A man involved in the city’s first overseas travel insurance fraud case has been sentenced to three years in jail with a three-year reprieve.

The defendant, surnamed Huang, repeatedly made bogus claims for stolen goods during his trips abroad. He managed to obtain more than 100,000 yuan (US$15,200) from insurance payouts between January 2016 and last June, according to Hongkou District prosecutors.

Huang found it a good way to get the “quick money.” In January 2016, while he was traveling in Thailand, he had a laptop and 1,000 yuan in cash stolen. When he reported the theft to local police, he falsely claimed that he had also lost a camera and a wallet worth 5,000 yuan.

The insurance company, convinced by the police report, paid him 8,000 yuan for the “missing goods” to cover his expenses as well as his losses, prosecutors said.

Since then they added that every time Huang flew to Southeast Asian countries, he made false theft claims.

The frequent claims alerted insurance companies and caused police to intervene. He was arrested in June.

As he had returned his ill-gotten gains, he was given a three-year reprieve. He was also fined 50,000 yuan.