According to an article by the BCC, 34 people have been arrested by Italian police in Palermo, Sicily for allegedly being involved in a large-scale insurance scam.
The group broke the limbs of impoverished victims with iron weights and concrete blocks, who were then left with a few hundred euros on crutches or in wheelchairs for “volunteering”. The insurance claims, however, were worth many thousands.
The victims often came from poor backgrounds with financial difficulties.
The scam was uncovered when one of the victims, a Tunisian migrant, was killed after having several limbs broken.
The article further reports that fake car accidents were staged outside of the city, after which the gang posed as family members to visit their “relatives” in hospital.
A local media report writes that the scam had brought in over €2m a year.
