EXTRA: Woman jailed for cutting own hand in €1m insurance fraud

Julija Adlesic, a Slovenian woman, has been sentenced to two years in prison for deliberately cutting off her hand in an insurance fraud.

A court in Ljubljana, capital of Slovenia, gave the judgement after authorities discovered that Adlesic had taken out five insurance policies in the year before her injury.

The 22-year-old claimed that the incident happened while cutting branches, but the court found that her claim was false.

She stood to gain more than €1 milion (£900,000, $1.16 million) in insurance payouts if successful.

According to Sky News, authorities gathered that in 2019, Adlesic plotted with her boyfriend to have her left hand severed above the wrist at their home in Ljubljana.

It was gathered that the couple had intentionally left the severed hand behind, rather than bring it with them to the hospital to ensure the disability was permanent. However, authorities recovered it in time to sew it back on.

Prosecutors said Adlesic’s boyfriend had made internet searches about artificial hands in the days before the incident.

They argued that the search is proof showing that the incident was intentional.

While the court found Adlesic guilty of attempted insurance fraud and sentenced her to two years in prison, her boyfriend was sentenced to three years in jail, and his father received a one-year suspended sentence.

During the trial, Adlesic denied plotting the incident alongside her boyfriend.

“No one wants to be crippled. My youth has been destroyed. I lost my hand at the age of 20. Only I know how it happened,” she said.

Marjeta Dvornik, the judge, said “the sentences are fair and appropriate, and will serve their purpose.”