A 23-year-old man in China has been sentenced to death for murdering his mother in a staged road accident in order to claim her insurance money, the South China Morning Post (SCMP) reported. The verdict was delivered by the Taizhou Intermediate People’s Court in eastern Zhejiang province, though it was only recently made public.
The accused, surnamed Lu, conspired with two friends, Yang and Cheng, to carry out the crime. Lu instructed his mother, surnamed Xu, to stand by the side of a rural road, where she was struck by a car driven by the two accomplices.
All three were arrested after police discovered inconsistencies in their alibis. The court found Lu and Yang guilty and sentenced both to death. Cheng, who assisted in the scheme, received a seven-year prison sentence.
The motive behind the crime was insurance fraud. In April 2023, Xu had been injured in a road accident and received 320,000 yuan (approximately US$45,000) in insurance compensation. Lu and his friends spent the entire amount on luxury items, believing insurance payouts were “easy money.”
Prior to this, the trio had attempted other fraudulent schemes. Initially, they planned to injure Xu in the eyes to claim compensation for her injuries, but that plan failed. They also injured Lu’s father with a bamboo stick to claim a smaller insurance payout of 1,300 yuan (around $180).
Reports indicate that Yang had even suggested staging a car accident to kill Lu’s grandfather, but Lu refused as he was raised by his grandfather.
According to the police, Lu admitted: “Yang told me that if we kill my mother and receive the insurance compensation, my family’s life would improve a lot. So I agreed to kill my mother.”
The case has drawn attention to the increasing concern over insurance fraud in China and the extreme lengths some individuals may go to obtain payouts.