Court Sentences 1 Year Imprisonment with 2 Years Probation
A man in his 30s who exploited the fact that the other driver in a traffic accident was unlicensed to extort money and deliberately caused traffic accidents to fraudulently obtain large insurance payouts was sentenced to prison with a suspended sentence.
According to Yonhap News on the 8th, Judge Hwang Hae-cheol of the Chuncheon District Court Wonju Branch Criminal Division 3 sentenced A (36), who was indicted for violating the Special Act on the Prevention of Insurance Fraud and fraud charges, to one year in prison with a two-year suspension and ordered 240 hours of community service.
The head of the household involved his spouse and younger sister in the deliberate traffic accident scheme and even mobilized young children and nephews to claim more insurance money. The court also fined A’s wife (33) and younger sister (33), who participated in the deliberate traffic accident, 10 million won and 5 million won respectively.
A is accused of exploiting the fact that the driver of a Carnival passenger car who rear-ended his vehicle while waiting at a traffic light at an intersection in Cheonan, Chungnam in February 2016 was unlicensed, extorting 6.27 million won for hospitalization and medical expenses. Despite the minor collision and no injuries, A and his spouse were hospitalized for 10 days.
A is also accused of causing four deliberate contact accidents targeting vehicles changing lanes in Wonju and other areas between 2018 and 2022, fraudulently obtaining a total of approximately 37.16 million won in insurance payouts. During the accidents in 2018-2019, A, his spouse, and their 7-year-old son were in the vehicle, and during the accident in February 2020, A, his spouse, son, younger sister C, and her two children were present.
The police reported that A caused a total of 22 traffic accidents over five years from February 2016 to April 2020 and suspected insurance fraud, referring the case to the prosecution. The prosecutor indicted five cases based on the results of the National Forensic Service’s analysis and other evidence.
Judge Hwang stated, “It is recognized that the defendant fraudulently obtained insurance money by exaggerating injuries and hospitalizing,” adding, “This crime causes social harm as it leads to increased insurance premiums, which can harm many innocent people.”
Meanwhile, according to the 2022 Police Statistical Yearbook, there were 2,959 cases of violations of the Special Act on the Prevention of Insurance Fraud, with 2,658 arrests made. The arrest rate compared to occurrences was 89.8%, and the number of people arrested was 8,041.
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