Police bust flight delay insurance scammers
Twenty-seven suspects have been apprehended for alleged fraud involving flight delay insurance, Shanghai police said on Friday.
Police started their investigation in November when they found that insurers based in Shanghai experienced claim rates on flight delay policies that exceeded the industry average.
“Facing this problem, some companies removed certain insurance products, raised premiums or lowered claim payouts, which hurt other customers,” said Yang Zhan, the officer in charge of the case.
Four criminal groups, based in Shanghai and other cities, were found to be defrauding insurers by fabricating flight delays.
The suspects allegedly recruited travelers by promising free flight tickets and hotels. They also created fake delay documentation from airliners using forged seals after the flights were delayed.
“They purchased delay insurance for the same flights from different insurance companies, and since a customer who suffers a flight delay can only make one claim, they used fake documents to lay claims on multiple insurance payments,” Yang explained.
Yang said the major suspects in the case had worked as air ticket agents and were familiar with the operation of airports. They allegedly learned which flights would be delayed in advance “through illegal channels.”
Police said the suspects have been running the scheme for years and raked in over 20 million yuan (US$2.8 million).
The suspects were rounded up on May 12.
