A woman in China who faked multiple miscarriages to claim maternity insurance worth US$9,300 has been handed a suspended jail term. - Photo: SCMP composite/Shutterstock/Sina
SHANGHAI (SCMP): A woman from Shanghai faked miscarriages and forged medical papers to claim 66,200 yuan (US$9,300) in maternity insurance money has attracted widespread attention online.
Maternity indemnity is a key part of China’s social insurance system.
Funded by employers, it covers medical expenses related to pregnancy and childbirth, while also providing financial support to women during maternity leave.
The woman, 42, surnamed Xie, works for a foreign company in Shanghai.
Shanghai TV reported that she earns a monthly salary of more than 30,000 yuan (US$4,200), and studied telecommunications and computer science at university.
While on maternity leave last December, Xie remembered successfully claiming insurance after a miscarriage two years earlier, which inspired her to begin faking.
She used computer software to create false medical documents, including a maternity certificate and a discharge summary, claiming she had miscarried in hospital.
Shanghai Prosecutor Gong Xiaoting said China’s online insurance application system, designed for convenience, can be illegally exploited by criminals using photo-editing technology.
The judge suspended Xie’s jail term because she confessed to her crimes. - Photo: Weixin via SCMP
Xie twice submitted online insurance claims with forged medical papers, receiving a total of 66,200 yuan in maternity benefits.
After each claim, she destroyed the related paper documents and computer records.
Earlier this year, she attempted to use the same method again, fabricating another miscarriage report to apply for over 40,000 yuan (US$5,600) maternity insurance money, but the claim was rejected.
In February, she applied again, this time it was legitimate, following the hospital birth of her only child.
However, during a document review, officials discovered that she had filed five maternity insurance claims in four years, noticing several suspicious similarities in the documents. They reported the case to the police.
Later, Xie turned herself in and returned the fraudulently obtained money in full.
Xie used computer software to create bogus documents, then destroyed her handiwork. - Photo: Weixin via SCMP
She said: “As an older pregnant woman with poor health, I worried about medical costs. In desperation, I impulsively faked miscarriages to get the insurance money.
“I have already resigned from my job and I deeply regret what I have done.”
On August 16, the court found Xie guilty of fraud and gave her a one -and-a-half-year suspended jail term due to her voluntary confession.
Judge Wang Xinyuan said her actions not only violated her company’s property rights but also posed a serious threat to the social insurance systems.
Xie’s story quickly made headlines on mainland social media.
One online observer wrote on WeChat: “For about 60,000 yuan, she has ruined her life and her children’s future.”
“Xie’s monthly salary of 30,000 yuan is not low in China, yet she still resorted to fraud. It seems greed knows no bounds,” said another. - South China Morning Post
