Taipei - A Taiwan university student has been indicted for falsifying the death of his grandfather, granduncle and grandaunt to claim funeral subsidies from a senior citizens' club, a newspaper said on Saturday.

Chang Ying-chieh, 23, a law student at an unnamed university, decided to claim the funeral subsidy for her grandfather, granduncle and grandaunt in June because she was short of money, the Liberty Times said.

Chang's grandfather, granduncle and grandaunt had paid a fee to join the Evergreen Club in Taichung city, central Taiwan.

The club organizes activities for its members. When a member dies, it offers 600,000 Taiwan dollars (1,800 US dollars) in funeral subsidy.

Chang used her computer to falsify death certificates for her elderly relatives, claiming they had died from illnesses at three different hospitals.

Chang took the death certificates to the Evergreen Club to claim a total of 180,000 Taiwan dollars.

Staff at the club found the death certificates suspicious because they had not been stamped with seals from the three hospitals, so they reported her to police.

On Friday, the Taichung District Court indicted Chang on charges of document forgery and fraud. (dpa)