Posted on November 15, 2017.
Majority of the cases are linked to syndicates that trick unsuspecting individuals into doing their dirty work.
SINGAPORE: While a good number of traffic accidents in Singapore are exactly that – unfortunate accidents – some of them might point to something more sinister.
According to the Commercial Affairs Department (CAD), the number of accidents reported as fraudulent has doubled, from 13 in 2016 to 26 as of September this year.
Prosecution figures have also gone up. A total of 66 people were charged for motor insurance fraud last year, a near 40 per cent increase from the 48 charged in 2014.
Motor insurance fraud is the act of deceiving insurers into giving a payout for property damage or personal injury caused by a fake traffic accident.
Moreover, a majority of motor insurance fraud cases are linked to large-scale syndicates, officers from CAD’s insurance and specialised fraud branch revealed on Friday (Nov 10).
And anyone can fall for their ruse.
“Generally, my observation is that a lot of people are sucked into this,” head of branch Superintendent of Police Abdul Rani Abdul Sani said. “In the last five or six years, there have been at least five major syndicates.”
These groups can stage accidents by deliberately jamming on the brakes, or engineer accidents by intentionally damaging vehicles at a secluded location…