Man in his 60s indicted for neglecting ill mother to death, secretly burying her and collecting her pension for over a year

A man in his 60s has been indicted on charges of neglecting his ailing elderly mother until she died, secretly burying her body and fraudulently collecting her pension benefits.

The First Criminal Division of the Gimcheon Branch of the Daegu District Prosecutors Office indicted the man, identified only as A, on charges including abandonment causing death of a lineal ascendant, according to Yonhap on Thursday.

According to prosecutors, A neglected his mother, who was in her 80s, without providing appropriate treatment after her health deteriorated at his residence in Gumi, North Gyeongsang Province, in around April last year. After she died, he buried her body in a nearby mountain three days later.

A also faces charges of fraudulently collecting about 9 million won ($6,730) in national pension and basic pension payments under his mother's name over roughly a year through last July.

A had concealed the facts before eventually telling his son, who then reported the matter to police. Police arrested A last month and transferred him to prosecutors' custody.

Prosecutors conducted supplementary investigations, including analysis of medical records, interviews with treating physicians, examination of bank account records, consultation with a forensic medical examiner, inquiries with pension-paying agencies and a review of legal precedents in similar cases.

A ultimately confessed to his motive, saying he had not sought help for his mother because of the financial burden of medical costs at the time of her death, and that he had buried her body in the mountain to keep collecting her pension.