Arrests for April 2009
These arrests were made possible through the cooperation of the Frauds Bureau, law enforcement, the insurance industry and the public.
To report suspected incidents of insurance fraud, call 1-888-FRAUDNY
CAUGHT!
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- CAR FIRE
Arrested on 4/30/09
Charged with grand larceny in the 3rd degree, insurance fraud in the 3rd degree, falsifying business records in the 1st degree, offering a false instrument for filing in the 1st degree, false sworn statement in the 2nd degree, falsely reporting an incident and false written statement
The defendant in this case reported to the NYPD and her insurer that she had left her 2007 Toyota SUV parked on a Bronx street at 7:00 a.m. on 3/9/09 and when she returned it was missing. However, an investigation by the Frauds Bureau, the NYPD’s Auto Crime Division and the Greenwich, CT, Police Department revealed that she contracted with two men to dispose of the vehicle for the sum of $500. Evidence indicated that she met the men at a pre-determined location, turned over her keys and walked away. The Greenwich Police Department recovered the vehicle destroyed by fire at 10:50 p.m. on 3/6/09, about 56 hours before she claimed to have last seen it.
- 113 FRAUDULENT CLAIMS
Arrested on 4/29/09
Charged with insurance fraud in the 2nd degree, grand larceny in the 2nd degree and forgery in the 2nd degree
Between February 2005 and February 2008, the defendant in this case submitted 113 claims to United HealthCare Insurance Company for medical services he and his estranged wife allegedly received at a local family health care practice. He stated on the claims that they received medical treatments for which they paid $370 per visit. However, an investigation by the Frauds Bureau and the State Police revealed that neither the defendant nor his wife received any medical services at the health care facility in question. Over the three-year period, the defendant fraudulently collected $233,138 in reimbursements from United HealthCare.
- CLERK AT WORK
Arrested on 4/27/09
Charged with violation of the Workers’ Compensation Law
While working as a customer service representative in Hauppauge, NY, on 1/17/08, this suspect reported an injury to his elbow and wrist and began collecting workers’ compensation benefits. However, an investigation by the Frauds Bureau and the State Insurance Fund found evidence that in June 2008, he took a job as an accounts receivable clerk in Bohemia, NY. From that time until his arrest he collected $15,000 in benefits to which he was not entitled.
- PREMIUMS PAST DUE
Arrested on 4/27/09
Charged with falsifying business records in the first degree and violation of the Workers’ Compensation Law
An investigation by the Frauds Bureau with the assistance of the Broome County DA’s Office resulted in the arrest of a self-employed Binghamton woman charged with attempting to defraud the State Insurance Fund. On 2/19/07, she knowingly filed an application for workers’ compensation and general liability insurance coverage with the Fund that contained materially false information. The defendant owed the Fund more than $144,000 in past premiums and knew she would not get the required coverage using her own name. Therefore, with consent she used the name of a third party on the application in an attempt to avoid paying the past due premiums.
- FRAUDULENTLY COLLECTING BENEFITS
Arrested on 4/23/09
Charged with violation of the Workers Compensation Law
Following an injury sustained in September 2004 while working as a nurse assistant at a Long Island Nursing Center, this suspect began collecting workers’ compensation benefits. However, an investigation by the Frauds Bureau uncovered evidence showing that she had subsequently returned to work at another local medical facility. In addition, during the period from 9/15/04 to 8/31/08, she provided numerous statements to the Fund indicating that she had not worked since her injury occurred. As a result, she fraudulently collected $36,714 in benefits.
- BUSINESS OWNER ARRESTED
Arrested on 4/17/09
Charged with perjury in the 1st degree and violation of the Workers’ Compensation Law
After incurring a work-related injury in March 2006, the defendant was classified as having a temporary partial disability. However, investigators from the Frauds Bureau and the State Insurance Fund’s Division of Confidential Investigations discovered that he was the owner and operator of two successful businesses in Broome County. During his benefit period, he submitted documents and gave sworn testimony to the Workers’ Compensation Board stating that he was unable to work. As a result of the fraud, he collected $3,200 to which he was not entitled.
- DAMAGE CLAIMED TWICE
Arrested on 4/15/09
Charged with insurance fraud in the 5th degree and falsifying business records in the 1st degree
An upstate woman and her boyfriend registered and insured a 1999 Ford Explorer in the name of her estranged husband without his knowledge. The woman provided information to the boyfriend that allowed him to represent himself as the estranged husband and on 5/17/08, he filed a $560 claim with AIG Insurance Company for damage to the vehicle. However, an investigation by the Frauds Bureau revealed that a claim had previously been filed with and paid by another insurer for what appeared to be the same damage.
- FORGED CERTIFICATES
Arrested on 4/10/09
Charged with criminal possession of a forged instrument in the 2nd degree, falsifying business records in the 1st degree and violation of the Workers’ Compensation Law
A sub-contractor for a Greene County developer presented three Certificates of Insurance as proof that he had workers’ compensation and general liability insurance coverage as required by New York State. However, investigators from the Frauds Bureau, the State Insurance Fund and Utica First Insurance Company discovered that his coverage had been terminated and he had forged the Certificates.
