Staged crashes, divided roles: how an insurance fraud ring operated across South Gyeongsang Province

A court has handed down prison sentences to a group who deliberately staged traffic accidents and collected insurance payouts by dividing roles among accomplices.

Judge Park Gi-ju of Changwon District Court's Criminal Division 3 sentenced two defendants in their 60s, identified only as A and B, to nine months in prison each, and a third defendant in their 50s, identified as C, to one year in prison, the court announced Sunday. All three were charged with violating the Act on Special Cases concerning the Prevention of Insurance Fraud.

The defendants were indicted on charges of staging deliberate traffic accidents with accomplices in Changwon, Gimhae and Yangsan in South Gyeongsang Province from 2024 through last year, then deceiving insurers into paying out claims by making the collisions appear accidental.

The ring assigned specific roles to each participant. Investigators found that the driver of the at-fault vehicle was called the "striker," the driver of the target vehicle the "defender," and any passenger in the target vehicle the "mannequin."

Once insurance payments came in, the accomplices divided the money according to the role each had played.

Each defendant took part in more than 10 separate insurance fraud incidents, and investigators found that each incident caused losses exceeding 100 million won ($74,700) to the insurers involved.

In its sentencing rationale, the court said the defendants "deliberately caused traffic accidents by systematically dividing roles among accomplices and fraudulently obtained insurance proceeds," adding that "insurance fraud causes grave social harm — it undermines the foundation of the insurance system, which exists to distribute risk fairly, and shifts the financial burden onto honest policyholders — and therefore warrants strict punishment."