Man who orchestrated accidents for insurance claims jailed 44 months
TODAY file photo
SINGAPORE — A man described by a judge as the “conductor” who orchestrated the move of other “actors” in a series of scam traffic accidents to make insurance claims was today (Jan 12) sentenced to 44 months’ jail.
Although this was Tew Yee Jeng’s first brush with the law and he had pleaded guilty, District Judge Shaiffudin Saruwan said these mitigating factors were outweighed by the “egregious” nature of the 40-year-old’s offences.
Tew was convicted in November of three counts of abetment by conspiracy to cheat, one count of abetment by conspiracy to provide false information to a public servant and one count of reckless driving.
Tew, a Malaysian national, played a central role in the illegal enterprise, said the judge, who also ordered that he be disqualified from driving all classes of vehicles for five years after his release from prison.
Tew rounded up drivers who were desperate to absolve themselves from debts and financial hardship as his accomplices. He would instruct them to abruptly slam their brakes on purpose, leading to collisions with vehicles behind that could not be stopped on time to prevent a crash.
Between January 2012 and July 2014, Tew’s ring submitted almost S$105,000 in motor insurance claims for property damage and injuries, and about S$18,300 was disbursed to them.
“The (defence counsel) had tried to understate his (Tew’s) role but the facts are clear: He was the conductor, he orchestrated each and every move of the other actors,” District Judge Shaiffudin said.
He also said Tew had entered Singapore for the sole purpose of staging the accidents, which “exposed innocent road users to great risk of personal injury and property damage”.
“Given the gravity of his offences, I will not give his clean record significant weight,” the judge said.
Tew could have been jailed 10 years and fined for each charge of abetment by conspiracy to cheat.
For abetment to drive recklessly, he could have been jailed up to two years and fined. For abetment to provide false information to a public servant, he could have been jailed one year and fined up to to S$5,000.
Last September, one of Tew’s accomplices was sentenced to eight months’ jail. Two months later in November, another was sentenced to eight months’ jail and disqualified from holding all classes of driving licences and driving any motor vehicle in Singapore for 30 months.
The cases for another two alleged accomplices are still before the courts, while three others accused are still at large.
