Hong Kong police arrest 11 people, including teenager as young as 14 years old, linked to fraudulent traffic accidents

The suspects were alleged to have staged minor traffic accidents in a bid to convince the drivers they were responsible and demanded compensation for the purported injuries suffered, Law said.

He said the case came to light on April 11 when staff from a secondary school in Tuen Mun called the police for help after the mastermind, along with two women aged 22 and 23, attempted to take the 15-year-old student.

The chief inspector said the mastermind was found to be involved in 44 minor traffic accidents between October last year and March, and as many as two cases a day at one stage.

“This is an unusual situation,” he said.

He pointed out that 10 of the traffic accidents involved the 15-year-old student, and the two female accomplices, who acted as passengers on the mastermind’s car and claimed to have been injured from the collisions.

Law said although all the accidents were minor in nature, 16 drivers had given monetary compensation to the mastermind “out of guilt for injuring a minor”.

With the assistance of the school, the police discovered the mastermind had actively recruited students as passengers, who would falsely claim to be injured after a traffic accident occurred.

Law revealed that the police arrested another seven secondary school student suspects on Friday, including five males and two females aged between 14 and 15 in Tuen Mun.

He said they played the role as passengers on the mastermind’s car, with some of them claiming they were injured from the car accidents.

The seven suspects were released on bail.

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Law said the angle and force of the accidents were “completely uncontrollable”.

“It is evident that the criminal did not consider the personal safety of these young individuals,” he noted.

Law said most of the students involved in the case came from underprivileged families, whose parents were often too busy to accompany them.

“The criminals took advantage of this opportunity by enticing them into committing illegal acts through free entertainment, meals and monetary support, but ultimately this destroyed their future,” he said..

The police urged young people not to trust strangers who provide them with so-called lucrative job opportunities.

In Hong Kong, conspiracy to defraud is punishable by up to 14 years in jail under the Theft Ordinance.