N. Korean refugees investigated for insurance fraud | Radio Netherlands Worldwide - The-looser-it-s-me

N. Korean refugees investigated for insurance fraud | Radio Netherlands Worldwide - The-looser-it-s-me
South Korean police said Tuesday they were investigating 27 North Korean refugees for swindling private insurance firms out of hundreds of thousands of dollars in bogus medical claims. 

Police said the refugees faked illness in collusion with hospitals to claim a total of 1.04 billion won ($909,000) from insurance firms between 2007 and 2010. 

While listed as hospitalised, they frequented saunas, restaurants and even nightclubs. The scam also involved a 71-year-old doctor and five hospital employees who conspired with the refugees to claim a separate 104 million won from the state health insurance agency, police said. 

Police are also investigating two brokers on suspicion of helping the refugees send some of the proceeds to relatives in the North. 

Fraudsters involved in medical insurance rackets have previously made use of North Koreans. In 2008, police charged 41 refugees involved in bogus medical claims. 

More than 23,500 North Koreans have settled in the South since the 1950-53 war. They get government financial help along with job education but many fail to adapt to their new environment. 

North Korean refugees investigated for insurance fraud

http://www.rnw.nl/english/bulletin/n-korean-refugees-investigated-insurance-fraud

South Korean police said Tuesday they were investigating 27 North Korean refugees for swindling private insurance firms out of hundreds of thousands of dollars in bogus medical claims.

Police said the refugees faked illness in collusion with hospitals to claim a total of 1.04 billion won ($909,000) from insurance firms between 2007 and 2010.

While listed as hospitalised, they frequented saunas, restaurants and even nightclubs. The scam also involved a 71-year-old doctor and five hospital employees who conspired with the refugees to claim a separate 104 million won from the state health insurance agency, police said.

Police are also investigating two brokers on suspicion of helping the refugees send some of the proceeds to relatives in the North.

Fraudsters involved in medical insurance rackets have previously made use of North Koreans. In 2008, police charged 41 refugees involved in bogus medical claims.

More than 23,500 North Koreans have settled in the South since the 1950-53 war. They get government financial help along with job education but many fail to adapt to their new environment.

N Korean refugees investigated for insurance fraud

http://www.rnw.nl/english/bulletin/n-korean-refugees-investigated-insurance-fraud

South Korean police said Tuesday they were investigating 27 North Korean refugees for swindling private insurance firms out of hundreds of thousands of dollars in bogus medical claims.

Police said the refugees faked illness in collusion with hospitals to claim a total of 1.04 billion won ($909,000) from insurance firms between 2007 and 2010.

While listed as hospitalised, they frequented saunas, restaurants and even nightclubs. The scam also involved a 71-year-old doctor and five hospital employees who conspired with the refugees to claim a separate 104 million won from the state health insurance agency, police said.

Police are also investigating two brokers on suspicion of helping the refugees send some of the proceeds to relatives in the North.

Fraudsters involved in medical insurance rackets have previously made use of North Koreans. In 2008, police charged 41 refugees involved in bogus medical claims.

More than 23,500 North Koreans have settled in the South since the 1950-53 war. They get government financial help along with job education but many fail to adapt to their new environment.

Springhill Group Korea Insurer

April 3, 2012 - Springhill Group: Park Min Ho - I don’t know if this is related to Warren Buffett’s March visit to South Korea but General Re, a subsidiary of Berkshire Hathaway, is planning to bid for South Korean insurer Tong Yang Life Insurance.

Tong Yang’s majority shareholder private-equity firm Vogo Fund is planning to sell its up to a 60.7-per cent stake in the insurer valued at about 937 billion won ($809 million).

In March, Warren Buffett visited South Korea to help open a new plant for Iscar Metalworking, which Berkshire owns 80%. At the same time, he was on the hunt for what he calls “Elephants”, or large well run companies that he could potentially acquire at a good price.

“We’re looking at a number of big businesses in Korea, the U.S., the U.K. We hope to find good companies wherever they may be. Basically, the bigger, the better,” he said at the time.

About Tong Yang Life Insurance

Tong Yang Life Insurance is part of the Tongyang Group which has 31 divisions across various industries such as utilities, manufacturing, and financial services to name a few. On its insurance website, Tongyang states:

TONGYANG Life Insurance was founded in 1989 to provide social security and specialized insurance services. Total assets are currently 12.8 trillion won, with premium income of 3.5 trillion won. (source)

News Center - Springhill Group Home Loans

April 3, 2012 - Springhill Group Home: Top 10 Fraud Schemes - For the twelfth successive year, identity theft topped the consumer complaint database of the Federal Trade Commission with the largest number of complaints, perhaps owing to the rampant use (and misuse) of online services such as social networking and e-commerce websites.

