Caught on camera: Heavily pregnant woman stages car crash to win insurance payout

[Express]

If someone had said to me that staged accidents for insurance fraud in Australia were estimated to cost $2 billion a year I would have called BS.

$2 billion a year, no wonder my premiums are high.

Caught on camera: Heavily pregnant woman stages car crash to win insurance payout

Date October 4, 2015
Eamonn Duff
Sun-Herald senior investigative writer

A pregnant mother and her alleged accomplices stage a fake car crash in a Bankstown intersection as part of an elaborate insurance scam, unaware they are being filmed on CCTV.

Watch the Video in the link provided below.


On paper, Ghenoua Fadel and her unborn baby were lucky to have escaped the crash alive.

Police had arrived at a rain-soaked Sydney intersection in May to find two mangled vehicles and a dazed Ms Fadel who was eight months pregnant and reportedly suffering stomach and back pains.

She explained that after missing the stop sign, her car had ploughed into the side of another moving vehicle. But unbeknown to her and the other driver, a nearby CCTV camera had captured the entire incident on film. When investigators later uncovered the footage - it left them reeling.



Ghenoua Fadel and Jamal Gmrawi leave court on Wednesday.


Far from being the victim of a major traffic accident, Ms Fadel helped stage the crash as part of an elaborate insurance scam.

In shocking footage, she is seen ramming her car into the other vehicle which, moments earlier, had been strategically parked at the intersection.

On Wednesday, the 25 year old appeared before Bankstown Local Court where, cradling her newborn baby, she pleaded guilty to not stopping at/before a stop line and publishing false misleading material to obtain advantage. She also acknowledged the other motorist, Jamal Gmrawi, was an associate of her husband.

Speaking to Fairfax on Saturday, a remorseful Ms Fadel said she had been going through "a hard time" and "wasn't thinking straight" when she committed the offence.

"I was worried about the car I had. I wanted a bigger car for my four children and couldn't afford it," she said, adding: "Of course I feel bad ... that's why I pleaded guilty."

Far from being an isolated incident, the staged smash is part of an escalating national trend that is costing everyday motorists millions of dollars through increases in their car insurance premiums.

The insurance Council of Australia (ICA) confirmed on Friday that networks of professional criminals had become "highly active" in the "claims farming" practice because it facilitates numerous payouts across multiple insurers.

ICA spokesman Campbell Fuller said that while pilot programs have been developed to help identify cases, they remain "hard to prove".

Like the majority of fake collisions, the case involving Ms Fadel was stage-managed in a quiet area, during the dead of night, to minimise the risk of witnesses.

A 3am on March 17, she and her alleged accomplice, Mr Gmrawi, were filmed arriving at the intersection of Glassop and Dutton streets, in Yagoona.

After twice manoeuvring his Nissan X-Trail into position, Mr Gmrawi is seen exiting his vehicle. Moments later, Ms Fadel reappears, slamming her white Toyota Rav 4 into the Nissan with force, before walking away from the wreckage.

A third person, who police are yet to identify, is also witnessed around the scene, appearing to keep watch, in a separate vehicle.

After inspecting the damage, he then climbs into Ms Fadel's car and performs a second hit before vanishing from the scene, which is soon attended by police and ambulance officials.

Fairfax can reveal that in the days that followed, Ms Fadel and Mr Gmrawi lodged separate insurance claims, through AAMI and NRMA, that were collectively worth almost $70,000.

However, when AAMI's parent company Suncorp commissioned a forensic report, not only did it reveal that Mr Gmrawi's vehicle was stationary when the crash occurred – it exposed the two separate impacts.

During resulting police interviews, Ms Fadel and Mr Gmrawi maintained their original stories provided on the night – until officers presented the footage. According to sources, Ms Fadel told them she had used "pillows" to cover her stomach and soften the impact.

"It was a stupid act," she told Fairfax, adding: "We learn from our mistakes."

She will be sentenced at Bankstown Local Court on November 18. Mr Gmrawi, who is also charged with publishing false misleading material to obtain advantage, has applied to be dealt with under section 32 of the Mental Health Act. He will appear before court the same day.

Suncorp and NRMA both confirmed they were working closely with police to detect and prosecute criminal syndicates specialising in the staged accident scams.

An NRMA spokesman said the practice was having a "huge impact" on the community, not least "the drain on resources" of emergency services such as police, ambulance and health officials who also get drawn into the fraud.

http://www.smh.com.au/nsw/caught-on-...30-gjy8uw.html

[jaydee]

More good upstanding citizens of our community taking advantage of our system.

[Bearman]

Lock them up!!!!! Absolute scum.

Someone I know was on a jury for a similar thing several years ago. The situation was a husband had "accidentally" run over his wife in their driveway or outside their house and were suing the TAC for plenty of money.

It later emerged this couple when getting low on money would take it in turns to run each other over and put in a claim with three successful previous claims!! The jury awarded in their favour compensation of $1 and costs against them!! Too funny. The appeal went in quick smart.

[XG_Falcon]

All surprise left me as soon as I read it happened in Bankstown.

[Dr Terry]

And people wonder why our CTP Green Slips in NSW are $500 to over $1,000. The innocent paying for the crimes of the few.

