Attempted fraud

Pensioner chopped off his thumb for nothing

The defendant mutilated himself in order to obtain insurance money.

(Bild: Dorn Chantall/Krone KREATIV)

A pensioner has been sentenced at the regional court in Feldkirch (Vorarlberg). He had deliberately chopped off his thumb in order to collect a high insurance sum. 

The presiding judge of the jury senate, Verena Wackerle, imposed a twelve-month suspended prison sentence and an unconditional fine of 21,600 euros on the previously blameless man. He had tried to cheat his insurance company out of 320,000 euros by staging an accident.

His insurance broker was astonished when he was contacted by the defendant in August 2022 and told that he had accidentally chopped off his left thumb with an axe while trying to split wood at the Frutz. After the accident victim repeatedly changed his version of how the accident happened during questioning, the broker had doubts about the man's credibility.

Higher insurance taken out
Especially as the pensioner had only taken out a higher insurance policy three months before the accident, which would pay out 320,000 euros if the policyholder lost his thumb in an accident, for example.

Two expert opinions were then obtained. The result was that the insurance company's expert concluded that the "far too smooth cut" was 95 percent self-mutilation. The court expert also stated that an abutment would have been needed to cut off the thumb in this way. In short, the insurance company did not pay a cent. However, the jury agreed that the defendant was guilty. The verdict is not yet final. Judge Verena Wackerle concluded to the convicted man: "Apart from no thumbs left, you have nothing to show for it."