9 jailed for cheating insurance firm

[Darth Maul]

9 jailed for cheating insurance firm
By Alvina Soh | Posted: 13 April 2011 0224 hrs

SINGAPORE: Nine people were on Tuesday sentenced to jail terms of between six weeks and nine months, for being part of a conspiracy to cheat an insurance company.

They had conspired with 44-year-old Hamzah Bin Karim, described by the prosecution as the mastermind, to cheat Tokio Marine and Fire Insurance Company by giving false information to the police and filing false insurance claims.

Most of the nine in dock were members of Hamzah's family and friends, and he was accused of instigating them.

The youngest among them was a 22-year-old woman who was jailed along with her mother.

Most of the cases were centred around traffic accidents that took place between 2007 and 2009, at various places in Singapore including Loyang and Bishan.

All nine had said they were either passengers or drivers who were hurt in those accidents.

However, Assistant Public Prosecutor K. Kalaithasan said they were "phantom passengers" and none of them was in the vehicles at the time of the accidents.

He said Hamzah had roped in his family and friends "for the sole purpose of making more money".

Hamzah, who faces 39 charges, will be sentenced on April 19.

-CNA/wk

 

[Taigong Wang]

Mastermind of insurance scam jailed three years
By Shaffiq Alkhatib | Posted: 19 April 2011 2007 hrs

SINGAPORE: The mastermind of a "phantom passenger" insurance scam involving S$266,830.15 was sentenced on Tuesday to three years jail.

45-year-old former freelance insurance claims advisor Hamzah Karim, who faced 39 charges in all, had pleaded guilty to eleven of them. The remaining 28 charges were taken into consideration during sentencing.

Nine of his accomplices were convicted last week and they were jailed between six weeks and nine months.

Most of them are his family members and friends. They include his 45-year-old wife, Salina Ahmad as well as a mother and daughter pair, 22-year-old Sherin Mohd Irwan and 61-year-old Salijah AB Latef.

He had conspired with them to cheat firms such as Tokio Marine and Fire as well as India International Insurance Companies by submitting false personal injury claims between September 2007 and March 2010.

Assistant Public Prosecutor K. Kalaithasan told the court that Hamzah came up with the scheme in 2007. He was then facing financial difficulties and wanted to earn extra commission by referring personal injury insurance claims cases to law firms.

The court heard that Hamzah received up to S$300 for each case that he referred to them.

APP Kalaithasan said that Hamzah approached his accomplices and offered them the opportunity to make "fast cash" by pretending to be victims of actual traffic accidents.

Most of the cases centred around one that took place between an SBS bus and a motorcycle along Loyang Avenue on 9 May 2007.

Hamzah instructed his accomplices to lie to doctors, claiming that they were injured in the accidents. He also told them to file false police reports with details of the incidents.

Hamzah assured his accomplices that he would handle everything, including engaging lawyers to represent them in the insurance claims.

-CNA/ac

 

[fighterpilot]

Apr 20, 2011

Insurance scam used phantom bus passengers
Mastermind jailed three years for bid to cheat firms of $266,830

By Khushwant Singh

Hamzah Karim, 45, preferred to use bus accidents for his conspiracy because he could get more people to be phantom passengers.

HE CHOSE bus accidents for his scams because he could get more people to be phantom passengers.

Yesterday, Hamzah Karim, 45, a freelance insurance claims adviser, was jailed three years for his role in trying to cheat three insurance agencies of $266,830.

Not only had he lodged a false police report and insurance claim for himself, he also conspired to do this for nine accomplices between 2007 and 2009.

A district court heard that in March 2007, he met a friend seeking treatment in Changi General Hospital after the bus he was in was involved in a mishap.

Hamzah offered help to file a personal-injury claim.

He roped in housewife Salijah Abdul Latef, 61, to pretend to have suffered injuries in the same accident. He told her what to say to the doctors and how to make a false police report. He also accompanied her to the Riaz law firm to file a personal-injury claim for $8,115.

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Read the full story in Wednesday's edition of The Straits Times.