A Moldovan man settled in the United States has pleaded guilty to faking his death in order to collect a $2 million in life insurance, the local press reported.
In 2010, Igor Vorotinov, 54, took out a life insurance policy from Mutual of Omaha and named his now former wife as the beneficiary. Then he left for Moldova and shortly after his wife was reportedly announced that the man’s body had been found near Cojușna. She travelled to Moldova and returned with an urn, while Vorotinov moved to the Transnistrian region, where he took a new identity.
The fraud was discovered following an anonymous tip to the FBI. Vorotinov’s son was stopped at the U.S. border after a trip to Moldova, and in his laptop investigators found recent photographs of his father.
In May 2016, Vorotinov’s ex-wife Irina was sentenced to 37 months of federal prison. Their son Alkon pleaded guilty in 2015, receiving three years of probation and being ordered to pay restitution for the insurance payout.
Igor Vorotinov was extradited from Moldova in November 2018. His sentencing is set for July 29.
