Mom Fraudulently Claims $40, 000 in Insurance Benefits by Starving and Hospitalizing 8-YO Daughter

A woman was arrested in Osaka, Japan after she allegedly starved her 8-year-old to hospitalize her, in an effort to fraudulently claim insurance payments. The girl's mother allegedly told her daughter not to eat and also fed her laxatives. As a result, the daughter started developing ketotic hypoglycemia and had to be hospitalized, per the New York Post.

Kasumi Nawata, the woman, even told the school that her daughter suffered from an intractable disease and needed to be hospitalized frequently to have tests done, as per Yahoo News Japan. However, upon contacting the medical bodies, the police found no evidence of the daughter being diagnosed with such a disease, as per FOX Business.

Nawata fraudulently obtained $40,000 in insurance benefits

According to the Japan Times, the investigators suspect that the mother regularly starved her daughter, hospitalizing her 43 times for a total of 332 days which helped her get $40,000 in insurance benefits from the three medical institutions. The prefectural police had previously arrested Nawata thrice on charges of causing her daughter to have hypoglycemia and also forcing her to take laxatives and causing physical harm to her. As per the local outlets, Nawata would often scream, "Don't Eat! Just go to sleep!"

Legal actions against Nawata

While the incident at the hospital is what led to Nawata's final arrest, it was an incident in October that caused her initial arrest. An informant told the police that she was reportedly not giving her daughter any food and that the current hospitalization was the cause of malnutrition. Kazuhisa Takahashi, deputy director and manager of the Office for Children and Families feels that the agency's response was very "appropriate."

Viktoriya Shirota, who served as director of NPO Michel Club says that the authorities acted "slowly and inappropriately." She said that the officials in this department need to be trained and that legislation needs to be changed. "Japan does not have joint custody and has a strict policy over family units, so it’s quite difficult to take a child away from an abusive parent, especially if it’s a single-mother case." Newata's daughter was placed under the care of child protective services where the authorities will make sure that she gets adequate nutrition and will monitor her health closely.

Consequences of insurance fraud

Insurance fraud can often lead to criminal charges and penalties, like fines, prison time, or sometimes both. The severity of the fraud dictates the repercussions. In America, the penalty can vary from state to state. For example, in Pennsylvania, insurance fraud is considered a felony, per the Pennsylvania Insurance Department. The crime can be punishable by up to seven years in prison and also $15‚000 in fines.

It is important to note that in almost all states, this kind of fraud is considered either a misdemeanor or a felony. Although many insurance fraud crimes are addressed by state laws, the cases can sometimes also be prosecuted at the federal level. The penalties often are pretty severe when prosecuted at the federal level, and hence, it is important to get in touch with a federal criminal lawyer as soon as somebody is been investigated for an insurance fraud case.

How are insurance frauds detected?

There are several bodies established in states that detect and fight fraud such as these. They also have special investigation units and investigators whose job is to detect and investigate these activities and then take appropriate actions. These units also work closely with the FBI and National Insurance Crime Bureau NICB which help them to pinpoint the crimes. As per the FBI, this industry comprises almost 7,000 companies in America that collect more than $1 trillion in insurance premiums each year and hence, keeping an eye on such frauds is an essential task, as per ScrofanoLaw.