The Commute Was a Car 'Hunting Ground'... "How Much Will I Get This Time?" [Filing False Claims]

[Financial News] Another one today.The collision was fairly hard this time, but a faint smile spread across A's lips. A was curious about how much he would receive.

That day, too, A searched for places where the number of lanes decreased. After exiting a tunnel, A was driving toward a university when hefound a section where four lanes narrowed to three.
He singled out a passenger car that was already changing lanes as his target. Even as it moved over,he did not slow down and struck it from behind.
Immediately after the crash, he got out of the car with a deeply furrowed brow and portrayed the driver of the other vehicle as being at fault.
Because the driver had changed lanes, the driver did not realize that the incident might be insurance fraud. The driver ultimately reported it to the insurer and filed an insurance claim. A ended up receiving slightly more than 1 million won. Of course, that amount included money paid in advance for medical expenses.This was not his first time. Nor did it end there. Over a period of more than two years, A caused 12 such intentional collisions and fraudulently obtained insurance payouts. The amountexceeded 60 million won

Prison Sentence; Court Says, "He Exaggerated the Losses"
But the similarity in his methods proved to be his weakness. Although the intervals between the incidents were irregular, most occurred while vehicles were changing lanes. Because many of the reported cases involved the same insurer, investigators uncovered the suspicious pattern.After an investigation, A was indicted and ultimately sentenced to 18 months in prison for violating the Special Act on Prevention of Insurance Fraud.This came four and a half years after he committed his first insurance fraud.
The court said, "In many cases, the other driver did not realize that an accident had occurred, so the occurrence of the accident was in part determined by A's driving maneuvers, yet A made no effort whatsoever to avoid the accident, such as slowing down ortaking other evasive action."It also noted, "Although all the collisions were minor and appeared unlikely to have caused bodily injury or other harm,A exaggerated the extent of the losses and received excessive insurance payouts from the victimsor had them paid to third parties such as hospitals."
The court went on to point out, "Given that a substantial portion of the accidents occurred near routes A used for commuting, where he was familiar with the traffic signals and road conditions, it is difficult to view them as accidents caused by the negligence of the drivers of the other vehicles."

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