MH370: Insurance Fraud and Pilot Suicide “I Say Prove It”, Pilot’s Brother-in-Law Demands
Since March 11, three days after MH370 disappeared, claims that the plane was taken down by pilot captain Zaharie Ahmad Shar for insurance fraud or terrorist suicide mission had been making rounds among global media.
On March 11, Malaysian police chief, Khalid Abu Bakar, said that they are not ruling out theory of an elaborate insurance fraud.
"Maybe somebody on the flight has bought a huge sum of insurance, who wants family to gain from it or somebody who has owed somebody so much money, you know, we are looking at all possibilities," he said at that time.
On March 17, New Zealand criminologist, Greg Newbold, in an interview with The New Zealand Herald alleged that the captain was the only person on board MH370 who is skilled to switched off MH30's electronics.
Two months after the MH370 tragedy, Captain Shar's brother-in-law, Asuad Khan, has finally spoken up, on behalf of the family.
Speaking with ABC TV's Four Corners, Khan was consistent on one thing: his brother-in-law had been subjected to malicious claims, rumours and faulty reporting.
"He was not suicidal. We enjoy our life to the fullest because life only happens once," Khan spoke of his brother-in-law.
He was blunt when asked about the claims saying that the captain committed suicide for life insurance.
"If you are talking about life insurance he didn't have one. Trust me, check. He didn't have one. He didn't believe in it so why would he want to [commit] suicide?. He had a good life. He had a lot of money and he loved his daughter very much."
Khan said that his brother-in-law was not stupid to commit a suicide dragging 238 people with him. He said that he is in a sound mind.
Khan also showed a firm stance against claims that the pilot is on a suicide mission for a terrorist group.
"Put it this way, this is a promise -- if they blame him I'll fight. I just won't sit down, keep quiet. Because if you say that he wanted to [commit] suicide in the Indian Ocean, I say prove it."
The real Captain Shah
Khan spoke of his brother-in-law as a family man, practicing Muslim, cooks, and really passionate about flying.
"He's crazy about his job. He even had those little (RC) planes, the helicopter the plane. I kept asking him, 'You have been flying every day and yet during your off day you still fly this RC? Are you crazy or what?' And then he would just laugh."
For MKhan, the Malaysian authorities remained solely responsible for the MH370 tragedy.
"When I heard about this plane going missing I said, 'What happened to our Air Force? Are they sleeping or are they working? Because as we know, even if you [turn] off the transponder, the primary radar still can detect the plane. I may be stupid but the primary radar will detect the flight object and MH370's flying so I became dumbfounded. I said, 'Look, if this is how they say they are defending our country, man, I'm worried."