Increased Penalties for Faking Auto Accidents
The state Senate passed legislation to crack down on auto insurance fraud this week, just after a fraud ring was busted for faking accidents and reaping the financial rewards through insurance companies. The legislation will create a new felony law, making it a serious crime to stage an auto accident. Conviction under the law will warrant up to 7 years in prison.
Insurance fraud is said to cost the people of New York more than $1 billion each year. And it isn’t just people staging accidents that get in on the action. According to the NY Daily News, the Department of Financial Services has “launched a crackdown” on medical professionals that also take part in the fraudulent schemes.
The Department sent letters to 135 doctors in the NYC area after their billing practices “raised red flags”. To substantiate those bills being submitted to insurance companies for reimbursement, the agency requested supporting documentation from the doctors, proving the bills were legitimate. Continue reading
Brooklyn Ring Faked Accidents, Collected Thousands
Sixteen people are facing charges after bilking the insurance industry out of hundreds of thousands of dollars. Their crime? Faking auto accidents to collect money for injuries. The group is facing a multitude of crimes and several years in prison for their alleged frauds.
The fraudulent activity is said to have begun in 2009, according to the Insurance Journal. It was then that the group of 16 began causing accidents or faking accidents to get paid. They would hit unsuspecting drivers or get in accidents with each other to take advantage of the No-Fault insurance coverage.
No-Fault insurance allows people involved in accidents to collect up to $50,000 for injuries. In addition, following an accident, injured parties can file lawsuits, something the suspected fraudsters did as well.
In some of the cases, the suspects rented U-Haul trucks and crashed them into livery cabs. They would have one of their codefendants hail the cab and the other crash into them as they slowed. Another scheme they used was walking into vehicles or slapping the vehicle, claiming they were hit.
The sixteen are facing charges like insurance fraud, falsifying business records, grand larceny, and misdemeanor conspiracy. In all, they made off with over $400,000. Continue reading