How Are We Doing?
Some Current Statistics

Arrests and Convictions: First Quarter, 2002 – 2004

The number of arrests resulting from Frauds Bureau investigations totaled 259 for the January – March 2004 period, compared with 244 over the same period the year before.

Among those arrested during the first quarter of 2004 was a now-suspended New York City Police Officer for submitting allegedly fraudulent receipts in support of a $10,000 claim for electronic equipment that he reported stolen from his home. The Frauds Bureau and the Pelham Manor Police Department pooled resources in this investigation.

In addition, an investigation by the Frauds Bureau and the Attorney General’s Office led to a 100-count indictment charging 11 people and 7 corporations with engaging in a far-reaching no-fault scheme to defraud insurance carriers of an estimated $1 million. Those arrested included five health care providers, two attorneys and a network of recruiters.

An investigation by the Frauds Bureau, the State Insurance Fund, the Workers’ Compensation Board’s Fraud Inspector General’s Office and the Monroe County DA’s Office led to the arrest of a Brockport insurance agent on 50 counts of insurance fraud. His license has been suspended pending a hearing. The defendant was charged with issuing fraudulent certificates of workers’ compensation insurance to self-employed persons as evidence of coverage for potential employers. As a result, businesses employing these individuals were improperly charged workers’ compensation rates based on this fraudulent information. In other cases, he allegedly took workers’ compensation premiums from prospective insureds but never placed the coverage. He was arrested in September 2003 on similar charges.

The number of criminal convictions obtained by prosecutors in Frauds Bureau cases totaled 101 for the first three months of 2004, versus 104 for the same period a year ago.

The Frauds Bureau received 7,630 reports of suspected insurance fraud during the first quarter of 2004, up from 7,205 for the same period in 2003 and 6,326 in 2002. Implementing a Web-based reporting system is one of the Bureau’s highest priorities and progress continues in this initiative.