Mikhail Haimov, a 48-year-old ambulance driver from Holon, says his life was upended after a Health Ministry clerk mistakenly issued a burial permit in his name, even though he is alive. Within less than 24 hours, his bank account was frozen, his credit cards were blocked, his health fund canceled his insurance, and his pensions were frozen. Haimov said he has not slept for two days and described himself as “a dead man walking.” He also said he has received no call from the Health Ministry.
Haimov works for Ambulance Holon, a company that also transports bodies. Last week in Moscow, a man from his circle of acquaintances, Arthur Badlov, died. Badlov’s brother asked Haimov to help bring the body to burial in Israel. Haimov sent Russian authorities the dead man’s details and his own details as the person who would collect the body at Ben Gurion Airport and handle the burial arrangements, saying that was the standard procedure.
When the body arrived earlier this week, Haimov collected it from the airport and sent a company employee to the Health Ministry office in Rehovot to obtain a burial certificate. He said the clerk was apparently in a hurry, did not review all the documents, saw his name on one of the papers as the person who had collected the body, and mistakenly issued the burial permit under his name, Mikhail Haimov. The employee did not notice the error, the permit was used, and the body was buried that same day. Haimov says he even attended the funeral, unaware it was effectively his own.
He only realized the mistake the next day when he checked the papers. At first he thought it could be fixed quickly, but the consequences became immediate when his card was rejected while shopping. He later learned that the bank had frozen his account, his health insurance was canceled, and his pension was suspended. His wife was also contacted by insurance companies and told she was a widow and needed to sort out the pensions and policies.
Haimov has since visited the Interior Ministry, where he presented his ID and was told he was listed as deceased. After proving he was alive, he received a “certificate of life” to show anyone who believes he is dead while the case is being resolved. He said he feels like a zombie and is terrified by the error.
