Aug 13, 2010
2 admit insurance fraud
<!-- by line --> By Khushwant Singh
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THE phantom passengers were promised $200 to $500 in easy cash by pretending to be victims of a road traffic accident but never received the money. Lim Jit Meng, 47, and Foo Tze Chiang, 41, are now facing up to 21/2 years in jail.
They also found out that Ong Ai Peng, who hatched the plan, had hoped to claim $9,355.05 each in personal injury insurance claims from the India International Insurance (III).
Both men pleaded guilty on Friday to insurance fraud committed between July and September 2008. A district court heard that the duo had met up with Ong, 48, after he heard of a traffic accident involving a taxi and three other vehicles that occurred on July 15 along Sembawang Road.
The taxi was insured by III and Ong roped in Lim and Foo to pretend to be injured passengers in the other cars. On July 16, the two accomplices were asked to go to the Yishun Healthway Clinic for a medical checkup.
There, they were coached by Ong to tell the doctor that they were passengers in a car involved in a traffic accident the previous day and had sustained injuries. Both were given two days of medical leave and the duo handed their medical certificates and receipts to Ong after the consultation.
However, III smelled a rat and called in the Commercial Affairs Department (CAD). Investigations then revealed numerous other suspicious claims and 16 people were charged in June this year (10). Lim and Foo are the first to be dealt with. Both will be sentenced next Friday. Ong's case is pending.
