Woman Chops Off Hand With Circular Saw To Claim $450,000 Insurance Money

A Slovenian woman was arrested after she cut off her hand with a circular saw to make a fraudulent insurance claim. According to local police, the 21-year-old was trying to claim a $450,000 injury compensation.

The woman allegedly was helped by her family members to chop off her hand from above the wrist at their home in the capital Ljubljana. She was later rushed to the hospital, saying she had injured herself while sawing branches.

To ensure that it turns out to be a permanent disability, the family members left the severed hand at home. But the authorities recovered it in time to sew it back on.

The woman and one of her relative were arrested on charges of attempted fraud and each face up to eight years in prison, if convicted.

“With one of her accomplices, she intentionally amputated her hand at the wrist with a circular saw, hoping to stage it as an accident,” police spokesman Valter Zrinski told a news conference Monday.

The woman had allegedly took out the insurance policy in recent weeks. The money would have been paid out in monthly instalments worth nearly $3,000 under their policy.

Two other family members of the woman were also arrested on suspicion of involvement in the alleged fraud but were later released.

In 2017, a Florida couple was arrested for faking a home break-in — in which they claimed they were shot at and money taken from them — in a bid to get insurance. Lindsey Pelton, 36, and Doug Teixeira, 35, reported to authorities that two men entered their rental home in Deltona, Volusia County, and shot Teixeira in the leg and Pelton in the arm. Both were transported to Central Florida Regional Hospital by ambulance and suffered injuries, which were not considered life-threatening. Investigators later found out that Pelton and Teixeira shot themselves, and staged the crime scene.