19 people charged over motor insurance scam

[ScoutTrooper]

19 people charged over motor insurance scam

Published on Dec 5, 2014 2:08 PM

Nineteen people were charged in a district court on Friday with conspiracy to cheat insurance companies in a motor insurance scam. Among them were (from left) Su Chia Ern, who chalked up the most charges, and a couple, Godfrey Liew Kok Hon and his Chinese national wife, You Baolan. -- ST PHOTOS: WONG KWAI CHOW

By Elena Chong

SINGAPORE - Nineteen people, including two women, were charged in a district court on Friday with conspiracy to cheat insurance companies in a motor insurance scam.

They faced between one and 28 charges each.

Su Chia Ern, 44, who chalked up the most charges, is accused of scheming with several people to cheat NTUC and Tenet Insurance into making payments for third party property damage claims and bodily injury claims in 2008 and 2009.

In all, he is alleged to have deceived the two companies into paying a total of almost $270,000 in eight purported accidents. The amounts deceived ranged from $1,400 to $39,663.

Among those charged were a couple, Godfrey Liew Kok Hon, 39, and his Chinese national wife, You Baolan, 26, who is a Singapore permanent resident.

Liew allegedly conspired with Su, Pan Weida Pepin, 31, and Tan Eng Chui, 42, to defraud NTUC by submitting his particulars as the driver of a car which was involved in an accident with another car. Through his false submission, he induced NTUC into paying a total of $23,584 in three claims.

You faces one charge of dishonestly inducing NTUC to process a third party bodily injury claim of $21,795 by lying that she was a passenger in her husband's car at the time of the accident along Upper Thomson Road on April 22, 2009.

Pan and Tan face 16 and two charges respectively.

All the cases have either been fixed for a pre-trial conference on Jan 15 or adjourned to another day.

If convicted, each accused can be jailed for up to 10 years and/or fined for abetting in a conspiracy to cheat.