Police in Hong Kong have uncovered a sprawling fraud scheme in which hundreds of people allegedly staged traffic accidents to fraudulently obtain millions in government financial assistance, authorities announced on Wednesday.
In a major crackdown, law enforcement said they arrested 275 individuals suspected of involvement in the scam, which is believed to have netted around HK$14 million (US$1.8 million) over the past 15 months.
“This was a highly organized criminal enterprise,” said Chief Inspector Tse Yu-ngai of the Hong Kong Police Force. “The suspects worked in syndicates, with some even staging accidents involving public transportation to bolster the illusion of legitimacy.”
According to Tse, the scheme involved participants deliberately causing collisions, often with the complicity of the other driver, and then filing claims for financial support from the government’s Social Welfare Department. To receive the assistance, the “victims” were required to provide documentation from registered medical practitioners.
In one particularly brazen case, Tse said that 11 out of 14 people involved in a single staged bus accident were part of the same syndicate. “They got on the double-decker bus at different stations, then arranged for a private car to collide with the bus and create the appearance of a genuine accident.”
Authorities also uncovered instances of debtors being coerced by creditors to participate in the staged crashes as a means of paying off outstanding loans.
The suspects, ranging in age from 18 to 64, now face charges of conspiracy to defraud and fraud. The police investigation is ongoing, with the possibility of additional arrests.
“This type of exploitation of public assistance programs is deplorable and will not be tolerated,” said a spokesperson for the Social Welfare Department. “We are cooperating fully with law enforcement to root out this criminal activity and protect the integrity of our services.”
