AMMAN — Jordanians are being targeted through a scam that
involves staged car accidents and often targets vulnerable elderly drivers with
threats and blackmail.
اضافة اعلان
In a statement, the Public Security Directorate (
PSD)
confirmed last week that they had received information and complaints about a
number of people defrauding citizens by fabricating accidents.
Scammers throw themselves in front of cars or pretend they
are hit to extort the motorists, demanding money in exchange for not submitting
complaints about these accidents.
PSD spokesperson, Colonel Amer Al-Sartawi, added that an
investigative team from the
Criminal Investigation Department in northern
Amman identified three people who were allegedly involved in committing a number of
these crimes and arrested them. The suspects “confessed during the interrogation
to fabricating traffic accidents and defrauding citizens, and the case was
referred to the judiciary.”
The disturbing crimes come during a time of economic
downturn and a high rate of unemployment.
“This action rarely takes place in Jordan,” said lawyer Eyad
Al Baw to Jordan News. “Yet it is there, and I believe that legislation must be
reviewed so that those who think about committing such a crime reconsider their
plans.”
“I believe that penalties taken against them should be more
serious,” Baw elaborated. “This is such a disturbing crime that should never
happen again.”
Khaled Barakat, another jurist, confirmed to Jordan News
that before electronic accident reports were standardized, this practice used
to be common. “I can say that this crime takes place in Jordan from time to
time but not too often,” he explained.
“Some people fake or fabricate car accidents,” he
claimed. “Those who think they are
victims of a fake car crash should get in contact with traffic accident
investigators. They can help them easily and protect their rights when the
accident is proven to be fake.”
Zaid Al Otoum, a member of the Parliament, said in remarks
to Jordan News that the matter is not about the legislation and penalties taken
against those people. “It is all about the actual role of the traffic accident
investigators; they should do their work efficiently and collect data and
evidence.”
Alaa Jardaneh, also a lawyer, told
Jordan News that these
fraud schemes occur in many ways. One of the most familiar ways is when the perpetrator,
for example, breaks a car’s mirror on purpose, and claims that the victim hit
it.
Former minister and columnist, Sabri Rbeihat, has recently
written an op-ed recalling two of such incidents that happened with him
personally.
Jardaneh called on victims to call the police or traffic
accident investigators and tell them what happened exactly. “They will help
you, they have all the needed tools to reveal and detect the exact details and
evidence of the accident and punish the doer. Just do not be scared or weak and
you will be fine.”
A 2017 amendment to the Penal Code stiffened the penalty for
faking traffic accidents to imprisonment of two years and a fine of JD50 in
cases of extortion to obtain an unlawful benefit if the alleged matter is
related to a traffic accident.
The amendment, which passed all its constitutional stages
and was published in the Official Gazette on 30/8/2017, came after the
occurrence of many cases of fake traffic accidents in the past years.
The Criminal Investigation Department called on citizens to
not end any traffic accident through an unofficial deal, and encouraged them to
go through the legal procedures with official authorities to investigate the
accident and reach the truth.
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National News
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