来源：《华盛顿邮报》
刊登日期：2021年3月22日
An “evil scheme,” that is how a federal judge in California described the cold-blooded killing of two boys by their father, who intentionally drove his two disabled sons off a dock into the ocean — drowning the boys trapped in their car seats — to collect on accidental death insurance policies. The judge this month sentenced the man to 212 years in prison.
“邪恶的阴谋”，加利福尼亚州的联邦法官这样评价一位父亲冷血地杀害了自己两个年幼的儿子，为了获得意外死亡保险金，他故意把载着两个残疾儿子的车从码头开到海里，淹死了困在座位上的两个孩子。法官本月判处该男子212年监禁。
But what about the insurance companies that enabled the twisted plot, and the state officials who failed to see the danger? The conditions that allowed Ali F. Elmezayen, 45, to hatch such a terrible scheme — the loose standards that make it so easy to buy life insurance on a child — still exist in most of the country, and that puts vulnerable lives at risk.
但是，那些促成这一扭曲阴谋的保险公司，以及那些没有看到危险的州政府官员呢？允许45岁的阿里·F·埃尔梅扎耶恩策划这样一个可怕阴谋的条件是——为孩子购买人寿保险非常容易——这种情况在美国大部分地区仍然存在，这置弱小的生命于危险之中。
Mr. Elmezayen almost succeeded. From July 2012 to March 2013, he purchased more than $3 million of life and accidental death insurance on himself and his family. On April 9, 2015 — 12 days after the two-year contestability period on his insurance policies expired — he drove a car with his ex-wife and two youngest children off a dock at the Port of Los Angeles. He swam out the open driver’s side window, and his ex-wife was rescued. But the two boys, ages 8 and 13 and both severely autistic, drowned before rescuers could reach them. Mr. Elmezayen claimed it was an accident, and local prosecutors, citing insufficient evidence, declined to charge him. He collected more than $260,000 in insurance payouts, part of which he used to buy a boat and real estate in Egypt.
埃尔梅扎耶恩差点儿就成功了。从2012年7月到2013年3月，他为自己和家人购买了超过300万美元保额的人寿和意外死亡保险。2015年4月9日，也就是两年的保险可抗辩期过后的第12天，他与前妻和两个最小的孩子一起开着车冲下了洛杉矶港的一个码头。他从开着的驾驶座窗游了出去，他的前妻得救了。但两个男孩，一个8岁，一个13岁，都患有严重自闭症，在救援人员找到他们之前就淹死了。埃尔梅扎耶恩声称事故纯属意外，当地检察官以证据不足为由拒绝起诉他。他获得了超过26万美元的保险赔款，其中一部分用于在埃及购买船只和房产。
Fortunately, federal prosecutors stepped in, building a case around the insurance claims, and a jury convicted Mr. Elmezayen in 2019 of mail fraud, wire fraud and aggravated identity theft. On top of his prison sentence, the court ordered Mr. Elmezayen to pay $261,000 in return to the insurers.
幸运的是，联邦检察官介入，围绕保险索赔展开诉讼，陪审团在2019年判定埃尔梅扎耶恩犯有邮件欺诈、电信诈骗和严重身份盗窃罪。除了被判入狱之外，法院还下令埃尔梅扎耶恩向保险公司支付26.1万美元。
Not that they deserved it. Three different companies sold him policies on his children, ranging up to $100,000 per child in value. Did they ask any questions about such large policies for such small children? Shouldn’t Mr. Elmezayen’s financial problems — such as his low income and his recent bankruptcy proceedings — have raised some red flags? Weren’t they curious about Mr. Elmezayen’s repeated calls to them about when claims on his policies could no longer be contested?
这并不意味着保险公司理应得到这笔钱。三家保险公司向埃尔梅扎耶恩出售了针对其子女的保单，每名子女保额高的能达到10万美元。他们有没有质疑过给这么小的孩子上这么大额的保单？埃尔梅扎耶恩的财务问题——比如他的低收入和最近的破产程序——难道不应该引起一些警觉吗？他们难道不好奇埃尔梅扎耶恩先生一再打电话给他们，问什么时候他的保单赔付不再有异议？
There is rarely, if ever, a legitimate reason to insure a child’s life for a large amount of money, but it is a lucrative business for the insurance industry, which, with few exceptions, has been allowed to write its own rules on juvenile insurance. According to some insurance experts, it is much easier to take out a policy on a child than an adult. This and other tragic cases — notably the 2012 death of 15-month-old Prince McLeod Rams — show that some adults will do horrifying things to children for an insurance check. In 2018, after Prince’s death, Maryland set standards for life insurance on children. But other states did not follow. One child’s death should have been enough. Lawmakers in California and other states must act.
很少有正当合理的理由为一个孩子的生命投保一大笔钱，但这对保险行业来说是一项利润丰厚的业务，除了少数例外，保险业已经被允许制定自己的未成年人保险规则。据一些保险专家说，为孩子投保比为成年人投保容易得多。这起悲剧以及其他一些悲剧案例——尤其是2012年15个月大的普林斯·麦克劳德·拉姆斯之死——表明，一些成年人为了获得保险支票，会对孩子做出可怕的事情。2018年，在普林斯去世后，马里兰州为儿童人寿保险制定了标准。但其他州没有效仿。一个孩子的死亡就已经足够了。加州和其他州的议员必须采取行动。