Car owner devised to cheat insurance firm of $3,000 jailed 18 weeks

Ariffin MD Rais was promised a free repair work for his car's bumper but what he received instead was a 18-week jail term for allowing his vehicle to be used in a staged road accident. Ariffin, a Work Safety and Health Officer, pleaded guilty to his involvement in a plot to fraud NTUC Income Insurance Co-operative of $13,000 by submitting a falsified property damage claim to his vehicle on Thursday.

On the 27^th of July 2009 a stranger, by the name of Bhai, had approached Ariffin in a coffee shop near Sembawang Road after noticing damages to Ariffin's car bumper. Bhai, whose identity has not been established, offered to repair Ariffin's car for free if Arifin would allow his car to be used in a staged accident. The man also offered Ariffin cash if he would agree to make a personal injury claim.

Ariffin rejected the cash offer but eventually returned to the coffee shop later that evening to hand over his car to Bhai reported The Straits Times.

Various people were recruited in the scam to be ghost drivers and passengers - whose role were to make a fake report that they were involved in the accident. The English daily also reported that the fake passengers had an additional job - to make a fraudulent injury claims to insurers.

Ariffin is the fifth of nine people allegedly involved in the accident to be found guilty.

The English daily also revealed that Deputy Public Prosecutor (DPP) Joshua Lai had sought a custodial sentence of at least five months, arguing that for cases of motor insurance fraud, deterrence is the predominant sentencing consideration. DPP Lai added that such offences are difficult to detect and involve multiple layers of deception. According to DPP Lai, Ariffin's role in providing his vehicle for the staged accident makes him more culpable than a phantom driver or passenger, who merely provides his particulars in the accident statement form.

However Ariffin's defence lawyer, Michael Chia, argued his client played a minor role in the scam, as he was a "mere pawn" and "far from being the controlling mind". Mr. Chia also revealed that Ariffin did not receive any money from the scheme and, out of "genuine remorse", reimbursed NTUC Income with a sum of $8,000 - more than the cost of a new bumper.

DPP Lai replied that if Ariffin had accepted cash, he would have been pressed with more charges.

In his sentencing, District Judge Shawn Ho agreed with the prosecution that Ariffin's culpability is higher than the co-accused people who played the role of phantom drivers and passengers. The 18-week jail term for Ariffin is the longest among the five found guilty, who had been served with jail terms of between six weeks and four months.