Indian man claiming insurance fraudulently avoids jail

Melbourne, May 3 (ANI): A magistrate's court here has delivered a suspended jail sentence to an Indian national who sought to commit insurance fraud by declaring that he had been attacked by thugs. He also claimed that they doused his car with petrol and burned it.

Jaspreet Singh, however, had actually destroyed the car himself to claim the insurance money.

The Herald Sun quoted magistrate Felicity Broughton as describing Singh's botched insurance scam as a stupid "premeditated enterprise" that brought great shame to himself, his family and his community.

Defence lawyer Paul McClure said it was a desperate plan for money that "backfired".

Police prosecutor Sen-Constable Luke Devlin told Melbourne Magistrates' Court today that Singh intended to sell his car - a 2003 Ford Futura sedan - as he intended to return to India on holiday at the end of January 2010. (ANI)