First man in insurance claim racket jailed 3 months

SINGAPORE — The first of 20 individuals implicated in an insurance fraud ring has been sentenced to three months’ jail.

Tan Eng Chui, 43, duped his insurer NTUC Income into paying S$1,400 in property damage claims by faking that he was behind the wheels of a vehicle involved in an accident in April 2009.

The unemployed man is one of the phantom drivers recruited by alleged masterminds Su Chia Ern, Teo Kok Hwee and Pan Weida to deceive insurance companies using bogus traffic accident claims. The cases against the other 19 are ongoing.

Today (Jan 29), the court heard that Tan befriended Pan, a car dealer, when he was working as a stall assistant at a coffeshop.

Pan allegedly told him he could earn extra income, in the form of commission from an insurance claim payout, by reporting his particulars as a driver of a car which would be reported in a traffic accident.

On April 23, 2009, Tan fabricated a statement claiming for S$7,000 for a purported traffic accident along Upper Thomson Road towards Mandai Road the previous day. NTUC Income paid out S$1,400 to him.

Calling for a deterrent sentence, Deputy Public Prosecutor Joshua Lai said motor insurance fraud offences are very difficult to detect as they were often well-coordinated.

Such offences affect a large segment of the public as such fraudulent and inflated claims have led to the rise in insurance premiums for drivers, DPP Lai added.

Tan could have been jailed for up to 10 years and fined.