Alexandre Dalifard / Photo credit: TANG MAIKA / IMAGINECHINA / IMAGINECHINA VIA AFP
And you, what would you be willing to do for a loved one? In Taiwan, a 23-year-old young man, whose last name is Zhang, sacrificed his legs to help his friend, Liao, who was in debt after bad cryptocurrency investments. This strange stratagem, developed during a discussion between the two men, would have made it possible to bring in a large sum of money for those concerned. On the other hand, apart from the amputation of both legs of the 23-year-old student, everything did not go as planned.
According to a statement released by Taiwanese authorities on March 14, Zhang was arrested and charged with insurance fraud. The latter is accused of having put his feet in icy water in order to have his lower limbs amputated and thus receive a million euros from insurance. According to the local newspaper Taiwan News, the facts date back to January 2023 when the two men had this idea during a discussion. It was then that they developed this plan, allowing them to receive almost 1.2 million euros. The two young Taiwanese even signed a contract in which it was stated that the friend who had undergone surgery was to receive 720,000 euros.
Immerse your feet in ice for 10 hours
But then, how can you get such a sum by sacrificing your legs? To do this, Zhang first took out several insurance policies. Subsequently, on the night of January 26, a few weeks after signing these insurance contracts, the 23-year-old student plunged his feet into ice for ten hours while being tied to a chair by his accomplice. The goal was to seriously injure himself in the cold in order to have an amputation and receive insurance compensation.
How to explain this injury in the emergency room? After leaving his feet in ice for around ten hours, Zhang and his partner went themselves to the hospital in the capital, Taipei. On the spot, the two men invented a story that does not hold water. They mention a story of frostbite appearing after a scooter ride in cold weather. Despite everything, the doctors administered treatment to both of the young man’s legs but without result. It was then that they made the decision to amputate the lower limbs below the knees.
Deceptive temperatures
But this ruse did not go unnoticed by insurance companies. The latter, intrigued by the timing between the subscriptions and the affair, refused to pay the compensation to the young man and requested the opening of an investigation with the police. After that, the Taiwanese Central Bureau of Investigation took an interest in the student but especially in the weather records of the region in January 2023. Problem for Zhang, the authorities noted that the temperatures varied between 6 and 17 degrees during the events. . Weather conditions far too mild to cause such frostbite.
Furthermore, in a press release, the Taiwanese police specified that “the photographs of the medical examination” revealed clear demarcations without the slightest trace “of socks or shoes on the two frozen feet”. For the authorities, “the injuries were therefore self-inflicted”. As a result, contrary to the expected million euros, Zhang only received 6,700 euros in compensation from his “historic” insurance. Little price paid for two legs.