Chinese Woman Pretends To Be Her Dead Sibling, Works For 14 Years

In a bizarre revelation, a woman who impersonated her dead older sister and worked for 14 years to pick up her retirement pension has been sanctioned by a court in China. In her 14 years of work, the woman collected nearly 400,000 yuan (Rs 45.89 lakh) in pension payments. The woman surnamed An from Wuhai in the Inner Mongolia autonomous region, northern China, secretly resumed her sister’s work at a local factory following her death in a car accident in 1993. On the contrary, the woman is receiving sympathy for the amount of work she did after the death of her sister. Netizens called her an honest employee who didn’t pay less into social security nor worked less.

According to the Haibowan District People’s Court of Wuhai City, An worked at the factory until her retirement in 2007. As per the South China Morning Post (SCMP) report, An posed as her deceased sister and applied for a retirement pension. She received pension payments till April 2023. Over the period, An reportedly received 393,676 yuan (Rs 45.16 lakh) in pension funds. After the incident came to light, the police sent the summon notice to An who confessed her crime and voluntarily pleaded guilty and repaid the money. The Haibowan District People’s Court of Wuhan City found An guilty of fraud. After the trial and investigation, the court sentenced An to three years in prison. She has been suspended for four years with an additional fine of 25,000 Yuan (Rs 2.86 lakh).

The netizens sympathise with the woman, as per the SCMP report. Many people recognised the hard work of the accused woman and reportedly said that she demonstrated her capability for the job and fulfilled her duties. They also highlighted the fact that the factory’s oversight was largely overlooked. One of the users commented, “Who would work for 14 years just for a pension? She simply took over a job. Working for 14 years proves she was capable of performing it.” as quoted by SCMP. Some also noted that filling the position of a relative in case of death or crisis is acceptable in some places.