SINGAPORE — A man who recruited people to act as "phantom" drivers and help file fraudulent insurance claims based on staged accidents was sentenced to 49 months' jail — about four years — on Thursday (Aug 17).

Ng Boon Kiong, 42, had pleaded guilty to seven cheating charges early this year. Six other cheating charges were taken into consideration for the purposes of sentencing.

His total jail term also included 11 related cheating charges that he had been convicted of after a trial late last year.

Court documents for the seven charges prepared by Deputy Public Prosecutors Matthew Choo and Norman Yew stated that between October and December 2011, 12 fraudulent claims amounting to S$111,438.20 were made to five insurance companies.

The total amount of fraudulent claims that Ng made for all his charges was S$246,823.04, of which S$72,318.51 was paid out by the insurers.

MEN PAID FOR GETTING INVOLVED

Between October and December 2011, Ng recruited several people as phantom drivers to help file fraudulent Singapore Accident Statements, which would falsely state that they were drivers of vehicles involved in staged accidents.

A total of five insurance companies were cheated under the seven charges to which Ng admitted.

Sometime before the submission of one such statement on Oct 7 in 2011, Ng approached someone named Kim Choon Seng to ask if he would allow for his particulars to be used to make a fraudulent insurance claim.

Ng told Kim that he would be able to make money and all he would have to do is falsely report that his vehicle had been involved in an accident.

Kim agreed to the arrangement and Ng instructed him to include details in the statement such as the location of the accident and the position of Kim's vehicle in the supposed accident.

Kim later made an insurance claim to MSIG, which made a payout of S$4,066 to a car repair workshop of Ng's friend, and Kim was paid S$1,500 for his involvement.

A few days later, Ng submitted another such document to Aviva stating that he was the driver of one of four vehicles in an accident along Kim Keat Lane.

The fake document was used to support the property damage claim, which resulted in Aviva making a payout of S$5,850.

Shortly before the submission of the next fraudulent case, Ng approached two men named Andy Gam and Jeremy Sim with a commission offer to be part of his scheme.

Ng approached Gam and told him that he could assist in engineering traffic accidents for the purpose of filing fraudulent motor insurance claims. 

Gam agreed and handed his vehicle to Ng, who then furnished the required details for Gam to complete the fraudulent statement to MSIG, which made a payout of S$11,005.35.

Gam was then paid S$600 for his involvement.

When Ng approached Sim with the scheme, the man did not initially agree but did so later.

Ng even made Sim seek medical treatment for his fake injuries to facilitate a personal injury claim in relation to the purported traffic accident.

These and other details were used to support the insurance claim against Ergo, which made a payout of S$10,252.

Ng also approached a number of people who were customers at his friend’s car workshop. Ng does not work there.

In December 2011, for instance, he recruited a man named Low Kwee Boon to ask him to falsely report that he was the driver of a vehicle involved in a four-car traffic accident along the Pan-Island Expressway before Clementi Avenue 6.

Low had handed his car to Ng for unrelated damage repairs.

As per Ng's instructions, Low signed the fraudulent statement for S$10,605.35 in property damage, but insurer Direct Asia did not make the payout because it suspected fraud.

ACTIONS WERE PREMEDITATED

Asking for 53 to 61 months' jail, the prosecution sought specific deterrence, arguing that Ng's actions were premeditated since he recruited the individuals and obtained the necessary documents from them for preparation and planning before the fraudulent claims were submitted.

The prosecution also added that in imposing the proposed sentence, it will help to send out a strong deterrent message that motor insurance fraud will not be tolerated in Singapore.

In seeking a jail term of 48 months, Ng's defence counsels Kertar Singh and Rajoo Ravindran told the court that their client had offended out of "blind loyalty" to his friend who ran the workshop, and that he committed the offences because he was trying to help his childhood friend. No details were given about the circumstances of his relationship with this friend.

The counsels added that the court should consider that Ng was not a repeat offender and had not committed any further offences since then.

For cheating, Ng could have been jailed up to 10 years and fined.