Promise Momah: Man makes up fake carjacking story to claim insurance

A disability support worker in Melbourne’s west told police axe-wielding carjackers stole his car but eventually his elaborate lie unravelled.

A disability support worker in Melbourne‘s west concocted an elaborate lie that axe-wielding carjackers stole his car so he could commit insurance fraud, a court has heard.

Promise Momah, 28, called police from the Deer Park Hotel about 10pm on August 17, 2017, to report his car stolen by two “caucasian” men while he was driving from a friend‘s house in Werribee to Footscray.

He said one man was standing in the middle of the road to stop the car, while another, “brandishing” an axe, approached from the side.

Shortly after 11pm, investigators located the abandoned Toyota sedan which had crashed through a chain-link fence at the Keilor Downs skatepark.

Police said no CCTV of the crash was located and the only fingerprints found during a forensic examination belonged to Momah.

But a breakthrough came in October when an RACV insurance investigator contacted police with inconsistencies in Momah’s statement.

His claim was denied.

Promise Momah, 28, was sentenced to 100 hours community service in Sunshine Magistrates' Court on November 18, 2021.

Police later found a call record from Silvertop Taxis of Momah ordering a cab from nearby the crash site to his Footscray home and arrested him on January 24, 2019.

Momah appeared in the Sunshine Magistrates’ Court on Wednesday, pleading guilty to attempt to obtain financial advantage by deception – a charge which carries up to 10 years imprisonment.

Magistrate Michelle Mykytowycz said after listening to the facts, Momah was “very lucky” he wasn’t also charged with making a false police report.

“This is very serious offending, it was an abject waste of very valuable police resources and a farce when what he seeks is an insurance payout,” she said.

His lawyer, Jarrod Behan, said Momah was “remorseful” and acknowledged what he had done was wrong.

“He was going through a rough patch at the time and there hasn’t been subsequent offending,” he said.

Momah was sentenced to 100 hours community service on a 12 month community corrections order without conviction.