Mother of cancer-stricken girl jailed for insurance fraud

Her daughter, who needed treatment for leukaemia, used a friend's health policy to avoid hospital fees

The mother of a leukaemia patient has been sentenced to a month in jail for fraudulently claiming Dh188,000 for her daughter’s treatment.

Dubai Criminal Court heard how the woman, 28, used a friend’s health insurance policy to pay for three months of medical care.

Her sick daughter was first diagnosed with the potentially life-threatening cancer in April last year.

By July, health insurance officials became suspicious of possible identity fraud and alerted the hospital.

“We notified the health authority and they summoned the housewife and her friend for questioning,” a company spokesman said.

Police called in to investigate the complaint discovered the mother had used her friend’s daughter’s health insurance ID to avoid paying the hospital fees.

The shocked friend denied any knowledge of the fraud and testified against the mother and her daughter in court.

“When the fees reached Dh188,000, the insurance company contacted me about it,” the friend said.

“I was astonished to realise she [my friend] used my daughter’s health insurance to get treatment for her own daughter.”

At a court hearing in January this year, prosecutors revealed the sick daughter had only been visiting the UAE temporarily and did not have her own health insurance.

Both her mother and her mother's friend were convicted of fraud and sentenced to one month in prison, to be followed by deportation.