SINGAPORE — Three men were charged in court yesterday with insurance fraud, after they allegedly used false accident statements to trick two insurance companies into paying for vehicle damages.

Abdul Aziz Kassim, 44, Rosli Ahmed, 51, and Mahmud Hammed, 53, have been accused of filing dishonest damaged property claims with Direct Asia Insurance and India International Insurance in August 2011 for car accidents that never occurred.

Using the false statements, the three Singaporeans convinced both insurance companies into processing the claims. Each man allegedly received S$10,829.35 in claims from Direct Asia Insurance and S$22,761.30 from India International Insurance.

The three men had purportedly lodged the statements for car accidents that they claimed had occurred on Aug 4, 2011. They had corroborated each other’s stories by stating that each of their vehicles had been involved in the accident with the other two.

The trio each face one charge for inducing the insurance companies into delivering payment for false claims, and another charge for abetting one another to commit the crime. If found guilty, each of them could be jailed up to 10 years and may also be fined.

Their cases will be heard again in the State Courts on May 27. YVONNE LIM