A farmer from the northern part of the Valencia region who hacked off his own hand to claim insurance has had a four-year jail sentence reduced by six months after an appeal to the Supreme Court. He will still have to repay the 335 thousand euros in money that insurance companies had so far paid him, after he was found guilty of fraud.
The 42 year old from the Castellón area, identified as Miguel B.P, was given the four-year sentence in January, after the Provincial Court heard that he staged an elaborate ‘accident’ in order to help pay off his mortgage back in 2007.
The man pretended his hand had been cut off in a car accident. After amputating his hand, he is said to have driven the car up a slope with the hand at the foot of the driver’s seat. He then lit the car on fire and called the emergency services
However, the emergency services said that when they arrived at the scene, they found the man lying on the ground and calmly smoking a cigar. He proceeded to claim insurance on the basis of eight different policies, including for permanent disability, severe disability, death and more. He then undertook legal action to collect the insurance, and was only rumbled when one of the insurance companies brought in a private detective to investigate the case.
