Daijiworld Media Network - Vietnam
Vietnam, Dec 24: In a startling case of deception, a Vietnamese woman who was officially declared dead five years ago has been arrested after resurfacing, exposing a carefully planned insurance fraud worth over VND 1.2 billion (approximately Rs 40 lakh).
The case came to light on December 17 when a woman identifying herself as Nguyen Thi Thu approached the Quang Trung Ward People’s Committee seeking cancellation of her death registration. Officials were shocked to discover that a person with the same name and address had been legally declared dead in June 2020. Subsequent verification confirmed that the applicant was indeed the same woman, prompting an investigation by the Thanh Hoa Provincial Police.
Police said Thu, born in 1984, had divorced her husband in 2017 and was living with her mother, Tran Thi Thap. During this period, she frequently travelled for work and purchased four life insurance policies from Prudential Life Insurance Company Limited and Phu Hung Life Insurance JSC.
Investigations revealed that in 2020, after being diagnosed with cancer and facing family disputes, Thu allegedly devised a plan to fake her death to claim insurance payouts and start a new life. Though her mother initially opposed the idea, she later agreed after Thu threatened self-harm, police said.
On June 7, 2020, Thu reportedly consumed sleeping pills and staged a fatal accident in her bathroom to make it appear as a sudden death. A funeral was hastily arranged to avoid suspicion, with only Thu, her mother and a local shaman aware of the truth. The shaman later died in 2022. That same night, Thu quietly fled and eventually settled in Dong Nai Province, living under the radar while remaining legally dead.
The following day, Thap registered her daughter’s death and filed insurance claims. Police found documents confirming payouts of more than VND 682 million from Prudential and over VND 600 million from Phu Hung. As Thu had no valid identity documents, the money was routed through relatives, including her younger sister, and later used for property purchases and investments.
During interrogation, Thu reportedly confessed, stating she abandoned suicidal thoughts after learning that suicide would void insurance claims. “I faked my death so I could get the money and disappear,” she told investigators.
Thanh Hoa police have placed both Thu and her mother under temporary detention and booked them on charges of insurance fraud under Vietnamese law.