A FAMILY AFFAIR:Taipei prosecutors said a family of eight allegedly defrauded eight insurance companies for more than NT$55 million in payouts over 11 years

Taipei Times
Date: Feb 01, 2020
By: Chien Li-chung and Jake Chung  /  Staff reporter, with staff writer

The Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office on Thursday indicted a woman and seven of her family members for allegedly defrauding the National Health Insurance (NHI) system by pretending to have mental illnesses.

The amount of money the family is suspected to have defrauded insurance companies is the highest in the system’s history, the prosecutors’ office said, adding that it has suggested the court mete out severe punishment to deter similar behavior.

Prosecutor Huang Pei-yu (黃珮瑜) said she first learned of Chang Yu-chen (張玉真) and her family while attending an insurance seminar in 2018 and thereafter launched an investigation into the matter.

From 2008 to last year, the Chang family allegedly stayed at 11 hospitals and defrauded eight insurance companies by claiming they had symptoms including loss of sleep, hallucinatory hearing, and thoughts of suicide or murder, Huang said.    [FULL  STORY]