An international scam in which proprietors allegedly organized tour packages for Taiwanese women to give birth in the US before helping their clients defraud the government and insurance companies out of tens of millions of New Taiwan dollars is being investigated, law enforcement officials said yesterday.
The Criminal Investigation Bureau said it has questioned three suspects and received testimonies and depositions from 34 women who allegedly participated in the scam.
It is estimated that the proprietors and participants in the scheme have made more than NT$30 million (US$916,702) over the past few years, with each Taiwanese woman receiving a NT$400,000 to NT$1.5 million insurance payout after filing fraudulent claims with the National Health Insurance Administration (NHIA) and other private insurance companies, bureau spokesman Chang Yue-han (張躍翰) said.
In the past two years there have been about 1,000 Taiwanese women who have claimed a payment from the NHIA for a childbirth in a foreign country, Chang said, adding that about 80 percent of those claimants gave birth in the US.
At least 180 of those women have come under investigation, Chang said, adding that they bought health insurance policies from various providers before heading to the US to give birth.
He said that women who have been investigated allegedly filed insurance claims with the NHIA and other private insurance companies to cover expenses incurred for caesarean section deliveries and placenta previa — a condition in which the placenta partially or wholly blocks the neck of the uterus during childbirth.
CIB officials said they are seeking to bring charges for fraud, forgery and other offenses.
The three women who were detained for questioning yesterday — Liu Chao-hsun (柳昭薰), operator of “Liuliu Service,” Yen Yu-chen (顏玉貞), proprietor of “Chiao Mommy,” and Liang Shu-jung (梁淑嫆), a former insurance agent who allegedly helped participants file for claims — are the suspected masterminds of the operation.
Liu and Yen operated their businesses online, selling “medical tour packages” to the US.
Investigators said Liu and Yen allegedly offered their packages — priced at between NT$400,000 and NT$1 million — with collaborating Chinese or Taiwanese obstetricians and doctors working in US hospitals and private clinics.
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