Dead man blamed for Australian speeding fines

CANBERRA, Nov 11 (Reuters)

A dead man has been blamed for hundreds of speeding offences in Australia in what police believe is a major fraud designed to help motorists avoid traffic fines.

Police in Sydney said 240 people were under investigation over the speeding scam, where hundreds of motorists blamed either the same dead man, or a person living in another state, for driving their cars at the time of the speeding offences.

"These offences amount to fraud and, if proven, those involved could face stiff penalties including imprisonment," New South Wales Police Superintendent Daryl Donnolly said in a statement on Saturday.

The police investigation found hundreds of people named the same man from Sydney's west, who died five years ago, as the person who was driving their vehicle when it was speeding.

The police investigation follows nationwide publicity given to retired Federal Court judge Marcus Einfeld who avoided a A$77 ($59) speeding fine when he named a dead woman as driving his car at the time.

Einfeld denied any wrongdoing, but his case remains under investigation for possible fraud or perjury charges.

The Einfeld case prompted an audit of people who file statutory declarations to avoid paying speeding fines in New South wales, Australia's most populous state.

The audit found about 700,000 people had signed sworn statements in the past three years to say they should not be fined because they were not driving their cars at the time of the offence.