54-Year-Old Man From India Fakes Death To Scam Insurance Of $5 Million

A man from India along with four other people is facing charges after they were arrested for plotting a scam to collect $5 million from an insurance company. Worse, the whole thing claimed the life of an innocent homeless man.

The suspect was identified as Prabhakar Bhimaji Waghchaure from Maharashtra’s Ahmednagar district in India. He is being accused of killing a homeless man with a cobra and trying to pass of the deceased as him.

The nephew of Wahchaure named Praveen and a resident identified as Harshad Lahamge appeared to be in on the scam, two people who identified Waghchaure as the one killed.

However, things took a different twist when insurance firm officials investigated the claim. They wanted more information on Waghchaure and ended up visiting the 54-year-old’s home.

When they arrived, neighbors claim they were unaware of any incident involving a snake. However, they did see an ambulance arrive at the property when the alleged incident took place.

Lahamge was eventually contacted by police and said that Praveen had died. Efforts were made to track down the relatives of Waghchaure and authorities found some leads via phone records.

Police eventually found Praveen still alive but residing in a new address. The insurance company grew suspicious because Waghchaure had already tried to fraudulently claim the death of his wife in 2017.

Hence, it all started to make sense with Waghchaure finding a way to secure a cobra from a snake rescuer.

"They found a destitute person, with similar looks as that of Waghchaure, and had killed him with the bite of the cobra. Waghchaure himself posed as his nephew Praveen and reported the snakebite death,” part of superintendent Manoj Patil statement read.

It was later found that Waghchaure led the deceased, identified as 50-year-old Navnath Yashwant Aanap to a secluded place. A snake handler named Harish Kulal induced the snake to fatally bite Aanap on his toe.

The body of the man was taken to the home of Waghchaure after which an ambulance was called, the same time that neighbors claimed.