Gang gets 3 years in jail, fine for reporting fake road accidents in UAE

Umm Al Quwain - The court has ordered the gangsters to pay a fine of Dh750,000-Dh150,000 each.

The Umm Al Quwain Misdemeanour Court has sentenced five men, all Arabs, to three years in prison on charges of counterfeiting official electronic reports of road accidents.

The court has ordered the five gangsters to pay a hefty fine of Dh750,000-Dh150,000 each and to be deported after serving their jail terms.

As per the sheet of indictment, the gang managed to dupe the insurance companies by providing them with fake e-accident reports of their vehicles issued by Saaed traffic company to siphon off compensation.
Late in September last year, the Umm Al Quwain Police arrested Arab drivers for reporting 20 fake road accidents all over the country to collect undeserved compensation from insurance companies.
Major-General Sheikh Rashid bin Ahmad Al Mualla, Commander-in-Chief of the Umm Al Quwain Police, said the traffic and patrols department was alerted about some repetitive road accidents involving the same vehicles and drivers over a short time.
"Investigations showed that the accidents were reported in several emirates, including Umm Al Quwain."
The UAQ Police, teaming up with law enforcement bodies in other emirates, tracked down the fraudsters involved in traffic system abuse, and nabbed them, he added.
"The suspects admitted to intentionally committing the road accidents. They didn't repair their partially damaged vehicles each time to collect undeserved damages from insurance companies."
Col Saeed Obaid bin Aran, director of the traffic and patrols department, UAQ Police, said they discovered the traffic insurance scam when tracking the accidents registered in the traffic system.
"Most of the accidents occurred at parking lots and in the late hours, involving the same drivers and vehicles."
The suspects were referred to the UAQ Public Prosecution, while the insurance companies involved were notified of the scam.
ahmedshaaban@khaleejtimes.com

• Umm Al Quwain