A 40-year-old Malay­sian who was part of a syndicate which staged road accidents in order to cheat insurance companies has been jailed

Jailed in Singapore for staging crashes

 

SINGAPORE: A 40-year-old Malay­sian who was part of a syndicate which staged road accidents in order to cheat insurance companies through fraudulent claims has been jailed for 44 weeks.

Tew Yee Jeng will also be disqua­lified from driving for five years after his release from prison.

He pleaded guilty last November to three charges of conspiring to cheat and a count each of scheming to drive recklessly and of conspi­ring to give false information to the police.

Tew also admitted to another seven charges which were taken into consideration during senten­cing yesterday.

A district court had heard that Tew, a ceiling board installer, would recruit accomplices and instruct them to brake suddenly while dri­ving so that an unsuspecting vehicle would crash into the back of their cars.

In all, fake claims for property damage and personal injury amounting to S$104,768 (RM320,900) were submitted by the syndicate for three car accidents, which took place in July 2014, April 2012 and January 2012.

A total of S$18,258 (RM55,900) was paid out by two insurance companies for these false claims.

On one occasion, on July 3, 2014, Tew and three accomplices – two of whom were Malaysians – drove around Woodlands looking for a suitable vehicle to target.

At about 9.45pm, while travelling along Woodlands Avenue 9, Tew slowed down his car and told an accomplice travelling behind him, who had his mobile phone on speaker mode, to jam the brakes on his Singapore-registered vehicle.

The heavy vehicle that was tra­velling behind the accomplice’s car was not able to stop in time, and crashed into the back of the vehicle.

Yew and his two Malaysian accomplices fled Singapore at about 11.10pm that day; they had entered Singapore earlier on the same day for the sole purpose of causing an accident.

A claim for repair costs of S$54,707 (RM167,600) for the accomplice’s vehicle was submitted, but this was lowered to S$27,800 (RM85,200) after further inspections.

For abetment to cheat, Tew could have been jailed up to 10 years and fined.

For abetment to drive recklessly, he could have been jailed up to two years and fined.

For abetting to give false information to a public servant, he could have been jailed up to a year and fined.

Four accomplices have been prosecuted for their roles in the insurance scam.

Three accomplices remain at large. — The Straits Times / Asia News Network