A 59-year-old woman in Taiwan has been sentenced to two years in prison after she was caught using the fingerprints of a deceased man to fake a promissory note worth NT$8.5 million (around US$280,000).
The bizarre crime unfolded not in a bank or office, but inside a funeral centre in Hsinchu, northwestern Taiwan — as mourners came to pay their respects, the woman, surnamed Li, arrived with something else in mind.
According to SETN, as cited by the South China Morning Post (SCMP), Li had long been entangled in debt disputes with the deceased man, Peng. When she learned of his death on February 21, she reportedly rushed to the funeral home within hours — carrying with her a fake mortgage document and a forged promissory note.
Pretending to be an old friend of the deceased, Li told funeral workers she wanted a private moment to say goodbye.
Inside the hearse where Peng’s body lay, Li allegedly unzipped the body bag, took out an inkpad, and pressed the dead man’s finger onto her forged documents — hoping to make them look official.
Her suspicious behaviour didn’t go unnoticed. A funeral worker, alarmed by what he saw, immediately alerted Peng’s family, who called the police. Officers arrived quickly, arresting Li on the spot and seizing a counterfeit mortgage document, a bank cheque, and an inkpad.
“I’ve been in the funeral business for two decades,” one employee told SCMP. “I have never seen anything like this before.”
When questioned, Li confessed. She admitted that she feared losing the money she had lent Peng and forged the paperwork to make it seem as if he owed her NT$8.5 million. The fake land mortgage document was backdated to May 23, 2010, and the forged promissory note carried Peng’s name and fingerprint.
The court found her guilty of forging securities and sentenced her to two years in prison. However, because she admitted to her crime and the forged cheque was never processed, the sentence was suspended for five years.
Li was also ordered to pay a fine of NT$50,000 (around US$1,600) and complete 90 hours of community service in public welfare organisations or government departments.
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