Dr Terry

[wodahs]

and yet they keep hiking up the cost of insurance to the ones that never make any claim let alone the rarity of an official one of miner cost

but seem to constantly be paying out large sums of monies at little cost to the constant claimants wether they be scammers of not , causing others to carry them

[pottery beige]

Been going on since cocky was an egg

[Bearman]

Originally Posted by pottery beige

Been going on since cocky was an egg

Very true but hopefully with the advent of CCTV etc more of these worthless grubs are caught, charged, shamed and humiliated.

[XR Martin]

There's easier ways of doing an 'insurance job' without even risking your own well being.

As a Police officer once told me, "We only catch the dumb ones"

[CoupeKing]

That couple should move to the base of an active Volcano so that poor kid has a better future.

[turbodewd]

they are probably dole bludgers too.

hopefully one day there will be black boxes in cars which somewhat reduce the likelihood of this rot.

[Yellow_Festiva]

What greedy scum. Fancy risking the life of your unborn for a larger car.

Another "I don't know what I was thinking at the time" excuse. Yes, you did.

You didn't know what to think when you were caught I bet...

[Mowdit]

Originally Posted by Yellow_Festiva

What greedy scum. Fancy risking the life of your unborn for a larger car.

Another "I don't know what I was thinking at the time" excuse. Yes, you did.

You didn't know what to think when you were caught I bet...

She already had 3 kids, if she had of lost the baby she could have got a house and car, if not for the video !

The lengths some people will go to, just to be able to buy a brand new Falcon

[hawke]

And people wonder why people of a middle eastern appearance get a bad reputation.

[XB GS 351 Coupe]

Bankstown, what a surprise, spend four years of my life working in that cesspool of human garbage, will never go back.

Grubs of the highest order.

[tlub]

probably sent the cars to a cousins repair shop and got the chop shop special. Funny thing happened yesterday while I was in perth . took a wrong turn so went to do a turn around and went past a wreckers , happened to look in and see a few middle eastern looking guys painting a ute out in the open (no Booth) and made me think - wonder what illegal **** happens in there. even looked dodgy

[Feathers]

He's applied to be dealt with under the Mental Health Act? Even their lawyers are dodgy... anything to get out of taking responsibility.

[Gothefalcon]

If they couldn't afford an appropriate sized car for two adults & 4 kids... then they probably can't afford to have four kids (or even the three they had before) !

I don't mind living in a society which uses our taxes, etc. to look after those that find themselves at a disadvantage in life.... but people like these, who think they can get us all to help pay for a lifestyle they choose... really annoy me !

D

[Beastie]

In a clear cut case like this where there is video evidence, I feel that these people should be charged with the harshest penalty available....

No 1st Offense

No 2nd Chance

Straight to jail, do not past go, do not collect $200!

[mik]

They will probably get a slap on the wrist .

[burnz]

the jury selected from Bankstown, they'll get off..
not what you know but whom...

[sr71]

In the good 'ol days, two kamikaze drivers would crash, then their families would all load into the car. " oh oh OH, MY BACK" 8-fold.
It must have been a give-away to the Insurance companies' Investigators, so the above accused decided to come up with one that hasn't been done very often. Maybe it was even 10 months in the making. Worth millions, if the baby was permanently harmed.

[nz13boy]

Originally Posted by hawke

And people wonder why people of a middle eastern appearance get a bad reputation.

And people wonder why those of aussie appearance get a bad reputation for being biggots and just a little racist.......

Lumping anyone of a certain race or appearance into stereotypical typecasts based on the actions of a few is silly and ignorant.

Just my two cents.

[mike_nofx]

Originally Posted by nz13boy

And people wonder why those of aussie appearance get a bad reputation for being biggots and just a little racist.......

Lumping anyone of a certain race or appearance into stereotypical typecasts based on the actions of a few is silly and ignorant.

Just my two cents.

While that's true, is it too politically incorrect these days to acknowledge that certain traits are more common in certain groups of people?

On a different but related note, Insurance companies will charge higher premiums to those from Bankstown than to say, a suburb in the east. Is that not discrimination?

[LTDHO]

Set up insurance claims are nothing new, sadly it increases the average claim cost and means that even the innocent may need to be investigated.

[Dr Terry]

Originally Posted by nz13boy

And people wonder why those of aussie appearance get a bad reputation for being biggots and just a little racist.......

Lumping anyone of a certain race or appearance into stereotypical typecasts based on the actions of a few is silly and ignorant.

Just my two cents.

I think you should go & visit Bankstown & Lakemba before making such inaccurate observations.

Dr Terry

[MAD]

In general, stereotypes don't become stereotypes without a reason.

[zoesgift]

odds on they have health care concession cards also yet are draped in the best clothes and jewellery

[Work Horse]

These people have done something illegal, and they are of Middle Eastern appearance. OK

These people have done something illegal, because they are of Middle Eastern appearance. Not OK

"Racism
: a belief that race is the primary determinant of human traits and capacities and that racial differences produce an inherent superiority of a particular race."

[ltd]

What gets me is how dumb these people are.
Seriously, if the car that was hit in the side was just normally driving down the road, it would have traveled some distance before coming to a stop - it would not have remained at the point of impact. For example, here's a T-Bone accident https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zVzXEht1aME
Note how as both vehicles were moving, the momentum of each would not allow it to come to a dead stop at the point of impact.
Then the fact that these idiots decided to keep to their story until they were shown the CCTV.
Oh well, all the more filler for my book and hopefully TV show; "Muslims say the darnedest things".