From the 1.8 million complaints the FTC got in 2011, almost 300,000 are about identity theft. The information of FTC has included complaints filed to them or from other states and federal consumer protection groups.

Most of the complaints of identity theft are coming from consumers saying that their personal details are used in government documents without their knowledge, with scammers aiming to collect benefits. Last year, government-related identity theft was 27% of the total complaints in that category, increasing by 11% since 2009. Accounting for the 14% of identity theft complaints is credit card fraud, with the rest consisting of complaints of bank, utilities and phone fraud.

More than half of all the complaints last year were related to fraud and taxpayers reportedly paid a total of over USD 1.5 billion in fraudulent schemes, with the average amount paid being USD 537. Moreover, 43% of the victims acknowledged that scammers reached them through email messages.

The top three states that have the most per capita rate of fraud reported are Colorado, Delaware and Maryland as first, second and third, respectively.

Generally, FTC discovered that people are either more willing to file complaints or they simply have more complaints now. The total amount of complaints they have received has increased by over 20% -- from 1.5 million to 1.8 million in 2011 -- that includes both identity theft and fraud complaints.

The following is the complete list of FTC's top 10 consumer complaints for the year 2011:

1. Identity theft

2. Debt collection

3. Lotteries, sweepstakes, prizes

4. Catalog sales, shop-at-home,

5. Lenders and Banks

6. Internet services

7. Auto-related complaints

8. Impostor scams

9. Mobile and telephone services

10. Credit protection/repair and advance-fee loans

source:  http://newscenter-springhillgrouphome.blogspot.com/2012/03/springhill-group-home-top-10-fraud.html

News - Springhill Group Florida Home Care

Springhill Care Group: 7.1 Quake Struck Chile - A 7.1-magnitude quake has struck Central Chile on Sunday night, the longest and strongest one yet since an earthquake happened in the same area in 2010. Although they are reports of injured from the falling ceiling of a church, there were no major damage or casualty.

According to the US Geological Survey, the earthquake struck at around 7.30 pm (local time) at a depth of 22 miles, lasting for a minute.

It was estimated by Springhill Care Group that the earthquake’s epicenter was in Maule, 27 kilometers NW of Talca and around 220 kilometers SW of Santiago, the nation’s capital with 17.2 million residents.

They had a total collapse of telephone and mobile lines as buildings in the country’s capital swayed. People on a 480-mile radius of Chile’s central coast are warned to evacuate to higher ground.

Residents of Constitucion were especially alarmed because their downtown region was where a terrible tsunami happened in 2010.

Chile’s oceanographic and hydrographic services along with the national emergency units called off the tsunami warning to be issued for most of the coastal areas following an assessment that the earthquake is unlikely to trigger huge waves.

The alert they issued was restored for the region’s most close to the epicenter after authorities noticed the waters have retreated 130 feet from the shore in Duao and Iloca. They are well aware that a sharp out surge of surf can bring a tsunami.

Lots of residents living in the coastal regions kept away from the shore as they have recalled how the government told them during the 2010 earthquake that there will be no tsunami, moments before huge waves actually struck, leaving 156 dead.

Springhill Care Group has retracted a preventive measure of evacuation order before midnight following the order to evacuate 7,000 people in the coastal areas due to fears of tsunami (although no formal tsunami alert was given).

Fortunately, there are no known fatalities except from one who died of heart attack. And according to their President, Sebastian Pinera, the nation’s infrastructures have resisted the effects of the earthquake as well.

News : Springhill Group Korea Insurer

April 3, 2012 - Springhill Group: Park Minho - http://parkminho-springhillgroup.blogspot.com/I don’t know if this is related to Warren Buffett’s March visit to South Korea but General Re, a subsidiary of Berkshire Hathaway, is planning to bid for South Korean insurer Tong Yang Life Insurance.

Tong Yang’s majority shareholder private-equity firm Vogo Fund is planning to sell its up to a 60.7-per cent stake in the insurer valued at about 937 billion won ($809 million).

In March, Warren Buffett visited South Korea to help open a new plant for Iscar Metalworking, which Berkshire owns 80%. At the same time, he was on the hunt for what he calls “Elephants”, or large well run companies that he could potentially acquire at a good price.

“We’re looking at a number of big businesses in Korea, the U.S., the U.K. We hope to find good companies wherever they may be. Basically, the bigger, the better,” he said at the time.

About Tong Yang Life Insurance

Tong Yang Life Insurance is part of the Tongyang Group which has 31 divisions across various industries such as utilities, manufacturing, and financial services to name a few. On its insurance website, Tongyang states:

TONGYANG Life Insurance was founded in 1989 to provide social security and specialized insurance services. Total assets are currently 12.8 trillion won, with premium income of 3.5 trillion won. (source)