How Are We Doing?
Some Current Statistics
Arrests and Convictions: 2002 – 2004
- The Frauds Bureau scored 815 arrests during 2004, the highest number of arrests since the Bureau was created.
In addition to the arrests that resulted from the day-to-day investigations conducted by the Frauds Bureau, several major investigations contributed significantly to the record-high arrests in 2004. For example,
An undercover operation conducted by the Frauds Bureau, the Queens DA’s Organized Crime and Rackets Bureau, the NYPD’s Fraudulent Accident Investigations Squad, the State Police and the Department of Motor Vehicles resulted in the arrest of 80 individuals and corporations– including chiropractors, acupuncturists and physical and massage therapists, as well as two medical clinics and their employees– for their participation in a major no-fault fraud ring.
An investigation by the Frauds Bureau and the Attorney General’s Office led to the indictment of six people and five corporations for their roles in a sophisticated criminal enterprise. Two personal injury lawyers and their law firms, an insurance broker and a licensed acupuncturist were among those charged in this no-fault fraud scheme.
A three-year investigation by the Frauds Bureau, the NYPD’s Auto Crime Division and the Brooklyn DA’s Office resulted in the takedown of an auto insurance fraud ring operating out of an auto salvage yard in Brooklyn. The investigation led to the arrest of 24 individuals including three organized-crime figures with ties to the Gambino and Bonanno crime families.
The number of criminal convictions obtained by prosecutors in Frauds Bureau cases stood at 385 at year-end 2004, up from 324 in 2003.
- Reports of suspected fraud received by the Frauds Bureau reached 27,279 during 2004, down by about 8% from the prior year. The Bureau made significant progress during the past year in achieving a goal high on its list of priorities: Web-based fraud reporting. Until recently, insurers who reported electronically used only the AT&T Global Network. However, we have now initiated a system, known as the "blue zone," by which insurers can submit fraud reports directly via the Web site, with the aim of eventually eliminating the AT&T Global Network. The long-term goal is to revamp the entire system to a Web-based design so that fraud reporting via the Web site would be only one of its functions. Under this new system, virtually all of the Bureau’s principal tasks would be Web-based, including case management, statistics tracking, and the myriad of reports for which the investigative staff is responsible. Requests For Proposals (RFPs) for a Web-based design were issued to vendors and the responses are being evaluated.
