Family accused of staging dozens of crashes with children in car

(123rf)

South Korean police have referred a couple in their 40s and the woman’s mother in her 60s to prosecutors on suspicion of staging dozens of traffic accidents over nearly five years to fraudulently claim insurance payouts, while repeatedly putting three minor children at risk.

The Goyang Police Station said Wednesday that the suspects were referred to prosecutors without detention on charges of violating the Act on the Prevention of Insurance Fraud and the Child Welfare Act.

Police allege the group deliberately caused 22 traffic accidents between May 2020 and June 2024 in Goyang, Hanam and Seoul, collecting about 120 million won ($81,200) in insurance payments.

According to investigators, the suspects drove three vehicles provided by the grandmother while carrying three underage children, intentionally crashing into cars that were changing lanes or making turns.

Police said the accidents were engineered to appear incidental, but followed repeated and similar patterns.

After the crashes, the suspects allegedly exaggerated damages by claiming repair costs without fixing the vehicles or by having all occupants hospitalized for treatment even after minor collisions, investigators said.

The case began after an insurance company reported suspicious claims, but the initial investigation stalled due to limited objective evidence and the suspects’ denial of wrongdoing.

Police later secured statements from 13 other drivers involved in the accidents, who said they believed the crashes had been intentional.

Further analysis by the National Forensic Service and the Korea Road Traffic Authority found repeated similarities in crash locations and methods, including collisions targeting vehicles that drifted out of lanes during left turns.

Investigators also found that some accidents occurred at intervals of as little as 10 days, and that vehicles had been scrapped three times to conceal prior accident histories. An analysis of bank records indicated that insurance payouts were distributed among the suspects, police said.

Police added child abuse charges, citing the repeated involvement of the three minors in staged accidents that exposed them to physical danger.