Yakuza Insurance Fraud for Yubitsume
Japan has a great national medical insurance system. Everyone living in Japan has medical insurance. Last year, Masahiro Nouchi went to a Tokyo medical facility and told staff that he had an accident that resulted in the severance of his little finger. The medical staff fixed him up and Japan’s national health insurance paid 40,000 yen of his medical expenses. A month later he needed follow up treatment in his hometown of Gifu City and insurance saved him another 5,000 yen.
It was good while it lasted, but now 58 year old Mr. Nouchi has been arrested on medical fraud charges for lying about how the finger was severed. If the finger was lost due to an accident, medical insurance would cover it. Medical insurance does not cover self inflicted finger severing, so claiming it was an accident and accepting insurance benefits for it is illegal.
An investigation into the medical claims revealed Mr. Nouchi belonged to Japan’s largest yakuza organization, the Rokudaime Yamaguchi-gumi. If you know anything about the yakuza (Japanese mafia), you may have heard that when a member screws up majorly, the punishment is yubitsume, or cutting off a portion of the little finger. Gifu Prefectural Police say that this is the first time that yubitsume related insurance fraud has led to an arrest. I guess there is a first time for everything.
5 comments:
This is just really interesting. Boy -- it says something about the efficiency of the Japanese system that they could suss this guy out!
Wow I wonder how they knew the difference - maybe they knew who he associated with .
Yubitsume is a well-known trademark of the mafia, as are their manners, tattooed bodies, and foul mouths. The hospital staff must have guessed what his profession was.
Had it been another finger... it might well have been past as an accidental loss.
It seems like there are a lot of rules in the Yakuza world that we don't understand.
I love all the subtle little ways how Japanese laws act against those involved in organized crime!
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