Egyptian Refugee Arrested for Extorting 100 Million Won by Jumping in Front of Drunk Driving and Wrong-Way Vehicles

Mr. A is deliberately colliding with a vehicle driving in the wrong direction on the street in Seogyo-dong, Mapo-gu, Seoul. [Image source=Busan Police Agency]

[Asia Economy Yeongnam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Hwang Du-yeol] An Egyptian national foreigner who deliberately caused accidents and embezzled 120 million won in insurance and settlement money was caught by the police.

According to the Busan Nambu Police Station on the 21st, a man in his 20s with Egyptian nationality, Mr. A, was arrested on suspicion of insurance fraud.

Mr. A is suspected of deliberately causing accidents targeting only vehicles violating traffic laws from June 2020 to August this year, embezzling 120 million won in insurance money over 22 cases.

According to the police, in June 2020, Mr. A hid between parked cars on a one-way street in Mapo-gu, Seoul, and deliberately collided with a vehicle driving in the wrong direction.

In June last year, he caused an accident by contacting a vehicle while changing lanes following a staggering drunk-driving vehicle on the street in Gwangandong, Suyeong-gu, Busan.

Afterwards, Mr. A showed more audacious criminal methods by exploiting drunk driving as a weakness to demand personal settlement money from drivers.

In November 2021, he deliberately collided with the bumper of a reversing vehicle in a building parking lot in Nam-gu, Busan, and in July this year, he accelerated and deliberately rammed a vehicle changing lanes from the first lane to the second lane on the street in Udong, Haeundae-gu, Busan, causing an accident.

The police suspected insurance fraud as similar types of accidents related to Mr. A were continuously reported, started an investigation, confirmed additional crimes, and arrested him.

Mr. A entered Korea as a tourist and was recognized as a refugee, and it is known that only Mr. A is currently in Korea while his family is scattered in other countries.

The police urged that if insurance fraud is suspected, report it to the police or keep the black box footage and submit it to the police later, as it helps prove the case.

A police official said, “Vehicles violating traffic laws such as drunk driving, solid line lane changes, lane violations, and driving in the wrong direction are highly likely to be targets of crimes, so please obey traffic laws.”