Thai authorities arrested a man for suspected insurance fraud after finding four cars linked to him had crashed into canals in strikingly similar fashion nearly two years ago.
The Economic Crime Suppression Division detained the man, identified as Anucha, 26, on Monday on a warrant for “attempted fraud and fraudulently claiming insurance benefits”, the Bangkok Post reported.
Mr Anucha was detained from his home in the Ban Pong district of central Ratchaburi province.
Investigators said they had recovered the cars that were deliberately crashed into water bodies.
The investigation was launched in May last year after an insurance firm alerted police to a suspicious claim.
Mr Anucha had gone to the company claiming his insured car had accidentally crashed into a canal in the Nakhon Pathom area.
The company detected irregularities in the claim, halted his payout and alerted police, investigators said.
He now faces charges of attempted fraud and dishonestly seeking insurance money.
Investigators from the Central Investigation Bureau and the Economic Crime Suppression Division said that Mr Anucha acquired four cars through lease-purchase agreements over a short period in 2023 and insured them with different insurance firms.
All four vehicles ended up being involved in strikingly similar accidents. In each case, the driver claimed to have lost control of the and driven it into a water body.
Insurance claims for the alleged accidents resulted in a total payout of over 900,000 baht (about £20,560) from different insurance companies.
Mr Anucha had reportedly only paid the first instalment for insuring each of the cars.
The scam involved at least four people and Mr Anucha was the ringleader, investigators claimed. The men drove the cars into irrigation canals along remote roads in Nakhon Pathom, Ratchaburi and Kanchanaburi. One of them staged two different accidents in quick succession.
Mr Anucha has partially admitted to the charges, investigators said. He has admitted to acquiring the four cars but claimed to have sold them to the others shortly thereafter.
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