Staged 29 Traffic Accidents During Lane Changes... Mother and Lover Even Mobilized

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A group has been arrested by the police for intentionally causing traffic accidents and pocketing 240 million won in insurance payouts and other funds. Investigations revealed that they even had the driver's girlfriend and mother sit in the passenger seat to extort larger insurance payouts.

Reporter Lee Se-hyeon.

[Reporter]

A taxi making a left turn along the guidance lines crosses lanes, and at that exact moment, it suddenly collides with a vehicle in the adjacent lane.

[Footage from victim taxi's black box: Oh, what!]

The intersection in front of the Lotte World Tower in Jamsil.

While making a left turn, it directly collides with a vehicle attempting to change lanes.

This was the crime scene of a group that intentionally caused accidents targeting cars changing lanes across Seoul, Guri in Gyeonggi Province, and Namyangju over a period of two years and five months starting from March 2023.

[Park Hye-ran / Victim: Something hit the back with a thump. I thought, 'What is this?', and saw a young woman getting out holding her neck. It was such an absurd thing to fall victim to.]

The total number of crimes they committed reached 29, and the illegally acquired insurance money alone amounts to 240 million won.

After causing the accidents, if settlement money did not meet their expectations, they used a tactic of staying hospitalized for long periods even without serious injuries.

Investigations showed that they spent up to five days in the hospital even for accidents where only the side mirrors grazed each other, and placed the girlfriend or mother in the passenger seat to double their insurance payouts.

They alternated using two secondhand cars purchased under the girlfriend's name to cause accidents, and even continued their crimes using rental cars provided by insurance companies following the crashes.

[Lee Byeong-hun / Head of the Traffic Crime Investigation Team, Gyeonggi Bukbu Provincial Police Agency: In 2024, they had a prior record of receiving a 1 million won fine for the same type of insurance fraud. Considering they habitually committed these crimes, we applied aggravated punishment, under which insurance fraud penalties can be increased by up to 50 percent.]

The police arrested the main suspect, a man in his 40s surnamed Ahn, on charges of violating the Special Act on the Prevention of Insurance Fraud, and also forwarded Ahn's mother and girlfriend, who participated in the crimes, to the prosecution.

(Video reporting: Kim Seung-tae, Video editing: Lee Seung-yeol, Footage provided by: Gyeonggi Bukbu Provincial Police Agency)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.