INSURANCE FRAUD RING TAKEDOWN
In a report that was just released today and a crime, insurance fraud, we've been working for over 30 years, the DOJ announced that 23 people were indicted in connection to approximately 14 pre-planned car accidents netting over $1 million in insurance claims between 2017 and 2020. This type of insurance fraud has been going on since the early 1980's. We've seen it ebb and flow but as long as there's insurance in place, there's criminals out here to try and take advantage of it.
According to the 81-page indictment filed last month, the defendants are accused of planning the collisions, orchestrating them mostly on secluded roads where only the accused defendants could be witnesses to the crash, fraudulently making insurance claims, and fabricating or exaggerating injuries between July 4, 2017, and September 25, 2020. As stated previously, we've seen this scam going on for 30+ years and it's always the same. A good insurance investigator has to be on the lookout for similarities in claims and try to connect the players together as they usually serve as witnesses for each other on these false claims. It does take some digging but geography usually works in an investigator's favor as these rings usually operate in a limited area choosing not to go to other states to stage these accidents.
In some of the pre-planned accidents there were not even any drivers or passengers. The suspects just used something heavy to assure the airbags deployed and hammers to break the windows of the vehicles. In one case we worked several years ago, the father of this family crime ring dug a deep hole, had his 14-year old son put one leg in the hole, then the dad took a running jump and pushed his son so that the leg in the hole would break. I'm sure he got Dad of the Year for that one, but it was so they could claim injuries from an automobile accident that never occurred.
Our Florida, Colorado, New Mexico and South Carolina Insurance Investigators work with a variety of insurance companies to find the fraudulent claims that are alive and well and gather the evidence to prove they are fraudulent. If your SIU isn't sniffing out these fraudulent claims as well as they should be, give us a call and let us bring our over 30+ years of experience to work on your claims. Call us at 352.509.8900, 719.208.4088, 505.208.6400 or 803.806.7800.
About the author. R. Lee Walters is a retired FBI Agent with over 24 years of federal law enforcement experience. He has worked in the private investigation industry for 13+ years. Click here to learn more.
According to the 81-page indictment filed last month, the defendants are accused of planning the collisions, orchestrating them mostly on secluded roads where only the accused defendants could be witnesses to the crash, fraudulently making insurance claims, and fabricating or exaggerating injuries between July 4, 2017, and September 25, 2020. As stated previously, we've seen this scam going on for 30+ years and it's always the same. A good insurance investigator has to be on the lookout for similarities in claims and try to connect the players together as they usually serve as witnesses for each other on these false claims. It does take some digging but geography usually works in an investigator's favor as these rings usually operate in a limited area choosing not to go to other states to stage these accidents.
In some of the pre-planned accidents there were not even any drivers or passengers. The suspects just used something heavy to assure the airbags deployed and hammers to break the windows of the vehicles. In one case we worked several years ago, the father of this family crime ring dug a deep hole, had his 14-year old son put one leg in the hole, then the dad took a running jump and pushed his son so that the leg in the hole would break. I'm sure he got Dad of the Year for that one, but it was so they could claim injuries from an automobile accident that never occurred.
Our Florida, Colorado, New Mexico and South Carolina Insurance Investigators work with a variety of insurance companies to find the fraudulent claims that are alive and well and gather the evidence to prove they are fraudulent. If your SIU isn't sniffing out these fraudulent claims as well as they should be, give us a call and let us bring our over 30+ years of experience to work on your claims. Call us at 352.509.8900, 719.208.4088, 505.208.6400 or 803.806.7800.
About the author. R. Lee Walters is a retired FBI Agent with over 24 years of federal law enforcement experience. He has worked in the private investigation industry for 13+ years. Click here to learn more.
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