Man who faked his death at sea so he could cash in on £3.4m insurance is jailed

14 March 2024 , 15:58

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Christoph and Olena were hoping to dupe their insurers before they got caught (Image: CEN)

A man has been jailed after he faked his own death so he could claim £3.4million (€4million) as part of an elaborate insurance scam.

Christoph H, 56, from Germany, first purchased a motorboat in October 2019 and pretended he was sailing to Denmark from Kiel. He duped his insurance by lying that his boat capsized in the Baltic Sea. But he had jumped out of the boat onto an inflatable dinghy and travelled back up the coastline.

As part of his sneaky scheme, he booked a hotel reservation ahead of time in Bargenkop, Denmark. He then spent six months hiding in his mother's attic near the city of Hanover, so he and his wife, Olena, 56, could cash in on 14 life insurance policies.

Christoph hid in his mother's attack until police found him (CEN)

Olena admitted that she shouldn't of gone through with her husband's plan (CEN)

He was eventually busted by police after his insurers raised the alarm over the suspicious policies in May 2020. He was sentenced to three years and two months in prison after pleading guilty to the fraud scam. While his wife was slapped with two years' probation after she admitted her part in the crime.

According to local media, the couple waited until April 2020 to push for him to be declared legally dead. But weeks later, their insurers phoned and alerted the authorities and police tracked down Christoph.

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Ahead of his sentencing, he apologised for the scam and told the court: "From today's perspective, the whole thing was totally crazy." His wife Olena, who received a two-year suspended sentence, added: "I allowed myself to be drawn into something that I couldn't see or understand."

Over in Belgium, a dad previously faked his death to teach his family a lesson – before he arrived to his funeral in a helicopter. David Baerten explained that he wanted to show his loved ones the importance of checking on one another before it's too late.

He admitted that his wife and daughter were in on the prank, and posted tributes on social media to make it more believable. “What I see in my family often hurts me, I never get invited to anything," he said. "Nobody sees me. We all grew apart. I felt unappreciated. That's why I wanted to give them a life lesson and show them that you shouldn't wait until someone is dead to meet up with them.”

The dad revealed that only half of his relatives came to the funeral, but said others have since been in touch. “That proves who really cares about me," he continued. "Those who didn't come have contacted me to meet up. So in a way, I did win.”

Monica Charsley