Mother who defrauded insurance firm to secure cancer treatment for daughter spared jail

Woman used identity cards belonging to a friend's daughter to obtain nearly Dh200,000 of medical care

A mother who used documentation belonging to a friend's child to fund her own daughter's cancer treatment has been spared jail.

The Nepalese national, 28, avoided paying Dh188,000 of medical fees, including two months of chemotherapy, by duping hospital staff.

She presented Emirates ID and a health insurance card in the name of the daughter of an Indian friend, 34.

The woman had first taken her daughter to a hospital in Dubai in April of last year after she fell ill.

Her crimes were brought to light in July, 2018, when the insurance company involved alerted the hospital to a suspected identity fraud.

“We notified the health authority, who summoned the housewife and her friend for questioning,” said a hospital official.

During police questioning, the Indian woman said she had only been made aware her daughter's documentation had been misused when she was contacted by her insurance company.

“I was astonished to find she had used my daughter’s health insurance to get treatment for her own daughter,” she said.

Her friend, however, insisted during questioning that she was complicit in the act.

Both women were sentenced to one month in prison at Dubai Criminal Court earlier this year.

The Nepalese woman subsequently launched an appeal against her jail term.

Dubai Court of Appeal agreed to suspend her sentence at a hearing on Tuesday.

The woman will be deported from the country.