The Wakayama District Court on Friday sentenced the husband of a woman accused in the 1998 curry-poisoning murders here to six years in prison for swindling insurance firms out of 160 million yen.
Presiding Judge Ikuo Ogawa handed the sentence to Kenji Hayashi, 55, who was found guilty on three counts of fraud by falsely claiming insurance payments for accidents he and his wife, Masumi, 39, allegedly suffered.
In giving a sentence less than the eight years sought by prosecutors, the judge said, "The fraud schemes were originally hatched by Masumi Hayashi."
A former insurance saleswoman, Masumi testified as a witness that she had masterminded the fraud.