Fraud on Roundabouts

Between 2006 and 2016 there was a highly suspcious number of traffic accidents on roundabout in the city of Granada, all of which were similar in nature.

GRA Rounabout 02For this reason the Policía Local began investigating the circumstance in each case. The resulting report proved essential for uncovering a massive insurance scam.

Consequently 43 people have been charged and will be appearing before a magistrate.

They are being charged with fraud, and in the case where the same people were involved in more than one accident, the charge is estafa continuada, which would be something like ‘repetitive fraud.’

Twelve of the accused could be sentenced to 39 months imprisonment, whilst for another ten people the sentence would be 27 months imprisonment. For the remaining 21 accused, the length of imprisonment would be 15 months.

Allegedly, the sums that the fraudsters managed to swindle out of the insurance companies in some cases was over 15,000 euros, mainly for feigned injuries..

The accused were either relatives or close friends, who pacted stage accidents using two different methods:

One consisted in swerving off the lane and hitting a parked car, a tree or another kind of obstacle – there were seven accidents of this kind. The other method was to provoke being hit from behind by an unwary driver not involved in the scam.

BIAD TopTV 750-187

When there was an accident between two members of the gang, then it would normally be a glancing, lateral blow with persons in the vehicle on the receiving end claiming for feigned injuries.

The most used ploy, however, was to accelerate in order to collide with a vehicle in the centre lane that was changing lanes. This kind of ruse accounted for 75% of the faked accidents.

According to the Public Prosecutor, 97.79%  of all the accidents investigated occurred whilst the accused were unemployed; i.e., out of work.

Editorial comment: the vast majority of Spanish drivers have no idea how to use a roundabout so the foreigner has no option other than to adopt “when in Rome…” driving habits. It’s either that or be prepared to go round several times in the inner lane until you can find a gap to exit.

(News: City & Metropolitan Area, Granada, Andalucia)

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *