The Heist Issue
Gangs Are Fake-Killing People in India for Insurance Payouts
A wave of fraudulent claims swept through the rural villages of India’s northeast. Police crackdowns and Covid seemed to snuff them out—for a while, anyway.
Amina Parbin was alone, sweeping the floor of her parents’ home, when a man arrived on a January day in 2017 with a file in his hands. He introduced himself as a life insurance investigator and began pulling out papers. A payout claim. A passport photo. A death certificate—her death certificate. “Did you know Amina?” he asked.
“I am Amina,” she responded, and “I am, in fact, alive.”