both men were charged with fraud, but Liao was also charged for causing his friend’s serious physical injuries.

This case once again proves that some people will do anything for money. Just a few weeks ago, we posted about a paraplegic man who paid someone to cuto off his legs and make it look like an accident for insurance fraud purposes, but there was also the case of a Slovakian woman who allegedly cut off her own hand for an insurance payout, as well as the Vietnamese woman who paid someone to cut off her hand and foot to claim an insurance payout.

News

Nigerian government secures €300m development finance deal with France

Published

57 minutes ago

November 30, 2024

Kayode Sanni-Arewa

The Nigerian government has announced that it has secured a €300 million worth of development financing partnership with the French government.

Nigeria’s Ministry of Finance disclosed in a statement on Friday through its official X account.

According to the statement, the Minister of Finance, Wale Edun, led the Nigerian government to the partnership with the French government.

The ministry noted that the partnership will strengthen key sectors of Nigeria’s economy and drive sustainable development, including healthcare, transportation, agricultural value chains, and renewable energy.

“The Letter of Intent [was] co-signed by Mr. Edun and France’s Minister of Economy, Finance, and Industry, Mr. Antoine Armand.”

In Edun’s remarks, he said: “This partnership goes beyond financial support. It is about building robust, sustainable systems that foster development and empower Nigerians. It reflects the confidence of international partners in the progress of Nigeria’s economic reforms.”

President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and his wife, Remi, are in France for an official state visit.

News

P’Harcourt refinery halts operations, loading bay empty

Published

1 hour ago

November 30, 2024

Kayode Sanni-Arewa

The fanfare that greeted the resumption of activities at the Port Harcourt Refining Company on Tuesday may have melted away leaving the hope and expectations of many Nigerians hanging.

A visit by Saturday PUNCH to the refinery on Friday revealed that there was no activity on site, as some workers met by our correspondent claimed that the refinery was undergoing calibration which might last till next week.

The Port Harcourt Refinery has faced numerous delays and missed deadlines to resume operations.

However, the Group Chief Executive Officer of the Nigeria National Petroleum Company Limited, Melee Kyari, inaugurated the new plant at the Area 5 terminal of the refinery on Tuesday. It was claimed that 200 petrol trucks were loading daily from the plant.

However, the announcement was met with skepticism as reports circulated that the trucks were loaded with old products in the storage tanks.

Upon visiting the Port Harcourt Refinery Area 5, our correspondent observed no signs of activity.

An official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, revealed that the loaded trucks contained “dead stock”.

He said, “Before the refinery was shut down between 2015/2016, we had dead stock left in the tank, including some Premium Motor Spirit (petrol) DPK (kerosene), and Automated Gas Oil (diesel).

“So, these products were in large quantities in stores in those tanks. During the rehabilitation of the Port Harcourt Refinery, Old Area 5, those products were evacuated from the tanks for storage.”

However, he noted that the large quantity of refined petrol was “off-spec,” requiring separation from water to obtain the main product in preferred colours.

“But for DPK, it is in large quantity but they have not pushed it from the tank where it was kept after refined ready for commercial purposes.

“So, the product that was loaded was dead stock, that is the old product that was in the system. So, after these dead stocks, they will have to clean the tank, remove all the debris before pumping the new project into that tank, and redye it,” the source said.

The worker highlighted that refineries worldwide should operate electronically, not manually.

“But what they are trying to do at the Port Harcourt Refinery is manual, which cannot match the new digital pumps. Most of the pumps used for the event were refurbished,” he added.

He explained that during Kyari’s visit on Tuesday, seven trucks were prepared for loading, but only five were filled with petrol.

The Chairman of the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria, Taken Ikpaki, while speaking to journalists during the inauguration of the facility on Tuesday, had expressed optimism.

He stated that more trucks were expected to come into the facility to load products in the coming days.

But rather than more trucks coming into the refinery, the number of trucks has dwindled.

Around 1.30pm when our correspondent visited, he observed that most workers and drivers appeared idle as no machinery was operational.

Nine trucks were seen parked, but the loading bay, numbered from one to 18, was empty and deserted, with some workers lying down.

When asked about the lack of loading activity, a worker in overalls said, “They are de-watering, removing the water under the PMS. Maybe there will be loading after that, but we don’t know what time today.”

Another worker at the loading bay mentioned that ongoing calibration was the reason for the delay.

“They are calibrating the meters,” he said tersely.

Findings by Saturday PUNCH showed that the PMS left in the storage might not be enough to fill five trucks.

A source indicated that calibration would continue until Monday, with the loading of DPK (kerosene) and AGO (diesel) expected to start by then.

Speaking to our correspondent, a resident of Alode in Eleme Local Government Area of Rivers State, who simply identified himself as Osaro, said, “After that ceremony with Mele Kyari where they said the refinery had started operation and loading was taking place, what happened afterwards? They continued loading on air, that is on the pages of newspapers and social media.”

When contacted for his reaction on the lack of activities on Friday, the National Public Relations Officer of the Petroleum Product Retail Outlet Owners Association of Nigeria, Dr Joseph Obelle, said it was as a result of ongoing calibration.

Obelle, the PETROAN spokesman, said, “They are calibrating the loading pumps. They will be done today.”

Meanwhile, it was gathered that the Senate Committee on Petroleum visited the refinery on Thursday on a facility tour. The outcome of the visit had yet to be made public.

Calls and text messages to the spokesperson for the NNPC, Olufemi Soneye, were not replied as of the time of filing this report.

But the NNPC had in a statement denied claims by an Alesa community leader, Timothy Mgbere, that the Port Harcourt refinery was not producing fuel.

Soneye accused Mgbere of crass ignorance of how a refinery runs.

He said, “The old and new Port Harcourt refineries have since been integrated with one single terminal for product load-out. They share common utilities like power and storage tanks. This means that storage tanks and loading gantry which he claimed belongs to the new Port-Harcourt Refinery can also receive products from the Old Port Harcourt Refinery.”

He called on the public to disregard claims borne out of “sheer mischief and blatant display of ignorance.”

Credit: PUNCH