Hsinchu authorities were stunned after a woman, surnamed Li, went to a funeral to settle a debt and used the deceased man’s finger to forge signatures on documents and a promissory note worth MYR 850,000, pretending he had agreed to pledge land while alive.
The Hsinchu District Court concluded the case, sentencing Li to two years in prison, suspended for five years. She must also pay MYR 5,000 to the state and complete 90 hours of community service.
Court documents revealed that after learning of the death of her debtor, surnamed Peng, in February, Li instructed two men to forge Peng’s signature on loan and collateral documents. She even forged his name on an 850,000-MYR promissory note to make it appear that Peng had borrowed money and pledged land before his death.
On the day of Peng’s funeral at the Hsinchu City Funeral Home, Li claimed she was paying respects but used the opportunity to press the deceased’s finger into ink and imprint it on the loan papers and promissory note. Funeral staff noticed the unusual behavior and alerted the family, who reported it to the police. Authorities confiscated the forged documents, promissory note, and ink, exposing the fraud.
The court noted that while Li’s actions were intended to secure her debt, the forgery harmed the rights of the deceased’s heirs and disrupted the integrity of financial instruments. However, because Li admitted her crime, and the forged note had not circulated in the market, the court gave a suspended sentence.
This bizarre case highlights the extreme lengths some individuals may go to pursue debts, even crossing ethical and legal boundaries in shocking ways.
