Hong Kong police raid lawyer’s office in probe of ‘crash-for-cash’ scams

Hong Kong Police have raided the office of a lawyer as part of a probe into a growing number of “crash-for-cash” scams in which victims face unusually high and delayed compensation claims for minor or even non-existent traffic accidents.The move came days after the arrest of two doctors and a married couple for allegedly masterminding more than 20 such scams, with officers investigating more than 100 suspicious cases. The largest claim exceeded HK$800,000 (US$102,560).Officers from the Commercial Crime Bureau searched the lawyer’s office in Mong Kok on Monday night, leaving with about 10 boxes of documents.Secretary for Security Chris Tang Ping-keung earlier said police had discovered that many of the bogus claims involved the same few law firms and doctors.Police have received reports of drivers facing sudden massive civil claims, long after officers had closed traffic cases, with some involving a minor bump or sometimes no collisions at all. The claims typically covered legal fees, medical expenses, loss of income, vehicle repairs and other miscellaneous costs.As of last week, the force said it was reviewing more than 100 suspicious cases, mostly referred by the insurance industry and the Federation of Insurers, as well as alerted by the public.