Brothers Ahmed Abou-eid and Mahmoud Abou-eid sentenced over ‘crash for cash’ scam

Two Melbourne brothers who run a tow truck business have been caught conspiring to stage collisions in an elaborate insurance fraud scheme.

Mahmoud Abou-eid, 37, owns and operates MSA Towing.

A pair of “crash for cash” scamming brothers conspired to stage collisions on Melbourne streets in an elaborate insurance fraud scheme.

Ahmed Abou-eid, 39, and his younger sibling Mahmoud, 37, both admitted their criminal venture after police uncovered 31 staged vehicle crashes from October 4, 2016 to June 27, 2017.

But the Lebanese tow truck operators have narrowly avoided jail for what County Court judge Richard Smith described as “sophisticated, complex, planned and dishonest behaviour”.

The court heard the duo, with others, arranged for the collisions to appear genuine, using false documents and creating photographs of the purported crashes.

They even falsely reported them to police and created quotes for damage repair to be provided to insurance companies.

The parties involved in the collision could then make fraudulent claims on the insurance company of the insured driver at fault.

Ahmed admitted involvement in 15 of the fake collisions, while Mahmoud pleaded guilty to being involved in six.

Despite his best efforts, Mahmoud’s attempts to obtain a total of $194,792.09 failed, with none of the claims paid out.

But his older brother, Ahmed, who pleaded guilty to 16 charges including five counts of obtaining a financial advantage by deception and making false documents, pocketed $129,956.51.

A further six attempts by Ahmed to claim a total $169,863.95 were rejected.

Sentencing Mahmoud this month, Judge Smith said: “Your offending was not some spur of the moment action. It was relatively sophisticated, complex, planned and dishonest behaviour.

Your offending took place over a number of years.”

Judge Smith said the father of four who operated MSA Towing played “an active and crucial role” in the fraud.

He even used his wife’s Audi in one “crash” at the Argyle St and Sydney Rd junction in Fawkner on October 4, 2017 at 4.15pm.

“You were the organiser and facilitator of the staged collision,” Judge Smith said.

Other associates in the plot who were insured would be deemed the at fault driver to make the claim.

Mahmoud would advise them where to drop the vehicle and leave the key; who the other purported drivers were and to “stick to the story” when asked by the insurer.

Judge Smith said it was not a victimless crime, with each of the insurance companies spending considerable time and expense investigating the claims.

With each successful claim, he said, it could mean higher premiums for other road users.

But he took into consideration their early guilty pleas, limited criminal history and personal circumstances in determining the prosecution’s push for jail was harsh.

He instead ordered both brothers complete a two-year Community Correction Order, including 200 hours of unpaid community work and drug, alcohol and mental health treatment.