Police raid in Bonn Gang suspected to have provoked accidents and collected insurance money
Bonn · A nine-member gang including a man from Bonn, including a lawyer and a motor vehicle expert, is said to have deliberately provoked traffic accidents and then committed insurance fraud. The police searched eight apartments on Tuesday.
A 34-year-old man from Bonn, together with several accomplices, is said to have deliberately provoked traffic accidents and then committed insurance fraud. Now nine suspects have been discovered - among them a lawyer and a motor vehicle expert.
According to Bonn police, traffic investigators searched eight apartments in Bonn and Königswinter early Tuesday morning. At the same time, further apartments in Cologne and Asbach were searched. The searches were prompted by proceedings against a total of nine defendants on suspicion of insurance fraud after provoked traffic accidents.
The 34-year-old principal offender from Bonn is said to have been involved in numerous traffisc accidents between May 2017 and September 2018, the police said. Each time he was driving in high-quality cars registered to acquaintances. All of the people involved in the accidents were either older road users or novice drivers. A surveyor who was involved in the crimes is said to have subsequently issued reports as favours without taking into account previous damage to the vehicles.
Very high repair costs for the damage had arisen - these demands were made by a Bonn lawyer with the opposing insurance companies. Most of these damages have already been settled. The damage sums refunded by the liability insurances of the accident opponents amount to far over 100,000 euro.
During the searches on Tuesday numerous documents and media were secured, which are now being evaluated. Documents were also seized from the 34-year-old principal offender, indicating that he had committed other crimes. The investigations continue.
(Original text: ga, Translation: Mareike Graepel)