- SHOPLIFTING AND INSURANCE FRAUD
Arrested on 4/10/09
Charged with insurance fraud in the 4th degree
The defendant in this case reported her 1998 Chevrolet Blazer stolen just hours after she abandoned the vehicle while it was being observed by the State Police in connection with a shoplifting investigation. She was arrested for filing a fraudulent insurance claim with Progressive Insurance Company for the purported theft of the vehicle. The arrest was part of an investigation begun on 8/28/08 after the defendant and an unnamed companion were identified as shoplifters by merchants at a Waterloo, NY, shopping mall. She abandoned her vehicle in the mall’s parking lot after police were called by the merchants. Several hours later, she reported to the police that her vehicle had been stolen and filed an insurance claim for the loss. The State Police subsequently informed her that they had recovered her vehicle and asked her to come to the State Police station in Waterloo, where she was arrested for criminal possession of stolen property in connection with the shoplifting. The Frauds Bureau, with the assistance of the State Police and the Rochester Police Department, conducted the investigation that led to her arrest on the insurance fraud charge. The claim was never paid.
- TWO MECHANICS CONSPIRE
Arrested on 4/8/09
Charged with insurance fraud in the 3rd degree, grand larceny in the 3rd degree, conspiracy in the 5th degree and falsely reporting an incident
During an investigation by the Frauds Bureau, the Buffalo Police Department’s Auto Theft Unit and the State Police, an upstate auto mechanic admitted that he asked another mechanic to dispose of his 2004 Chevrolet Silverado pickup truck so he could get out of making loan payments on the vehicle. He subsequently filed a claim with Allstate Insurance Company to cover the debt. The second mechanic was arrested on 12/11/08 in connection with this case and charged with criminal possession of stolen property in the 3rd degree and unlawful possession of a vehicle identification number.
- PLUMBER AT WORK
Arrested on 4/7/09
Charged with grand larceny in the 3rd degree, insurance fraud in the 3rd degree, offering a false instrument for filing and violation of the Workers’ Compensation Law
Following an injury on the job, a self-employed plumber began collecting workers’ compensation benefits. During the benefit period, he submitted two Work Activity Forms to the State Insurance Fund stating that he was unable to work. However, investigators from the Frauds Bureau and the State Police obtained a statement from a witness who employed the defendant during the benefit period to perform work on several of his properties. In fact, the defendant was gainfully employed from 3/12/08 to 12/11/08 while fraudulently collecting benefits.
- BOTH ARRESTED
Arrested on 4/6-7/09
Charged with arson in the 3rd degree
Defendant #1 in this case was arrested on 4/6/09 and charged with hiring defendant #2 to burn his 2004 Lincoln Navigator. Defendant #2 was arrested on 4/7/09 on charges of setting the SUV on fire on 1/17/09. Court records indicate that he was paid several hundred dollars, with the promise of more money at a later date. Defendant #1 reported the SUV stolen and submitted an allegedly fraudulent claim in an effort to collect $28,000 from his insurer.
- NOT PAID
Arrested on 4/6/09
Charged with insurance fraud in the 4th degree and attempted grand larceny in the 4th degree
An investigation by the Frauds Bureau resulted in the arrest of a Buffalo woman accused of falsely reporting the theft of two shotguns and four custom automobile wheel rims from her home on 11/3/08. She filed a claim with Allstate Insurance Company seeking payment of approximately $1,750 for the loss. Investigators traced serial numbers the suspect provided in her Police Accident Report to two shotguns that were in the possession of the Buffalo Police Department prior to the reported theft. The firearms had been recovered in two earlier investigations unrelated to the insurance claim. Originally, the police did not know the weapons belonged to the suspect so they were not returned to her. It is not required to register shotguns in New York State. The suspect was also charged with falsifying information about the theft of the wheel rims. The insurance claim was never paid.
- CI IDs SUSPECT
Arrested on 4/1/09
Charged with grand larceny in the 3rd degree, falsifying business records in the 1st degree, insurance fraud in the 3rd degree, making a punishable false written statement and falsely reporting an incident in the 3rd degree
On 10/8/08, the defendant allegedly walked into a commercial parking lot and drove out in his 2008 Cadillac Escalade. He returned about 20 minutes later and asked the attendant to retrieve his car. When the attendant could not find the car, the defendant reported to the NYPD that it had been stolen and filed a claim with North American Risk Services for the loss. However, during an investigation by the Frauds Bureau and the NYPD, a confidential informant identified the defendant as the person who drove the car out of the parking lot before reporting it stolen.
- ARSON
Arrested on 4/1/09
Charged with attempted grand larceny in the 3rd degree, arson in the 3rd degree, insurance fraud in the 3rd degree, conspiracy in the 4th degree and false sworn statement
A Bronx man reported to the NYPD on 11/25/08 that his 2007 Mazda had been stolen. He stated that he last saw his car at 6:30 p.m. on 11/17/08 and found it missing at 7:30 p.m. on 11/18/08. He subsequently filed a claim with Metropolitan Auto and Home Insurance Company for the loss. However, a review of FDNY records by a Frauds Bureau investigator ascertained that on 11/17/08 at 12:45 p.m., units from the FDNY responded to a building and garage fire in the Bronx, where they found the defendant’s 2007 Mazda on fire in a parking space assigned to another vehicle. On 4/1/09, the defendant, after having been read his Miranda rights, admitted that he gave the car to his cousin to be disposed of because it was going to be repossessed. After setting fire to the car, his cousin called him and told him to report it stolen.
- NOT PARKED
Arrested on 3/26/09
Charged with grand larceny in the 3rd degree, insurance fraud in the 3rd degree, making an apparently false sworn statement in the 2nd degree and falsely reporting an incident in the 3rd degree
This suspect reported his car stolen, stating that he parked it in a lot on 12/9/08 and discovered it missing when he returned. However, investigators conferred with the parking lot manager and reviewed business records and determined that the suspect’s car was not parked in the lot at any time between 12/7/08 and 1/3/09. The Frauds Bureau and the NYPD conducted the investigation that led to the arrest.
PRIOR SUPPLEMENT
March 2009
