Hong Kong police have arrested 11 people in the latest crackdown on “crash-for-cash” scams. The schemes, which have generated HK$135 million in suspected fraudulent claims, involve scammers seeking exaggerated sums in damages following traffic accidents.
Police said on Wednesday that the number of suspicious traffic accident claims had snowballed to 500 since January, when the Hong Kong Federation of Insurers, multiple insurance companies, and the public began to notify authorities of a surge in such scams.
Eight men and three women – aged 28 to 47 – were arrested on Tuesday. It follows two earlier police operations that saw the arrests of 25 people since February, police said.
The 11 arrested in the latest operation included engineers, real estate agents, and sports coaches, according to Lo Oi-kin, acting superintendent of the force’s Commercial Crime Bureau.
“They were all acting as claimants, and they used similar tactics to those arrested before them, including claiming a loss of income during sick leave and providing fraudulent documents,” Lo said in Cantonese during a press conference.
The arrested were detained for investigation, Lo added.
Fake receipts
Police also laid charges against a couple arrested in an earlier operation, including 10 counts of deception and conspiracy to defraud, Lo said.
The couple – the husband a taxi driver and the wife a nurse – allegedly filed fraudulent claims by faking vehicle repair receipts and income records, Lo said.
They also face 10 counts of perverting the course of justice and will appear at the Eastern Magistrates’ Courts on Thursday, Lo added.
Since January, suspected crash-for-cash scams surged as residents reported that they were hit with disproportionately large claims following minor traffic accidents.
A police investigation found that a large number of claims were associated with one law firm, which officers raided in a previous operation.
Lo said on Wednesday that, among the 500 cases accumulated to date, about 320 were linked to that law firm.
Local media reported that the single largest claim among the cases involved HK$8 million.
Lo did not rule out further arrests in connection with the emerging form of scam.
She warned that deception and conspiracy to defraud are serious offences that carry a maximum penalty of 14 years in jail.
