Man accused of staging car accident for insurance claims

In the second such case this year, a man has been charged with cheating an insurance company by staging a road accident.

Mohamad Eznillah Mohamed Razali, who was charged last Friday, is accused of conspiring with Mohammad Shahel Mod Talib to cheat NTUC Income Insurance Co-operative by making fraudulent claims amounting to $31,490.

Just last month, four other men were jailed between six weeks and four months for providing their vehicles and posing as injured passengers in another fake road accident in Sembawang Drive.

In the latest case, Mohamad Eznillah, who works in a mosque, told police that at 4.15pm on Oct 9 last year, he and his wife were involved in a three-vehicle collision in Sungei Kadut Drive.

The 34-year-old apparently told Staff Sergeant Koh Chee Wee at Siglap Neighbourhood Police Post that a man named Razali Mis Awal was the driver of one vehicle, and a second vehicle was driven by another man named Rais Mohd Yusoff.

Mohamad Eznillah also claimed he was the driver of the third vehicle, which was registered under the name of his wife Ruhaima Sinin.

He then allegedly made false personal injury insurance claims for himself, his wife and one Siti Arrayyan Hashim, by lodging an accident statement with NTUC Income. He also allegedly deceived the insurer into processing a claim filed under his wife's name for damage to the car, amounting to $17,525.

Mohamad Eznillah, who faces two charges of cheating with two others to be taken into consideration, and one charge of providing false information to the police, is currently out on bail. His case will be heard again next month.

The executive director of General Insurance Association of Singapore, Mr Derek Teo, told The Sunday Times that in the last three years, the industry has received inflated and fraudulent motor claims amounting to over $140 million a year. Motor insurers are lobbying for a law against insurance fraud.

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