Five individuals, including an MCD agent and a technician from Delhi’s GB Pant Hospital, were arrested in connection with a sprawling ₹500 crore life insurance fraud. The scam, which spanned over seven years and at least 12 states, involved fabricating death certificates and medical records to claim insurance on bodies that were already deceased or never covered by policies.
Forged Deaths, Colluding Insiders
Police in Sambhal first uncovered the racket on January 17 when an intercepted vehicle revealed ₹11 lakh in cash, 19 debit cards, forged documents, and fake death certificates. The arrested accused—Prem Pal (MCD agent), Nawaz Ahmed (hospital technician), Kalpana Singh (bank employee), Ravinder Gupta (insurance inspector), and Virender Kumar (former guard)—played specific roles in arranging fraudulent claims.
In one case, the syndicate exploited the death of Trilok Kumar, who passed away from cancer in June 2024. They convinced his widow in September 2024 to permit three life insurance policies to be registered under her husband’s name. Later, they submitted counterfeit ECG reports and a doctored death certificate claiming he died of a heart attack in December, securing ₹70 lakh in payouts.
Prem Pal reportedly procured death certificates for ₹5,000. Nawaz Ahmed allegedly stole hospital records and crafted fake medical reports in exchange for ₹17,000. Ravinder Gupta, tasked with investigating one claim for HDFC Life, submitted a falsified report that triggered a ₹20 lakh payment, though the funds were blocked once detected.
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Wider Racket: Document Forgery & Possible Murders
Investigations suggest the group intensified operations around terminally ill patients, falsifying medical data and possibly staging accidents to claim insurance. The Delhi High Court has reportedly issued notices to the MCD and the Delhi government to explain the lax issuance of death certificates without proper verification.
The Enforcement Directorate is now examining whether dummy claims were used in money laundering, given the syndicate’s sophisticated use of forged documents and layered payout structures.
About the Author – Anirudh Mittal is a B.Sc. LL.B. (Hons.) student at National Forensic Sciences University, Gandhinagar, with a keen interest in corporate law and tech-driven legal change