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Two Taiwanese men in their 20s have been charged with fraud after one allegedly told the other to freeze his legs to the point he’d require amputation, according to PEOPLE.
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The end goal reportedly was a $1.3-million insurance payout.
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Prosecutors reported that one of the suspects, known only as Zhang, put his feet in a bucket of dry ice for around 10 hours in the house of the second suspect, known only as Liao. Zhang suffered frostbite and required both legs to be amputated below the calf.
Taiwan News said Liao had allegedly told Zhang that he was being pursued by gang members and persuaded him to file a false insurance claim.
Prosecutors said in a release, shared by the Taiwan Criminal Investigation Bureau on March 14, that Liao had cryptocurrency losses and allegedly tricked Zhang into signing a promissory note to pay him nearly $800,000.
The news outlet reported staff at a local hospital were told Zhang suffered frostbite while riding a motorcycle with Liao around Taipei on Jan. 26, 2023.
Prosecutors alleged the jig was up as staff believed Zhang’s injuries were self-inflicted because while his feet had frostbite, there were “no socks or shoe marks’’ and that the injuries were “neat and symmetrical.”
Hospital staff reported the case to local authorities.
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