Targeted Narrow Alleys and CCTV Blind Spots
Staged Deliberate and Fake Accidents for About Five Years
Illicitly Obtained Insurance Payouts Totaling Around 140 Million Won
A gang that extorted insurance payouts by causing deliberate and fake accidents in narrow alleys late at night and in CCTV blind spots has been handed over to prosecutors. The members turned out to be delivery drivers who knew each other from the neighborhood.
The Seongdong Police Station in Seoul announced on the 6th that it had referred the ringleader, Mr. A, to the prosecution in custody on charges of violating the Special Act on the Prevention of Insurance Fraud, and referred the remaining 19 accomplices without detention.
Dashcam footage of insurance-fraud incidents. Investigators found that a ring of delivery drivers staged deliberate accidents by exploiting CCTV blind spots. Seongdong Police Station, Seoul.
According to the police, Mr. A and the others, who were friends or senior-junior acquaintances from the same neighborhood and worked as delivery drivers in a specific area, are accused of staging deliberate and fake accidents over a period of five years from August 2020 to January last year to fraudulently obtain insurance payouts. The total amount they illicitly collected through these crimes reached 140 million won.
Mr. A and his accomplices allegedly divided roles based on their personal ties, repeatedly committing the crimes by either staging accidents or causing deliberate collisions with the aim of "making easy money." Investigators found that they deliberately reported accidents that occurred late at night in narrow alleyways or CCTV blind spots, exploiting the fact that the victimized insurers would be less likely to question the circumstances of such accidents. After launching the investigation, the police initially referred 16 suspects, then uncovered additional offenses and arrested four more accomplices.
A police official warned, "Insurance fraud will inevitably be exposed."
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