SINGAPORE: The mastermind behind a syndicate that staged accidents in a bid to scam motor insurers was on Monday (Jun 18) sentenced to nine years in jail.
Sollihin Anhar, 45, who owned a car workshop, abetted the submission of fraudulent claims worth more than S$1.6 million, and got more than S$300,000 in payouts.
AdvertisementThe amount claimed makes the scam the biggest of its kind so far.
The syndicate’s activities came to light after 13 insurance companies lodged separate police reports on fraudulent claims for 21 accidents that happened between May 2011 and Oct 2013, according to court documents.
Among the victims were NTUC Income, Aviva and Liberty Insurance.
Sollihin was charged in June 2014. While out on bail, he called others involved in the scam to ask them not to admit to anything.
AdvertisementAdvertisementHis sentence was based on 55 of 203 charges brought against him, mainly for cheating and perverting the course of justice. The other charges were taken into consideration.
On Monday, Sollihin appeared in court accompanied by 15 family members, who were seen to be in tears.
MODUS OPERANDI WAS TO STAGE ACCIDENTS USING VEHICLES NEEDING REPAIR
The syndicate's modus operandi was to stage accidents using vehicles that had been sent in to Sollihin's or his associate’s workshop on Bukit Merah Lane. In exchange, they offered free repairs and paintwork to drivers who were willing to allow their vehicles to be used in staged accidents.
More than 80 people have been convicted as part of the same case, including phantom drivers and passengers. The prosecution said Sollihin played multiple roles that were “pivotal” to the scheme.
In asking for him to be sentenced to nine years in jail, the prosecution said: “Fraudulent claims have a direct impact on the general insurance premiums payable by all motorists in Singapore, in addition to being hard to detect and economically unfeasible to challenge.”
Sollihin’s lawyer Kalidass Murugaiyan, however, sought a maximum of six years in jail for his client, saying that Sollihin is “far from being the mastermind of the offences”. Instead, his role was to coordinate the offences on behalf of the “actual mastermind”, he said in mitigation.
He added that Sollihin has given the police details of the purported “actual mastermind” who has not been apprehended.
Rahmat Mohd, described as Sollihin’s right hand man, was in 2016 jailed for six years and two months.
Rahmat was in charge of recruiting phantom drivers and passengers, or instigating the drivers to plant passengers in their vehicles to make more fraudulent claims. The two met in 2011 when Sollihin was a freelance despatch driver.
For his cheating offences, Sollihin could have been jailed up to 10 years and fined. For obstructing, preventing, perverting or defeating course of justice, he could have been jailed up to seven years, fined or both.
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